Chapter 7:
"You know," Sonic said as they made there way through Eggman's newest base. "When I started calling him Eggman, I never suspected he would take it so seriously. There's defiantly wrong with him."
"The doctor has always been a little strange," Shadow replied, easily destroying all the robots in his way.
"No one asked your opinion faker," Sonic said, kicking the head off another egg pawn.
"Why are you here anyway Shadow?" Tails asked. "You don't usually come on these adventures."
"I have my reasons," was Shadow's only answer.
The group soon came into a circular room, the door-shutting close behind them. The group looked around, but didn't see any other door.
"We're trapped!" Amy said.
"Not if I can help it!" Knuckles said, punching the wall. "Nothing, this walls are too strong."
"Like you can really do anything with those fists of yours," Shadow said, making Knuckles growl. "Let me show you how it's done… Chaos SPEAR!"
Shadow released bolts of yellow energy at the walls, but they had no impact other than a few scorch marks.
"I'm still waiting Shadow," Knuckles smirked. "Or was that fire works all you could do?"
"Listen here you…"
"Cool it guys," Tails cut it, keeping the two apart. "We have more important things than having you two fighting right now!"
"What are we going to do?" Amy asked.
"Everyone just relax," Sonic said. "Eggman wouldn't just have a room that doesn't lead anywhere. He probably wants us to battle some robot and then we can go on our way. I'm surprise that Eggman hasn't contacted us already to…"
A hole in the floor and opened up and Sonic fell through.
"Sonic!" Amy cried, running to the spot where Sonic had disappeared, when another hole opened up and Amy fell through. More holes began opening up and soon, all of them had fallen through.
Sonic slid through the tunnel and tumbled out of the end.
"That was certainly new," Sonic said, rubbing his sore head and looked around. "But this isn't."
He was at the start of a long racetrack, full of bright lights and most likely traps.
"All that's left is…" Sonic stopped and cocked his head as he heard a sound. "And here he comes."
About a minute later, Metal Sonic zoomed around the corner and came to a stop in front of Sonic.
"I see your back for that rematch," Sonic said. "Let's get this over with so I can go back to kicking your master's butt."
Metal Sonic didn't respond, but dropped into a ready position. Sonic did the same and on some signal that only they knew, they both took off across the racetrack. Sonic was right in his assumption about traps. Spikes came up from the floor, which Sonic jumped, over and guns fired at him, which he dodged. And then there was Metal Sonic himself, unfazed by all the traps, took every opportunity he could to try and strike his opponent.
"You never did know how to fight fair," Sonic commented, dodging Metal's strikes. Metal didn't respond other than increasing his speed and attacks.
"It's been fun," Sonic said. "But I have an Eggman to scramble."
Sonic increased to a breath taking pace. Metal Sonic tried to keep up, but the strain was starting to take a toll on his metal body. He began sparking and was soon left behind.
"When is Eggman ever going to learn that no machine is ever going to compete with the genuine thing?" Sonic said in mock sadness. He saw the finish line up ahead a raced across.
As soon as Sonic stopped, the door slammed shut behind him. Sonic ignored it and looked around the new room. It appeared to be some kind of large arena and there were closed doors all around. Sonic took a step forward and was greeted by Eggman's voice booming through the speakers.
"Welcome to your doom rodent," Eggman said. "You did well in your race but you will not be able to beat this next challenge."
"And what makes you say that?" Sonic asked confidently. "You have a new robot for me to smash?"
"Not quite," Eggman replied. "I will face you in my latest battle armor… The EGG CRUSHER!"
The roof of the arena opened and a large machine slowly descended and came to a stop in front of Sonic. Sonic's eyes widened as he recognized it as the one from his nightmares. It was large with thick arms, no legs, and plenty of weapons. Sonic instinctively took a step back.
"I see you aren't so cocky now," Eggman sneered. "And when I take your emerald, I'll have all seven!"
Sonic snapped out of his trance when he heard that.
"What have you done to my friends!" Sonic demanded.
"Their alive, for now, if that's what's what your worried about." Eggman replied. "But they might not be for long."
Eggman pressed a button on his control panel and screens appeared over each of the closed doors. On each screen was one of Sonic's friends. They were unconscious, but were otherwise no worse for wear.
"Those cambers will soon began fill with water," Eggman informed. "They will soon drown unless you surrender your emerald to me."
"I'm not giving up without a fight," Sonic replied defiantly.
"Just what I would expect from you," Eggman replied. "But the more time you spend fighting me, the less time your friends will have. Even if you somehow managed to defeat me, there wouldn't be enough time to save them all."
"There must be another way," Sonic said, mostly to himself.
"There isn't Sonic." Eggman smirked. "You cannot fight me without risking your friends lives and I'm not letting you pass unless you defeat me. Your only choice is to surrender. And hurry because the clock is ticking…"
Eggman pressed another button and water began to flow into the cells.
There must be a way! Sonic thought desperately.
"There is," Purity said, appearing in front of Sonic. "You cannot waste time on a fight and you can't surrender the emerald. Your only choice is to give into your destiny. Let me guide you…"
She held out her hand to Sonic. Sonic stared at the hand, torn between being able to save his friends and the memories of his nightmares.
"I'm losing patience Sonic." Eggman said. "Give me the emerald!"
"I…" Sonic was cut off when one of the closed doors exploded. As the smoke cleared, Sonic could see Shadow enter the room.
"Shadow!" Eggman said in astonishment. "How did you escape?"
"I'm the Ultimate Life form Doctor," Shadow replied. "Nothing can hold me for long."
"Good to see you Shadow," Sonic said. "Hey doc, you can forget about getting my emerald because the two of us are going to take you down!"