30th chapter, guys! Thank you so much for supporting this fan-fiction up till now!

Chapter 30: Trickery

As the incoming cannonballs got closer, Marine quickly swerved the boat out of their path and drove faster. Though the cannonballs ultimately missed, their explosions on the water's surface caused small waves to rock the ship. Everyone onboard got tossed and turned, but no one fell off. Further out to sea, the fog started to grow thicker and the explosions from the unseen cannons grew louder.

"We're getting close, lads!" Marine said confidently. "Judging by the sound of those cannon explosions, I'd say the ship is less than thirty yards away."

"Hey, Marine," Amy said, pointing to a buoy-shaped object several feet away on the port-side with two robots standing at its base. "What is that?"

"I'm not sure," Marine replied. "But it must be important considering that it's guarded by two robots."

"There's another one on this side," Knuckles said, pointing to a similar object on the starboard-side a few feet away. "And there are robots guarding it as well."

"Have they spotted us?" Cream asked nervously.

"If they have, we would be hearing laser blasts by now," Tails said. "But we can't ignore them either. Knuckles, you take out the one on your side. Amy, I'll fly you over to the other one."

"All right," Knuckles said, and glided over to the buoy on the starboard-side.

Amy nodded in agreement, and held onto Tails' hands as he flew them over to the other one.

A sudden sea breeze caused the fog to obscure the two buoys from sight. While Marine continued to avoid the cannonballs, several laser blasts were heard nearby, but then they ceased altogether. This was followed by a few splashes and then the fog suddenly grew less thick. Knuckles glided back onto the SS Marine triumphantly while Amy and Tails did the same.

"Thank goodness you're safe," Cream said, hugging Amy. "I was so worried about you when I heard those splashes."

"Those were the sounds of robots being thrown overboard by me," Knuckles said, clenching his fists for emphasis.

"Um, you're not the only one who overthrew some robots," Amy said, waving her hammer in Knuckles' face. "They were no match for my Piko Hammer."

"Guys, this isn't a competition," Tails said. "It turns out those buoys had smoke machines mounted on top of them, and that's what was creating the unusual fog."

"Oh, so that's why it's starting to clear up," Sonny said, noticing the first patches of blue sky in the thinning fog. "That means we'll get to see whatever's been hurling those cannonballs this whole time."

"But it also means we'll be more vulnerable since we won't have the fog to cover us up," Marine said sternly.

As the sea breeze cleared up the last of the fog, Sonic and the others beheld a strange sight. Anchored on the other side of a coastal reef was a large yellow and red submarine with the Eggman's grinning face on the side. The topside of the submarine was dotted with cannons that were stationed by robots while two figures stood on the submarine's tower. Sonic couldn't see who they were, but then one of them took out a megaphone and spoke into it.

"Are you Sonic the Hedgehog?" shouted a robotic voice across the water.

In response, Sonic took out the Red Chaos Emerald and held it above his head.

The other figure took out a spyglass and gazed at the Chaos Emerald. After speaking to the one with the megaphone, the figure with the spyglass disappeared below-deck. Then the figure with the megaphone spoke again.

"As soon as me first-mate fetches the hostage, he will row out to meet you for the exchange. So don't go anywhere or try to board my sub, unless you want to feel the wrath of my cannons in broad sunlight."

Marine flinched. "I don't like this, Sonic."

"Neither do I," Sonic replied. "But we don't have any other choice."

A few minutes later, the second figure emerged from below-deck holding someone who looked like Ms. Hare. Then the figure carried the person down a flight of metallic stairs alongside the sub to a bright red lifeboat with a motor attached to it. He steered the boat at a reasonable speed to the SS Marine and stopped right next to it. Up close, Sonic saw that the figure who was driving the motorized lifeboat was a robot version of Johnny, Mr. Chaplain's assistant teacher, with green and yellow armor as well as a shark-shaped head.

"Johnny," Sonic said in shock. "Don't tell me Dr. Eggman roboticized you too?"

"That's First-Mate Johnny to you, boy!" Johnny snapped. "Now are you going to hand me the Chaos Emerald or not?"

Hesitant, Sonic held the Red Chaos Emerald out to Johnny who reached for it with his robotic hand.

"Wait a minute!" Cream abruptly shouted. "That's not my mom!"

Sonic then looked at the person lying behind Johnny. While it wore the same clothes as Ms. Hare, the figure was shorter in height and a hint of metal showed underneath the sleeves. Curious, Sonic jumped onto the lifeboat and looked Ms. Hare in the face to discover it was one of Eggman's robots disguised to look like her. Immediately, Johnny tried to punch Sonic, but he jumped up and curled into a ball. After spinning in the air a few times, Sonic fell on top of Johnny, causing him to get knocked out and the lifeboat to sprout a leak. Before the lifeboat completely sank with the fake Ms. Hare on it, Sonic grabbed Johnny and jumped back onboard the SS Marine with the Red Chaos Emerald still in hand.

"Eggman tried to trick us by dressing a robot to look like Ms. Hare," Sonic said, looking down at the slightly dismantled Johnny. "And it seems Mr. Chaplain wasn't the only one he roboticized."

"He's not going to get away with this!" Tails said angrily. "Marine, head full-speed towards the submarine. We've got a score to settle!"

"With pleasure!" Marine said, and revved up the SS Marine.

The figure on the submarine's tower noticed, and signaled the robots to fire the cannons. But like before, Marine was able to dodge every single cannonball until she managed to park the ship right next to the same ladder Johnny came down. As Sonic and his friends boarded the submarine the figure on the tower, who was now visibly seen as the roboticized version of Mr. Chaplain wearing a long red trench coat and matching pirate hat shading his face, ordered the robots to arm their laser guns while he took out a long saber. From there, a battle ensued on the topside of the submarine with lasers and punches abound.

Tails flew around the robots' heads to distract them while Knuckles punched them out from behind. Meanwhile, Cream sent Cheese flying at the robots who punched them so hard that they fell overboard. Then when the robots fired at her, Cream managed to avoid the lasers by using her rabbit ears to flap into the air. Amy on the other hand was having a ball swinging her Piko Hammer around bashing robots left and right. Sonic, in the meantime, spun his way up to the tower and was met by the robotcized Mr. Chaplain's violent saber swings.

"Stop, Mr. Chaplain!" Sonic said pleadingly. "It's me, Sonny!"

"I don't know who this 'Mr. Chaplain' is," the robot said still swinging his sword. "But right now, you're dealing with Captain Whisker!"

"Then you leave me no choice," Sonic said, and jumped high into the air.

After doing a spin-dash attack on Captain Whisker, the robot was damaged but not completely destroyed. Yet Captain Whisker didn't give up and kept swinging his sword, forcing Sonic to do yet another attack. This time, Captain Whisker was too paralyzed to move and yet he still cursed at Sonic. In response, Sonic put a foot over Captain Whisker's mouth.

"Where's the real Ms. Hare?" Sonic said with a stern tone. "And no lies."

Then Sonic took his foot off Captain Whisker's mouth, who answered, "If you think the lass is here, you're wrong. She's with the doctor onboard the Egg Carrier, which you'll never be able to get to."

"Why's that?" Sonic asked.

"Because it's underwater!" Captain Whisker said laughing.

Irritated, Sonic kicked Captain Whisker in the head so hard that he fainted. Afterwards, Sonic looked over the tower and saw his friends tossing over the bodies of dismantled robots. Tails noticed him and flew up to behold the defeated Captain Whisker.

Concerned, Tails said, "Is that—

"Yeah, it's Mr. Chaplain," Sonic said abruptly. "But don't worry. I only knocked him out."

"That's good," Tails sighed with relief. "Did you ask him where Ms. Hare is?"

"I did, and he said she's in the Egg Carrier with Dr. Eggman. He also said the Egg Carrier's underwater."

"Really? Let me check using my Emerald Detector." Tails then pulled the device out and waved it around till he got a clear signal which seemed to be coming from the West further out in the ocean. "Well, according to my calculations, the Egg Carrier is indeed out there in ocean. About ten miles from the reef, I expect."

"So how are we going to get there?"

"With this sub, of course!"

"But you've never driven a submarine before."

"True, though I wouldn't be surprised if Marine does."

Then Sonic and his friends entered the submarine and were met by legions of robots armed with sabers.

To be continued…