More than a kilometer above Angel Island, the Battle Moon's thrusters continued to push it higher and higher into the atmosphere. The fiery glow of sunset illuminated the land below, while the craft rose through thick and dark clouds, obscuring it from view. At the bottommost level, where only utility and hazard lights kept it from being consumed by the surrounding gloom, stood Miles and his robotic lookalike, Mecha Miles Mark II. Both foxes, organic and synthetic, stared each other down, each ready to make a move.
Mecha started proceedings by using the wheels in its feet to charge at its organic counterpart, claws extended and poised to slash. Miles leapt over the robot and reached into his utility belt, spinning on his heel and throwing several bombs at his foe. In retaliation, it swung its serrated tails at the explosives and cleaved them in two before they had a chance to detonate. Annoyed, the teen moved to where there was more space to maneuver, considering what else he could employ against the automaton. Mecha dutifully followed, crouching down as it built up speed and then curled into an amber buzz saw blade, leaving scars in the deck as it gave chase.
The fox tossed a few Dummy Rings out in front of him, then flew over the pursuing double and watched it barrel right into the trap he just put down. Or, it seemed to be heading that direction, until the heavily built bot dug its feet into the ground and came to a halt before it ran into them.
'Damn, it knows how to deal with my usual bag of tricks,' he thought, hesitating to reach for more of his tools.
Mecha's core radiated a purple light as it activated the rocket thrusters in its heels and chased after Miles, trying to skewer the hero with the tips of its tails like a scorpion would. But even as he avoided the direct attempts to stab him, he winced as he felt the jagged edges of those twin limbs brush against him and lightly cut into his flesh. He weaved in and kicked Mecha back before trying to put more distance between them, weighing whether or not to use one of the Emeralds. Recalling what happened after he healed Gizmo, Miles decided against it and instead chose to get even further away, digging into his belt for something that could possibly work.
Mecha's hands retracted into its barrel-like forearms, the empty space they once occupied filling up with a red shine just as the matching tube in its chest brightened. Miles used his tails to give himself a starting boost, only just getting out of the way of twin energy blasts. He found himself skipping, sliding, and even stopping on a dime at times to dodge the shots Mecha sent his way, missing him by a hair each time. After several volleys, the artificial fox recalled one of its hands, using it to hold the other barrel steady as it charged up even further. The organic one hit the deck as a solid beam of crimson surged forth, piercing one of the elevator shafts on this floor and completely totaling it.
"I don't think your master would appreciate the collateral damage you're causing," the fox commented snarkily.
Mecha unsheathed its other hand and balled it into a fist as it landed on solid ground once more, a green glimmer replacing the other two colors now. "The condition of this area is irrelevant to my objective and nonessential to the functions of the Battle Moon. Dr. Fukurokov has authorized full force for your elimination, and if destruction of this battlefield is required to accomplish that, it shall be done."
"Duly noted," Miles mumbled, realizing just how serious this thing was.
The robot sped towards him even quicker than before, catching him with a lightning fast punch across the face. Just as he had been when Mecha first showed up, Miles tumbled and bounced against the floor, feeling the wind rush up under him as he fell over the side. He reversed course and caught back up with the station before it could get out of reach, though he nearly fell over again from bending back to avoid another attack. Mecha had just missed him with an aerial version of its Buzz-saw Spin Dash, traveling over the air for a couple of seconds before it unfurled and rocketed back toward him. Once on the ground again, it switched to solely using its red Chaos Drive, lunging at its foe with furious fists. It made an effort to deliver an axe kick to the flesh and blood fox, and although it missed, there was now a huge hole in the catwalks, the sections nearest the carnage hanging on by metallic fibers.
Miles went in with a Spin Dash of his own, only for Mecha to crouch and block his spherical strike. Shrugging him off, the robot shifted to the green Drive, perfectly mimicking the break dancing-like motions of his Rapid Tails Attack, only with greater velocity than he'd typically use. The teen repeatedly jumped back from the whirling steel blender, getting a chance to roll to the side as Mecha sliced through a support pillar. It returned upright, letting its core dim as it took up a more defensive posture, its cyan-blue optics "narrowing".
'Okay, there's no way that the doc came up with Mecha Me on his own,' he concluded, irritated at the idea of his enemy "borrowing" even more from other sources, 'especially not with those power sources. He had to have someone get the scoop on how to reproduce Chaos Drives somehow."
That considered, the information didn't really help him out beyond revealing a possible weak point. But to get at it, he needed to try a different approach. There had to be something he could use against this thing that it couldn't see coming, at least initially. That was when his hand brushed across the Shield Projector. If Mecha's A.I. had been built prior to his landing on Angel Island, then it shouldn't be aware that he possessed the device. It was risky, because for all he knew, the doctor did indeed possess information about his newest invention, and had installed countermeasures.
'Only one way to find out,' he mused, 'let's see if it's got any data on this.'
Miles waited until Mecha seemed to make up its mind and charged at him, then activated the device. He wreathed himself in flames and unleashed a Fireball Spin Dash that crashed into the core of his mechanical doppelganger when it got close. Mecha stumbled back from the hit, its optics briefly flickering more brightly as it scanned itself for damage. It completed the operation just before Miles could get in another blow, jetting away with its boosters as its core shined with green and purple light. Its fingers seemingly melded together and holes opened in its palms. Electric blue energy batons extended roughly half a meter from these ports, which the bot wielded in ways that only a fully synthetic being could.
Miles brought up his two tails to block the weapons, only to grimace as a shock traveled up his limbs and caused his fur to poof out from the static. He bowed low as one of them suddenly flattened like a blade and passed over his head, then twisted his body to avoid the other as it did the same, sparks kicking up from the ground as it slashed across the steel. The energy retracted a bit and then broadened at the tip, resembling, at least in Miles' mind, the Pikkon Hammer. He momentarily chastised himself for forgetting to pick it up from Gizmo, but it probably wouldn't have helped him much anyway. Mecha seemed to be loaded to the brim when it came to arms and techniques.
"Wow, the doc really just threw everything together when he made you," Miles remarked, ducking and pivoting away from every attack sent his way, "reinforced armor, morph-able energy melee weapons, blaster cannons, a wave motion gun, rocket boots, wheels in your heels, and you know my moves on top of all that." He flipped back and away, minding his step as he came close to the edge. "I'm actually a bit miffed he built you for such a single-minded purpose."
Mecha didn't let up with its assault, though there was a notable lag in its speed compared to a few seconds ago. "Why express concern for something which is constructed to terminate you?"
"You should already know the answer, if your A.I. is at all based on me," the hero retorted.
He leapt back from a beam saber slash and retaliated with a Fireball Spin Dash, managing to score a clean hit and knocking his double back. Miles went in for a second strike, only to gasp as Mecha spun out of the way and grabbed him by his scruff. He let out a painful grunt as he was slammed into the ground and then tossed away, his Flame Shield collapsing when a follow-up energy blast collided with him. The robot sought to shoot him out of the air with follow-up rounds, but Miles shook his daze away and flipped back onto his feet while letting the attacks graze by.
"Affirmative," Mecha replied monotonously, "your neural patterns, as indicated by samples of your genetic coding, serve as the framework for my central processing. Footage captured by the doctor of your numerous confrontations with the Empire was used to refine the replication of your abilities, in addition to adopting tactics that you would employ."
The teen weaved in close and aimed a kick at the Chaos Drives in its chest, but the double fended it off by crossing its arms over the area. He found himself bouncing back a couple of times on his toes as those jagged tails aimed for him once again, getting stuck in the flooring. Miles spun his own set to fly forward, only to feint up high when Mecha moved to block him from the front. He cartwheeled through the air, just out of reach of a few swipes, then came down with a Drop Attack onto the bot's head. Mecha was forced to its knees, but that gave it the leverage it needed to yank its tails out of the ground and quickly get back up.
"Exactly," Miles said, causing his doppelganger to tilt its head curiously, "so you should understand why I think it's a waste for you to be a killing machine when you could be so much more than that. Even though you're my enemy, you're a remarkable feat of engineering, the likes of which hasn't been seen since the days of the last Great Civilization."
Mecha's eyes flickered briefly, as though contemplating what the other fox said. "It is true that my data also notes the organic experience of 'passion' when you are involved in mechanical endeavors. This extended to affection, in the case of more personal projects, such as the companion unit Remi."
While he didn't want to get his hopes too high, Miles welcomed this short break from the action. He had to come up with some way of either extracting or destroying the Chaos Drives in Mecha's core, and stalling for just a little bit could help him think of something. It would also give his Shield Projector some much needed time to recharge, though he wasn't sure what to go for once it was ready.
"Ultimately, your appeals are futile," the metal mimic stated, "my programming cannot be overwritten by diplomacy."
The hero clicked his tongue irritably. "I thought it might be worth a shot, since you seemed like a reasonable, rational vulpine. But I guess the doctor couldn't let you be too much like me, could he?"
The robot answered him by withdrawing its claws and whipping out its cannons once more. Miles dug his heels in as his tails started to spin, ready to dash at a moment's notice.
"You don't understand the situation you're in, whelp!" Dr. Fukurokov claimed, "or just what a Chaos Emerald can do, even when it's drained!"
The albatross mech spread its massive wings and a hail of feather-shaped rays of energy rained down in the direction of the hedgehog. Sonic evaded the storm of luminescent bullets by running up and along the edges of the crane tower they were near, jumping through the gaps in the support beams every so often. The doctor went to put a stop to that, commanding his ride to strike at the base of the structure to try and force it to topple over. Just before it connected, the hoglet reached the top of the crane and leapt off, lining himself up with the space between the spikes of that avian's crown. He managed to land a hit before the doctor saw it coming, causing the mech's head to bow and the rest of it to stumble for a moment.
"Real impressed so far," Sonic snarked, dusting off one of his arms.
Dr. Fukurokov growled through the speakers and made the albatross peck down at him. The boy avoided it, but the thing's beak hadn't gotten stuck like he'd expected, the sharp edge of it allowing the robot to withdraw it from the catwalk quite easily. A flap of its wings created a huge gust of wind that blew Sonic back, though he forced himself to the ground with a Bounce Attack before he could fly over the side of the pipes and into the lake. He didn't bother to uncurl, going straight into a Spin Dash and rushing at the immense bird. The albatross jabbed at him once more, just barely missing and leaving the kid between its head and legs. With another daring maneuver, Sonic converted his Dash to a Jump and hit the smooth spot nestled between the barbs in the bot's chest.
Its legs wobbled and skidded back a few steps from the blow, but it righted itself, its black eyes focused on the hedgehog. The mech spread its wings and took to the air, circling about the arena. It made a few passes over the place, doing nothing more than stirring up the wind, before Sonic started to get antsy.
"Come on, doc, I thought you were gonna get me!" Sonic taunted as he looked on, wondering what the owl was plotting.
As if on cue, the humongous bird suddenly appeared a lot pointier as its weapons ports gave off a silvery sheen. Sonic saw that those were, in fact, needle tips to a whole heaping load of missiles, which the doctor unleashed all at once. With a smirk, Sonic took a breath, knelt down, and Jumped up as high as he could. The missiles followed after him, a few of them crashing into each other from the sudden change in direction. It appeared that while they were locked onto him, they didn't home perfectly, nor were they built with any tech to keep them from running into one another.
'Perfect,' he thought as he glanced back through the blue blur in his Rolling state.
Sonic unfurled from his spherical form and shifted his body so that he dodged the first missile headed his way. He did the same with the second, though he extended a hand to grab onto that one, taking him for quite the ride as it struggled to correct course between his added weight and its programming. Once he was able to get up on the thing and establish a foothold, he tilted into the thing like he was surfing. Sonic weaved it out of the way of the initial missile that went after him, causing it to impact and detonate many others due to their proximity. A few strays managed to get through the cloud of debris, keeping on his tail as he directed them to his foe.
Dr. Fukurokov let out a cackling caw as witnessed the hedgehog altering the path of his explosives. The boy thought he was clever, did he? He made the albatross perch atop the tower and flap its wings a second time, intent on knocking the kid out of the air or into the other missiles. All that succeeded in doing, however, was giving Sonic plenty of opportunities to show off some aerial tricks that would normally be impossible for even naturally agile Animals. The doctor gritted his teeth under his beak and kept those wings flapping, but the hoglet dropped to lay across the missile and kick his feet like he was using a paddle board. To the owl's shock, such an asinine approach actually worked, Sonic's sheer speed letting him fight against the gusts until he got close.
From there, he kicked the back of his ride so that it collided with the albatross' chest, pushing it back and making its head bobble low. The boy grabbed hold of two spikes in its crown and flung himself over the top of the mech, landing on the other edge of the tower. Dr. Fukurokov wheeled his creation around to counterattack the hedgehog, but he wasn't given a chance as the bird was suddenly slammed into the ground by a handful of powerful explosions. The missiles that had been blown back by the winds of his wings had caught up with Sonic, or they would have, if there hadn't been an even bigger target blocking their path. The internal alarms beeped and blared at the old bird, notifying him of the damage that his creation had taken, not that it wasn't already obvious. And as he pushed the albatross back to its webbed feet, Dr. Fukurokov let out a loud shout of indignation.
"You are really beginning to annoy me!" the engineer snapped, "how is it that you fight so much better now than when we last battled?"
"No mystery there, old man," Sonic replied smugly, "I'm stronger now than I was then, and I'm not going easy on you this time!"
Dr. Fukurokov could have sworn that he felt like his forehead was on fire after hearing that. "What do you mean 'going easy' on me!? You couldn't have beaten me on your own then, and you shan't this time!"
The albatross kept in the air and hacked away at the hoglet with its beak several more times, but the kid just Jumped and Rolled out of the way in each instance. His form spun up and around the crane, coaxing the mech into tearing away at the supports with every strike it made. Once the two of them neared the top, Sonic lured the mech into stabbing at the center of the beams, springing off of its head and revving up in mid-air. With a boom true to his nickname, the young hero spiraled down into the robot's back with a Meteor Spin Dash. The force not only made it fall prone into the tower, but the cumulative damage it had dealt to the structure caused it to collapse under the stress and weight of the thing. Sonic made a graceful three-point landing on one of the pipes near the wreckage, panting a little bit. Much as he liked to brag, the events of the day were starting to wear on him, and going hard on the doctor was adding to the fatigue.
'Can't rest my dogs just yet,' he reminded himself, patting the sides of his face to keep focused, 'gotta stick it out for Tails!'
The ruins of the tower erupted into a geyser of metal as the mech fought free from the pile of rubbish. A screech of rage blasted out of the speakers, and its bill opened wide as deep red energy gathered at the end of a barrel in place of where a tongue would be.
"I've suffered being made a fool at the hands of that fox time and again," Dr. Fukurokov thundered, "I'll not have that become a recurring trend with you as well! Die, you little blue rat!"
A crimson orb crackling with dark bolts of energy fired from the cannon in the maw, which Sonic had no problem avoiding. What was an issue, however, was that the projectile blasted several of the pipes to pieces, limiting the ground he could stand on. No other building was around for him to escape to, and they were fairly far out on the lake. He did have the Bubble Shield just in case, but he wasn't eager to find out just how deep the water was. There was only one path that would take him closer to shore, and the albatross mech was currently situated atop it. It was either try and beat it here or look for an opening to make a break for it, and he was sure that the doctor wasn't going to give him any wiggle room in that regard.
And it soon became apparent that the owl was quite aware of this predicament for the boy. The mech once more built up the energy needed for its attack, then aimed it at the ground a few meters in front of it. Sonic hopped over to one of the few pipes that hadn't been affected, feeling sweat forming on his brow as they started to creak under the heft of the doctor's creation. The boy zoomed in so that the doctor wouldn't risk firing at his feet, but the albatross opened its wings and let out another torrent of energy rays, forcing him to double back. He waved his arms in a circle to maintain balance as the shots made swiss cheese out of the piping and caused them to buckle further. If they took another volley or hit from anything else, they would be done, and the hoglet would be taking a dip much sooner than he'd like.
With that in mind, Sonic knelt down near the curve of the pipe he was on and revved up a Spin Dash. Rather than aiming directly at anywhere on the robot, he used the makeshift ramp next to him to try and fly over the mech's head, ready to make a run for it back to safer ground. Dr. Fukurokov responded before he could get the chance, whipping the thing's head upward and spiking the boy much higher into the air than he'd meant to go. With a fierce hoot, the owl commanded it to crush the remainder of the platforming, then took flight after the hoglet.
"You believe that you are the only one who has been restricting himself!?" the bird laughed with a crazed undertone, "this has mostly been a test run as I said, brat! I wanted to get some enjoyment out of this, but you've done nothing but spoil it and force me to use its full capabilities!"
Even in his current situation, Sonic couldn't help but show off his trademark smirk. "You sound like a stick in the mud, doc, because I've been having loads of fun!"
"Then it's time for you to stop!" Dr. Fukurokov vented, his mirth quickly fading back to rage, "any last words before I leave you as chum for whatever aquatic life inhabits the waters below?"
The kid stuck out his tongue and used one hand to display a rather rude gesture to the cameras in the optics. He was glad Miles wasn't there to see him do it, or he'd have words. It had the intended effect, though, if the rising pitch of the owl's snarling was anything to go by. At the same time that he reached into his utility belt to grab the Shield Projector, the albatross rose up to meet him as gravity started to take hold, leaving him nowhere to go. It drew its head back, a sheen crossing its beak as it poised to strike against the fading light of the day.
Just as it moved to follow through, it was suddenly assailed by a hailstorm of machine gun fire, the countless rounds pinging off its plating. The albatross didn't take much damage, but it was suitably thrown off balance enough that it missed Sonic, leaving the hedgehog to continue his free-fall unharmed. That didn't last long either, as he felt something wrap about his midsection and tug him back upward. He looked to see what it was and smiled when he spotted the Tornado overhead, and a familiar teal wolf on the other end of the grappling wire that was fastened around him. With a hearty pull, he was soon on the wing next to her, spotting the other two Animals in their respective seats.
"Nice entrance, guys," he complimented them, "bonus points for dramatic timing and making that bird barely miss me."
An even louder screech of fury came from the mech, which was treading the air as it stared down the plane. "You and Prower both have the devil's own luck!" There was a moment of calm that was soon replaced by dark chuckling. "But this works out well enough for me. I was planning to kill those flea-bitten canines along with that new tag-along, too. Having you all here together just makes things more efficient!"
"Please, you think that clunker stands a chance against my bird?" Sonic scoffed, taking a position on the right side of the wingspan, "no way! Even if you've got a Chaos Emerald powering that thing, my friends and I will take it down!"
Gizmo pumped a fist and aimed her grappler at the robot. "You've got that right, spiny boy! I've been wanting another crack at the doctor anyway!"
"And I get to help this time!" Fuchsia chimed in, "just tell me what to do, Gad!"
A grunt of affirmation came from the red twin. "Fu, get all of the weapons primed while I get us in position. Sis, Sonic, you know what to do."
"Of course!" the hedgehog replied, bracing himself for the next part of the battle, "let's do it to it!"
As he laid on his back, floating on the surface of the lake and watching the fight between the doctor's machine, as well as the ascension of the Dragon's Egg, Knuckles felt many things. He was pleased to see that the efforts made to remove that piece of a horrible prophecy hadn't gone to waste, but he worried what the fox would do. The Guardian had boarded the escort vessel himself to do battle with him if necessary, but he'd been unceremoniously shoved to the side, quite genuinely over the edge at that. If he didn't possess the ability to glide and remarkable durability, that would have been the end of him.
It had been too quick for him to get a proper glance at what hit him, though its Chaos Energy was...different. As monstrous as the fox was made out to be by his ancestors and the doctor, his signature still felt natural, as did the strange presence that lingered on occasion around the island. Whatever had prevented him from having a proper showdown with his fated rival also possessed a "typical" sort of presence, but it felt off, like it hadn't been condensed in the body by the usual process. He wondered if that was another of the owl's creations, perhaps one built precisely in the event the fox managed to board the Dragon's Egg transport.
Then there was that whole thing that his enemy was trying to say, about it not being the Dragon's Egg. How would he know whether or not it was the genuine article? And that point the vulpine made about it bearing some sort of insignia that he couldn't see. There was no need to embarrass him like that! So what if his vision wasn't the greatest? He was still able to fight and live well enough with his other senses, especially those afforded to him as Guardian.
'Calm down,' he mentally scolded himself, 'it was because I lost my focus that I ended up here.'
After a few deep breaths, Knuckles flipped himself over and began to swim towards the closest point he could pull himself out of the water. He spied the dock where the strange vehicle the fox had used had once sat at, and soon enough, managed to get onto dry land. Everything around him was starting to go dark, but it wasn't due to his vision going out. Gazing upward, the Guardian saw that the already fading light in the sky was becoming quickly obscured by dark clouds. He frowned as the faint rumble of thunder filled the air, a few flashes of light coursing through the clouds as raindrops began to fall, their volume steadily increasing.
'Something about this storm does not feel right,' he thought grimly, 'it arrived so suddenly, and near the end of the day. I pray that this is not a sign of things to come.'
"Oh, Knuckles!" came a voice that he could never mistake for anyone else.
There was Big, waving to him and wearing that usual close-eyed goofy smile. Part of the echidna was still a bit cross that the cat had helped the fox's friends, but it wasn't entirely surprising. The guy was known for being amicable and easy to please, so it made sense to Knuckles that his friend would get lured in by a false promise. He would not hold that against him, not that doing so would benefit him anyway.
"Hello, Big," he curtly replied, "what are you doing here?"
The cat went to stand next to him and tapped a button on his fishing pole, shielding them both from the rain as its umbrella popped out. "I found out that Froggy's in the area! I caught his scent and followed it all the way here!" He seemed proud for but a second before his smile drooped. "But it doesn't get any stronger from here. I've looked just about everywhere in this weird place, and I can't find him."
Knuckles found that rather peculiar. He didn't doubt the feline's keen sense of smell, not when he'd seen it used to great effect first hand. But, it did beg an important question.
"Why would Froggy be here?" he asked his hefty friend.
Big simply shrugged. "I dunno, but my nose doesn't lie." His ears perked up as the sound of concussive blasts disturbed the gentle patter of rain. "Oh, that's Giselle and them! That's a really big bird that they're fighting."
Given how high up the battle was taking place, the Guardian knew there was nothing he could do to help the doctor. No tower nearby could afford him the altitude to glide into the fray, and the rain and wind were starting to get worse. It would have to be the owl's own effort that brought down the fox's group, along with whatever was fighting Miles himself. Even though it looked like things weren't going particularly well for Dr. Fukurokov, Knuckles had to have faith that he would pull through.
'Angel Island will be safe if they emerge victorious,' he told himself internally, 'that is what they promised. With the Dragon's Egg removed, it should be able to return to its proper place in the sky.'
And yet, he couldn't keep his mind off of the other possibility: the one where the fox wins. Part of him held onto that terror produced by the mural in the Hidden Palace, and the story about it that had been passed down. The same fear that made him believe that despite all of the efforts he was making to prevent the worst from happening, it couldn't be stopped. After all, the doctor had informed him of his previous battles with Miles. How he would find a way to seize victory from the jaws of defeat, such as when he used the Chaos Emeralds to become a monster. It scared him to think that there was a chance that he could do so here as well.
"Big," he said to the cat, who moved his head to stare down at him, "I need to leave, to prepare for the worst. You know where to find me if you need me...just please, do not bring trouble with you."
Big nodded and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, buddy. Everything will work out."
"I hope you are right," the echidna mumbled.
He dashed away in the direction of the base's outer limits, using his gliding ability to cut across quite a few wide gaps in the terrain. The cat watched him go until he was little more than a dot in the distance, then turned his attention back to the battle at hand. Like his friend, he wished that there was something, but he couldn't fly or work a machine nearby to get him up there. Maybe if he had a really big fish, he could distract that overgrown bird or something.
"But if it's one of those things the little birds made, it doesn't need to eat, does it?" he considered, scratching his chin with his free hand.
He would just have to hope for the best that Giselle and the others could get out of this okay. Not that he was too worried, given how well they seemed to be doing. Maybe after that and some rest, they could look for Froggy together again. It still bugged him that the little amphibian seemed to be around here, yet was nowhere to be found.
Miles used a Spin Dash to rocket down the catwalk as he dodged more energy blasts from his double, getting back to his feet before he reached the edge. He let out a yelp as he ducked beneath a claw swipe not even a second after uncurling, Mecha's face mere centimeters from his with its core below glowing green from its active Speed Drive. The fox Jumped into his foe, but despite the tiny amount of space between them, it didn't connect as the synthetic vulpine doubled back in a flash. The Flight Drive lit up in conjunction with the other, and the robot activated an aerial Buzz-saw Spin Dash in an attempt to bisect the original. A reflexive twist of his body and use of his tails allowed him to avoid becoming split in twain, but the tireless assault from the bot was starting to wear on him, as was the fact he'd been running around and fighting all day.
'Can't let the fatigue get to me,' Miles thought, 'but it's tough to keep up with something that can do most of what I can, plus more. It doesn't help that those Chaos Drives collectively give it roughly the same power boost as an Emerald, when I also can't risk using the actual gems. Well then, time to make it a more even playing field.'
Miles landed back on the flooring and ducked behind a support beam, slipping a few Dummy Rings into one hand. When Mecha came after him, he jumped out from cover and went into a Rolling Attack, which the robot attempted to skewer with its own tails. The teen returned upright and swiveled his body so that the appendages just missed him, then threw the Dummy Rings at his doppelganger's face. He kicked away just before they made impact, watching with a grin as his opponent's head reeled back from the explosion. The fox didn't stray far from his target, however, pouncing back at it once the opportunity presented itself and reaching into that chest cavity. Mecha responded with a strong hook that easily knocked Miles off of it, only for a system alert to start going off like crazy.
"Looking for this?" the hero taunted as he revealed that he was holding the Speed Drive in one hand, "it sure does seem important."
The robot glared at him, using its wheels and boosters in tandem to close the distance, but without that third piece, its velocity had dropped considerably. Miles didn't give it the chance to retake the tube and promptly opened one end of it to take out the verdant crystal. He felt the same surge of energy as he would when using an Emerald at full strength, albeit not as impressive as the real deal. There was a sensation of lightness that filled his body, as though he weighed nothing at all in the moment, which he assumed was associated with the fact the fragment was focused solely on increasing speed. He knew, though, that unlike his Emerald, the Drive would eventually run out of energy and dissipate, so he had to make it count.
Miles broke the sound barrier the moment his heels left the ground, using his other hand to swing a supersonic punch into Mecha's face. The artificial fox flipped over a few times in the air, stopping itself by grabbing onto the catwalk with its vicious claws. Both Power and Flight Drives came online, their holder zipping up close to the bottom of the Battle Moon and opened fire with its cannons. It didn't charge any of its shots this time, and while that reduced their size and power, it allowed Mecha to release them more rapidly. But with the Speed Drive in Miles' hands, it was almost trivial for him to outrun and avoid the blasts, although the barrage made it so that he couldn't get in close himself. Not only that, Mecha's reckless bombardment was ripping off chunks of the surrounding environment, leaving them both with less room to stand.
Those barrels eventually ceased with their attack, the gray metal having turned red hot, steaming billowing out of the ends of them. The instant that it let up, Mecha was sent plummeting to the ground with a dive kick, though it stopped itself from getting knocked prone and sent the fox flying back with a powerful discharge. And yet, it wasn't given long to recuperate before Miles was on top of it again, giving it a taste of what it gave him earlier with his own powered-up version of the Rapid Tails Attack. Though its plating was tougher than anything he'd fought, even the Grand Kukku Mobile Suit, it didn't escape without a scratch, and suffered even more gashes and dents the closer the fox struck to its core.
Miles put himself at a considerable distance, ready to give his double another taste, only to feel the Chaos Drive crumble like dirt in his fingers. His body went back to feeling like its normal weight, though with the mounting fatigue, it seemed even heavier. He cursed the timing of it, but supposed that was what he got for drawing as much energy from it as he just did. He wasn't built like Mecha, after all. It served as a measuring stick to how he used the Emeralds themselves, too, and that his wielding of their power was not as efficient as he'd believed. Perhaps that could be something he worked on once he restored them to their rightful state, assuming he could find a way to do that.
"Even without a Speed Drive, my superior construction will outpace you," Mecha claimed, bringing its digits out once more, which began to shine with bright yellow around their joints, "I do not suffer such a debility as limited stamina, and I still have more in my arsenal to use against you."
It demonstrated such by firing golden rings of light his way which, like his own bombs, erupted in rather large explosions despite their small size. Miles grimaced as another of the stairwells that led up into the Battle Moon was reduced to rubble, causing the flooring to buckle a bit more. It was true that the two of them could compensate if it turned into a dogfight, but then it would turn into a chase to keep up with the space station, too. He knew he didn't have the energy to keep that up on top of everything else, so the best he could do was try and minimize any further damage to the arena.
That aside, the sky had also gotten quite dim, and the fox was certain that it wasn't evening yet, nor had they risen far enough to enter the next atmospheric layer. The clouds had piled on pretty thick, and they were much darker than he'd seen them just a short while ago. The fur in his ears was tickled by the low rumble of thunder, and he spotted flashes out of the corner of his eyes, both of which made him subconsciously flinch.
His mind went back to a time when he was still a young kit, before he met the family and friends he has now, and after his biological parents had disappeared. He recalled that he'd always been skittish about storms, but the first monsoon season without anyone there to comfort him had been a nightmare. The winds and the rain had been too severe for him to step out of the cabin for long, and the power had rarely been on during the ordeal, leaving him with little light and ways to prepare food most of the time. The worst had been the thunder and lightning. Not only had those kept him up at night, but the latter had come close to striking him several times when he had bravely tried to venture beyond his safe space. He remembered spending hours huddled under a blanket, shivering and occasionally crying, both from the terror and dearly missing his mother and father.
'I'm glad I had a place of real comfort after I met the Wolf family,' he thought with a smile, 'they've done so much for me...but their patience with my astraphobia is something I'll always be grateful for.' He clenched a fist and took in a deep breath, not letting his fur stand up even as the surrounding storm worsened. 'I was still suffering from it even when the Kukkus first invaded, and for a short while after that. But, with their love and dedication, and my own willpower, I was eventually able to move past it! I'm not going to let that old fear stop me here!'
Feeling as though he'd just gotten his second wind, Miles charged in without hesitation and swung at Mecha, which dodged the hit easily enough. It slashed at him in return, managing to catch the fox in the side and make him wince as a bit of blood was drawn above his waist. Still, he didn't let the pain overpower him, pushing through the stinging and aching to drive a hard kick into the robot's chest. A few bolts crackled around the core from the impact, while Mecha itself skidded back on its heels, its wheels kicking up sparks. The Power Drive's crimson brilliance illuminated the bot's chest, and like it had done so some minutes ago, it steadied one arm while the other had energy coalesced into the end of it. Miles was ready to move the moment he fired, his tails warming themselves up as he dug his blue and white kicks into the metal. A bolt of lightning arced through the clouds and struck the elevator just behind Mecha, and it let loose in the next instant.
To the teen's surprise, the concentrated energy beam went wide from its mark, so much so that he didn't even need to pivot or so much as flinch to avoid it. He glanced over to see that Mecha's optics were dilated, and the arm it had used to fire at him was trembling ever so slightly. Perhaps he'd been imagining things, but it was like the duplicate of himself had faltered right when the lightning had made its mark.
'Could it be?' Miles wondered.
A loud jingle came from one of his belt pouches, signaling that the Shield Projector had finished cooling down and was ready to use again. There was an idea forming in his head, just in case his hypothesis turned out to be correct, but he couldn't put it into action just yet. He kept on the outer edge of the catwalks, one hand on the device while he fixed his gaze on Mecha's next movement. The robot shook off its daze and curled its own steel digits into fists, tucking its body in as the Flight Drive amplified its boosters. With a screech like a jet engine, the vulpine droid crossed from one end of the arena to the other, set to pulverize its original into paste.
Miles stepped away from the end of the flooring, grabbing onto a pole with his free hand to swing out of the way of the blow. He even corrected his course as he noticed Mecha altered its trajectory, revolving around the beam a couple of times and landing close to a lift. The Kukku masterwork was quick to return, slamming its feet into the catwalk hard enough to warp the metal. It drew one fist back with as much gusto as Knuckles would, the Power Drive seemingly overclocked as the whole limb became cloaked in the same luminescent splendor.
Perhaps due to their altitude and the abundance of metal to attract it, lightning struck near them once again. While Miles was rather startled by the close call, Mecha seemed to have it worse. Like with its particle cannon, the empowered punch came nowhere near its mark, instead slamming into the suspension beam next to the fox. Miles countered with a close-quarters Spin Dash, managing to knock the bot on its back for once, though it only briefly stayed down. He noted that it was twice now that nature had flexed its muscles and caused his opponent to falter in some manner. Its reaction could have been a coincidence in both cases, but the tense yet uneasy posture that his double had suggested otherwise.
The teen pressed the offense this time, dashing straight at Mecha and briefly dipped one hand into his utility belt. He then aimed a number of kicks at the robot, most of which it dodged or was merely grazed by. It lashed back with its tails, using them like clubs as it continued to put its Power Drive to good use, though without the Speed Drive to supplement it, most of its strikes couldn't land. The few that did, however, Miles had to bite his chops to keep himself from crying out as the serrated teeth on those limbs sliced against him. The pain distracted him enough for Mecha to deliver a jet-powered kick to the liver and send him flying, crashing back down on the deck near one of the lifts. A wave of nausea passed through him as he struggled to get to his feet, his vision blurring for a few seconds.
"Perhaps you are not as clever as data suggests," Mecha said as it stomped over to him, "you had many potential approaches, yet chose that which left you particularly vulnerable." It extended its claws and lifted both arms above its head. "It took longer than calculated, but this conflict shall be concluded. As for what awaits this unit afterward, that shall be under the discretion of the doctor."
Miles shook off the daze from the blow and smirked at the likeness of himself. "I agree with you that this fight is over, but not in your favor!"
With that proclamation, he once again called upon the Shield Projector, bringing up the Lightning Shield this time. Mecha's hands stopped short of tearing into him as those white hot bolts formed a sphere around the fox. The hero fully stood up, brushed himself off, and began walking to his counterpart, which involuntarily backed away from him in turn. Seeing this, Miles couldn't help but let out a sinister chuckle.
"Illogical automatic response," Mecha droned out, gazing down at itself and then at the other fox, "does not compute. Query: what is happening to me?"
"The doctor made you afraid of lightning," he pointed out, "I'm guessing it's some sort of fail-safe in the event you turned rebellious. Perhaps he even meant to set it up so that we both would be crippled and easy pickings for him, if we'd joined forces for whatever reason." The fox cracked his knuckles as the static made his fur stand on end, appearing even bigger than he really was. "Unfortunately for the both of you, I got over my astraphobia a while ago!"
He drove a punch into Mecha's face, some of the electricity jumping from his fist into the robot and causing sparks to erupt from its ears. It seemed that not only had Dr. Fukurokov made the replica afraid of lightning, but physically weak to it as well! He drove his knee into the thing's chest, watching with some delight as his copy spasmed from the impact, the plasma-laced damage to its weak point utterly stunning it. This gave him the time to buckle the Projector to his belt, then leaned in to yank the other two Chaos Drives out of their sockets. Like he'd expected, Mecha wasn't deactivated the instant he pulled them free, but the thing was no doubt severely limited compared to before.
But now that he knew what was most effective and what the Kukku creation was capable of, this would be easy. Miles tossed the Flight Drive into the sky below, then opened the canister for the Power Drive so that he could use it himself. He wasted no time tapping into it, feeling his muscles firm up and grow beneath his fur just in time to sock the robot right in the optics with his free hand. A crack formed in the tempered glass, but Mecha was given no time to address the breach before it got bonked on the head with a fluffy tail, only it was more like being slammed with a sledgehammer. Miles repeated this action a few times, denting up the amber frame before knocking the invention to the ground with a jump kick.
"Now to finish this and bring down the Battle Moon!" he said to his double, the Lightning Shield flickering.
Miles put the Power Drive in his muzzle and bit down as grabbed Mecha by both of its arms, tossing it into the air and using the Double Jump to build up more electricity. With his tails below him, the fox continued to kick his doppelganger up towards the space station, guiding it into one of the elevator shafts. Once they were in a suitable position, the hero forcefully balled the robot up into a Rolling form, his arms and hands bouncing it up and down more and more rapidly. Bolts from the Lightning Shield coursed through his arms, sparks and pops emitting from his foe. Noises that were more akin to the stereotypical beeps and boops of simplistic AI came out of the robot, no doubt fried by the constant shocks it was receiving.
"Time to put you out of your misery," Miles declared, tossing the synthetic fox up and drawing his legs in, "Lightning Driver!"
With a thunderous double kick that drowned out the natural noise, he sent Mecha soaring up into the lift shaft. The clamor of thick layers of steel being punctured by plasma-charged metal met his ears, along with the screams of countless Kukku combatants. These were followed up by multiple blasts of increasing intensity, until it climaxed with the thrusters on the underside of the Battle Moon ominously quaking and their flames suddenly going out. It didn't take long before the fox noticed that they had stopped ascending.
The whole of the level Miles was currently on buckled and broke apart, then detached completely from the station itself, leaving him at the mercy of gravity and the storm. The winds carried the fox and the debris he was standing on away from the Battle Moon, but even against the coming night and the dark clouds, he could see its colossal silhouette coming down. He panted and was about ready to collapse, but knew that he couldn't afford to do that just yet. There was still the matter of a safe landing and setting up a small camp for the night.
"No! How can this be!?" Dr. Fukurokov wailed as he caught sight of the Battle Moon falling out of the sky, his eyes nearly bulging into his glasses, "that damn fox must have cheated! That raging storm should have left him immobile with fright!"
By contrast, Sonic and the others raised a fist and let out a cheer even as they continued their fight with the albatross mech. "Way to go, Tails! We knew you could do it, big guy!"
"Now to shoot down this overgrown seabird!" Gizmo yipped, her grappler at the ready as her other hand held fast to the wing.
Disheartened by the defeat of one of his greatest creations and the second fall of another, the owl was ill-prepared for a hail of missiles to strike its remaining one. He used its wings to shield the body from what he could, then returned its own volley at the Tornado. One by one, however, each of the explosives detonated prematurely, which utterly confused the doctor until he spotted something on the plane's wings. There were minute flashes of light on the edges of the top, and every time one of them appeared, his missiles burst. He wasn't given long to peep when the big bird's optics were splattered with more machine gun rounds to go with the rain.
"How do you like your point-defense lasers being used against you?" Gadget shouted over the storm and the engine, "it's one of the designs we managed to swipe from your console on the Battle Fortress before it was destroyed!"
Dr. Fukurokov commanded his creation to pursue the smaller vessel, furious at having his own technology pilfered and put to use in his enemies' hands. Footage from the Fortress in its final minutes showed that wolf in particular was the same one that had commanded that infernal pet of the fox's to shut down the Grand Kukku Cannon. Sure, his sister had helped, but he was the one that had done all of the figurative heavy lifting.
"You were merely a footnote in the first skirmish against us!" he railed against the lupine pilot, firing numerous crimson orbs at the Tornado, "a stupid kid that couldn't even lay a finger on our former ace!"
"Funny how people can change, unlike your machines," Sonic quipped.
Fuchsia giggled and leaned in a bit more to rub the red wolf's ears, then returned to viewing her console. "Yeah, my boyfriend is pretty cool."
"Way past cool," the hedgehog corrected her with a smirk, making the cat laugh again.
Gadget made a poor effort to hide his flushed face, mostly on account of his hands being busy with the controls. "L-let's save the flattery and touchy-feel stuff for after we've dealt with the angry bird on our tail, okay?"
Try as it might, the albatross couldn't quite overtake the Tornado in terms of speed. The doctor had it spread its wings and halt, prompting the group of Animals to turn around and fly back its way. When the biplane let loose more of its mass of missiles, the mech answered with its energy rays, cutting down most of them before they could reach him. The Tornado rose up out of their path, then dove down just as it was a handful of meters away. Sonic jumped from the top of the wings and landed a Rolling Jump into the space between its chest spikes, free-falling for a couple of seconds before he was retrieved by Gizmo's grappling wire. Staggering from the spiny kid's blow, it was left open to more machine gun fire from the back as the plane made another pass.
Try as he might, Dr. Fukurokov just couldn't get himself in the right head space to fight back. Dealing with the hedgehog boy had been frustrating enough, though he would never openly admit that his bluster earlier had been just that. With no clear advantage over those brats, even if his mind was in the game, he wouldn't be able to turn the tide in his favor. And though his ride was still solid on the outside, the readings on its defensive integrity were anything but reassuring. If only he could turn things on their head in some way, then perhaps he could still win this fight, or at least get away with some sort of victory.
'There is that, I suppose,' he pondered as he sifted through his options, 'though it would essentially mean abandoning this fine piece of work I spent so much time on, not to mention its precious cargo. And do I really want to do something that will get my arch-nemesis truly worked up, not to mention a bit cliche?' It was only a few moments of consideration that led him to his answer, a devious grin on his beak. 'Oh, I can't kid myself; of course I do. Besides, His Majesty will know how to salvage this situation."
While he devised how to put his plan into action, the Tornado came in for more, bullets ricocheting off the wings of the albatross mech. The giant robot tried to peck at the plane, only to receive a Rolling Jump in the side of its face, the hoglet safe from any spikes there. Sonic was retrieved much like before, and this pattern kept up for a couple of tense minutes, more dents and chips forming in the bigger machine with every round trip. After that, the kid landed back on the top for what felt like the millionth time, crossing his arms and tapping one of his feet.
"Alright, I'm bored now," he told the others, "let's wrap this up and grab the last Emerald. Tails is probably waiting for us somewhere."
"I'd like that, but," Gizmo said as they kept circling around the doctor's creation, "I dunno, I've got a weird feeling about this, like he might be up to something."
Gadget kept their altitude and distance at a constant as he mulled over the situation. "Yeah, his attacks have become more lax, and I'm not sure it's due to damage."
"Then let's take him down before he tries something!" Fuchsia encouraged them, "we won't have to worry if we can beat him to the punch!"
Seeing as they didn't have much choice any other way, the twins agreed to go along with that approach. Just as the red one made moves to bring them in closer, the teal wolf turned to the kid besides her.
"Alright, how're we gonna do this?" she wondered.
Sonic rubbed under his nose and giggled boyishly as he grinned up at her. "I want you to hurl me into that thing like that one event in the Olympics."
"Ooh, I know which one you mean," Gizmo replied, mirroring his expression.
The hedgehog went into a Jump, the wolf's grappling wire wrapping around the blue sphere so that she was effectively wielding an organic ball-and-chain. With her free hand she reached down to click the tongues of her boots between her fingers, grunting as the magnetic soles activated and made them feel all the heavier. Gizmo took the steel wire in both gloves and, with considerable effort, began to spin both herself and Sonic around. The kid was, thankfully, considerably lighter than Vector when it came to doing this, allowing their momentum to build more quickly. Once the two were whirling fast enough to appear as one, Gadget cranked the Tornado's jet engine as high as it would go, intending to pass as closely as possible so they could get a clear shot. Time seemed to slow to a molasses-like crawl as they got within range, no sound in the ears of the Animals aside from their quickened breathing.
"Here we go!" Gizmo cried out, digging her heels into one last rotation before her weapon hand went to her grappler, "Hedgehog Hammer Throw!"
At the same time that the pilot suddenly cut the thrust, there was another click, and the cable released itself from around Sonic, sending him careening towards the albatross' chest. Just as they had planned, the boy was aimed perfectly between its breast spikes, causing the huge bird to hunch inward from the sheer impact. With a high-pitched screech, the spiny young hero drilled through the armor plating and out of the other side of the mech, leaving it twitching in the air. Sonic continued flipping forward until gravity finally began to pull him down, at which point the Tornado caught up and let him land stylishly on the wing.
"Nailed it!" he hollered, giving the crew a thumbs-up, "now let's go get that Emerald before it falls into the lake!"
They pulled a U-turn and headed back in the direction of the albatross, being treated to the spectacle of the massive fireball its explosion made. The Tornado's built-in Emerald Radar indicated that the gem was plummeting towards the water, and the group decreased their altitude accordingly. What also caught Sonic's eye, however, was a curious translucent blue bubble that he spotted coming down as well. Inside of it was a rather sizable green frog, one probably half as long as he was tall, sporting a white underbelly, orange stripes on the sides, and red marks on its cheeks, with relatively big eyes that had pale yellow sclera and wide black pupils. Before he could point it out or ask what it could be doing there, Gizmo's wire popped the bubble and snagged it out of the air.
"So the doc's started using Critters to power his big machines now?" she remarked with disgust. Although, once she got a better look at the little guy, her eyes slowly widened as a smile did the same on her muzzle. "Wait a minute, this frog looks exactly like the way Big described Froggy!"
Fuchsia popped her head up to take a look, her feline eyes able to see well despite how dark it had gotten. "Hey, you're right, Gizzy! He's gonna be really happy we found his friend!"
"Alright, Sis, you should be able to find the Emerald with your goggles," Gadget called up to her, "hurry up and grab it before I have to pull out of the dive!"
Considering the visibility, she took his advice and pressed in on the corner of her specs. Thanks to the night vision function, she was able to pick out the gem in the rain, steadying her hand to fire. It was a much smaller object to aim for than the friend next to her, but she was confident in her ability and her brother's piloting. With a deep breath, she let loose the cable, watching with bated breath as it extended in slow motion. She cheered a bit on the inside when her aim was proven true, and with a snap of her wrist, she brought the dull red Emerald back to her hand. With that, they finally had all seven of the mystical minerals again, and hopefully, they'd soon have a way to restore them to normal.
Their celebration was cut short when an electric blue beam of light shot through the tail of the Tornado and the jet engine attachment.
"My baby!" Sonic cried out at the crippling blow done to his beloved vehicle.
Everyone yelled as the plane lost control, with Sonic being thrown from the sudden tailspin it went into. Gizmo quickly pocketed the Emerald and tried to call the boy back with her device, but there was far too much turbulence to get a good bead. On top of that, Froggy had started panicking in her grip, so she was distracted by trying to keep hold of him. Gadget struggled to get the craft to even out, although stopping it from falling entirely was proving to be a futile endeavor. At best, they could manage an emergency landing and hope to take as little additional damage as they could.
Just as they were all distracted, a shadow slightly smaller than the Tornado zoomed by and left just as hastily as it had appeared. A pleading scream came from the direction it went, and when the red wolf peered over, he felt ice in his veins. There was a navy blue falcon mech that didn't appear to be modeled on any species in particular, just that he could tell it was meant for speed. He presumed that Dr. Fukurokov had been hiding it in the albatross as a means to escape, but what got him going was what it held in his talons.
"Gad, help me, please!" came Fuchsia's voice, the cat feebly struggling to escape the iron grip that held her.
"Fuchsia!" the wolf howled after her, desperately trying to get the Tornado to ascend again. But no matter what he did, the state of the plane wouldn't allow him to pursue the fleeing robot. "Fuchsia!"
Several seconds later, the twins barreled into the lake, kicking up huge waves of water as they came in hard and fast. The Tornado ended up partially beaching itself with its water landing equipment as it came ashore, leaving the pair of them banged up a bit as well. Once she had her bearing again, Gizmo deactivated her magnet boots, jumped down from the wings, set Froggy down, and started running to the water. She was about to dive in to go get Sonic when the hedgehog zipped up onto the freshwater breach, the sheen of the Bubble Shield around him.
"Oh, thank the gods," she breathed out in relief, "are you hurt, Sonic?"
The hoglet did a quick limb check, rolled his neck, then looked back at her with a smile. "Nope! A bit woozy from that dive, but otherwise, I'm good!"
"Glad to hear it," she said earnestly, her ears folding back as she moved her gaze to the Tornado, "but...this is really bad, kid."
"Yeah," he replied as his face became more serious, "they've grounded our wings and taken one of our friends! We gotta go after them!"
The teal wolf put a hand on his shoulder just before he could go and race off. "I'm all for that, but we've got other problems to deal with first, like getting out of the rain and finding a place to sleep."
Much as he wanted to shrug her off and go save Fuchsia, Sonic knew she was right. He didn't have the strength left to make it halfway to wherever the Kukkus were, and he didn't know where to look to begin with. They had to let Miles know that they were okay, too, and inform him about what happened. Hopefully, he would know what to do once the morning rolled around.
Gadget, meanwhile, hadn't moved from his spot in the pilot's seat, his muzzle against the yoke as his hands clutched at his head fur. The wolf was thankful it was still raining right now, as he didn't want the others to see the mess of tears that were forming. He knew that bringing his girlfriend along had been a risky idea and had been steadfastly against it, but he'd let her and the others convince him it'd be okay. He knew his gut hadn't been steering him wrong during the fight earlier, but she and Sonic had encouraged them to finish it quickly rather than carefully. He had wanted to prevent this sort of scenario from happening, even warned about it happening, and yet he had gone along with it because they had trusted him to make sure that it wouldn't. Now, those birds had taken her to do who knows what, and he felt so...weak. Everything he had done up to now in this crazy adventure? It didn't mean anything if Fuchsia wasn't there to share in the revelry that came after.
But, if the Kukkus thought that this would break him, or any of the others in their group, then they were sorely mistaken.
"Tomorrow," he growled in a low tone, fangs on display as his orange eyes seemed to burn like fire, "I'll get you back, kitten, and those damn birds are gonna pay!"
The Great Battle Kukku had been rather livid when the Battle Moon had failed to perform as promised. Of course, it was the fault of that fox that several of its main generators were horrifically damaged. That imitation that the doctor had built had proven ineffective at taking out the original, and he'd wholly expected that unwieldy mech that his old friend had made to be just as disappointing. The footage he'd been digesting of the battle from all angles had proved him right. It agitated him to no end that this was the third time now that Prower had managed to foil his operations!
The silver lining to this debacle was that the station was still mostly in one piece, and when it came to powering their propulsion, they had a backup plan. The Master Emerald that the echidna guarded would serve as the perfect substitute for both the Chaos Emeralds and their overbearing generators. According to their Radar, they had crashed into the massive volcano in the Red Mountain Range, which was closer to the powerful Chaos Energy reading that they'd deduced belonged to the gem in question. Truthfully, the Emperor had been hoping to put the plan to plunder it into action sooner, but the state of the space station made him decide to delay it for just a little longer. They would squeeze every bit of use out of Knuckles until either he had nothing more to provide, or if that fox broke through his rock-hard stubbornness. Either of those was inevitable, and he really preferred it to be the former that comes true.
A pair of tones similar to a sonar ping sounded off in his ears, indicating he had an urgent call, and his new additions showed it to be Dr. Fukurokov. No doubt the owl was calling him up to inform him about things that he already knew. Oh well...it had been a while since he'd last given any of his underlings a good dressing down, and he'd had one on the back-burner for his Number 2, both for this and the previous crash landing of the Battle Moon. With that, he directed his internal systems to answer the call, putting it on speaker so that his other minions would be able to hear who he's verbally dismantling.
"Hello, Dmitri," he started off in a cordial manner, "I do hope you weren't banged up too terribly."
There was an odd noise of surprise from the owl, like it was halfway between a gasp and a choke. "Oh, well, I managed not to sustain any serious injuries, but thank you for your concern, Your Highness."
"I'm glad to hear that old friend. Now," the GBK said as the smile on his face morphed into a deep scowl, his teeth audibly clenching, "I normally do not use such vulgar speech, nor do I always speak so frankly...but you really fucked up, Dmitri!"
All the combatants in the command room jumped and instinctively cowered away from their boss. On the other end, they could hear their chief engineer let out a yelp and stutter as he tried to catch his breath. When the Emperor got genuinely angry, nobody wanted to bear the brunt of it, so they couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the owl.
"Not even an hour after liftoff, and we're back on the ground yet again!" their commander ranted, "your mock-up of Prower failed to deliver, and it was a big part of the reason that our engines failed! That damn fox knew exactly where to aim it to knock us down before we could even get to the stratosphere! And don't get me started on the 'brilliant' defenses you came up with for the station and our base. What the hell were our anti-aircraft placements doing!? Shouldn't shooting that stupid plane of theirs have been as easy as ruffling your feathers!? Do you have any explanation for how and why an 8-year-old little bastard of a hedgehog made such a mockery of your latest battle mech!? WELL!?"
There were a few moments where Dr. Fukurokov could do nothing more than mumble quietly, trying to calm himself down after that fright. But, after a bit, he managed to find his voice.
"I-it isn't entirely a wash, Sire!" he rushed to say, "I managed to snag their rookie! Surely, she would serve as a good bargaining chip!"
The GBK wanted to tell his lackey that bringing home a captive did nothing to amend his failures. But then, he really thought about it. This girl, whoever she was, must have been competent enough for the fox to bring her along, which meant that she must possess some skills like the rest of his band. Perhaps she could be used for their purposes, instead.
"Or a Convert," the Kukku leader suggested as a malicious grin showed on his beak.
