20th chapter, guys! Thank you so much for supporting this fanfiction up till now!
Chapter 20: Escape
Onboard the Egg Carrier, which was a massive airship decorated in red and yellow paint with Dr. Eggman's face along the sides of it, Amelia was navigating through an endless series of corridors with the baby bird in both hands and the Blue Chaos Emerald in her dress-pocket. She had managed to avoid most of the robots that were hovering around so far, and hoped it would stay that way. The bird was constantly chirping, though, which often got the robots' attention before Amelia quickly hid somewhere. During one of these moments, she bumped into something, which startled her enough to immediately summon the Piko Hammer. But when she saw what it was, Amelia was surprised.
"Biggs," Amelia said lowering the Piko Hammer. "What are you doing here?"
"I-I was only looking for Froggy," Biggs replied, eyeing the Piko Hammer nervously. "You're not going to hurt me, are you?"
"Of course not. How did you get onto this ship?"
"Well, I followed the robot that took my Froggy to an underground place where this ship was held. I went inside, and then we were suddenly airborne. I've been hiding in this closet for hours, but I'm worried about Froggy."
"Then let's find Froggy together," Amelia responded, putting the baby bird on her left shoulder. "I'll protect you every step of the way!"
So Amelia and Biggs set off together with the baby bird holding onto Amelia's shoulder tightly. While Amelia was able to beat back the robots that came their way, she couldn't completely destroy them which forced her and Biggs to constantly run away. They eventually came to a large chamber with a shallow pool inside that was guarded by three robots. At the center of the pool, a single lily-pad held a large green frog with a strange-looking tail attached to it.
"Froggy!" Biggs cried.
The robots heard him, and immediately fired their lasers. Amelia pushed Biggs behind a pillar and leaped over the pool. She transformed into Amy and slammed the Piko Hammer down on the first robot who fired a laser at her. After smashing the robot to pieces, Amy took care of the other two robots in one swing which sent them both crashing into the control panels along the walls. While this was going on, Biggs approached the pool and took out an extendable fishing rod he carried in his pocket. Next, he sat down and closed his eyes. A royal purple aura briefly enveloped him and then he was larger with purple cat ears and a bushy tail.
Amy heard the whir of the fishing rod, and looked behind her. "Big!"
The cat-eared Biggs looked up just as Froggy swallowed the fishing hook. "Amy!"
Big immediately reeled Froggy in just as Amy ran around the pool. Once Big unhooked Froggy, he embraced Amy just as she did. Then the doors to the chamber opened, revealing Dr. Eggman surrounded by a small unit of robots with their guns pointed at Amy and Big.
"Well, well, well," Dr. Eggman mused. "I heard rumors that there were a couple of stowaway rats, but I never suspected that they would actually be a female hedgehog and an obese cat."
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Meanwhile, Chuck rode on Gamma's back as he flew towards the Egg Carrier on rocket-powered feet. Once they were close enough, Chuck changed into Knuckles and glided down onto the landing strip. Gamma landed close behind and walked up to Knuckles.
"I must find Beta," Gamma said. "Good luck finding your friends."
"Yeah," Knuckles replied. "And thanks for the ride."
As Knuckles and Gamma went their separate ways, a lone figure with bat-wings watched them.
The silence was interrupted by a man's voice coming in through an ear-piece the figure wore. "Rouge the Bat! Do you read me?"
"Loud and clear," the figure replied softly.
"Have you located The Blue Blur?"
"Not yet, but I know he's somewhere onboard Dr. Robotnik's ship." A sudden explosion caught Rouge's attention. "I might need to call you back, Commander. There's some action going on near the front of the Carrier."
"Then proceed to investigate it with caution. We can't let anyone see you."
"Got it."
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"Let me go!" Amy protested as she struggled against the two robots that held her arms.
The baby bird tried to fly from Amy's shoulder, but it landed on the floor of the landing strip in a matter of seconds.
"Where is the Blue Chaos Emerald?" Dr. Eggman said as he forced Froggy to regurgitate, which caused it to cough up the Red Chaos Emerald.
"I don't have it on me," Amy insisted.
"Then why are you struggling?"
"Because I don't want to be near you!" Amy re-summoned the Piko Hammer to her from the robot who held it and bashed the two robots who held her captive.
She then bent down and picked up the baby bird as she ran away. In the process, the Blue Chaos Emerald fell out of her dress-pocket. Dr. Eggman noticed and ordered the green and red robot who captured Amelia to go after Amy. With one hand, Dr. Eggman leaned down and picked up the Blue Chaos Emerald while Big watched.
"What are you going to do to Froggy?" Big asked anxiously.
"I'm going to give the tail back to its rightful owner," Dr. Eggman replied smugly. "Chaos!"
To be continued…