Chapter 10 (Sonic): If You Have Time to Worry…
The portal opened in the familiar center of the New Town. When Sonic emerged and landed on the ground, he saw that the sun was still shining in the sky.
Bong! Bong!
Sonic turned upon hearing the sound of the bell. The small clocktower stationed in the square indicated that it was twelve in the afternoon.
High noon, Sonic thought. "The attack won't happen until later."
Scratching his head, Sonic mulled the situation he was in. During some of his previous adventures, he had time traveled before, but they were never as complex as this case.
This time, he would face the risk of running into his past self, which may or may not have drastic consequences on the timeline. Even if there was no risk, better to play it safe and leave such a possibility for a future adventure.
"Where was I around this time?"
As if on cue, a ringing noise came from his communicator. Pulling it out, he heard Tails' voice:
"Sonic! It's Tails. Get to the train station quickly!"
There was a pause, yet Sonic knew what Tails was going to say next.
"GUN found that Eggman hijacked a train! He just passed through the town minutes ago!"
That's right. I was competing in the race with that fan. Sonic realized he needed to hide and found a spot in an alleyway between two buildings. Peeking out of the corner, he watched in awe as his past self rushed past the area. Keeping his distance and stealth, he followed his past self to the warehouse area. His past self apologized to Sonic Man as he touched the wall and proceeded to win the race and chase after Eggman.
Sonic shook his head as Sonic Man attempted to chase after him, acting like a true fanboy. It was amusing hearing the guy shout his aspiration to be like him. Seeing no need to stick around, though, Sonic left the area and headed back to the Castle Town.
It's almost time, Sonic thought. After seeing his past self pass by to drop Blaze off at the castle and leave, Sonic knew Eggman's assault on the city would begin soon. While he wanted to help the citizens fend off Eggman's Badniks, he had to be careful about it so that his past self wouldn't run into him when he got back from the forest.
So, he devised a plan for protecting the town.
Eggman's forces were mostly going to attack the Castle Town area, which meant the people there would need the most help. Sonic figured that by alerting the town to Eggman's upcoming assault, it would allow them the chance to mobilize faster. Blaze had taken the precaution of ordering more patrols around town and at the border, but they had no idea of what was to come.
Thus, he informed Captain Pietro of the upcoming assault, prompting him to order some of the guards to begin barricading the buildings.
Next, he located the scientists developing their special spring and asked if he could use it to reach the top of the bell towers. Recognizing the loudness and significance of the bells, Sonic thought it would assist in alerting the town to when Eggman was near. The two scientists were more than happy to comply, setting up a series of springs at the bell towers for when he would need them; afterwards, the two went about barricading their lab and started an argument about the male scientist eating the female's pudding.
Once Eggman was in sight, Sonic went about hitting the bells, alerting the town of the anticipated battle. GUN ordered their men at the border to brace for Eggman's assault, allowing them ample time to increase their defenses, preventing any casualties from coming about. Every other patrol of soldiers and guards readied themselves as Eggman's robots rained down from the sky.
At last, the final piece of Sonic's strategy came into play.
Tails would head to Wave Ocean in an attempt to save Blaze, only to avoid death from Eggman's trap. His past self would arrive later, after the battle was over. So, once Tails left, Sonic could break loose and go to town on Eggman's army.
And it was a blast.
As Sonic kept fighting through the hordes, he counted up every single one he took down. By the time he got to Badnik number 34, he encountered Knuckles taking down one of the Egg Guardians.
"Knuckles!"
"Eh? Sonic!" The red echidna greeted him by throwing the head of the former Egg Guardian past him, hitting an Egg Flyer that was trying to sneak up on him. Sonic knew the Egg Flyer was coming, but Knuckles beat him to the punch.
Sonic smiled. "I see you're enjoying the party, too."
Knuckles wiped some sweat from his head. "Yeah. Kind of wish it lasted longer."
Indeed, as Sonic looked around, he saw that the last of the robots were being taken care of by the guards and GUN. His plan worked out well.
Speaking of which…
"Huh," Knuckles said. "Looks like Tails is coming back." Sonic shifted his gaze to see Tails flying in from around the corner. "I wonder why he looks so beate…hey!"
Sonic grabbed Knuckles and headed for the nearest alley available. He put his hand to Knuckles' mouth. "Shh!"
"Mmnim, lem gm mf me!" Knuckles tried to speak, but Sonic held his own against Knuckles' resistance. Knuckles stopped when he noticed Sonic wasn't paying attention to him and, shifting his gaze to see why Sonic was staring at the plaza outside the alley, he was surprised to see Sonic running through the area. After a few seconds, Tails was chasing after him.
When Sonic was certain his past self and Tails were gone, he let go of Knuckles, who was staring dumbstruck at him.
"H-how did y-you…"
Sonic grinned. "Would you believe me if I told you I came from the future?"
Tails arrived back at the Castle Town, exhausted from helping Cream and Cheese calm Amy down. Whenever she got into a rant, Tails always became worried she would pull out her hammer and vent her frustration out on him. To be fair, Amy had enough self-restraint and understanding that such an outcome was unlikely. Still…
"Good grief," Tails sighed as he walked towards the item store. It appeared the attack by Eggman was over, yet the ominous atmosphere he created lingered still. Seeking to escape it with some tinkering, Tails entered the item shop.
Imagine his surprise when he saw Sonic there, along with Knuckles.
"S-Sonic?! What are you doing here? I thought you were going to do those trials to save the princess."
Sonic glanced at Knuckles for a moment, then turned his attention back to Tails. Shaking his head, he explained. "I didn't reach her in time."
"…What?"
Sonic took a deep breath. "I came here from the future—about an hour or two, to be exact."
Tails didn't know what to say. He looked at Knuckles, his expression begging for the red echidna to say Sonic was joking. Knuckles answered in the negative.
"Then…Blaze is…"
Sonic smiled. "There's still a chance we can save her. The trials took too long to complete, and the path to Kingdom Valley on foot is falling apart. But if we go in the air, we can avoid running into my past self and make it to the base, right before Eggman and Blaze take off. So…" He paused for a moment, making a silent prayer that his idea was feasible. "Please tell me the Tornado is still flyable."
Tails lowered his head. The Tornado still had a lot of battle damage from the air battle in the desert, so even if it could still fly, one hit from Eggman's defenses would spell the end of their lives. Thus, Tails said, "It isn't."
He looked up at Sonic smiling. "But we don't need to take the Tornado."
Sonic and Knuckles followed Tails to the warehouse district in the New City. The two were unsure of what Tails had up his sleeve, but they trusted him enough not to ask any questions. Arriving in front of one of the warehouses, Tails opened up the garage door. Situated inside with a large object concealed by a white cloth. As he walked over to the item, he said, "I haven't finished all of the artillery and specifications, but as it is right now, this should do just fine."
Sonic and Knuckles could faintly make out what was hidden. Knuckles reacted first. "Is that what I think it is?"
Grabbing the cloth, Tails pulled it hard, revealing a blue biplane with grey edges. On the sides of the body were a logo depicting his twin tails surrounded by a red circle, a white star situated neatly in the top right corner. In addition, the body had designated areas for where weapons were stored, the weapon types being labeled with particular markings.
Compared to the Tornado, this biplane was heftier, eliciting a whistle from Sonic. So, Tails was building another plane. Sweet!
Proudly, Tails gestured towards the plane. "Introducing the newest version of the Tornado—I call it, the Typhoon!"
"Way to go, Tails!" Sonic gave his friend a thumbs up, then jumped aboard one of the wings.
Knuckles headed towards the back-passenger seat. "I've gotta say, you really outdid yourself this time, Tails."
"Heh heh! Thanks, you guys!"
When Tails entered the pilot seat, he ignited the engine and removed all the restraints holding down the plane. The Typhoon then disembarked from the garage and lined up to face the ocean. Knuckles started to grow concerned. "Uh, Tails? Where's the runway?"
"We don't need one!" Tails pressed a button on the control panel in front of him. Below the plane, the wheels folded into the Typhoon, yet the plane itself began to rise up in the air. Sonic saw the culprit behind the phenomenon to be air vents, which were generating enough thrust to create lift off of the ground. Before they knew it, the Typhoon was already making its way to Kingdom Valley.
Sonic knew they were getting close as soon as the clouds began to get darker. Before long, the rain would begin to fall, but not soon enough.
The Typhoon's design, superior in every way to previous versions of the Tornado, had spared the heroes the time Sonic lost completing the Soleanna Tests. With this amount of time now in their hands, the three of them could make it to the secret laboratory and hitch a ride aboard the Egg Carrier right before it takes off. However, the Aquatic Base would be full of Badniks and security measures, so compensating for this delay, Sonic would be the only one capable of making it to the Egg Carrier.
"So, why don't we just fly to the Egg Carrier in this thing?" Knuckles asked. "Wouldn't it save us the hassle of going through security?"
Tails' answer was immediate. "According to Sonic, he didn't see the Typhoon when the Egg Carrier was in the sky. We can't risk his past self seeing us. Besides, that battleship is loaded with artilleries—the weapons I've installed wouldn't be enough to fight back."
No one spoke the rest of the way to the base. Flying over a range of mountains, the sight of the old Soleanna Castle came into view.
As did the missiles.
"Here comes the welcoming party!" Sonic shouted.
Tails pulled hard on the yoke. "Hang on!" The Typhoon rolled like a dog in the air, avoiding the incoming missiles. Having missed their target, the missiles made a 180-degree turn and resumed their pursuit.
Seeing this, Tails yelled, pressing a button, "Knuckles! Man the gun!"
Knuckles saw an anti-aircraft weapon emerge from behind his seat. Following Tails' instructions, Knuckles carefully got out of his seat and stepped on to the now-present foothold; grabbing the handles, he began to fire back at the missiles. One by one, he shot them down until none were remaining.
"Nice shooting!" Sonic complemented. Knuckles nodded, appreciating the comment.
The Typhoon dove down closer to the water, swerving around the ruins of the once proud castle. Entire towers, having faced the cruel effects of time, had collapsed prior to their arrival and could be seen slowly sinking into the dark waters below. In a way, it reminded the heroes of the future world, except instead of a city devastated by fire, it was a lost relic losing itself to water.
Up ahead, a large door could be seen guarded by Eggman's Badniks.
"There it is!" Sonic shouted.
Knuckles turned the gun to face the front. "That's a lot of enemies."
Tails hammered away at the controls. "Moving all power to forward shields and guns." Looking back at Sonic and Knuckles, he shouted, "Let's ram it!"
The two of them looked at each other for a brief second, then nodded and prepared for the assault. When they were close enough, the Egg Flyers and Egg Gunners began to fire relentlessly at the Typhoon. The shields Tails put up provided a strong defense, preventing the bullets from leaving a dent on the plane.
Knuckles returned the fire, aiming and downing as many Badniks as he was able to. Only a few remained by the time Tails closed the gap between them.
"Brace yourselves!"
The three of them kept their heads down, with Sonic clutching the wings of the plane and Knuckles gripping the gun handles tight.
A few seconds later, the Typhoon reached the door.
CRASH!
The plane punched a hole in the security door, the collision reducing the plane's speed tremendously. Tails brought out the wheels and pulled hard on the brakes to prevent the plane from hitting the wall at the far end of the boat hangar. The friction was too great, however, and the wheels snapped off. The Typhoon's body screeched like a monster across the floor, just barely managing to stop before colliding with the wall.
Tails sighed. "…We made it…thanks for flying Air Tails."
Sonic chuckled nervously. He was able to hang on to the wing during the collision, fortunately, yet the forces acting against his inertia left him feeling stiff.
This wasn't the first time Tails experienced a plane crash, yet he always seemed to have bad luck when it comes to keeping his planes intact. Then again, they always went up against Eggman, so by this point, it was to be expected. Nonetheless, Sonic apologized about the Typhoon as the plane continued to let gravity pull off its loose, hanging parts.
"It's fine. I can always rebuild it." He exited the seat, only to fall over onto the ground in pain.
Knuckles, who had fallen off during the spinning, ran over to their position and helped Tails up. "When you do, put a safety harness for that gun."
"Duly noted."
Sonic took in the hangar around them. Boats were spread out across the room, so many that it was a miracle they hadn't smashed into any of them. The walls and ground had a blue texture to them, and the only thing illuminating the giant docking station was the sunlight from the door they busted through. At the far end of the eastern wall was an elevator. Sonic pointed to it.
"Guys, look!"
Tails and Knuckles followed his gaze and nodded upon seeing their ticket to going deeper into the base. The three of them then rushed over to the elevator, entered and hit a button for a lower floor. As they were descending, Sonic asked, "Tails, do you know where the Egg Carrier is?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah! Give me a sec."
Tails pulled out the C.E.T., and after tapping the controls brought up a 3D map of the Aquatic Base. "I figured adding an extra sensor to the C.E.T. would help locate the Emeralds faster, after our experience with the future. Now, we can see a more detailed layout of the area instead of a 2D plane." He observed the map quietly. "This used to be a Soleanna laboratory. Based on what I've read and the map here, it looks like it was really advanced."
Pressing one button on the C.E.T., Tails produced a blinking triangle on the map; it was going down. He pointed to it. "We're here, and this area over here…" Tracing his finger across the map to a large area on the other side, he finished, "Should be the aircraft hangar. This should be where the Egg Carrier is."
Knuckles cracked his knuckles. "If we encounter any of Eggman's robots, leave them to me."
The elevator came to a halt, and the doors opened. The three exited and began to run.
"The battleship will take off any minute," Sonic said. "Tails, Knuckles, let's hurry!"
"OK!"
"Time for some payback, Eggman!"
The Aquatic Base was unlike many of Dr. Eggman's bases of operations. For starters, he wasn't the one who constructed it. Rather, he updated the security measures and put a few of his own logos on the walls. Sonic always found this to be him stroking his ego. No matter how much he added to the base, however, he could do nothing about the windows showcasing the marine life hidden beneath the waters of Kingdom Valley.
In addition, the old laboratory had a natural, ominous atmosphere to it, like a ghost town. Each step the heroes took echoed off of the walls, as if to remind them where they are.
I haven't seen a place this empty since the ARK, Sonic thought.
While the space colony ARK was abandoned after an accident 50 years ago, it resurfaced recently due to Eggman working with a then-vengeful Shadow on another plot for world domination. Before then, it had collected enough space rock on its exterior to give it the appearance of an asteroid. In a way, the ARK was hiding in plain sight, yet no one knew where (except the government).
But this place—people knew where it was, yet they chose to leave it and the castle to history.
Talk about a waste of resources.
As Sonic, Tails and Knuckles made their way through the ancient lab, they came across a room with two pools filled with what appeared to be liquid mercury. Interesting enough, some of the liquid rose from the pools and formed small floating spheres in the air.
"Woah!" Tails gazed in awe at the sight, excited as a kid. "I've read about these, you guys. These mysterious balls have a slight magnetic force to them."
Sonic tapped one of the balls floating in front of him and watched as it changed directions. "Cool."
"Argh!" From behind them, Knuckles was fighting with numerous spheres that kept bumping into him. "Why are there so many of them?!"
Sonic and Tails chuckled at their friend's situation. Tails then noticed a rod as tall as him sticking up out of the ground in front of the two. He seemed to recognize what it was, as he ran over to it and said, "Hang on, Knuckles. I'll help fix that problem."
But right as he was about to touch the rod, three blue Egg Lancers and two Egg Cannons jumped down from the ceiling, trapping him.
Sonic and Knuckles saw the ambush and shouted, "Tails!"
Tails was startled by the Badniks' sudden appearance. For a moment, he looked at each of them, unsure of what to do. When his eyes fell upon the rod, though, he regained his composure and quickly activated it. The rod glowed blue and, immediately, the Badniks sparkled with electricity and became magnetized to the rods. The spheres in the room, including those around Knuckles, also rushed towards the rod, crushing the Badniks.
Sonic and Knuckles ran towards Tails, asking if he was alright. "I am," he responded. "Good thing I read about these things, too!"
The three then proceeded to exit the room, only to find a large gap between them and the door ahead—the gap was too large for Tails to carry Sonic over it. A large version of the silver sphere floated over the dark abyss below them. When Sonic stepped onto the ball, it responded to his momentum and began to move in the air. It was then that Sonic noticed the sudden laser that shot out from the sides. He jumped off and narrowly made it back to the starting point as the laser disintegrated the sphere before his eyes. A second later, a gate beneath them brought out an identical silver sphere.
I see. If I get on this ball, I'll be able to get over there. But the lasers destroy the ball. Hmm…
Looking down at his shoes, Sonic remembered one gem that may be of use: the purple gem. It was a unique gem, according to Tails, having the ability to shrink the user. However, in exchange for size, the user would be able to accomplish an assortment of feats, such as jumping multiple times and moving faster—Tails described this phenomenon as only possible due to the manipulation of optical illusions and a number of theories in science being put together for the gem's creation. Likewise, the gem had a shorter duration to use before it needed to be recharged.
With no other options, Sonic equipped the gem and watched it transform his shoes once more.
Tails looked at him skeptically. "Sonic, are you sure about this? The effect won't last long."
Sonic nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. See you on the other side!" He quickly ran onto the ball and increased its speed. Tails and Knuckles exchanged a glance before flying over the gap to the other side, watching as Sonic approached them. When the laser shot out at the ball, Sonic jumped and activated the gem.
Before the eyes of his comrades, Sonic had disappeared.
With keen eyes, Tails and Knuckles observed the air for any movements. It was Knuckles who spotted Sonic first. "There!"
In the air, Sonic had jumped an incredible distance, yet he was still quite far from the ledge. He performed a double jump to extend his time in the air, preforming a roll midair to extend it further. When the time ran out, his size reverted back to normal. He almost made it to the edge, but he was a few inches short. Knuckles grabbed his hand in time and pulled him up.
"Knuckles, thanks! All right, let's roll!" Undeterred by his near-death experience, Sonic passionately beckoned his friends to follow.
The next room was a large circular chamber with doors leading to different areas of the base. Of course, a large assortment of Badniks were guarding each one. When they noticed the heroes, they marched over to their position and began to fire.
"Woah!" Tails screamed as he dodged their attacks. "Eggman's mechs are everywhere!"
Sonic switched his shoe's gem to the white gem, which allowed for an improved version of his Homing Attack, known as the Homing Smash. With it, Sonic managed to destroy a few of the larger Badniks, but as the doors started to open, more came to take their place.
"Dang it! When the door opens, it activates the robots."
The only door that didn't seem to open was the door leading to the hangar, yet it was guarded heavily by Egg Guardians.
"Sonic, there must be a switch for the door," Tails theorized. "Leave it up to me."
"Ok, Tails. Just hurry!" Tails scoured the room for the door controls, knocking down a few Egg Flyers with his tails. Sonic and Knuckles, meanwhile, handled the Egg Guardians and Egg Gunners stationed at the door and the ones chasing after them.
These guys are a piece of cake, Sonic thought. But at this rate, we'll never make it there it time.
"Found it!" Tails cheered just as the door to the hangar opened up. But his effort only caused some of the Egg Gunners to paint him as a larger threat and flew towards him.
Knuckles grunted. "I'll stay and help Tails. Take Eggman down, Sonic!"
"Ok! Tails, Knuckles, be careful!"
Wasting no time, Sonic left Tails and Knuckles to deal with the hordes of Badniks as he continued on his path.
Blaze, hang on!
"INTRUDER PASSING AREA 2. INTRUDER PASSING AREA 2. AREA SHUTDOWN SYSTEM ACTIVATED."
Sonic rushed through the endless corridors as glass doors attempted to block his way. He didn't have much time left. Once he made his way past, he heard the familiar computer lady's voice again.
"INTRUDER PASSING AREA 3. INTRUDER PASSING AREA 3. AREA SHUTDOWN SYSTEM ACTIVATED."
Unlike the previous security measure, the corridors became filled with security lasers, just like the one used to destroy the silver spheres. Sonic, without any intention of slowing down, continued running. To save him the trouble of dodging the lasers, he equipped the last of the power gems—the yellow gem—to project an electric shield around him. This protected his body all the way to the end of the last corridor, upon which the shield disappeared. Switching his shoes back to normal, Sonic defeated the last Egg Guardians standing between him and the hangar door with ease, and he entered.
The Egg Carrier was still there, fortunately. An alarm was blaring, though, indicating the battleship was about to take off.
"THRUST INCREASING. ENGINE OUTPUT AT MAXIMUM. COURSE PLOTTED. GATE OPEN"
The voice echoed off the wall, and the large metal door in front of the Egg Carrier slide open. The Egg Carrier's restraints let go of the craft, leaving it to approach the door.
"LIFTING OFF!"
Sonic, on a walkway high above the Egg Carrier, ran across it and jumped over the railing, landing on the left rudder.
"Phew! Just made it!"
He held on tight as the Egg Carrier flew out of the hangar, flying in-between waterfalls on its way to the skies above. Once the Egg Carrier was at its desired altitude, Sonic began to make his way across the exterior to a hatch leading inside. Right before he went in, he felt a large blast hit the engines.
"Woah!" He almost lost his balance at the sudden force. When he turned around to see what hit them, he saw a floating…hedgehog?
"What the…"
Upon closer inspection, the hedgehog had a more crystalized appearance, black and purple in color. Sonic had never seen anything like him before. But those green eyes…
The hedgehog noticed Sonic staring at him and floated to his position. Sonic leapt back out of caution.
Those green, almost reptilian eyes…
He knew this guy.
"You're…Mephiles!"
Mephiles nodded, remaining silent. Seeing this, Sonic spoke instead. "Shadow warned me about you. Why are you doing this?" Sonic's question lingered in the air for a moment. It was then Sonic realized something different about Mephiles:
His mouth—he didn't have one!
Sonic could've sworn he saw Mephiles with a mouth back in the future, when he went around impersonating Shadow's look. But in this state, there was no sign of one on his face, making him all the more suspicious. Even so, Mephiles was able to answer.
"For the fate of time."
"Fate of time?"
"I wish to change the future, change it so that the princess may live a happy life."
Sonic was unsure of what to make of Mephiles' intentions, but that statement brought another question forward. "Then you know why I'm here. Why'd you send Silver to kill me?"
It was the most obvious question to ask at this point. If he cared so much about Blaze, why try assassinating her savior? Heck, why cause the Egg Carrier to crash?
"You may not realize it now, but my actions were to help lead to the best outcome for her. I knew Silver would not defeat you, yet his attempts were necessary for slowing you down and allowing Blaze to come to terms with her powers—her burden.
He paused for a moment, then added, "I did all of this so that she may find faith and joy in a kindred spirit: you. You brought out her emotional side, giving her the chance to maintain control and strengthen her powers and resolve."
The Egg Carrier shook as the engine took another explosion as a result from Mephiles' sabotage.
"We have no reason to fight. I did what I came here to do. It is time you do the same."
With that, Mephiles disappeared in a portal of darkness.
Sonic let go of the tenseness in his shoulders. "I don't trust him, but he's right. There's no time to waste!" He entered the Egg Carrier.
The ship was steadily losing altitude. Eggman was trying to fix the engines and regain control, but he was failing.
"Why is this happening?! NOOO!"
Blaze clenched her teeth and closed her eyes. I've condemned the world. I've failed Soleanna, my people.
Cream. Cheese.
Sonic.
The thought of the blue hedgehog sprang into her head, his cocky yet cool attitude present on his face. She only knew him for a few days, but it felt like an eternity. All she wanted right now was to see him again, to learn more about him and experience another adventure. But when she dies, the Flames of Disaster will be unleashed upon the world. The wonderful places he's seen, and the ones that he never experienced yet, will become ash.
And Sonic himself may not live through it all.
She failed him, too.
Sonic, I'm sorry.
"Playtime's over."
"…!"
The blue hedgehog's voice caught Blaze and Dr. Eggman by surprise and, turning their heads, they saw Sonic standing arms crossed near the entrance.
Cocky, yet cool.
"Sonic!" Blaze's joy wiped her sorrow and fear away just as another part of Eggman's terminal sparked; her restraints unlocked, much to Eggman's shock and anxiousness.
"Huh?!"
When Blaze saw the expression on the doctor's face, she stared at him with a devilish smirk. She jumped to Sonic's side and spawned flames in her hands.
You've hurt my people once too many, Blaze thought.
It's time to face justice!
Sonic lifted his hand, telling Blaze not to attack. His smile convinced her that he knew what was best in this situation, so she relented. He nodded his head and turned back to face Eggman.
Eggman's rage was evident on his face. "You did this, didn't you? Didn't you?!"
Sonic knew the answer to that, yet he humored himself. "Maybe. This ship is about to crash. Too bad, Eggman!"
Eggman stomped his foot on the ground—Every single time, he gets in my way. Every. Single. Time!
But he still had a few tricks up his sleeve. "I'm not finished yet!" Tapping away at the controls that were still working, he was able to bring out the bridge's defense turrets, all of them targeting Sonic and Blaze.
Blaze reignited her flames. Sonic took a fighting stance.
And the turrets sparked and moved no more.
"Wha—why?!" Eggman screamed frustrated. The console behind him let out more electricity and finally exploded.
Sonic snickered. "Great security, doctor! You should do the same thing with your robots."
Blaze tried to suppressed a giggle. Eggman was not amused.
Sonic grabbed Blaze's hand. "Come on, let's leave the captain to go down with the ship!"
Blaze agreed and left with Sonic.
Eggman, meanwhile, went and sat in his chair, though not to 'go down with the ship.' He pressed a button on the arm of the chair, and he descended below the bridge. The chair eventually snapped into the Egg Mobile in the hangar of the Egg Carrier.
But he did not take the Egg Mobile to escape. Instead, he moved it into position over his last line of defense: The Egg-Wyvern, a large, crimson red, dragon-shaped robot with metallic wings. With an assortment of weapons and spots of silver, black, and white, it was Eggman's most devious aerial flight robot when compared to previous works.
Eggman allowed the Egg Mobile to snap into the Egg-Wyvern, the canopy enclosing him. He thought back to Sonic's attitude just a moment ago, his attitude every time he beat him at his own game.
"I'm going to rip that grin off your face!"
Sonic and Blaze ran along the walkway outside the Egg Carrier. They were passing through quite very thick clouds, as it was hard for them to see anything but grey and white. Blaze did everything in her power to not think about the height they were at.
Sonic helped by encouraging her, telling her they were nearly at the Egg Carrier's hangar. From there, they could secure a potential ride out of the falling behemoth.
Sonic asked Blaze, "How's your leg? Do you think you can run a little faster?"
"I think I can manage…look out!"
Blaze pulled back on Sonic's arm as something huge and red crashed through the walkway. Thankfully, they were multiple suspensions keeping the walkway up, but now the path ahead had a large gap in it. The giant red thing they saw did the same thing to the path in the back, taking a moment to hover quite a distance from the hero and the princess.
Sonic knew right away what it was or, rather, who it was. "Eggman!"
From the speakers on the Egg-Wyvern, Eggman said, "You keep getting in my way, you pesky little hedgehog! (…) Very well…Since my previous creations were easy for you, I'll take you out myself!" He turned the Egg-Wyvern slightly to address Blaze. "And as for you, princess, I'm done being nice! After I'm through with him, I'll burn Soleanna to the ground. Everyone you love will be executed in front of your eyes, and when everything's said and done, I'll skin you alive and take the Flames of Disaster. I'll make sure it's slow and painful!"
Blaze and Sonic looked at each other. They had to get off of the Egg Carrier before it crashed, but Eggman was the only thing standing in their way. There was no choice left but to fight.
Not that either of them minded. Quite the contrary.
Sonic pointed at Eggman, smirking. "Right back at ya! I'll finish this here!"
Blaze spawned her flames. "You're threatening of my kingdom ends today!" Having said this, she fired consecutive fire blasts at the Egg-Wyvern. Unlike the Egg Genesis, the Egg-Wyvern was more of a combat-oriented machine rather than a glorified transport vessel for Badniks. As such, its defensives were generally weaker.
The fireballs struck the wings of the Egg-Wyvern hard, but the distance between the heroes and Eggman was too great. The Egg-Wyvern came off with no more than a scratch.
"Argh! I can't do much damage from here!" Blaze complained.
Eggman cackled. "But I can!" The Egg-Wyvern swerved in the air and launched a series of blue lasers on the walkway. Sonic and Blaze dodged out of the way, but there was little to no room for error. One false misstep, and the two were done for. Eggman then circled around them like a predator mocking its prey.
Blaze gazed at the Egg-Wyvern, irritated. "We won't be able to stop him at this rate."
"I agree." Sonic examined the Egg-Wyvern as it continued to fly around, hoping to find a weak spot. It was then Sonic noticed a large orange horn-looking piece sticking out of the canopy.
Just like the Egg Cerberus!
If Eggman got close enough, he could grab on to the horn and maneuver the Egg-Wyvern around in the air. If he got close to Blaze, she could fire right at him with tremendous force. But judging her previous attempt, even if she did some damage to the Egg-Wyvern, it may not be enough to ground the oversized machine. Plus, Eggman will learn from his mistake and most likely will try to keep the horn away from Sonic.
They needed to do massive damage, at least enough to expose Eggman.
Another explosion rippled across the Egg Carrier, causing one of the bomb doors to malfunction, allowing clusters of bombs chained together to fall. Upon seeing this, Sonic formulated a plan.
"Blaze, I have an idea."
"What is it?"
"Wait for my signal."
Blaze didn't know what was going on in Sonic's mind, but she trusted him. Even if she didn't, it wasn't like they had any other ideas. She just hoped his was a good one.
Sonic ran to one segment of the walkway and waved his hands at the Egg-Wyvern. "Yo, Robuttnik! You give up yet?"
Eggman growled over the speaker. "Quit calling me by that stupid nickname!"
Sonic chuckled. "You can't beat me, Robo-butt, even if you tried attacking me from behind!" He then turned around, bent over and spanked his bottom to further taunt the doctor.
Blaze, though she wasn't one to do it herself, understood the value in mocking one's opponents; in doing so, it leads to the opponent losing concentration due to an increase in rage.
That did not excuse the fact that Sonic's antics were, in this case, a little too childish. Sonic, too, acknowledged that he had matured enough to perform acts such as this less often, given his improvement in witty comebacks, but he knew if he wanted Eggman to come charging at him, this was the best way to provoke him.
As expected, it did the trick. Eggman thrust the handles forward and sent the Egg-Wyvern charging at Sonic like a bull.
"Why you…Here I come, Sonic!"
Sonic waited for the opportune moment when the Egg-Wyvern was close to the walkway; when that time came, Sonic jumped and grabbed ahold of the horn. Adjusting his grip, Sonic got a feel for the Egg-Wyvern's flight path, though it was considerably hard due to Eggman trying to regain control.
"Ngh! Let go, you vermin!"
Blaze watched in amazement at Sonic's plan. She recalled a similar incident with the Egg Cerberus back in the desert, where he used its horn to ram the robot into a wall. But where was he going to ram the Egg-Wyvern? The side of the Egg Carrier? Tracing the flight trajectory, Blaze noticed the Egg-Wyvern was heading straight for—
"The bombs!"
As she realized Sonic's plan in full, the hedgehog managed to maintain control long enough to for the Egg-Wyvern to make contact with one of the bomb clusters, turning its horn into a bomb shish kebab.
"This is nothing!" Eggman whined, rolling the Egg-Wyvern to shake his adversary off.
Sonic leapt off the robot and landed on the walkway. "Blaze! Now!"
"Leave it to me!" She sent a powerful fire blast at the bomb, in short causing it to explode, the roof covering the Egg Mobile going with it.
"No! The canopy!" Eggman cried, now exposed to the forces outside.
Sonic took advantage of the moment for a witty remark.
"Hey Eggman, what's the matter?"
Since Sonic's plan left Eggman exposed, Blaze decided to take a page out of his book and add insult to injury. "I think he's losing his head!" Ironically, despite not being one to mock opponents, it felt lovely offending the mad doctor.
Eggman growled. "You…I'm just getting started!" Now that the canopy was gone, Sonic and Blaze could see Eggman working away at the controls. He made the Egg-Wyvern's hover higher and used its tail to fire two projectiles one the walkway panels Sonic was on. The projectiles, in reality EMP missiles, triggered sparks within the cables holding the panels up, causing them to quake.
Blaze was the first to realize what was happening. "Sonic! Get away from the target! He's going to take out the entire foothold!" Sonic heeded her advice and ran away from the area. Once he was out of danger, he turned back and watched as the walkway lost part of itself.
Eggman laughed. "Wah ha ha ha ha ha!" Knowing it would take a while for the EMP missiles to reload (not to mention the limited supplies) he flew around Blaze and Sonic, launching a series of red laser bolts at the two in the hopes of taking them down. "Take this!"
Sonic and Blaze reacted in time to avoid the laser bolts, but with the shorter walkway it was becoming increasingly difficult to avoid Eggman's attacks. Blaze tried counterattacking using her flames, only to find her attacks barely hitting Eggman due to his excellent piloting skills and the altitude he was at.
Eggman stopped the Egg-Wyvern in midair. "Can you avoid this, Sonic?" He launched another series of blue lasers, this time all concentrated on Sonic's position. As Sonic ran out of the way, the lasers followed him for a bit before Eggman ran out of energy for them and needed to let them recharge.
Stubborn rodent…just die already! Eggman was running out of attack options while he waited for the EMP missiles to reload. Yet, he still had one option.
A very risky option.
"Can you make it here?!" he taunted, bringing out two robot-controlled guns from the Egg Mobile. They began to charge a laser attack.
Blaze glanced quickly at Sonic, who was already staring back at her.
He had the same idea that she had.
"The Egg Genesis?" she asked for confirmation.
Sonic nodded. "Those robots coming from the cockpit…If I use them, I can reach Eggman!"
The laser finished charging, a beeping sound resonating from Eggman's control panel. Pressing a button, he shouted, "Do it!"
Right as they were about to unleash their beams of energy, Blaze blasted the guns with fire, causing them to malfunction. Sonic then jumped onto one of the guns and proceeded to homing attack Eggman. The force sent Eggman flying back in his chair.
"Grr…You little…"
Sonic took time to bounce hard on the controls, leaving them heavily damaged. Eggman pulled out one of his personal pistols and fired at Sonic. The blue hedgehog dodged and leapt back to the walkway.
"This is it, Eggman! Prepare for another defeat!"
Eggman managed to pull the chair back into position, growing increasing agitated at the sight of his damaged control system. Fortunately, he was still able to move the Egg-Wyvern and launch the last EMP missiles, which had finished charging during Sonic's assault.
"Grrr! I won't go down like this!" Knowing he had just enough EMPs left to take down the walkway, Eggman began to fire them.
Blaze, however, was one step ahead. The moment she recognized the attack, she fired a large fireball at the tail. While it failed to stop the first EMP missile, her attack managed to strike the tail just as the second EMP missile was about to launch. The collision made the Egg-Wyvern spin out of control, and it hit another panel of the Egg Carrier where additional bombs were stored. Two bombs became stuck in-between the joint areas of the wings of the Egg-Wyvern, but Eggman didn't seem to notice.
"That's it!" Eggman, fed up with Blaze's attacks, regained control of his machine and came in close to the walkway. Aiming his pistol at Blaze, who was getting off of the platform with the EMP missile, Eggman fired at her injured leg.
"AHH!"
Blaze fell down, hollering in pain. Eggman, you dirty…!
"Woah!"
She felt the lower half of her body become heavier. When she realized she hadn't cleared the EMP'ed platform completely, she instinctively tried to grab ahold of anything on the last remaining walkway. When that failed, her hands barely managed to grab the edge of the walkway, but they were slipping.
"Blaze!" Sonic ran over to her position to help her. Just as her fingers slipped from the edge, Sonic caught her hand. "I've got you!"
Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down! she tried telling herself as Sonic pulled her up. Once she was safely on the walkway again, she sighed in relief. "T-thank you."
"Don't mention it." Sonic examined her leg. She was already wounded for earlier today due to Eggman, and because of him again, her leg was in even worse shape.
She couldn't walk in this state, let alone run. And even she could, they had nowhere to go.
They were trapped.
"Sonic! Watch out!" Blaze's eyes were on Eggman, anger evident on his face. He was circling the Egg-Wyvern around, watching the two. Blaze could tell what he was thinking.
He doesn't care anymore if he fails. It looks like he'll do something crazy if it means getting rid of us.
"He's still trying something!"
Sonic saw it, too, but there was little to nothing he could do now. That's when he saw the bombs still stuck to the Egg-Wyvern. In addition, Eggman just stopped in a spot between them and the walkway to the hangar. Sonic contemplated for a moment what to do and, looking at Blaze, he came to a conclusion.
He reached his hand to Blaze, smiling. "May I?"
Blaze, though not knowing what Sonic was up to, smiled back. "Yes, you may."
Grabbing her hand, he picked her up and carried her bridal-style. When Blaze looked at the Egg-Wyvern in this position, she finally noticed the bombs on the Egg-Wyvern, as well as the walkway behind the robot. She looked back at her friend.
"Sonic, I understand."
Sonic nodded, and the two of them stared at Eggman.
The doctor had it with the two of them, especially that blue pest! Every single time, he ruined Eggman's schemes, his plans for world domination. And with Blaze's last stunt short-circuiting his weapons, he was left with one option left.
I should've done this from the beginning! Eggman thought. I don't care if the Egg-Wyvern took too much damage.
I hate him! I hate them both!
Seeing them in their pose, he made one last taunt. "Any last words for the happy couple?"
Sonic looked at Blaze. "Do you want the last say?"
"I believe you're the expert when it comes to mocking him."
Sonic chuckled and then, staring at Eggman, he spoke his say:
"I think the question should be, 'Are you happy?' You know, considering that ugly mustache of yours!" He paused, then added, "Robuttnik!"
That tears it! Eggman charged at them. "Fall!"
To Blaze, time had slowed down. She saw the Egg-Wyvern coming right at them, but she wasn't afraid. She was with Sonic, who not only shared her courage but also, from her experiences with the blue hedgehog, was capable of performing miracles.
And she knew he would pull off one last miracle here, in a duel between herself and her blue knight against a steel dragon.
The second Eggman was close, Sonic jumped and landed on the doctor's face. As Eggman grunted, Sonic leapt from him to the top of the Egg-Wyvern, racing across its spine. When he reached the end, Sonic jumped towards the walkway ahead of them. Once he was clear of the Egg-Wyvern, Blaze set fire to the bombs.
The explosions rippled across the Egg-Wyvern. First the wings became dislodged, then the tail, and finally the Egg Mobile.
"I can't believe this! Gaahh!" Eggman, realizing the devasting strike his two opponents made was affecting even the Egg Mobile, had no choice but to eject himself. Slamming down on a button, he clung tightly to the arm rests as his chair launched itself into the air. He couldn't open the parachute right now given all the debris coming from the Egg Carrier, so he had to bear with a lot of his chair colliding with different objects.
Screaming in fear, Dr. Eggman disappeared beneath the clouds.
Sonic and Blaze watched the whole event unfold before them. After Eggman was gone, Sonic turned around and began to run.
They weren't safe yet, after all.
Blaze continued to look back, though, until they re-entered the Egg Carrier on the path to the hangar.
With the alarm blaring becoming dimmer from the loss in power, Sonic ran down the last corridor that led straight to the hangar. When the ship rumbled from another explosion, Sonic picked up his pace.
Blaze on tightly to Sonic. They were almost there.
At long last, the two arrived at the large hangar door, but before it opened, the whole end of the Egg Carrier split off from the rest of the ship, becoming a fiery inferno as it fell towards the ocean.
Sonic grimaced. There goes the escape plan.
"Sonic!" Blaze pointed at other clumps of debris sailing over them. Sonic, knowing what she was suggesting, couldn't help but smile in concern.
"Aren't you worried?"
In truth, she was. But Sonic taught her many things on this adventure of theirs; above all else:
"'If you have time to worry, then run,' right?"
Below them, another piece of the Egg Carrier exploded upon contact with a sharp rock.
Sonic, seeing nothing better, took a step back and pushed down on his feet hard. He then kicked off the ground for a sharp buildup in momentum and leaped into the debris field. Hopping from piece to piece, he eventually landed on one of the wings, which pointed straight towards the cliffside. Running across the wing, he jumped up between the rocky scales of the cliff, reaching his hand out towards the ledge.
Come on!
He came close, but was unable to make it.
No!
Seeing the remaining body of the Egg Carrier heading for the wall, Sonic held Blaze close.
I'm sorry, Blaze.
With Sonic unable to do anything to escape their fate, Blaze rested their lives on one final hope. She released enough flames to form a wall beneath them, praying to Solaris it would be enough.
When the Egg Carrier crashed into the cliffside, a fiery inferno erupted, the explosion creating enough force to reach the two of them. Blaze's wall held out long enough for them to be propelled over the ledge and onto the grass away from each other, rolling upon contact.
"Ugh…ah!" Sonic shook his head trying to overcome the dizziness, only to grow concerned about Blaze's own life. He watched as she rolled onto her back, breathing in and out. He sighed in relief and, rising from his position, walked over to Blaze, who had her eyes shut.
When she opened them, she saw Sonic offering her a hand. Accepting it, she felt herself aching as she came to a sitting position. They heard another explosion from the last of the debris below them.
"Well…" Sonic exhaled. "That was a close one."
Blaze stared at him. A close one? She began to laugh at Sonic's response to them almost dying. Sonic, too, seemed to share the sentiment and began to laugh himself. When their laughter died down, Sonic found the sight of Blaze in this moment to be perfect. He couldn't help but compliment her smile.
"Nice smile!" He winked.
She nodded back in appreciation, and the two of them watched the view before them. The smoke from the debris below was coming from the side, but it failed to obscure the sight of the ocean and sky before them. A few clouds lingered in the air, but the dark grey clouds he had seen over Kingdom Valley were nowhere to be found. It was getting close to nighttime, as the sun was beginning to set.
"Sonic," Blaze said, a little worried. "Eggman…do you think he's…?"
Sonic scratched the back of his head. "Knowing him, he's still alive. If there's one thing I've learned about him, he's pretty lucky when it comes to near-death experiences, too. He'll be back."
"…I see." Blaze became concerned. Eggman's forces were too powerful. Even with GUN's help, she was unable to stop him. She didn't know how she would be able to protect Soleanna.
Even now, she and Sonic had barely escaped with their lives, defeating him by skills and luck.
If this won't stop him…
Sonic noticed her concern and sat down beside her. He needed to reassure her that everything will work out in the end. That's when he remembered their earlier conversation.
"Soleanna's ocean is so beautiful."
"Huh?" Blaze stared at him, then looked out at the water. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"
"Mm hmm," Sonic nodded. "It'll be a great sight for me to wake up to in Soleanna."
"…What?" Blaze couldn't believe what she was hearing. Is he…really saying what I think he's saying?
Sonic continued to stare at the sight. "I told you, I go wherever Eggman goes. And if he's staying in Soleanna as a threat…" He looked at Blaze grinning. "Then I'll stay as Soleanna's 'royal guardian.'"
Blaze realized her mouth was agape when she heard his response, yet it did not matter to her.
Sonic was staying. Temporarily, but he was staying.
She smiled and bowed her head slightly. "We would be honored."
Sonic chuckled nervously. "Y-yeah." It was only until Eggman was dealt with, but deep inside, Sonic was actually looking forward to staying. He could get to know Blaze more and experience the different things Soleanna had to offer in the meantime.
And speaking of experiencing different things, Blaze didn't get to see much of the world except that which is allowed because of her duties. Once Eggman was finally dealt with, it would be some time before he came up with some new scheme for making Eggmanland. During that time, perhaps he could show Blaze the world. She looked like she could use a vacation, at least.
When he proposed the idea to her, she seemed quite fond of it. In doing so, they could showcase what they each experienced in their lives prior to their meeting one another.
It was an overall sound plan.
After talking a bit more, Sonic and Blaze realized it would be dark soon. Letting Sonic take the first shift this time, Blaze feel to a peaceful sleep, giving thanks to Solaris for her newfound friendship.
From above, the crystallized hedgehog watched in amusement at the sight of Sonic and the princess getting along.
All according to plan, he thought. Soon, Iblis. Soon.
As he left heading for the desert, Mephiles laughed maniacally.
