The putrid odor of the jungle greeted Dr. Robotnik's prominent nose as he approached the Mystic Ruins. The Eggmobile streaked across the sky with the same speed that had brought it to the Island of Illusion's dense interior not long ago.
Then, as now, there was a hedgehog on his trail.
Passing through the wide gap between the Windy Mountain and Angel Island- still here, he noted- the tiny hovercraft entered the valley occupied by the ancient city of the Knuckles Clan, the place where this mess all began centuries ago, where the tablets were found. A sea of green had devoured the Echidna monoliths in an unrelenting climb towards the clouds, rendering much of the architecture unrecognizable to any who knew its former splendor. Flora invaded every nook and crevice; vines scaled high walls like greedy serpents; trees stretched their branches across forgotten roads, blocking out the sun; wood and stone blurred into a jade cavern of moss, leaves, and grass where one direction could not be distinguished from the other. Nimble streams cut through the forest, splitting and weaving and merging into a river that flowed off the edge of a cliff, a sheer drop into a canyon hundreds of meters deep. Where the water was still swarms of insects brooded, their lives a race to eat or breed or evade danger, often only to be killed in the midst of thought. From the canopy arose the cry of innumerable birds, boundless in their freedom and activity, their songs pervading every scratch of the jungle.
Disgusting.
The valley was merely an early example of the God of Destruction's handiwork, a shadow of what it had wrought upon Station Square, of what the modern city would look like not long into its future. Of what the entire world would someday look like if his genius did not prevail, as it had prevailed in Metropolis.
Down, down the vast fall from the edge of the cliff, into the canyon that came into existence when the Floating Island was torn from the earth rested his jewel. Carved into an ocean of foliage to match the sea above it was a sprawling fortress of steel. Brilliant lights eschewed from it all hours of the day, visible for miles around, standing like a light house amid seemingly endless crashing waves of savage wilderness. The scent of petroleum could be detected even from high altitude, and with it the smell of molten metal and plastic. The iron heart of the Empire pumped with the activity of countless machines busy at work, minds all bent on serving their maker. Rails crisscrossed the air, trains bolting through the city with almost unmatched speed, inside them the life blood of his stronghold. Everywhere factories could be seen processing the many materials, tools, and robots necessary to feed the demands of conquest. It glowed with constant energy, energy that needed fuel, fuel the badniks prowling Emerald Coast, Windy Valley, and Angel Island were pressed to provide.
Rising from the center of this glorious creation of the Doctor was its head, the dark tower of Metropolis, the Final Egg.
The tower was as much a single building as it was an expansion of the city that went upward rather than outward. Indeed, upward it climbed- rising higher and higher until its top was over that of the cliff face itself. In circumference the Final Egg covered more than two football fields, walls dwarfing the surrounding cityscape, its long shadow like a sundial that cast total darkness on a different place each hour. It converged with four vastly smaller towers at its base, these being the main power plants of the complex. The southern most tower rested on an immense hydroelectric dam that tamed the great river of the Mystic Ruins and turned her flow towards the Empire's purposes. From where the water met the chill of metal a ring of pale teal lights extended to encompass the city, cutting it off from the wretched jungle, breaking only where the river entered and exited. This was the no man's land, the string of machine-manned battlements mounted in a swath of charred earth that ensured nothing entered Metropolis from the ground. While more than mere beasts inhabited the wild of Westside Island, the threats that concerned the Doctor most would come from the air. The Egg Carrier was meant to defend the skies around the Final Egg, but now he no longer had that security.
It was time to run.
The Doctor grimaced as he squeezed his hovercraft through the door of the lift tube, fashioned after the appearance of his own face, like many other things in his domain. Leaving behind the paradise he had worked so hard to create pained him. The base's construction had begun all the way back with the birth of the Death Egg, when the hedgehog led him to this accursed island. It had taken years for the fortress to reach its zenith, years of scrounging for resources, years of hiding in places like Gimmick Mountain and Flicky's Island while his true stronghold grew in secret. Now there was no more concealing Metropolis. The world had not seen Angel Island fall but they would be watching for it to rise again, and it was sitting on his door step. The military's eyes were open. They would have seen the missile and would be looking for its origin. Their airships were on their way to catch him. Too soon, blast it, too soon! The conquest of Station Square was supposed to be his entrance onto the world stage, the establishment of his perfect utopia for the nations to behold. Chaos was supposed to give him the insurance the armies and Death Eggs had failed to provide. Instead he was left to be hunted down and destroyed by the military.
And the hedgehog was on his trail.
The lift passed through the gaping maw of his embellish face gracing the tower, bringing the Doctor home. He kicked the thrusters of the Eggmobile hard, tearing out of the doorway. The room that greeted his bespectacled eyes was awash in green and blue light, fairly narrow and deceptive of the tower's true dimensions. Large green lamps dotted the floor and the walls, and an even bigger fluorescent bulb covered the ceiling. A massive whirring mechanism was visible at the bottom floor beneath him, down the stairs from where the hovercraft burst forth, filling the chamber with its busy hum. On his level were four impressive computer terminals jutting from the wall, each nestled between a bulky energy conduit bearing the imperial insignia, the Doctor's stylized face. Fondly he remembered this as where he had created E-102 just two days prior, the empty claws of the assembly device taking up the space of the corner where the walls lined with terminals joined. Flanking the mechanical womb that once housed Gamma were the twin abominations- Mecha Sonic and Metal Sonic, floating in transparent tubes. They were suspended in utter vacuum by gravity manipulating plates at the top and bottom of each tube, never touching any part of the case. The scientist sped to the terminal beside Mecha Sonic, who hovered closest to the entrance, punching in commands with practiced speed. He had to slow the hedgehog down.
There was a hiss of air rushing inward as the glass cylinder lifted away. Gravity controls were deactivated and the silvery machine dropped to its feet with a thud. No longer behind the tented walls of his prison, there was nothing to screen out the infrared light radiating from several lithium phosphor lamps in the chamber, allowing it to lance through Mecha Sonic's compound eyes. A yellow glow appeared within them as if in answer, life restoring to the robot as its systems reactivated, fingers and quills beginning to flex themselves as it immediately tested the long dormant motor skills. The cursory examination continued to its legs as Mecha Sonic stepped down from the container, turning his head to regard his creator with a low mechanical growl.
"Kill Sonic!"
This was all the Doctor said before hammering the last commands into the terminal, the Eggmobile spinning 180 degrees to fly through an open door above a ramp on the opposite end of the room.
Darkness and silence filled the air suddenly when power was cut off from that section of the Final Egg.
His feat beat against the grainy soil of the Mystic Ruins, kicking up dust in a blur of motion that cut the moist air like a living bullet.
With each strike of Light Speed Shoes against earth a rock or a twig vanished from the forest floor, reduced to hardly perceivable powder, or buried in a single step. Nothing withstood that speed, that power, that unyielding force of nature given flesh.
It was the indomitable will.
It was the wind.
It was him.
Eyes of a hue that rivaled the surrounding flora scanned the heavens for that familiar black and chrome hemisphere. Running for miles down the now useless railroad tracks that lead out of Station Square had not left him fatigued, but it did erode the hedgehog's patience. Taking the trolley by the lake allowed his target to get out of sight, and now he couldn't spot it.
Sonic grimaced. He'd already let the fat guy get away before.
It wasn't going to happen again.
The trees made it too hard to see the sky. Maybe they could help him instead?
With a bang Sonic kicked off the ground to launch into the air, gloved hands flung out to snatch a limb from the countless branches, the momentum of his jump causing his stretched out body to spin around the branch. Showing all the grace of a skilled acrobat, he released the limb at the apex of his flip to summersault through the air, flying above the labyrinthian jungle. Quickly he spread out his arms, legs, and quills to catch the wind and reduce his velocity, certain to break any foothold he might otherwise find if he impacted the canopy at full speed. It worked and he was able to take hold of a trunk without bringing harm to himself or the plant, red shoes finding secure crutches to land on. Sonic's free hand moved to smooth out his quills, the turquoise Crystal Ring on his wrist rubbing against his right ear, the cold substance sending an unexpected chill down his spines that just made them more frayed.
"Alright..." he muttered, once again scanning the horizon for a sign of his foe. "Where'd ya go?"
Barely he perceived the glow of the Eggmobile's thrusters 25 degrees to his right, where the river flowed out to meet the cliff- and the Final Egg's entrance. Not much surprise there, though after seeing the Egg Carrier 2 come barreling out of nowhere he figured the doc had some other hide out to scamper off to, a place where concealing such a monstrosity was feasible. Wasting no more time the hedgehog shot forward, hopping or rather throwing himself from tree top to tree top, dancing across the branches towards the villain's lair. With each landing a flurry of leaves and birds filled the air, the calls of the latter ringing with the twang of bent greenery in a rhythm that made Sonic smirk.
The music of his two feet was better than any sound made with hands!
His melodious soles traded wood for stone as he leaped from the canopy to the wall surrounding the Southern Temple. Easily balancing himself, Sonic lost no speed as he turned down the narrow edge of the wall, following it east to cut over the angle to the perpendicular wall that ran northward, skipping over its short gaps without slowing down. He spared the smallest glance towards the Echidna monument at his left, passing by the yawning snake-shaped gate and tall central spire grazing the firmament. The belly of that serpent and the Lost World inside it had proven a disturbing distraction when he last chased someone this way, and he was far from eager to go back, though he'd probably have to talk to Knuckles about the place. There were unsettling things to relate about what he'd seen in the deep, things the last of the Echidnas needed to hear.
No sense in worrying about it at the moment. He'd reached the end of his masonry.
Leaping off the edge of the wall high into the air, Sonic curled into the round position so natural to members of his species, clearing the trees standing between him and the cliff nimbly. He uncurled from the Jump Dash and dropped to the forest floor with a thud, head cocking to the right to see the tube that bridged the Mystic Ruins to his prey's mechanical asylum.
If the Temple grazed the heavens, the Final Egg pierced it- he'd never seen anything that tall! He had to give the Eggman credit for spitting practicality in the eye at every opportunity.
Apparently his friend had taken the lift without sending it back, as the tube was empty and the grinning door actually locked. That wasn't a problem. Dashing towards the aqua pipe the hedgehog took another flying leap, landing on top of the structure, which he proceeded to cross. Running the length of the valley wouldn't take anymore time than actually riding the lift, as there were no obstacles to slow him down and no danger other than the push of the wind.
Granted, with the immeasurable distance of the fall and the slickness of the tube's roof to consider if the wind did pick up...
Sonic rolled into Spin Dash position and halted to start revving up. Spin Dashing would reduce his air resistance, making it less likely for the wind to blow him off, and he would get across the tube faster. Beads of light swam through the space around his curled up form as his Light Speed Shoes drew energy he didn't really need right now. Without giving them a chance to fully charge he blasted straight ahead, blazing a blue trail behind him as he rocketed forward, the air tearing asunder while his spines carved tracks below. In a time that would have seemed incredibly miniscule to anyone else but felt like an eternity to his thinning patience and fast-paced mind, Sonic closed the distance between himself and the Final Egg, colliding recklessly with the tower.
He cannon balled clean through the metal surface, rending a hole in the stylized face at the lift's end, causing it to crumble inward.
The hedgehog plowed through the ceiling like a pile driver, filling the room with a thunderous noise and leaving him sprayed on the floor. A little dizzy, he rose to his feet, shaking off debris from his "entrance". He looked around for his enemy or anything that was supposed to be there, but found the place totally dark. Carefully Sonic edged through the blackness, worried of setting off some trap or walking into an ambush. Broken glass from some fixture above crunched under his shoes. His ears flicked slightly at the sound of machinery ahead, but it seemed distant, somewhere outside the room. He stretched his arms out in front of him, feeling nothing but cold air. Agonizingly slowly the hedgehog slid his foot across the floor, hoping to encounter a wall but finding only the end of whatever he was standing on, almost falling down into the unseen pit. Stepping back quickly, the cobalt hero let out a growl.
"Crud, this is no good. Who turned out the lights?"
Five simultaneous gunshots rang out as if in answer to his question.
The difference in time between the sound and the feeling of bullets entering his back was so small he would only notice it later.
Rings went flying everywhere.
Sonic was thrust over the edge, falling through darkness, his body flashing in and out of reality.
In an instant the damage was gone thanks to his round friends, but the shock still racked him.
His blue body slammed to the bottom floor with a harsh thud that echoed through the hollows of the motionless mechanism beneath. Golden hoops bounced about the room, free for the briefest time. Mercifully some of them landed on the hedgehog and were absorbed back into his skin in a twinkle of sparks.
He'd probably need them in a second.
There was the sound of rockets igniting followed by a warm glow like sunset that broke through the lightless room.
Sonic looked up to see his hovering assailant.
The red feet and the flames spurting out of them are what first caught his attention, bulky things sandwiched between pieces of chrome with thrusters extending from the ankles and wheels for heels- what an ugly means of locomotion. They were joined to the machine's spindly legs by black 'cuffs' in mockery of his own sneakers. Its knees were also black, like kneepads against its gray limbs, a sharp point protruding from each joint. A riveted torso with a hexagon shaped chest bobbed through the air above him, on it sitting a silvery hedgehog head. There was no mouth, only a shining muzzle with a long spike for a nose and a bolt at each cheek. From below Sonic could make out its stubby gray tail and six false spines, two extending from the robot's back, four from the end of its cranium, all sharp looking, as were its ears. Its yellow visor was trained on the fallen adventurer and its fingers pointed at him- each was a segmented gun barrel, set on large, rectangular forearms doubtless packed with ammunition. The arms also had thrusters at the elbows, he suspected to assist in forward acceleration, but they weren't being used at the moment. Maybe that would give him the advantage in speed for the time being.
'Last I checked, the doc had this guy locked up...'
In the scant illumination of Mecha Sonic's jets he spotted one of the bullets that offended him moments before beside a gloved hand. Deftly he picked it up while pushing himself off the ground.
Wearily Sonic rose to his feet, eyeing the opposition's left flank, where five steady barrels were taking aim. He rolled the bullet between his fingers contemplatively.
"Thinkfast!"
The world was too slow really.
At least, when he focused, everything looked like it was moving in slow motion. Even his body seemed sluggish, throwing the piece of lead at a greater speed than what had carried it from its source, then turning to run as quickly as possible in the same direction. Sonic could just make out the tiny projectile flying above him, heading towards his mechanical counterpart's left hand, breaking the sound barrier. He'd determined this model couldn't fire that fast.
Not wanting to have a hole torn through its arm, Mecha Sonic jerked out of the incoming bullet's way, quickly twisting to open fire on the hero with its right set of weapons. The air cracked with five more shots, but he had already taken his opening and sped past the metal mercenary.
Sonic didn't waste time with the stairs, Jump Dashing over them to the top level of the chamber, eyes searching for a means of escape. Between himself and the floating doppelganger was a strange translucent container that bordered the edge of the upper floor, about as tall as one of the combatants, a pile of shrapnel from the wreck when he came in resting on the surface. The red flames beneath Mecha Sonic could be seen through its glass sides, casting the other end of the room in an unsavory green that reminded him of sewer water. Long and jagged shadows chased each other across the walls in their dimly lit battle ground. Over his foe's shoulder Sonic could make out what looked to be the entrance to Mechanical Resonance, where the noise he heard earlier seemed to emanate, a whisper under the vroom of thrusters. It felt much farther away than it did on his last visit.
Mecha Sonic wasn't going to let up. It brought both arms to bear, ten barrels leveled at its target, shooting in a wide spray.
Sonic was able to catch the enemy's movement before it was too late and ducked into a ball, rolling behind the green container as bullets whizzed over head. Silver crown shimmering against the reflected light of its twin rockets, Mecha Sonic whirled through the air like a drunken dancer and continued to unleash full weapons fire, skirting around the glass tank to strafe the blue sphere.
This time they didn't miss.
Again feeling the pang of tiny drills digging into his flesh, Sonic uncurled from his round shape to skid on the floor, watching the room flash white between rapid heart beats. Rings slipped out of him and fell in a circle around his prone body. He drew sharp breaths, lips pulled tight.
Recovering quickly Sonic Spin Dashed away from another shower of lead, managing to clear the distance separating him from the wall opposite the top of the stairs, snatching up two of the fallen Rings on the way. The persistent bullet stream chased his blue contrail, a concentrated rain beating hard against the ground to the thunder of gunshots. Sonic had exited the Spin Dash in time to see the approaching storm.
It moved in slow motion from his perspective, enough that he could afford a glance to his left, spotting a dormant Metal Sonic slumped against the inside of a tube.
Taking his own advice to think fast, Sonic cart-wheeled behind the glass cylinder, dodging fire that ripped apart the computer terminal in his place. It vanished in a burst of sparks and shards of broken screen.
Mecha Sonic's yellow eyes followed the fleet footed hedgehog to its twin's resting place. It made necessary calculations and adjustments as its hands shifted position, hesitant to destroy the sleeker, bluer machine. Careful not to damage the tube's occupant, another wave of fire raked in the far wall's direction, blasting it to pieces.
Dust clouded the space where the rain had fallen. Amid flying glass and ricocheting shots, the intended target was unscathed; he had taken complete cover under Metal Sonic's thin body.
Not deeming this a safe hiding place, Sonic picked himself up, still grasping the improvised shield. As the hovering adversary's glaring face became clear in the smoke, he let the robot go to take more aggressive measures.
"Okay, buddy" he said as Metal Sonic hit the floor. "Enough playing around..."
Once again Sonic curled into Spin Dash position, revving up in place as streaks of energy like fireflies danced through the air and into his body. A soft blue glow began to radiate from the spinning hedgehog, filling the room with pale light that seemed to wrestle with the harsh sunset of Mecha Sonic's rockets.
The robot was unsure how to interpret this new development- it had no knowledge of this ability or what sort of countermeasures to take. Scans told it the beads of light were hot enough to burn through steel, yet its fleshy opponent seemed to be absorbing them. Firing on Sonic while he was vulnerable would have normally been the mechanical soldier's first concern, but the presence of the dangerous force swarming around hedgehog now stayed its hand. The Spin Dash couldn't strike airborne targets without a sufficient incline to launch from. It would be safer to wait and observe the enemy's next move.
Suddenly the Sonic's spinning stopped and he uncurled, feet slapping to a halt as he rose again to his full height. Now however a sheath of blue light laminated his body like a ghostly film, transparent enough to allow the teen to smirk through at his silvery opposite. Mecha Sonic cautiously raised its right set of digits towards the glowing hedgehog, sensing no more volatile energy despite the change in appearance.
To little to late. The Light Speed Attack cracked through the air before the bullets left their barrels, blasting the robot's right arm to pieces.
Half of Mecha Sonic's body was engulfed in black smoke and trickling flames as the limb's fuel compartments and ammunition ignited all at once, shrapnel rolling to the floor in burning chunks. Nonetheless the machine remained absolutely steady, attempting to take aim again with its other arm, only to find its target was still moving.
Sonic's spinning form ignored gravity and orbited his foe like a spiked satellite, leaving numberless after-images in circles around the machine. It was impossible for the chromed combatant to determine his movements through the blur of intersecting contrails. Mecha Sonic made a pirouette mid air, discharging its remaining weapons aimlessly in every direction, a desperate effort that proved useless. Bullets ricocheted harmlessly about the walls of the complex, adding their noise to the strange sound the hedgehog's Light Speed Attack made in its circuit.
Another crack and the left arm was obliterated, creating another burst of smoke and flame.
Sonic ceased his circling and emerged from the cloud of after-images above the look-a-like. Taking advantage of this position, he slammed his heel with as much force as he could muster down on his opponent's head, sending it crashing towards the bottom floor.
Mecha Sonic's thrusters cut when it hit the ground, plunging their battlefield again into darkness. Sonic landed crouching, he supposed some distance away, feeling only slightly winded. He stretched, arching his back as he spoke.
"I've learned a few tricks since our last little play date, as you can see."
The shadows gave no answer, but he was certain the machine was still operational. It had a track record for handling heavy damage. This fight wasn't quite over.
"Come on, I know this has been a 'disarming' experience for you," he said with a grin. "but I know you haven't given up yet. Don't keep me waiting!"
At first there was more silence. Then a loud clank, like metal hitting metal. Another clank, followed by the earsplitting sound of something scratching against the floor, sending a irritated shudder through his body. Slowly yellow compound eyes rolled down into view, as Sonic realized the robot was rising off its back just with its legs, using its mechanical joints in ways that would make limbo dancers jealous. The eyes continued to move downwards before settling slightly below Sonic's own height. He had feeling he knew what was coming and braced himself.
The red glow returned, revealing Mecha Sonic crouching on the other side of the room, thrusters burning. The wheels on its feet screech wildly as it rammed the organic hedgehog at full speed, smashing both of them through the wall and into the training room.
'Just like old times' Sonic thought.
The evacuation was long underway, orders going out at the clamor of the Egg Viper's destruction hours ago, when the countless mechanical inhabitants of Metropolis abandoned what they were doing to begin their flight. Workers emptied from their factories, shutting down the conveyer belts and refineries and power plants. Block by block the lights of the city went out in waves, buildings vanishing into the valley's shadow. Assembly lines ceased; construction sites were deserted. Everywhere the most valuable items were gathered and piled into trains for transport; important equipment, experimental machinery, rare materials, archaeological pieces uncovered in the ruins, research specimens, and so on. Precious fuel was also moved with haste, tanks upon tanks of it, any that could still be used in other facilities. Missiles, guns, weighty cannons, and explosives too were dragged by the crate full to be stacked in train cars; the enemy could not get the opportunity to steal or study their weapons technology. Slowly the circle of defenses around Metropolis began to pull away, heading for bunkers and hideouts in the jungle, while all-terrain vehicles crowded with robots dove into the bush. A scant number of guards remained in place at any important juncture, watching and waiting to determine if further action might be necessary to preserve any of the city's resources.
Despite reasonable assurance that progress was being made in the mass exodus, there were a few things the Doctor felt the need to double check, just to be certain. He glanced back and forth from the small screen in the Eggmobile's cockpit to the blackened corridors of Mechanical Resonance, trying to steer the hovercraft out of harm's way. Most of the badniks patrolling the halls were destroyed in the hedgehog's prior rampage, so there were fewer obstacles to dodge now, but he still had to be careful. The giant claws used in constructing pieces of the Egg Carriers could be dangerous if crashed into at his current speed, and even when they were no longer moving they took up a lot of space. These and other devices in the Final Egg were starting to shut down, but it would take time before power was completely cut from the base. Many of the various machines in the Doctor's facilities ran on independent power supplies so they could remain operational in the event of something jeopardizing the primary energy sources.
After cruising lower to duck under an observation platform, the scientist turned his attention back to the little screen, scrolling through status reports. E-107, E-108, and E-109 were in the process of being moved out of the city; none were anywhere near completion, but the designs had already been worked out and all three could be finished en-route to their destination. The capsules containing the organic batteries so essential to sustaining the Empire were being loaded onto the Egg Liner for transport to the Iron Jungle deeper in the island. The Doctor raised his eyebrows at the figures for the small animals being evacuated- he had not relocated this many since the Flying Battery's journey to Angel Island, and then most of the capsules on-board were empty or contained something else.
What worried him most however was the successful extraction of all data from the Final Egg's computers. The information stored here was vital to the function of his army and any hope of future conquest. The tactical advantage it would give his enemies if it fell into their hands was enormous. Every last disk, hard drive, and storage device was either to be removed or erased. All the computers would be wiped clean and their connection to the Matrix mainframe severed.
The Doctor tore his eyes away again to examine the path in front of him, piloting the Eggmobile upward over a couple of high steps and down a sharp-curved hallway. It led to a small room with with five doors and a trio of security cameras shining yellow light at him in an accusatory fashion. He gave an agitated sigh at his poor luck; this room took advantage of the Final Egg's massive size and allowed the surrounding corridors to be rotated around the exterior of the room like a giant puzzle box, changing which door led to the next room every two hours. This was a security measure to prevent anyone from accessing his private control room in the upper recesses of the tower. He'd forgotten to turn it off and now he was running out of time.
Acting quickly he attempted to remotely access the system controlling the doors to make them all open at once, typing madly on the Eggmobile's keyboard. He heard some commotion behind him and the typing grew even more frantic. Not soon enough for his liking, the doors finally opened. Out of each flew a E-06 unit, a round, floating sentry badnik with a bottom half not dissimilar to the Doctor's own hovercraft and a dark blue top half decorated with pointy ears and light blue eyes in a perpetual scowl. Mostly intended for observing and reporting security problems to other, more elite units or for scouting out hard to reach locations ahead of their parties in the field, the "Spinas" were not particularly effective in combat but in groups like this could be intimidating. This model's defensive capabilities were limited to a pair of constantly rotating scythes with plasma-bladed tips, capable of cutting through almost anything with ease but possessing a very small range. They were stationed here to respond to intruders who picked the wrong door.
The correct one, he noted, was unoccupied. He turned to the door on the far right, where there was no Spina, preparing to fly down it as fast as possible.
Before his hands could grip the wheel, a violent impact rocked the walls around him, and the sound of metal rending apart could be heard down the hall he just passed through.
"You now, I actually like some of the additions you made to ol' Mecha Me..." a voice spoke thoughtfully.
The hedgehog's voice. The Doctor twisted to look down the hallway, snarling, teeth clenched.
"... but still, that whole charging forward without anything to protect the front? Not the smartest move when I've got Rings to take the damage away and can Spin Dash into his body for a good three seconds before the invincibility wears off."
Sonic strode into the room, as calm and cocky as ever, clutching some big charred piece of metal between his hands.
Despite the levity of his tone, he was not showing off the familiar toothy grin. In its place was a grimace, which was also familiar to the Doctor; it was more intense than a frown, yet more placid than a glower.
The Doctor didn't like seeing this face.
The hedgehog stopped and stood between him and the door he sought to enter, not quite blocking the path, but just enough to make the Doctor very uncomfortable. Sonic rubbed his hands around the metal object like it was a basket ball and he was trying to feel the bumps.
"Granted," he went on, taking another step forward. "it worked alright back on the Death Egg, when I didn't have any Rings for the whole fight. That was a tough fix. When I finally did beat him, I really thought you had run out of things to throw at me."
Sonic dropped the robot's head to the floor beneath them, Mecha Sonic's yellow visor staring up at its maker.
"Even these days though, I forget how it really is. I forget that you always have more, and more, and more, don't you Eggman?"
"ATTACK!" the Doctor ordered. The four Spinas dived into action at their master's cry, flying towards the meat creature with their spinning blades at full speed, boxing in the foe at all sides.
Easily and gracefully Sonic leaped over this simple formation, coming back down to strike them one by one. Like a skipping stone on water he splashed from one enemy to the next, azure shock waves peeling off his airborne body, badniks exploding in a shower of sparks. The Spinas' ruined remains joined Mecha Sonic on the floor. Four small animals, suspended briefly in green barriers while the shrapnel fell where robots used to be, scurried towards their rescuer as he landed among them. He crossed his arms, watching the critters crawl around his feet.
"Up 'til about now, I had a theory, doctor..." he continued, seemingly ignoring what just happened.
Behind tinted shades the Doctor was rapidly looking from Sonic, to the door, to his keyboard, and back again. Everything about this situation was bad. This Eggmobile had no weapons, not even the cryogenic explosives he'd outfitted his other vehicle with earlier, which then did little but assist his enemy when deployed. He'd need to carry a firearm from now on, whatever the circumstances.
"I figured maybe just crushing your toys would teach you a lesson for once- but it looks like you still got toys to spare." the teen said as he surveyed the shattered badniks. "I mean, where does it end? Giant missiles, backup Egg Carriers, even another Mecha Sonic! Are you hiding another giant robot that looks like you somewhere?"
The scientist put his vast mind to work trying to think of a way out of the present predicament. There had to be a means of incapacitating the hedgehog. He just had to keep the boy talking until he could come up with something.
"I must apologize, my most determined nemesis, but I'm afraid there are no more functional mechs around here, so sorry to disappoint." the Doctor began. "I would certainly have prepared one if I had the chance."
Sonic rolled his eyes at the excessive formalities.
"Really?" he questioned. "None? No Egg Viper 2.0? No multiple backup Eggmobile-attachments for me to fight in sequence? No sentimental recreations of past battles?"
"Very interesting ideas, but no, I simply wasn't expecting you to visit again so soon. Why in fact did you choose to follow me here with such determination? After all the excitement in Station Square I imagined you'd had enough for one day..."
"Well, that's just it Eggman," he replied, voice growing louder. "I thought that you had enough after we took down your Egg Carrier and your new pet, but then I hear you tried to nuke the whole city! Good thing Tails was there, or there wouldn't have been much left for Chaos to wreck!"
He drew his fingers across his mustache contemplatively, head tilting to the side.
"So, did my attempted use of lethal force seem excessive to you, this particular time?" the scientist prodded.
"Even you know that this went too far," Sonic muttered, stepping closer to the floating vehicle. "this was beyond excessive."
"I had hoped that, through Chaos, I could crush and take over the city in a less destructive way." he protested. "You forced my hand after you broke us apart! Things would have worked out differently if my plan were allowed to proceed..."
The Doctor's dark glasses scanned the space above them for a moment, his face growing pensive.
"It isn't like I haven't used equally deadly weapons of mass destruction before, after all. You have seen what my more impressive creations could do on the Floating Island and else where- even experienced a few first hand! Surely that little incident with the missile could not be what compelled you to chase after me."
"This isn't like blowing up an empty volcano, Eggman!" Sonic countered, not noticing that the Doctor began typing something into the controls of his hovercraft. "You put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk today, and now because of you innocent people are dead! I'm not just going to let you get away with that!"
"Oh-ho, and what exactly do you plan on doing about it, child?" he asked coldly, eyes now glued to the ceiling.
The hedgehog gazed steadily at the man, matching his icy tone.
"Maybe turning you over to the military will do the trick..."
Now the Doctor's attention was fully on Sonic, and his face contorted into an expression of unmitigated fury.
"NO!" he bellowed. "Those fools will NOT capture another Robotnik! I'll die first!"
A look of confusion passed over Sonic's face at this exclamation, but he had little time to wonder at it as violet plasma streams suddenly speared between the two of them, forcing him to back flip to safety. White, spherical machines with small propellers had fallen from a trap door over head and formed a barricade of sizzling beams around the young hero, fencing him off from his adversary.
The Doctor grinned in devious pleasure at seeing his trap work. He had never found an appropriate trigger for dropping the security drones, but keeping them around anyway had proved a fortunate decision.
Wasting no time, he rocketed through the door and down the corridor, the pod's exhaust trailing behind him as he made for the control room. There was a terrible noise behind, a crunching sound and a whirring like the wind, but he ignored it and focused on reaching his goal. Eyes locked straight ahead, he searched desperately for the entrance. The hall was dark and narrow but opened up to a wider, higher room, and the exit was somewhere above. He pulled the Eggmobile up to fly over a ledge, and the sound became a howl that was drawing ever closer. But he was almost there- he could see it! The circle of golden bird statues, and above them, the tunnel leading to the top of the Final Egg!
The smooth, polished swallows were a minor art project of his, the sort of distractions he allowed himself whenever designing a new base of operations. Surrounding the opening in the ceiling that led to the control room and facing outward, the shimmering metal likenesses represented the various little creatures he harvested to power his machines, and the beautiful mechanical perfection they ultimately became a part of. As he built his empire on the backs of these small animals, so the Doctor's throne now rested high over the backs of these birds. The interior of the tunnel was completely smooth and free of footholds, running straight upwards for more than a hundred meters.
The swallows served as another portend- accessing the control room required flight, something his pursuer was not capable of.
Arriving under the entrance way, he flicked off the burning thrusters and increased the hovering force to propel the Eggmobile up, ascending through the tunnel into the darkness.
By this time the emptying of Metropolis was nearly complete. The last cargo was being secured aboard the Egg Liner, and robots scurried up and down the railways in preparation for departure. Elsewhere, stillness pervaded the city; beyond a few token guard units hovering in the shadows, all activity had come to a stand still. The once shimmering landscape of animated machinery had become silent and lightless.
For a person watching from the cliffs above, it would appear the jungle was creeping in and consuming the steel citadel. As the lights were extinguished, the bulk of the city began to fade from view, becoming lost in the shade of mountains. The sun was starting to set and the glow of the skyline seemed to retreat with it. The shadows crawled up the Final Egg slowly, lights flickering out one by one, until just a single shining star graced the top of the tower.
The mighty tower became as a giant candle rising out of the valley, burning with the last light of Metropolis, a light towards which its architect now raced.
The command center was just a small portion of the top level of the fortress, though it was also the most vital. It was lit by the glow of twenty monitor screen, each displaying data readouts for incalculable minutia pertaining to the Empire's forces. The monitors are arranged in a semicircle on the south end of the room, ten flanking either side of a colossal holographic projection detailing the entire complex, the master of the castle's very own magic mirror to behold all that happened in his domain. The other side of the room was taken up by a tall, semicircular console, encompassing an imposing black throne, just as showy as the captain's chairs aboard their flying fortresses. Predictably, the seat's decor took inspiration from its creator's face, so the person sitting in it would appear to be within the mustached madman's maw, teeth and a long nose forming an awning over their head. The garish throne was silhouetted against the afternoon sun by three windows that spanned from roof to floor, painting the walls in orange.
At the moment the Eggmobile came to a stop the Doctor scrambled out, sprinting towards the console, his coat tails dancing at his back. He sank into the black material of the command chair before attacking the keyboard with a furious pace. The facsimile Final Egg within the holographic display broke down and was reassembled as a wide rectangle over which text began to scroll.
'Ah, yes...' the Doctor thought. 'Just one more thing to take care of before I clean up here...'
Within the hologram an empty bar appeared, which rapidly began to fill with red as a number beside a percent sign started counting up from zero. The most significant and irreplaceable data had to be copied before the master computer could be flushed. If the things recorded here were lost, there would be no chance of ever getting them back. He wanted to handle this data personally- there were too many risks involved in placing it in the care of one of his underlings.
The bar reached its fill and the counter reached 100%. Out of the console popped a small featureless disk, which the Doctor snatched up gleefully. He held it up to the light, watching the rainbow reflected in its sides. In his hands he was holding every shred of information he had obtained on the God of Destruction. Scans revealing Chaos's molecular structure, neurological activity, energy interactions at each stage of his transformation studiously compared, and much more.
He pocketed the disk and went back to typing on the console.
"Excellent! Now, to erase all this data so there will be no trail of bread crumbs for anyone to follow!"
"Gee, I dunno Eggman, you think anybody could actually make sense of this stuff? All looks pretty meaningless to me."
'What the...?'
'No.'
'No.'
'Not possible.'
Uncomprehending, the Doctor slowly turned towards the origin of the voice, jaw hanging open.
There, reclining in the cockpit of the Eggmobile as if he were getting cozy in a beach chair on the pool-side, was the hedgehog once again. Sonic looked around the control room lazily, not bothering to make eye contact with the Doctor, eventually settling his gaze on the multitude of monitors above him. The disposal process was already underway and they were beginning to go blank one at a time.
"Well, all except for the one there," he said, eyeing the screen reporting the figures for the organic batteries being transported. Sonic etched it into his brain before it was deleted. "I understand that one perfectly, doc."
"You clung to the back!" the scientist concluded, rising from his throne. "Just like in the Labyrinth all those years ago, riding along to escape the pouring water!"
Sonic spared a genuine grin, also getting to his feet and leaping down from the Eggmobile.
"Aww, come on now doctor, forward thinking guys like us shouldn't be dwelling on the past." he admonished, walking around the deactivated hologram projector. "We should be looking towards the future. Tell me what you see in your future. Through the iron bars, that is."
The Doctor punched a few more buttons before regarding Sonic evenly across the console separating them.
"Now where did this sudden urge to see me in prison come from? You have rarely expressed much concern over apprehending me in prior altercations. Just a few hours ago you were content to sabotage my plans and let me limp away in a burning hoverpod."
The hedgehog's expression grew serious again, green eyes narrowing.
"This isn't about you and me, Eggman. This is about what happened to Station Square. Those people deserve justice. You're the one responsible for what happened to them, you have to answer for the things they suffered."
"Oh please," the Doctor sneered, slipping behind the command chair. "I know you better than that. This is hardly about something as noble as justice. You were always happy to play our little game, whatever the number of lives at stake or freedoms threatened. I got to have my fun coming up with ways to rule the world and you got to have your fun keeping me from doing it, testing your skills. But now the game's gotten too ugly for you, hasn't it? You thought because you were the hero that no one was ever going to get hurt, and now that enough people finally have you're scared to keep playing!"
Sonic clenched his fists at his sides, looking away from the human, staring at the floor.
"I always knew I could keep you contained." he said, eyes sliding shut. "That me and Tails could always stop you from getting out of control. Even today... even today we proved I was right. It is just that neither you or I could have been prepared for how dangerous Chaos ultimately was, even after you were defeated."
"You can't hide the truth from me, Sonic." the Doctor replied, taking a few steps further away and folding his hands behind his back. "There is only one reason why we are standing here right now: because you failed to stop Chaos from reaching his full potential. And you can't live with knowing that."
"Don't try to act like you can wash your hands of it, Eggman!" Sonic spat in anger. "You freed Chaos, you tried to destroy Station Square, and you will answer for the crimes you have committed!"
He opened his eyes, glaring up at his nemesis with steeled resolve.
"And there is nothing you can do to get away from me."
Yet then the Doctor smirked, taking one last step backwards.
"I'm afraid that's where you're wrong, boy." he replied as multicolored light rose and fell around his red and black clad form. "However fast you are, I will still always outrun you."
Sonic's eyes went wide in recognition.
Without a second thought he lounged at the human, teeth bared in a vicious snarl, jumping clear over the console with the intent to seize him in gloved hands. He grasped only air as the Doctor vanished, leaving Sonic to slam against the transporter pad below -identical to the one on the Egg Carrier- with a hard thud.
At that moment the last light in Metropolis went out, like a candle.
Sonic paced the room, the glass scattered when he beat the useless transporter pad in frustration crunching under his feet. The conversation he just had was racing through his head. He couldn't allow this expedition to go to waste. There had to be a way to track down the Eggman.
He looked out one of the over sized windows, the only source of illumination in the room now.
Far below he could just make out one of the rail roads leading out of the city. A train was moving down it now, heading westward.
The number of small animals he was sure were trapped aboard that train now was still burning in his skull. He knew something needed to be done for them. Following the rail road was also his best option for hunting down Eggman again.
The Doctor's words seemed to echo in the dark. Goading him to give up. Telling him it was his fault.
He looked toward the train again. It was still in view.
Failing to stop Chaos from reaching his perfect form weighed heavy on his mind, but he couldn't afford to let it become fuel for Eggman's mind games.
If there was time to worry about the past, then there was that much more time to run.