A/N: So, I've decided to (for all intents and purposes) throw my posting order out the window for the time being. I'm going to do the same with my stories as I did with my comics; work on one until I'm tired of it, then move on to another. I'd like to finish Smash: Enter the Phantom soon, but there's heavy demand for MtA, so the next two chapters are coming up in the scheme of things.
Chapter 9: Last Chapter: Part 2
Dave stepped toward the entrance of the control tower, ready to go back to school and be done with anger management forever, but he found himself being stopped by someone gripping the back of his shirt. He looked down to see Knuckles pointing at a display in the back of the room.
"ACTIVATING PLAN 'HEADACHE,'" said a mechanical voice that came from speakers all around the room.
"What exactly is Plan Headache?" the instructor asked, scratching his head. His question was followed by the low rumbling of the glassy floor that they all stood on. Suddenly, the bright florescent lights blinked out, and several green lamps lit up from underneath the floor.
"I think we're about to find out!" Sonic shouted, taking a defensive stance.
"Everyone, be ready to evacuate using the teleporter bands," advised Tails. At that moment, there was that nauseating sensation one gets when the roller coaster they are riding goes up way too fast. The rounded walls began to shake, and the high whine of powerful engines could be heard.
"It was all a trap!" Knuckles growled, working one of his fists with the other. "Eggman tricked us!"
"Yeah, 'cause that's rare for ya, Knucklehead…" mused the hedgehog as he rolled his eyes. Violet irises locked on him and a gloved fist rushed at his face. The azure hero somersaulted to the side and stood behind Schnieders. The elderly teacher stepped forward and held out his hands.
"Nothing's gonna get done if we let our anger control us!" he yelled. "The best way to get through this is to wait and see what happens." They didn't have to wait for very long, because soon thereafter, the walls completely fell off of their base, exposing Team Sonic and Dave to the cold air of the upper atmosphere. Tails and Knuckles, who were standing in the center of the former arena, jumped back as a panel moved down into what remained of the control tower. After a few moments, an object started to rise from the hole.
"For the love of Chaos, he's tried it again?!" the echidna hollered, his fists clenching and unclenching rapidly as he stared at the giant captive Emerald.
"I see you've found my little secret!" came the voice of Robotnik from somewhere unknown. As everyone looked around, it was Tails who pointed toward the south. Heading their way was Eggman, gliding on some sort of circular silver cloth with the familiar mustachioed face imprinted on the top. Team Sonic formed a tight triangle around the Master Emerald, but not before the rotund doctor had landed on it.
"No! Stop him!" Sonic screamed as the gemstone sparked and glowed. Ivo's figure became a reverse silhouette, a round white egg with limbs against the pristine blue of the higher atmosphere. Within moments, there was a huge flash of light that burst outward. The three Mobians and one human were thrown back, Knuckles almost falling off of the open platform. Everyone rubbed their eyes almost simultaneously as the light cleared, and three pairs of ears (those of Knuckles were assumedly the third pair) flattened as the form let out a booming laugh. Eggman had changed using the power of Chaos, and boy, had it been a big one. He was now at least four times his original size, and the once black pants and boots had been erased of all color. Instead of the white stripes down the legs, the bleached clothes had the same in black. Robotnik's jacket was now also black, and the yellow cuffs that adorned the doctor's wrists had shifted to red; as did the buttons at the ends of his pockets. Aside from that, he hadn't changed, unless you didn't count that his moustache had gone from straight out and orange to a sparkling gold.
"Did Eggman just Super-Transform?!" Knuckles bellowed. "How dare he use the Master Emerald for his own gain?"
"You mean like what you helped him do, like, four years ago?" the hedgehog sighed, looking up at Final Eggman. "Hey, Dave… still got that bag I gave ya?" Schnieders' eyes widened as he took off the backpack. He made to toss it to Sonic, but the super-scientist was on them too quickly. A huge gloved hand shot outward, and an egg-shaped field of energy was put around the blue hero. Shortly after, the same happened to his teammates; all except for Dave, that is.
"Now to finish you while your new friends watch!" Final Eggman roared with glee. He descended to the floor, which began to creak and moan under what used to be his enormous weight, but had quadrupled since then. The doctor opened his mouth, and a green egg began forming there. Before the projectile could be fired, Dave had realized what the bag was for. He set it on the floor in front of him and brought the Chaos Emeralds from it forth. "What?! NO!!" cried Robotnik as the jewels swung around Schnieders in their floating, wavering circle. More flashes of light ensued, and Dave emerged from the buzzing energy.
"You may think you'll destroy me…" Super Schnieders said quietly. "but I'm gonna fight back!" The enhanced teacher's eyes had become blank, and his graying hair was transformed into a golden helm. The buttoned shirt and khaki pants gave way to a red T-shirt under a gold jacket and pants to match. The hands that had once been wrinkled and slightly gnarled with age were encased in sparking yellow spheres. Final Eggman let out a huge laugh.
"You look like the bastard child of a St. Noof fanfiction and a crappy recent SEGA game!" he rumbled.
"You don't get it, do you?" Dave sneered. "First of all, this is a St. Noof fanfiction; and second, SEGA's made multiple pitches to turn it into a game!" Final Eggman looked livid for a second, but it seemed like he had decided to be productive with his anger. He put his hands on the ground (it was necessary to float in the air and turn so that he faced the ground to do this), causing black shockwaves to spread out across the green-paneled floor. Super Schnieders was too quick for the attack though. He jumped high enough to meet Robotnik eye to eye, but as he held out his hand he saw that the eggs bearing Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had been thrown off of the edge. Dave began to scream, but he realized that their energy-based shells allowed them to float in midair.
"Time to die, interloper!" Final Eggman roared. "After you're dead, I'll annihilate Sonic, and then I'll finally be the ruler of this stupid planet!" Schnieders landed on the floor of the former control tower and looked up at the crazed scientist, who was now rising high above into the stratosphere. He rolled over so that he faced squarely down, and the energized Dave started toward him. The distance between them was easily as much as ten miles, and the journey was made much more difficult as Ivo fired several dozen pointed eggs down.
I'll never be able to push through those! Super Schnieders thought as one of the projectiles nearly cut his right arm off. Dodging's the only way to go! By pivoting all around, the hero was able to neatly avoid all of the attacks. He tried firing an energy ball at his foe, but the assault merely fizzled away as it collided with Final Eggman's huge belly. Looks like I'll have to charge up my Chaos Punches… he concluded. Clenching his fists, Dave concentrated on building up as much energy as possible in his hands. The globules of power grew slowly, but this maneuver was seen by the power-mad doctor.
"This will be your end!" grinned Final Eggman. He brought his arm back and slashed mightily downward, creating four spinning lines of darkness that fell down like a mutant clock with no face and eight hands. The energy around Super Schnieders' hands had become of a marginally large size, but there wasn't enough time to stop and dodge. The super-powered teacher spread his arms out wide and started an eternal somersault that soon transformed him into a giant energy ball. The powerful defense crashed right through the demon clock attack, but at the cost of quite a bit of Dave's stored-up attack. As he pulled out of the roll, he again started the buildup process. They surpassed the top power that Schnieders had gotten them to before, which seemed to anger Final Eggman considerably. "You're a fool to think you can stop me!" the scientist bellowed as he charged up another green egg attack. This one was quite a bit larger than the one he'd planned to kill Sonic with, and he sent it without hesitation. As the egg barreled down toward Dave, the teacher's hands came up to defend him. The two golden spheres merged, becoming a giant ball of Chaos Energy. Gold and green collided, and Super Schnieders struggled to keep the attack at bay. Eventually, the hero's attack overpowered the villain's, and all that was needed was a simple punch from Dave to send the ball flying toward Final Eggman. It hit him before he could defend, and his body sparked with the signs of paralysis.
"Dave, it's not enough!" screamed Sonic. Next was Knuckles' voice.
"You need to get close and deal some serious damage while he's unable to defend himself!" Though the voices of the Mobians should have been too far away to hear, it seemed that Super Schnieders could read them in his mind.
Is this one of the powers of the Chaos Emeralds? he thought. Deciding not to take more time than he had to, Dave powered on toward the gigantic enemy. As he traveled, he readied his glowing fists, and he let loose a furious rapid-fire blast when he came into proximity. Chaos Punch after Chaos Punch sank into the resilient body of Final Eggman, and he began to shrink slowly after each twenty hits. Only about sixty or so made it before the doctor regained his ability to move, and he knocked Super Schnieders back with a brutal headbutt. Dave wasted no time in beginning the next charge of energy, but Final Eggman was wise to his attempts.
"My gullibility is not quite echidnan, you pathetic fool!" the doctor boomed. Both arms were brought back this time, and a double demon clock was unleashed along with multitudes of Egg Spears. Without thinking, Super Schnieders released the energy and shouted, "Chaos Control!" Time slowed enough for the powered-up teacher to pass by each Egg Spear, and he was able to slide through two of the black lines. He managed to stop the effects of Chaos Control just after he got through the onslaught and started the buildup of his Super Punch. With an angry roar, Robotnik flew even farther back and appeared to be aiming to charge downward. This was, however, enough time to create a massive Super Punch, which crashed through Final Eggman's head as he rocketed at Schnieders. The doctor did several slow flips backward, and Dave took the opportunity to zoom forward and start up again with the Chaos Punch barrage. Super Schnieders fired more furiously this time, and at least a hundred made it through before Eggman regained control. Before he could defend himself from any more attacks, the scientist was hit by three quick dashes from Dave. Final Eggman looked more like Sort-of-Halfway-Through Eggman by now; his size had diminished greatly, and the golden moustache was fading back to orange. The buttons and cuffs were back to yellow, and the black stripes had returned to white.
"Did he just insult echidnan intelligence?" Knuckles growled in Schnieders' ear.
"Take it easy, Knuckles…" advised Tails. "Dave, you need to be careful! The effects of Super-Transformation are only temporary, and you could easily die if you fell from that height!"
Better make this quick then, I suppose… Dave thought as Robotnik returned to his original position.
"This story is finished!" Final Eggman bellowed as he spawned several swirling purple clouds that dropped down at Dave.
"This story isn't over until the comedic conclusion!" Super Schnieders retorted. Eggman let out a mad roar of fury, and thousands of Egg Spears were released. "You don't understand, do you Eggman?" the teacher asked as he watched most of the projectiles sail harmlessly in completely random directions. "If you let anger get the best of you, you can't accomplish anything! When you keep your cool and think about your situation, you'll always come out on top." This comment was followed by Super Schnieders dashing at an extreme speed through the air. His sheer velocity was enough force to bust through the purple clouds, and a golden sphere was suddenly visible as Dave brought his hands from behind his back. Before Robotnik could use any more attacks, the ball had been launched and had wrapped itself around the mad doctor.
"This can't be happening!" Eggman cried.
"Ah, but it is…" Super Schnieders said with a chuckle. "Chaos… BLAST!!" There was what seemed like a long moment of hesitation, and then the entrapping sphere exploded. Gold light spread from its origin and covered the entire horizon. In the middle of the resounding boom that filled the air (along with everyone's ears), Eggman could be heard screaming. Looking down, Dave decided it was high time to make sure he could land safely. He at first went into a straight nose dive toward the control platform, but he slowed it to a hover as he came within ten feet of the spot. The black transparent eggs had disappeared, and Team Sonic stood unscathed on the green panels.
"You surprise me yet again, Dave…" Knuckles said solemnly.
"You were surprised, Knux?" asked Sonic. He gave off a light-hearted scoff. "I knew he'd pull through! Why d'you think I asked him to come along?"
"Sonic…" Tails started, but not before he was cut off by a certain red antagonist.
"It was Schnieders who asked to come with us, hedgehog!" he yelled. "And besides, you'd carry Eggman if he whined of a broken leg!"
"I think he might be ready to whine about more than that…" Tails murmured, pointing to a heap near the east edge of the platform. The four heroes made their way cautiously to the collapsed figure that could only be Eggman. There was a loud groan, and the scientist raised his bald head.
"You never learn your lesson, do ya Buttnik?" smirked Sonic. "You should always expect us to be on your case, always defying your plans! It's all thanks to the power of – "
"You say 'teamwork,' and I'll make sure you get killed," Knuckles warned. Sonic shut his mouth immediately.
"I'll have my revenge one day…" Eggman groaned. "I-I-I… re-re-reve-e-e-e-enge… d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d…" His image began to spark and fade as gray specks started appearing. Within forty-five seconds, he was completely gone.
"A hologram!" shouted Tails, his hand immediately going up to his head and scratching it lightly, "I knew something was up!"
"Whatchoo mean 'up?!'" Sonic asked.
"That's what I mean…" answered the kit as he extended a gloved index finger upward. Three pairs of eyes followed the trajectory of his gesture and spotted the pinprick of green light coming from the barely visible vestiges of outer space. "Eggman isn't here – he never was! He's up there, and he's got a plan!"
"Still got that bag I gave ya, Dave?" asked Sonic. "We're gonna need it…"
Phew… Finally, this chapter is done. Thanks to all who wait patiently for their favorite stories to update, and I'd like to let everyone reading this know that MtA and The Ultimate Challenge are near the top of my priority list, as I have a lot of ideas for TUC, and I've been positively begged for updates on this story. Enjoy them while they last, folks, because after Manage Thy Anger's reached Chapter Twelve, it's done.
Next Chapter: A Disturbed Individual