Chapter 9: The Beginning Of The End
Mongol blocks as many of Manic's strikes but the glowing hedgehog is much faster, and he is eventually knocked on his back from the barrage. Manic jumps up and stomps on the beast, while Eggman looks on from the floating TV.
"I need you to buy me some time while I get the cannon fired up" Eggman says while typing on a computer "Climb up to the 4th Helicarrier, I've got some reinforcements up there"
Mongol's head bounces off the air ship's steel grates "Augh!... I do not need any help to beat these - little bastards!"
Manic soccer kicks the beast in the face "Well, this little bastard is kicking your sorry ass up and down this ship, so I don't know, pal, maybe you should! You definitely need it!"
Eggman shrugs "I would take the help if I were you"
Mongol roars as he knocks Manic back and gets to his feet. The beast jumps off the first air ship and reaches the second, while Manic smashes machine gun turrets as he follows.
Sonic, Amy and Tails land on the first ship and look up as Eggman's android army is activated. Each has a jet pack so the bots begin to fly around the sky, aiming their weapons at the trio.
Sonic jumps up to perform a homing attack on the closest bot, disengaging it instantly.
"Everyone split up and hit them with everything you got!" Sonic shouts
Amy swings her hammer wildly as she runs around the air ship, while Sonic zooms through the sky destroying bot after bot.
Tails' SAGE program notifies him there is an access point that can be hacked, so he runs to the haul of the ship. He plugs the A.I into a console and begins typing on a keyboard, while the floating TV swivels toward the fox.
Eggman appears on screen "Whatever you're trying to do, it won't work. My encrypted security system is far too advanced for anyone to access"
"Yeah, so I've heard..." Tails replies while typing
"You can't beat the beast, Prower, no matter who or what you have-"
"Manic's doing a pretty good job so far"
"He's toying with you. I scanned him on this ship and trust me, he's unbeatable once you set him off, then he becomes unkillable. With or without me, Mongol will win"
Tails presses the enter key and he gains control of Eggman's first fleet ship.
"...it looks like it'll be without you, doc. I got you and Manic's got Mongol"
"How the hell did you do that?!"
"You're outdated, old man. You think you're the one whose building the future, but clearly you're not as smart as you think you are"
Tails begins to steer the ship away from Metropolis and towards a more secluded area, and every other fleet ship follows. Eggman growls as he types on his keyboard, trying to find other ways to stop Tails.
Manic easily leaps 20 feet up to the next helicarrier as he gives chase. Mongol jumps through the night sky and as he lands on the 4th ship, a GAMMA bot is activated. It's red eyes target the green hedgehog and opens fire, forcing Manic to dive out of the way. He performs acrobatic evasion techniques to avoid being shot, but he can't avoid getting punched by the beast. He bounces off the haul of the ship and drops his Medallion, his only protection from Mongol.
"You can't jump around forever, boy. This is what happens when you get stopped-"
A magenta aura surrounds Mongol before he can finish off Manic, causing both to look around for the source. Starr, the enhanced female hedgehog Manic once called a friend, uses her abilities to subdue Mongol, if only momentarily.
"Why don't you piss off, you big fat prick" Starr says as she pushes the beast away from Manic
"...I would say I'm glad to see you, but the last time we met, you tried to evaporate me" Manic says, picking up his Medallion and getting to his feet "What changed?"
"Your sister bailed me out when nobody else could, and we needed something to do"
"We? Whose we?"
Starr grins as Android Shadow hops aboard the helicarrier, firing energy blasts from his chaos emerald in one hand and a machine gun in the other.
"So you're him, eh. Shadow"
"I'm not the true Shadow, just an android. I'm trying to save him"
"Well, I don't think you'll find him here-"
"I know, but I will find Jonathan here"
Manic looks at him "Who in the blue hell is Jonathan?"
"Knuckles"
Manic, Starr and Shadow evade Mongol's punches and counter strike the beast three times, forcing him to retreat once more. They jump to the next helicarrier to stop him, noticing G.U.N crews on the ground fighting Eggman's bots.
"Wait, you're telling me Knuckles' real name is Jonathan? Am I hearing that right?" Manic asks
"That's the name the government gave him, yes"
Manic laughs "John fucking Knuckles, that's funny"
As the trio land on the 5th air ship, large blast doors open up and 10 other Android Shadow clones are activated. Eggman types on his keyboard and each clone targets Manic.
Shadow stands in front of him "Stay on the beast, Manic"
"What about you?"
"I'll cover you"
Manic nods and continues to chase Mongol to the next helicarrier, meanwhile Shadow opens fire on the clones. Starr joins him in fighting the other android Shadow's, blasting them with her magenta energy. A few are destroyed from their attack, but two more clones run through the energy rays and disarm Shadow, forcing him to engage them hand-to-hand. He smashes the first clone, but three more jump on him, taking him to the ground. Starr does her best to stop them but there is just too many androids to handle,
until Rouge and Charmy join the fight and disengage the clones.
"Who are you?" Starr asks
"I'm the only one who knows how to hit the power switch on these assholes" Rouge says "It's at the base of their necks behind the head. You gotta press that as hard as you can"
The Bat demonstrates this by shoving a screwdriver on the back of an androids neck, which instantly cuts the power to the machine.
"Wow, I didn't expect it to be that easy" Starr says as she disengages an android
"...Eggman built a fail-safe in these things and thought nobody else knew about it. But I found out, that's kinda my thing"
Charmy flies past the girls with a big smile "Yeah, she gets into places you shouldn't be able to reach, and sometimes I help"
A loud engine roars out on the last helicarrier, indicating Eggman has activated a new android. Sonic, Amy and Tails look up and watch Metal Sonic step through the blast doors and look down at them.
"...that's not good" Charmy says
Manic clinches his fists "Okay, so this new guy wants to go, no problem"
A Metallic blue blur follows Metal Sonic as it jumps down to face Manic on the helicarrier he's standing on. The Machine is much faster than him and attacks Manic with lightning fast punches and kicks. His head is bounced around and he's knocked back with a side thrust kick, causing him to smash through the haul of the air ship.
"...okay, you're pretty good" Manic admits "...let's go again"
Metal Sonic is blindsided by the original Sonic, knocking the metallic machine away from his brother.
Manic stands up "This is your clone, I assume"
"Yeah, but this ones a little more advanced" Sonic replies "...he's faster"
"Faster than you? Shit, that don't matter, we'll take him on, anyway!"
Metal Sonic lunges forward to strike, so the brothers dodge and counter strike. Blue and Green flashes of light surround the Metallic blue blur and soon Metal Sonic is overpowered.
Mongol sees this and decides to aid the machine by throwing metal crates at Sonic and Manic, forcing them to watch both sides of the helicarrier for incoming attacks. Manic keeps Metal Sonic back while Sonic gets Mongol's attention, zooming around the air ship.
Finally, the beast abandons this tactic and chooses to run at Manic. The green hedgehog catches Mongol's fist before it makes contact with him, and he's slowly pushed towards the ledge of the air ship.
Manic looks over the edge, it's a 500 foot drop to the ground if he's thrown off.
Sonic tries to help his brother but Metal Sonic keeps him preoccupied,
until Amy finally reaches the fight.
"Get off of him!" Amy shouts
She smashes Metal Sonic with her hammer and knocks the machine backwards. She and Sonic stand side by side ready to attack the clone.
Manic's Medallion once again works hard to give him the strength to hold off Mongol, but the beast is too strong, even with the enhancement.
"Will your magic help you survive that plummet?" Mongol asks
Manic strains as he is slowly forced off the air ship's ledge, now clinging onto Mongol's wrist as his feet dangle.
The familiar light of Silver's vortex appears just 15 above Mongol, and Knuckles dives through the sky. He punches the beast directly in the face and the titanium ballpoint gloves make a CLANG sound upon impact. Mongol falls on his back, taking Manic with him as they slide across the helicarrier's flat top runway.
"Bet your sorry ass didn't see that coming!" Knuckles shouts while turning to his friends "You guys see me drop that fat tub of shit? I cracked him right in the-"
Three Android Shadow Clones tackle Knuckles and he barely has time to put his titanium gloves up to protect himself.
Tails is forced out of Eggman's control room by more Androids and forced to fly up towards his friends for help. Starr has trouble containing the GAMMA bot and the Clones at the same time, so she stands back-to-back with the ally Shadow Clone.
"Guys, there's too many of them!" Charmy shouts as he evades the Clones
The good Android Shadow gets an idea and calls out to Tails
"Prower, I need you to use your hacking program to lure the clones down to the artilery room inside the air ship! I'll take care of the rest"
"Alright, I'm on it!" the fox shouts
Shadow and Knuckles share eye contact for a moment, then they give an approving nod to the other for the final time. Tails is able to hack into Eggman's network and take control of the Shadow clones, taking the pressure off of everyone.
Starr watches her ally Shadow follow the rest of the clones inside the air ship, confused as to what's going on
"Shadow, what're you doing? Hey! What's going on?!" She shouts desperately
The Android looks up at the teenager he's taken care of for the past year, with the slightest of smiles, then shuts the blast doors behind him. Once inside, Shadow aims his machine gun at a gas tank mounted on the wall and fires.
The 5th helicarrier is engulfed in flames as every level explodes. Starr tries to search through the wreckage as it falls from the sky, but there's nothing except burning, twisted metal.
"...he's gone" Tails says
While everyone is distracted, Eggman activates a massive tank on top of his final helicarrier, and two small doors open, revealing a tall crane that rises. This crane lifts a long, metal cannon,
the exact same cannon used to send Sonic to The Nexus two years ago.
Metal Sonic blindsides Amy and Sonic, knocking the pink hedgehog away from her boyfriend. The Machine wraps his metallic hand around his throat and they fly up to the cannon.
Before Eggman can fire it, Knuckles tackles Mongol and they bump into the weapon, moving the line of sight away from Sonic.
"Manic! Get up here and help!" Knuckles orders
The green hedgehog jumps up to meet them and both he and Knuckles attack Mongol. They hit the beast with everything they've got, clearly hurting him, while Tails gives Amy a lift up to fight Metal Sonic.
She's able to break the machine's grip from Sonic's throat, and Tails uses the SAGE program to shut it down.
Amy kneels next to her injured boyfriend "It's alright, you're okay Sonic, I've got you"
Sonic looks behind Amy and watches Metal Sonic backhand Tails out of the sky, then lunge towards them. The blue hedgehog pushes Amy out of the way and he blocks the machine's attacks,
however Metal Sonic is able to drive a metal rod through Sonic's chest, impaling the blue hedgehog on the spot.
Amy screams as she smashes Metal Sonic with her hammer, damaging it to the point where it can't stand. Tails flies back around and kicks the machine off the air ship, then both kneel next to their bleeding friend.
"We gotta put pressure on the wound!" Tails says
The fox holds a large rag on his best friends' chest while Amy rests Sonic's head in her lap.
"Sonic, please just breathe, you'll be okay! Please!" Amy says as she sobs
Knuckles jumps at Mongol but the beast knocks him back down with a power hook punch, and does the same to Manic. Eggman appears on the swiveling TV to taunt the friends once more.
"This cannon sent you off the planet last time-"
The red lights along the sides of the cannon begin to illuminate one by one
"...this time it'll kill you for good"
Mongol stops Knuckles on the platform from trying to shut off the cannon, and Sonic embraces Amy and Tails one last time.
Manic suddenly jumps in front of the trio and shouts "COME ON!"
The cannon fires a powerful blast and the green aura that surrounded Manic disappears in a flash,
while the Jade Green Medallion falls into Sonic's hand, instantly healing him.
Enraged, Knuckles snarls at the beast and attacks him with the remaining strength he has. His titanium gloves CLANG off of Mongol's face, and he steps in for the most powerful straight right punch he's ever thrown. The beast falls directly into the path of Eggman's cannon and it explodes as it fires one last beam of energy right through Mongol's chest.
The beast is blasted off the helicarrier and everyone on the ground watches the mammoth plummet 600 feet into the ocean, and Tails uses the SAGE program to cut Eggman's connection completely.
Amy checks on Sonic, he's healed enough to sit up on his own. Tails looks over the edge and looks at the carnage left from this battle. He uses SAGE to take control of the remaining helicarriers and slowly land them in the grass valley, signaling the end of the fight. Rouge, Charmy and Starr join the others on the runway.
"...is everybody okay?" Sonic asks
Everyone nods, except Starr
"Hey, kid?"
"I'm gonna go look for Manic" Starr replies
"I'll go with her" Tails says
The female hedgehog jumps off the air ship and Tails floats back down next to her, while Amy wraps her arms around Sonic and lovingly squeezes before she kisses his cheek.
"We made it. We won"
Knuckles crosses his arms and leans against the haul of the ship
"Knux?"
"...I wanna be happy that this is all over but uh... Manic and Shadow are gone. I treated 'em like shit, both of them, but they were good guys. I see that now"
Amy helps Sonic stand up and they walk over to the tall echidna
"I think they both knew they were making the right choice, so we should respect that. That's how we keep them alive"
Sonic extends his hand, and this time Knuckles wraps his arms around both of the hedgehogs for a group hug.
Agent Warwick greets them as the helicarrier lands in the field, nodding his head in approval.
"I knew you had one last fight left in you rockstars" The Suit says
"What's gonna happen here? These ships, or Mongol's body?" Sonic asks
"I got a couple teams diving down to recover Mongol as we speak. As for this mess, well.. we'll think of something"
"What about that fat prick Eggman? He's the one who made this mess!" Knuckles asks
"Oh, his computer privileges will definitely be taken away. I've actually thought about cutting him loose entirely, but that's classified stuff. As for his bots, we'll have someone go around Mobius to collect them... Come on, let's go round up your friends"
"What for?" Amy asks
"You're retirement announcement. Oh yeah, I'm gonna need that-"
Warwick takes the Jade Medallion from Sonic and puts it in a briefcase
"That's a family heirloom, pal. It better end up some place safe" Sonic says
A silver limousine pulls up and Warwick grins
"I think it'll be just fine"
Sonia steps out of the back seat and she runs over to Sonic, while her assistant takes the briefcase.
"Oh my god, Sonic, I'm so glad you're home! I missed you so much!" Sonia says
"Hey sis. You mind giving us a ride back downtown? We're not exactly in walking shape"
"Of course. Climb inside the limo, there's room for everyone"
Amy and Sonia exchange a quick hug, then Knuckles faces his ex girlfriend once again
"Hey Sonia"
"Hi Knuckles"
Warwick makes eye contact with both of them, then heads back to his truck, leaving them in complete silence.
"...you heard anything from Julie?"
"Yes, we're finally on speaking terms. And you need to go see here, come on, I'll take you to her on our way back into town"
Knuckles, black eyes and all, manages to smile at a girl who once hated him, because now they're back to being friends.
Everybody climbs in the limo and it takes off back downtown, meanwhile Warwick pulls up to Tails standing alone in the grass field.
The Suit rolls his window down "Let me guess: Starr took off"
"She has nothing left, so she's going to take her chances out there" Tails replies
"Yeah, understandable. Now let's go, you've got a retirement party to attend, kid"
Tails opens the back door but hesitates
"...be honest with me, Warwick, because I could easily outrun you... you're not just gonna lock us up, are you?"
"Kid, I gave my word and I always keep it. You and you're friends will be free to go once you publicly resign as vigilantes"
Tails doesn't say anything, just gets in the back seat and rests in the comfy leather seat. Warwick drives the teenage fox back into town, grateful for what he and his friends have done, even if he won't say it out loud.