Thanks for being so patient. I didn't get as much writing done as I would have hoped over my break, but I do have the next few chapters already done. I'll update them tomorrow, maybe.
To my anonymous reviewer: thanks, I'm glad you're liking all of my stories. Maybe if you get an account on here we can talk, huh? :)
Chapter 9:Eggcentric
Tails unleashed the fury of the X-Tornado's weapons aimed at the oncoming ships. Only one laser found its target, leaving the broken hull of the ship hurtling toward the ground. Sonic went after the others, propelling himself in his spin dash and cutting through the metal of the planes. He then changed direction and headed for the others, but he bounced off.
A shield, Sonic realized. He was forced out of his spin by the contact and was hurled down toward the ground. Tails had noticed before Amy's scream pierced his ears.
"I got him," Tails said, and sped the X-Tornado down to catch the hedgeghog. Sonic landed on his feet, but all the water on the plane caused him to slip and turn his ankle. Pain shot up his leg but Sonic forced himself to stand. They still had these ships to deal with.
Or not. For some reason, the ships had all suddenly stopped moving. Sonic blinked, as did the rest of the crew.
All except one silver hedgehog. He concentrated on the ships and then hurled them towards each other, making a huge explosion. Tails, a little shocked, almost didn't get away in time.
"Nice, Silver," Blaze turned around and smiled at him.
Sonic turned to him. "Silver was that you?"
The hedgehog nodded.
"Well, that's gonna come in handy," Sonic said, readjusting his weight onto his other foot. Hmph. He must have tweaked his ankle. Good thing he healed fast. Sonic kept clinging to the X-Tornado's wing, turning to lock eyes with his girlfriend. The two hedgeghogs exchanged smiles.
We sure go on some unusual dates, don't we Amy?
Sonic knew she understood. He also knew that once this whole thing was over, he'd have to take her out again. They were overdue. But when would this be over?
"Looks like we've arrived, guys," Tails said, and Sonic turned from Amy's gorgeous green eyes to the dull-blue gray of Eggman's new Egg Carrier. A poor trade off.
"They'll be no sneaking in this time," Knuckles said. "He already knows what's here, judging by those ships he sent after us."
"So what's the plan, then?" Rouge asked.
"We go aboard to get whatever Emeralds he may have," Tails said as he guided his plane closer to the Egg Carrier and landed it on the hangar. What, no more ships? he wondered. It was hard to believe that Eggman would just let them come without a fight.
He pulled the X-Tornado to a halt, and all the riders hopped out.
"So do we divide and conquer?"Knuckles offered.
"Nah, we should stick together," Sonic said.
"But if we split up, we can cover more ground," Rouge pointed out.
"There's no need to split up," Eggman's unmistakable voice suddenly boomed over the loudspeaker. "I like you right where you are."
"Eggman," Sonic said with contempt.
"Sonic, I'm flattered you decided to come visit me," Eggman continued, "Even brought all of your friends over for a party, hm? Forgive me for not having a nicer reception, but those robots have a mind of their own," he cackled.
"Stop babbling and come out where we can see you!" Knuckles roared.
"Calm down, Knuckles," Eggman said, " There's no need to be nasty. All of us are in the same metaphorical boat here. And it's sinking. Surely you know this dimension is becoming more and more unstable as we speak."
"Wait," Tails said, "You know about the dimensional tear?"
"Of course I do," Eggman snapped. "Do you think a scientific genius such as myself would not notice? The problem is, we only have a limited amount of time before this turns bad. So I have a proposal for you."
"No way, we're not working with you!" Amy spat.
"You don't have a choice, cupcake. We need the power of all 7 Chaos Emeralds to fix this, and I have some of them."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Sonic dismissed. "We could just take them from you."
"Oh Sonic, it's incredible how much you continue to underestimate me."
"Hmph, I can't even remember the last time you beat me," Sonic shot back.
"Hold up, Sonic," Knuckles said. "What's your plan, Eggman?"
"Knuckles, you have got to be kidding me," Amy said.
"Let's just hear him out," Knuckles said. He looked to Rouge for support, but she wasn't next to him anymore. In fact, she wasn't anywhere to be found. Wha? Had she snuck off?
The Emeralds. She must have snuck off to go after them. Knuckles smiled. In that case, they'd have to stall for time. The echidna caught Tails' eye. Judging by his expression, the fox had noticed, too.
"What's your idea, Eggman?" Tails asked.
"I'm glad to see you're coming to your senses. If we don't fix this dimensional tear, then there will be no more world for me to take over. My plan is to have us collaborate. I've been working on a machine to repair the tear, but it needs the Chaos Emeralds to power it."
Sonic looked at Tails. "We need a machine?" he asked. "I thought we just needed the Emeralds."
Tails mused. "Eggman, give us a minute to talk." The gang then walked around behind the X-Tornado, hopefully out of earshot.
"Talk? What is there to talk about?" Amy demanded. "Wake up, guys: This is Eggman! Every time we work with him he ends up double crossing us!"
"I agree with Amy," Blaze said. "If this Eggman is anything like the Eggman Nega in our world, then he is not to be trusted."
"Woah," Tails said, his blue eyes getting huge. "You mean there's an Eggman in your world, too?" If that were true, it opened up a whole new realm of possibilities.
"We can worry about that later," Sonic dismissed. "Tails, do we need a machine or not?"
"I'm not sure," Tails said. "It's possible. If just the power of the Sol Emeralds caused the tear, then just their power will repair it. But if a machine was involved..."
"But we don't know if one was or not," Silver added.
"That's the thing," Tails said.
"But why do we need Eggman?" Sonic said. He hated working with the doctor, and only did it when it was absolutely necessary. "You should just be able to build it, Tails. And we can all help, anyway."
"I could, but I don't know if I could finish it in time," the fox said. Tails had no idea how long they had. He'd have to do some calculations once they got back.
"Eggman also has the Emeralds," Silver pointed out.
"Bah, he's not going to give them to us," Sonic said.
"Wait guys," Knuckles said. "Rouge is in there stealing them as we speak."
"Wha?" Amy said, rapidly looking around. "She sure is sneaky."
Knuckles nodded. "I say we work with Eggman. If he already has the machine started then I don't see the point of not taking advantage of that."
"Well, I'm not," Amy insisted and crossed her arms.
Sonic couldn't help but smile at her. She looked so cute when she was mad.
"We take a vote," Sonic asserted.
"I agree with Knuckles," Silver said, giving Blaze an aplogetic look. "We shouldn't refuse help. And honestly, I'd like to get back home."
So that made Amy and Blaze against and Knuckles and Silver for.
Sonic saw Tails' indecision and sighed. "Well, I really don't want to work with Eggman, and I have faith in Tails. If we need a machine, then I know you can build it, right buddy?"
Tails bit his lip. "Well...I've worked with Eggman before. I really don't mind it. At the very least I could see what he has so far and build on it."
Now it was evenly split.
"We have an even number but I think Rouge would be against it," Sonic said.
"What makes you so sure about that?" Knuckles demanded.
"Because unlike you, she realizes that Eggman always has a trick up his sleeve."
"Don't get try and start something, Sonic," Knuckles scowled.
"Wait," Blaze interrupted. "If Rouge is stealing the Emeralds now...then why are we even having this conversation?"
"She's right," Amy said.
"But Eggman doesn't know that," Tails said. "Once we get his Chaos Emeralds, then we'll have all the leverage. He'll have to work on our terms."
Tails could tell Sonic was being won over, but the hedgehog was still hesistant. Well, of course. Working with Eggman was always a last resort. And then there was Amy and her hammer...
"Maybe it's our turn to double cross him," Tails suggested, and saw Sonic perk up at this. Now he had him.
*******
I know, too much dialogue in this chapter, but I couldn't help it. I'm really not great at adding description in with dialogue either. Next few chapters will be better.
