Onboard the Egg Carrier, Amy and Lily had been locked in the onboard prison, the former stripped of her famous hammer. Even so, she continued to try and pry the bars apart before devolving into screaming at one of the security cameras.
"Hey! Eggman! You better let me go right now, or you'll be sorry!"
No reply came, not that she was expecting one. She eventually sighed, letting go of the bars and moving to the back of the cell. She slid along the wall before plopping onto the floor, scooping up Lily.
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to get us out, Lily."
Lily just chirped in response.
"I just hope Sonic is ok. He seemed so… broken."
Lily cocked her head.
"Sonic's always been protective of his friends. He's been alone since he was really little and it scares him more than anything. When his friends are in trouble or he doesn't know where they are, he shuts down. Sometimes, he won't speak for days."
She thought back to his desperate look, still feeling how tightly he held her hand. She looked at her hand, then clenched it.
"But he'll pull through. He always does. He'll come save us, then we'll make Eggman regret ever crossing us. You'll see Lily."
Lily chirped again, nuzzling Amy's hand as the hedgehog gently stroked her feathers.
"You'll see..."
…
"Mine is the real frog," Beta insisted, holding up a light green frog with dark green circles..
"No, mine is," Zeta challenged, producing a dark green one with yellow stripes..
"Mine is the right color," Deta pointed out, their frog indeed being the right color, but with a swirl on its back.
"Mine is prettier," Epsilon retorted, their frog a bluish color with yellow-green stars.
"Guys, guys," Cubot spoke up. "You all got the right frog."
"No they didn't," Orbot replied. "There's only one right frog."
"Oh, well in that case, you all failed. Isn't that much better?"
"Oh, be quiet. We'll let the Doctor decide."
Robotnik picked that time to walk into the room, the bots lining up and presenting their frogs. He looked over them all, save for Gamma, who had yet to arrive. Seeing that none of the frogs had the tail he was looking for, he immediately snapped.
"Augh!" Robotnik let out. "Dummies! All of you! Not one of you brought me the right frog! How hard is it to find a frog with a tail?! You'll be lucky I don't sell you for scrap metal!"
Just then, a door opened up, allowing Gamma to enter the room.
"About time Gamma," Robotnik replied as Gamma joined the others. "You'd better have brought me something good, or else I'll-"
His threat abruptly ended when he saw Froggy in Gamma's grip. One look at the amphibian's long tail confirmed his identity.
"This is it!" The doctor exclaimed. "My little Chaos Froggy!"
Robotnik snagged the frog and beamed at it, giving the tail a tug to make sure it was the real deal.
"Well done, Gamma! Unlike your useless brethren, you actually fulfilled your mission." He turned and glared at the other E-100 robots. "The rest of you are utter disappointments! Orbot! Cubot! Get them out of my sight!"
"Alright…" Orbot replied, closing his eyes as he pressed a button on a control console. "I hate this part."
Just then, the four other E-100 series robots were engulfed in blue energy beams. Both Orbot and Cubot shuddered, something that didn't go unnoticed by Gamma. Unfortunately, the bot didn't have long to think on this before Robotnik addressed him again.
"Now Gamma, do me a favor and bring me the little birdy we have down in the cells. And if her pink friend tries anything, vaporize her."
"Understood, sir."
With that, Gamma marched off, prepared to fulfill his duty.
…
Elsewhere in the Egg Carrier, Big continued to carry Helen and Cream as they snuck through the halls of the Egg Carrier.
"This place is like a maze," Cream noted.
"How are we going to find a tiny frog in such a big place?" Helen wondered.
"We have to find him," Big insisted. "I'm not leaving until we have Froggy."
Cheese, who had been oddly silent during this adventure, suddenly started chirping. He began flying down one of the adjacent hallways, motioning for the others to follow.
"I think Cheese has an idea," Cream reasoned.
"After that Chao!" Helen declared.
Big took off after Cheese.
…
Meanwhile, Gamma marched down the hallway, making his way towards the detention bay. As he did, he ended up taking a wrong turn, entering the incorrect door. What he entered wasn't the detention bay, but the robotics lab. To his horror, Beta was in the process of being dismantled, several of his parts littering the ground as sparks flew all around him.
"Beta…?" Gamma let out, almost sounding shocked.
Slowly, he backed out of the room, resuming his regular mission.
"This is the wrong room…"
…
Amy had ended up falling asleep, Lily still in her hands. She was instantly awoken though when Gamma's shadow towered over her. The bot aimed its gun into the cell, then held out its hand.
"Give me the bird."
"Forget it!" Amy declared, holding Lily close. "You're not touching a single feather on her head!"
"Robotnik's orders are to collect the bird. You will comply."
"Like hell I will!"
"Why not?"
"Because, Eggman will hurt her! Or worse, stick her back in a badnik! That's probably it, isn't it?"
"... insufficient data."
"You mean you don't even know?" Amy replied in surprise. "Come on, Mr. Robot, I know there has to be some part of you that knows this is wrong."
"Does not compute… Why do you care for this creature? Is it of importance?"
"All lives are important! No one is worth less than another! I don't expect a badnik to understand!"
Suddenly, Lily flew out of Amy's grasp, flying right up to Gamma's face.
"Lily, wait!" Amy let out.
Lily just floated there, causing something to stir in Gamma. A noise began to emit from him, almost like something inside of him was overheating. It lasted for about a minute, then suddenly went quiet.
"Mr. Robot?" Amy let out.
"... go."
Gamma turned his laser towards the cell door, blasting it and giving Amy an opening.
"You're letting us go?" Amy realized.
"Go now. Escape."
Amy quickly rushed through the hole, grabbing Lily as she did.
"I guess you're not like Eggman's other robots. Thank you. I won't forget this."
The two then flee, Gamma watching them go.
"Bye..." he called out.
…
On the bridge, Robotnik was sitting in his command chair, hoping to determine the locations of the remaining Chaos Emeralds. He made a few notes on his computer, then an alarm began blaring.
"Proximity alert! Proximity alert! Incoming aircraft!"
"What?! Who would dare?!"
An external camera flashed on screen, showing the X-Tornado flying in close. Having never seen the plane before, Robotnik was confused, until he saw the two figures riding on top of it.
"Sonic!" he let out. "When will I finally be rid of that meddlesome hedgehog?! Blow them out of the sky!"
…
Outside, the X-Tornado was instantly fired upon, but the X-Tornado was ready for it. It managed to swerve around the barrage of blaster shoots, before returning fire in kind.
"Woo!" Kat cheered. "You really outdid yourself, Tails!"
"Thanks!" Tails replied. "But you ain't seen nothing yet."
"Careful, Tails!" Sonic warned, pointing up ahead. "Eggman's readying that gun of his again!"
Tails looked up and saw the panels on the Egg Carrier shift, revealing the E-Force Cannon. Tails was a bit shaken, remembering what had happened last time, but he quickly steeled himself, gripping the controls.
"Give me your best shot, Eggman! This time, I'm ready for ya!"
The E-Force Cannon began charging up, prompting Tails to veer upwards.
"Time for a little transformation!" Tails let out, pulling a lever. "Hang tight, you guys!"
"Transformation?" Sonic questioned.
"This'll be good," Keith remarked.
The E-Force cannon barely missed the X-Tornado as it shot up into the sky. Robotnik jumped out of his seat in shock, especially when it returned, two arms coming out of its engines.
"What's this?!" Robotnik let out. "Transform the Egg Carrier, now!"
"Right away doctor," Orbot and Cubot replied.
Several buttons were pressed, causing several panels to open up, revealing weapons of various high calibers. Tails saw this as he stared down the flying fortress with grit and determination.
"I have to wait for just the right moment," He said to himself.
A massive barrage of lasers and missiles began firing at the X-Tornado.
"Now!"
A shield extended from one of the X-Tornado's hands to block the laser fire. A sword extended from the other hand to slice incoming missiles in half. This process continued as the X-Tornado flew closer and closer towards the Egg Carrier.
"Ha!" Tails let out. "How do ya like me now, Eggman?! Come on, give me your best shot!"
"Uh, Tails," Sonic spoke up, knocking on the glass. "I'm glad you're having fun, but let's not make things any worse, ok?"
"Oh," Tails replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry."
"They want to come aboard, do they?" Robotnik mused. "Very well. Let's give them a proper welcome."
"I'm all over it, doc," Cubot replied, pressing a button.
Just then, fireworks began going off as confetti rained down. Several figurines of cheerleaders rose up from the high ground, high kicking as a welcome banner rose up behind them.
"Yay! Yay! Hip-hip-hooray! Yay! Yay! Hip-hip-hooray!"
"Welcomes don't get much warmer than that," Cubot boasted as Orbot facepalmed.
"You fool!" Robotnik chastised. "I was being sarcastic! Now switch us back into battle mode, now!"
...
"Hang on, we're coming in hot!" Tails warned.
The X-Tornado swooped in towards the Egg carrier, skimming along the surface.
"We made it!"
"Way to go, Tails!" Sonic commended. "Now bring it in for a nice, smooth landing."
Suddenly, Tails became panicked.
"Oh no!"
"What is it?!" Sonic asked.
"You'll have to settle for nice and bumpy! There's no landing gear in this mode!"
"What?!" everyone let out at once.
"You're a technical genius, and you forgot the landing gear?!" Knuckles exclaimed.
"We can rag on him later!" Keith snapped. "Everyone, brace yourselves!"
The X-Tornado flew right into one of the walls of the Egg Carrier, crashing into it hard. Tails managed to pry open the compartment he was in, pulling himself and Keith out. Knuckles smashed the glass where Kat was sitting, helping her out as well. Sonic checked on all four of them, wiping his brow when he saw they were unharmed.
"At least this thing was ready for the crash," Sonic remarked. "Just make sure to add landing gear when we get back to Mystic Ruin."
"Can do," Tails agreed. "Now let's rescue Amy!"
"Good luck you three," Knuckles told them. "Kat and I need to get the last of the Master Emerald Shards."
"No worries Knuckles," Sonic told him. "We can handle it from here."
"Hey Kat, before you go, I have something for you," Tails insisted.
He went back to the X-Tornado, opening a side compartment and pulling out a large, metal bat. It had a red grip, designs reminiscent of some of the runes on the Angel Island decorating the sides. The knob at the end had a dial on it with a few small pictures, and the top of the bat looked like it could open up. Kat took it, looking it over.
"Sweet, new bat."
"This bat isn't just a bat," Tails corrected. "This bat is designed to create specialty weapon balls you can hit at enemies. So far, it's programmed with sticky balls, spike balls, exploding balls, homing balls, and fire balls."
Kat looked at the dial on the bottom, already grinning.
"Just a heads up though, the bat can't make more than one at a time, and there's a 20 second cooldown in between creations," Tails warned.
"I will take it," Kat declared, resting it on her shoulder. "Come on Knux. We've got work to do."
Knuckles nodded as the two took off.
"Good luck!" Keith called out.
"Come on guys," Sonic spoke up. "We've got work to do."
"Lead the way," Tails replied, flying in the air.
The three of them then took off across the Egg Carrier.
…
On the bridge, Robotnik quickly became infuriated by the situation.
"Those pests have interfered in my business for the last time!"
"Didn't you say that the last time they interfered?" Cubot asked. "And the time before that? And the time before that? And the-"
"Enough already!" Robotnik cut off. "This time, they're really finished. Gamma!"
Gamma came walking into the room, standing before Robotnik.
"What is your request, Dr. Robotnik?"
…
Elsewhere on the Egg Carrier, Big and the girls continued following Cheese through the winding hallways.
"Where is Cheese going?" Helen asked.
"I don't know," Cream admitted. "He's been acting very strange since we saw that creature."
"Maybe he knows the creature somehow," Helen rationalized. "It seemed really friendly with him."
"That's not hard to see," Big spoke up. "Everyone likes Chao. Even Eggman likes Chao. I can't think of anyone who doesn't. They're just so cute and lovable."
Finally, Cheese came to a stop in front of a massive door with Robotnik's face on it. Cheese chirped and flew around the door as the three finally caught up with him.
"I guess Froggy must be inside," Cream said.
Big grabbed hold of the doors and began opening them up. They looked inside and saw Froggy in a small cage on a tiny platform that was surrounded by a huge gap.
"Froggy!" Big called out. "He's okay!"
"Yeah, but he's all the way over there, and I don't think Cheese can carry that cage," Helen pointed out. "How are we going to get him back."
"Mr. Big?" Cream let out, looking up at Big. "Will you please put me down? I can get Froggy for us."
"I don't know Cream," Big replied. "It's an awfully big gap."
"I can do it," Cream reassured.
"Ok," Big replied, gently putting her down. "But be careful."
"Don;t worry, I will."
Cream then started flapping her ears, her entire body lifting up off the ground as she flew across the gap. Helen's jaw dropped and Big let out a gasp as Cream carefully opened the cage, pulling Froggy out before crossing the gap once more. She landed in front of Big, smiling and holding out Froggy.
"Here you go, Mr. Big. He's safe and sound now."
Big took Froggy in his free hand as Helen just stared at Cream.
"I didn't know you could fly! Why didn't you tell me you could fly?"
"You never asked," Cream answered innocently.
"Oh."
…
Elsewhere, Amy and Lily were making their way through the halls of the Egg Carrier, the former having found and reclaimed her hammer. She twirled it in her hand, grinning slightly.
"Let's see Eggman try and mess with me now."
She then smashed down a nearby door, leading outside. The second she made it outside though, she was confronted by Robotnik, Orbot, and Cubot.
"Going somewhere, Amy?" Robotnik mused. "I'd be crossed if you left without saying goodbye."
"Like I care about what you think, Eggman! I'm leaving right now and I'm taking Lily with me!"
"That's what you think. Orbot, Cubot, give me the bird!"
"I don't know Doc," Cubot replied. "Do you think our censors will allow it?"
"Hey Eggman!"
Everyone looked up to see Sonic, Tails, and Keith standing on top of the area Amy just exited.
"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?!"
"Sonic!" Amy cheered.
"Impeccable timing as always Sonic," Robotnik remarked. "Though I wonder if it's wise to bring the boy into this fight?"
"Hey this 'boy' has a few new tricks, Eggman!" Keith boasted, producing an energy ball and lobbing it at Robotnik.
Robotnik yelped in shock then the ball hit him in the face, causing his mustache to completely frizz up and cover his face in sparks. Cubot made the mistake of snickering in response, to which he received a swift kick to the rear end. Orbot meanwhile managed to snatch up Lily, much to Amy's dismay.
"No! Lily!"
"Let her go, Orbot!" Sonic insisted as he and Tails leapt down.
Robotnik ignored them, taking Lily from Orbot and opening the locket on her neck. This revealed that the large gem attached to it was none other than the cyan Chaos Emerald.
"It's a Chaos Emerald!" Tails let out.
"Thank you for holding onto it my dear," Robotnik replied before tossing Lily aside. "I have no further need for her."
Amy quickly caught Lily, who chirped nervously in Amy's grip. As Amy held her close, a door opened up, revealing Gamma as he walked out.
"What is it you require, Doctor?"
"Mr. Robot!" Amy exclaimed, recognizing Gamma.
"Dispose of these pests!" Robotnik ordered. "Starting with the Hedgehog."
"As you command," Gamma replied.
"I'll leave this to you," Robotnik replied as he departed.
"You think you can take me," Sonic boasted, turning to Gamma. "Then go for it!"
"Wait!" Amy cried out desperately. "Don't shoot, Mr. Robot! Sonic, he's not like the others! He saved me and Lily!"
"Huh?"
Just then, Gamma opened fire on Sonic, prompting him to leap out of the way. Sonic ran along the deck as Gamma continued to try and shoot him down.
"Mr. Robot, stop this!" Amy pleaded.
Gamma just activated its jetpack and launched up into the air, continuing his assault on Sonic.
The barrage of attacks shook the Egg Carrier.
…
Down below, Big and the girls started making their way out of the ship, with Cream flying alongside Big so he could carry Froggy and Helen. As they made their way along, the ship started to shake and rattle.
"What was that?" Cream asked.
"Beats me," Big admitted.
…
"Stop it!" Amy cried. "Please, stop shooting!"
Gamma continued to ignore Amy's pleas, shooting up chunks of the ship that Sonic was quick to hop onto. He kept leaping higher and higher until he reached Gamma's level, looking down on him smirking.
"Just missed me," Sonic boasted.
Sonic then leapt off the chunk he was on and kicked it at Gamma, knocking him down a bit. Sonic then kicked another chunk at Gamma, causing him to drop to the ground.
"Time to finish this!" Sonic declared, rushing towards him.
He was forced to skid to a stop as he saw Amy standing in front of him.
"Leave him alone, Sonic," Amy insisted.
"Amy, get out of the way."
"Not a chance, Sonic. Mr. Robot, or Gamma, or whatever his name is, isn't evil. He saved me and Lily. He could have hurt us but he didn't. He's not like the other Eggman robots."
"Amy, it's a robot. It was built to be evil and the only way to stop it is to smash it."
Amy's gaze hardened.
"Is that so? Because I can think of one robot that you refuse to smash."
Sonic's eyes went wide, causing him to go silent for a moment. After a while, Sonic sighed in resignation.
"Alright," He relented. "I'm trusting you on this."
She nodded, then an explosion rocked the Egg Carrier.
"Uh-oh," Tails let out. "I think some critical systems got damaged in the fight. The Egg Carrier's going down!"
"Tails, take Amy and Keith and get out of here!" Sonic insisted.
"What about you?" Amy asked.
"I'll find Eggman and put him out of commission!" Sonic declared.
"Let me help," Keith insisted.
Sonic almost said no on instinct, then he saw the look on Keith's face. It was an expression of steely determination and a desire to finally be useful. With a sigh and a smirk, Sonic held out his hand.
"Alright, but keep close."
"No problem," Keith replied.
"Tails, get Amy off this ship," Sonic told his best friend. "Keith and I will finish Eggman."
"You got it, Sonic," Tails nodded.
Sonic and Keith rushed off, leaving Tails with Amy. She was bent over Gamma, trying to get him to turn back online. Luckily for her, light soon returned to his optics.
"Gamma!" She cheered.
"Why… did you save me…?"
"I was paying you back for before. Besides, I always look out for my friends."
"Friends…"
"Amy, come on!" Tails insisted, spinning his signature tails. "We gotta go, now!"
He grabbed her arm as she waved at Gamma, Lily flying after them.
"Bye Gamma! Thank you again!"
"Thank… you…" Gamma replied before activating his jetpack and flying off.
…
Meanwhile, Knuckles and Kat ran deeper into the Egg Carrier, feeling it beginning to shake and fall.
"Why is it that every time I end up on an Egg Base, it always ends up crashing?" Kat questioned.
"Believe it or not, it's pretty standard for Eggman's stuff," Knuckles remarked, punching down a door. "If Eggman's got pieces of the Master Emerald, then he'd keep them somewhere secure. Look around for anything resembling a safe."
"Like that?" Kat asked, pointing at a massive safe door up ahead.
"Exactly."
Knuckles pulled out his shovel claws and tore right through the door, slashing it to pieces. Inside where the final shard of the Master Emerald. It was hovering in a small energy field, rotating slowly. Kat walked over to the main fuse box and just smashed it. The entire thing shorted out, the field dying and the Emerald shard dropping to the quickly scooped it up and tossed it into Kat's knapsack.
"Come on," Knuckles told her. "Next stop, Angel Island."
Before the two had the chance to leave the room, the red light came flying in. unlike the last few times it happened, the duo actually saw it.
"What the heck is that…" Knuckles let out as a bright light shined on them.
…
As the light cleared, they were greeted by the same meadow as before, only this time it was at night, and the whole area was on fire. Both of them gasped in shock, looking around at the devastation.
"What the-?" Kat let out. "What happened?"
"We're back at the altar," Knuckles recognized. "The altar of the past. Come on!"
The two took off towards the shrine, where they found Tikal and a few Chao lying on the ground. They looked as though they had been trampled, and it was clear a fight had broken out.
"Hey," Knuckles let out, kneeling over Tikal. "Are you ok?"
He tried to place a hand on her, but it just passed right through her, much to his surprise.
"I couldn't stop them…" Tikal spoke, pulling herself up. "Father and the others came, but… I never imagined it would turn out like this..."
A roar rang out in the distance as the flash of an image rushed through the two visitors. It was a massive, blue dragon that seemed to tower over the island, pulsating with untold power and rage.
"What was that…?" Knuckles let out.
"Whatever it is, I don't wanna know," Kat replied.
Just then, the Master Emerald began glowing, an ominous air to it. All three of them, including Tikal, looked up in horror. Suddenly, the female echidna was on her feet, rushing up the steps to the temple.
"Hey!" Kat called out. "Wait!"
Just then, another bright flash overtook the two of them.
…
When they returned to reality, the Egg Carrier was listing hard to the side, jarring them violently. The red light had disappeared, leaving them alone.
"Okay, what the hell is going on? Why was the Shrine on fire?"
"I think we were being shown something… from the past," Knuckles recognized. "The question is, why?"
Just then, another explosion rocked the Egg Carrier, causing the two to snap back to reality.
"Perhaps we should continue this when we're back on Angel Island?" Kat proposed.
"Yeah, perhaps so," Knuckles agreed as they took off.
…
Meanwhile, Big, Cream, and Helen made their way up onto the deck. They didn't get far until they ran into Robotnik in his Egg Mobile, as well as the massive form of Chaos.
"I must thank you for bringing me my frog," Robotnik commended.
"Leave us alone, Dr. Eggman," Cream insisted.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, my dear. Alright Chaos, that frog has your tail, seize it!"
Surprisingly, Chaos didn't move. It just stood there, gurgling lightly. Its green eyes were locked on Cheese, who was chirping happily in Cream's arms. Robotnik sat there for a moment, then let out a groan.
"I said… Seize that frog!"
Once again, Chaos didn't obey. Helen and Big both looked confused as Cream carefully approached Chaos, looking up at him with innocent eyes.
"You're not really evil, are you?"
Chaos just looked down at the young rabbit, then raised a hand. Robotnik grinned, thinking he was about to smash Cream, but was completely shocked when he just patted her head, much like he had done to Cheese the other day. The Chao chirped happily as Robotnik seethed in rage.
"Don't just pet it, you waterlogged buffoon! Get that frog, now!"
Chaos remained where he was, continuing to pet Cream. As he did, Froggy jumped out of Big's hand, hopping towards Chaos like a frog on a mission. To everyone's surprise, he jumped right into Chaos' watery body, which began to glow with yellow light. Suddenly, the yellow Chaos Emerald was spit out of Froggy's mouth, much to Robotnik's delight.
"Not pretty, but I'll take it!"
He then tossed the cyan Emerald in after it, which bathed Chaos in even more light before the creature began to undergo another transformation. This new form was dramatically different from the previous ones, losing all traces of its humanoid appearance. Instead, he now vaguely resembled a bloated scorpion/frog-like creature. He was over three times Big's height, had two antennas on his sides, two pairs of digit-less legs, and a similar pair of large hind legs bending backwards. He had a large mouth with razor sharp teeth and two large eyes aligned vertically on his face with three smaller eyes aligned horizontally on each side. A zigzagged tail with a blunt tip shimmered from its rear end, Froggy's ill-gotten tail disappearing as it grew. The Chaos Emerald embedded bones were now all throughout its body, the six gems now centered in its back and rear appendages..
Once Chaos had fully transformed, he spat out Froggy, who just laid there in a semi conscious state. Big quickly reclaimed his friend, urging Cream and Cheese away from the massive Chaos. Cream quickly followed after Big as Chaos turned towards them.
"Maybe now that you've eaten, you're thinking straight and will do what you're told," Robotnik mused.
"Don't bet on it!"
Robotnik turned and saw Sonic and Keith running up to him.
"You're too late, Sonic! Chaos has six Emeralds now. I just need one more to become truly invincible!"
"We'll see about that!"
Sonic instantly tried spin dashing at Chaos, but did little as Sonic just bounced off its watery skin. Sonic went skidding across the ground as Chaos shot out several spines to attack him and Keith. Keith dove out of the way as Sonic leapt over them. Sonic grinded across one of the spines to try and attack Chaos, but Chaos easily used his tail to bat him away. Keith produced some energy balls and started chucking them at Chaos, but they seemed to do little good as Chaos just roared in response.
"Not good," Keith let out.
Chaos just shot out a spine right at him. Keith braced himself for the impact, but an explosive ball came out of nowhere and hit the spine, disintegrating it. Keith looked up in surprise.
"I'm always having to save your butt, aren't I?"
Keith and Sonic looked over to see Knuckles and Kat standing behind them, Kat coming out of a swing of her bat.
"Bout time," Sonic remarked. "I was afraid you guys got lost or something."
"I take it things on your end went sideways, as usual," Knuckles remarked.
"Eh, nothing we can't handle," Sonic replied.
"Yeah, sure looks like you had it covered."
Chaos swung his tail again, prompting the group to scatter before it struck the ground.
"Alright, any idea on how we're gonna beat this thing?" Kat asked. "I'm open to suggestions."
"His skin's too squishy to hit the usual way," Sonic replied.
"Any way we can make him a bit less squishy?" Knuckles wondered.
Keith began scanning the ground, adjusting his goggles so he could see through some of the flooring. When he found what he was looking for, he grinned.
"Knuckles, punch a hole in the ground three steps to your left."
"Huh?" Knuckles replied.
"Trust me."
Knuckles obliged, punching down and uncovered a large industrial pipe. The word "Coolant" was written in bit black letters. Knuckles' eyes lit up as Sonic grinned.
"Keith, you're a genius!" the hedgehog declared.
"We just need to get it over here," Keith pondered.
"Leave that to me," Kat volunteered, swinging her bat around.
She checked her cooldown time, watching the timer click to zero before summoning another explosive ball. With a crack, she knocked it right at Chaos, hitting the beast square in the face.
"Hey! Over here ya big drip! Why don't you come over here and show us what you're made of! Or is your backbone as washed out as you are?!"
Chaos growled as he lumbered over to her.
"Steady Knuckles," Keith instructed. "Steady…. Now!"
Knuckles grabbed hold of the coolant pipe and aimed it right at Chaos. The icy liquid shot out at Chaos, hitting him dead in the center of his bulbous body. The effect was instantaneous. Once Chaos was frozen solid, Sonic ran right at him, rolling into a spin dash and shattering him instantly. The Chaos Emeralds all scattered as well, no longer held in Chaos' body.
"No!" Robotnik let out.
"Alright!" Keith cheered.
"Good thinking," Kat commended, slugging him lightly on the arm.
"Heh, thanks," Keith replied.
"This isn't over, Sonic!" Robotnik replied, flying off. "I will return!"
"Oh no you don't!" Sonic let out, chasing after him. "Come back here!"
"Sonic wait!" Keith called out.
"Sonic will be fine," Knuckles reassured. "Right now, you two need to make sure Cream and Helen get off this boat."
"We can take the X-Tornado," Keith suggested.
"Make sure they get home safe," Knuckles insisted, gathering up the discarded Chaos Emeralds. "I'm gonna head back to Angel Island."
Kat pulled her satchel off her shoulder, handing it to Knuckles. He took it, tightening the strap, then depositing the other six Emeralds inside.
"Better not rebuild the Emerald without me."
"Just try and hurry."
Knuckles then leapt off the side and began gliding off the Egg Carrier. As he did that, everyone piled into the X-Tornado, with Keith at the controls.
"You do know how to fly this thing, right?" Kat asked.
"Well…. How hard can it be, right?"
With a small press of a button, the X-Tornado instantly jetted off, with its occupants screaming their heads off the entire way.