Chapter 14

Doomsday

Sonic hurled through space, shining like one of the stars above him. Mobius spread out like a blue map below, its aquamarine glow reflecting off his face and arms.

His power was weakened. Not that his invincibility was any less, but the bond had created a sort of shield around him. Now that was gone, and he was alone in the sky with his arch-enemy.

Hyper Sonic pressed his arms to his sides, willing himself to fly faster. There was no air, no wind in his face to gauge his speed by. For all he knew, he could be standing still. But he was not, for he was catching up with the distant ship. He could see the red taillights shining against the blackness.

Space debris! One moment he was flying through nothing, the next he was dodging through huge floating boulders. There were thousands of them, creating a tiny asteroid field in orbit around Mobius. He ducked, dodged and wove his way through, knowing he should slow down and refusing to. This inevitably led to crashing into a large rock head-on. It cracked apart from the impact, and Sonic spun wildly out of control. He righted himself, unhurt but shaken. The collision had slowed him. He would never catch up at this rate.

After a while the asteroids thinned out, and Hyper Sonic was able to pour on the speed. It wasn't long before he reached the freighter and pulled up alongside. It was a massive, burly thing. It was vaguely egg-shaped, with three huge rockets roaring at the big end. The front end had a tiny tinted windshield with gaping engine intakes on either said. Sonic made note of them. A very obvious weakness.

There was no sound out in space with no air molecules to carry it. Sonic could not hear the jets, although he could feel their vibration. This is the reason he did not hear the missiles fire. He didn't even see them until one hit him from behind and sent him careening downward. By the time he recovered his wits and balance, the freighter had gained some distance. He took off after it, wondering what had hit him.

He finally spotted the two remaining red-tipped missiles. They had him targeted and were homing in on him. Thinking quickly, he pulled ahead of the ship, waited until the missiles had nearly reached him, then ducked backward. The missiles turned to follow him-and entered one of the engine intakes squarely.

"It was quite an explosion," Sonic said afterward. "I'm sure the noise would have been terrific." A bright blue flame ripped through the armored hull as the engines died. Fragments were flung loose and hurled into space. The dying ship began to sink slowly toward the planet below. Sonic followed, watching like a hawk for the Master emerald.

But instead, the cargo hatch in the underside of the freighter opened and a small ship dove out. Sonic found himself staring; it was a smaller version of the Robotnik-bot they had battled earlier. Right down to the evil face. In its clawed hands was clutched a big green crystal, the prize Sonic was trying for. There was no doubt about who was driving the robot. The rocketpack on its back fired up and it took off, leaving the freighter to burn in Mobius's atmosphere.

Sonic tore along after it. This was Robotnik's last-ditch attempt to escape with the Master emerald, and the hedgehog intended to stop him.

He flew up ahead of it and glanced through the windshield. His arch-enemy glared back at him. Sonic bristled. This was the person responsible for Tails's injury. This was the one who had created Metal Sonic. This was the one who had caused Knuckles so much misery. And it was payback time.

Hyper Sonic slammed his invincible body into the robot's side. It jolted slightly to one side, but kept flying. He began to circle it, smashing himself into every vulnerable area, testing the bot for weaknesses. It never dawned on him to check the thickness of the armor, or that perhaps the old method of shocking the machine might work. He couldn't hear the engines whine every time he touched the robot's hull.

He did see the series of small explosions in the arms. The hands opened, and the Master emerald floated free. Sonic swooped down, grabbed it, then hit the robot's chest one last time.

The explosion nearly rivaled that of the freighter. Fragments and burning metal flew in all directions. Only the head remained intact, dented and slowly toppling end over end in space.

"Goodbye, Doctor," Sonic said to it in triumph, although his voice never made it past his lips. "I've got the loot, you've got the boot."

He whirled and dove for the blue world below, carrying the Master emerald awkwardly against his chest.

He didn't see the robot's head right itself, fire up a small engine in its underside, and roar at an angle back toward Mobius.

Sonic flew down, down, down, accelerating alarmingly. He would have incinerated, hyper or not, had he not been carrying the Master emerald. Its power poured into his body, brightening his glow and turning him its shade of emerald-green. It was only because of this he was able to pull out of the dive, slow, and fly steadily downward at his own pace.

He was tired. Now that Robotnik was defeated and the Master safe, he had very little drive left for finishing. All he could think of was landing somewhere and sleeping for two weeks.

For the first time in hours, a sound reached him. It was a relief to hear something other than the rushing of the wind in his ears. His enhanced vision picked out the tiny aircraft below. He could see it clearly-a red bi-plane with silver trim. What do you know. He made for it with renewed vigor.

As he drew closer, he began to call, "Tails! Taaiills!" After the fifth call the plane swerved and began to fly toward him. Tails had seen him. Sonic swooped down over it and alighted on the top wing. He let the tip of the Master emerald rest on it, taking the weight off his arms. He sighed in relief as Tails said, "Sonic, you won! Are you okay?"

He nodded his glowing head. "Yeah, yeah, I'm cool. Bushed is all. Where are we? Got enough fuel to make it to the Floating Island?"

The fox checked. "Yeah, plenty. What happened?"

Sonic sank to a sitting position and thrust his feet through the handles on the wing top. "Tell ya later. Make tracks. We gotta get the Master back before the island sinks."

Tails turned the bi-plane and began to pour on the speed. He didn't have the heart to mention the flickies. Not now. Not yet ...