Meanwhile, Tails asked, " What if the Zeti destroyed the Zeti Zappers by now? They've got super strength, so depending on how mad they were at them they could've smashed them the day their rocket landed. " It hadn't taken him very long after he started flying the biplane for him to go from remembering how the Zeti hated those things to wondering if they would've shown those things the sheer extent of their hatred. The biplane had the syringe and rope in its back seat.
Sonic replied, " Good point. Why would they still be around? They're so proud of how dangerous they are on their own that they wouldn't think they'd need to use the Zappers against anyone themselves. " Tails started landing the plane as he said, " So I'll land the plane and you and Gemerl could speed over to Starline's base and see if he's got any ideas. It'd be nice if he had anything that could replace the Zappers. "
The biplane landed and Sonic and Gemerl ran over to Starline's base in a blue and black blur, with Sonic leading the way, and hardly any time passed before Sonic pulled open the little circular door hidden under the bush near the woods and walked down the staircase and up to the underground door to his base with a T-shaped underground tunnel leading up to it. He knocked on the door just to be polite instead of startling him by barging in, and waited a few seconds before opening the door and walking in, calling out, " Hey, Starline! "
It didn't take long at all for him to notice a piece of paper on the table in front of the couch of the base's " living room, " which had a sort of Pros and Cons list on it, with the Cons being on the left side, and referred to Starline in the third person, something that made it obvious that Kitsunami had written it about him. He could hear footsteps approaching, so he didn't have much time to look at the paper trying to excuse his actions, but a casual look skimming over it with Gemerl as it stayed on the table had him reluctantly conceding in a quiet voice, " It has some good points. "
Kit had added to it recently, so it was also able to point out that destroying a base that produced Cores to power up robots might have saved lives, and the Zeti would've caused more destruction if Zavok hadn't been set to reunite with them and send them to fight Sonic, getting them trapped on the Lost Hex far earlier. This was of course assuming Zik wouldn't have had the same plan and reunited most of them anyways.
It stuck out to him that it mentioned that if Surge wasn't made to hate him, she'd have been made to live to serve Starline and his disappearance would've been too much for her to handle, as if it wasn't bad enough that Kit assumed she'd have instantly electrocuted Sonic to death to get it over with if she was only fighting him to follow orders. Before that, it was written that if Kit hadn't been made loyal to Surge, he would've been made equally as loyal to Starline, and he didn't want to imagine how badly he'd have reacted to him being gone so much longer than Surge was. When he heard Starline's footsteps heading towards him, he stopped looking at the note because he'd rather talk about it after the plan was done, not that he could think of anything to say.
He looked to the left at Starline walking towards him nervously from a hallway wearing a robe and slippers with no stains on his fur and beak, and it was obvious from the smell of soap and his wet hair that he'd just taken a bath to clean them off. There were still scratch-shaped areas on his fur clearly marking where the cuts used to be though because the fur had just started growing back over them, and wasn't done because he forgot to reprogram the Safe Metal Virus to account for platypus fur when using its regenerative power. So he was still a pitiful sight. " I'm glad you cleaned up, " Sonic commented with a smile, although his eyes couldn't hide the pity.
So confused from his compassion that he couldn't respond to it, Starline asked him, " Why are you here? " looking annoyed. He wasn't interested in small talk with someone whose confusing pity reminded him of how pathetic he looked and felt, especially not a former enemy he was still uncomfortable around, and was hoping this wouldn't happen every day. Sonic decided to let it slide rather than waste time complaining because he knew he wasn't used to him not being his enemy yet and couldn't wait to get out of the base himself, so he said,
" Tails wanted to know if you had anything like the Zeti Zappers he made that could shock Metal Sonic on contact, like, shock gloves to punch Metal Sonic with. He figured the chances that the Zeti hadn't already smashed those things by now were really slim. " Starline looked sad for a second before admitting, " I've got heels on my boots that can do that in response to them smacking against something, along with one other thing if they weren't out of the thing needed for that, but I won't need them anymore, so I might as well give them away. They're in the bathroom over there. "
He pointed to it, Sonic ran in the direction and came back with the boots in seconds, and he explained, " It'd take a little time to remove the heels to attach them to gloves. I suppose just duct taping them to the gloves wouldn't backfire for now but it'd be faster if Gemerl wore the boots as they are and kicked Metal Sonic. " As Gemerl put the boots over his feet, Sonic asked, " Do they fit? " Gemerl nodded and shrugged, and said, " Not a perfect fit, but close enough. With how likely it is that one kick is all it'll take and my ability to hover, it doesn't matter if they're too small. "
Sonic said, " Thanks! " and there was a brief awkward silence which Starline decided to break by stammering, " W-W-Whoever wants them the most can keep them, if they insist. Tails would need them a lot more than HE does. I mean I'd understand not trusting me with them, so for the sake of fostering some trust it'd be good for me to give you any weapons I have. I was going to blow-dry my hair. So is that all for now? " Sonic nodded, having been looking at him uncomfortably with some pity again.
Sonic was thinking, " He's acting like Tails when I first met him, like I'm the one to be scared of. When is he gonna get that he can trust me? " and Starline turned around and started walking to the bathroom at a hurried pace. He heard Gemerl comment in surprise, " He didn't apologize. " They looked shocked when they heard him mutter, " Who'd believe me? " before closing the bathroom door and turning on the hair-dryer, and that combined with Gemerl putting his hand on Sonic's shoulder and shaking his head signaled to him that as tempting as it was to go tell him otherwise, he wanted to be alone and could be reassured about that later. So he sighed and they left the base, quickly coming back to Tails' plane.
Sonic and Gemerl got themselves onto the wings of the plane, and Tails started driving the plane forwards as Sonic explained, " He said the heels on these boots can give out electric shocks, and whoever wants them the most can keep 'em, but he thinks YOU need them more than anybody. " Tails was stunned, both because he was still getting used to the idea that Starline wasn't his enemy anymore and because he didn't like imagining himself wearing his boots. He replied, " Um, I like my sneakers, I'm used to them. I like wearing shoes that look like yours. "
Gemerl thought that he wasn't being logical enough even if the sentiment was sweet, assuming he could make the boots fit him if they didn't, and Tails said, " But if I remove the heels, they could make gloves into shock gloves. So that'd be great for someone with the special ability of not having their fists get hurt punching a robot, but I'm not usually doing that, and the only friends of mine I can remember as punching to attack robots already have super strength, so they usually wouldn't need the advantage of shock powers too, and if I just keep the heels ON, well I can only think of Rouge and Belle as someone who can kick a robot without injuring her foot and since they wouldn't wear Starline's boots I'd need the heels put on new footwear. " Sonic said quietly, " You don't say, " as anyone could get bored by his tendency to just state the obvious. Tails said, " My point is, we probably won't be using them past this. "
Eventually the plane reached the floating island, with Knuckles seeing and hearing the biplane from a distance, and putting down a book Tails got him under an open beach umbrella Sonic bought him for when it rained, which was always on the ground in case of storms and next to a bush. He ran over to where the plane would land out of boredom and curiousity.
The plane landed on the grass next to the portal making machine. Sonic jumped off the wing of the Tornado holding what he needed and Gemerl hovered down to the grass and awkwardly stood on it in ill-fitting boots. Tails pressed a button to take off his seatbelt, jumped and flew over to the front of that machine, and pressed a button to show him on a screen where the first prospective portal was going to be, and started holding another button to start moving said portal ahead, and a second button to have it also move down from the island.
Everyone looked bored, and soon they heard Knuckles behind them asking in confusion, " What's going on? " and looked at him, without Tails removing his fingers from the buttons. Sonic explained to a worried Knuckles, " We're gonna make a portal to Eggman's base and take out Metal Sonic in one kick. Gemerl's got boots with electric heels set on the highest voltage setting and he's gonna kick him from the other side of a portal behind him, and I'm gonna be busy with Eggman the whole time the portal's open. " He pointed to the rope in his hands, and Tails reassured him, " So you don't have to worry about the fact that there's gonna be a portal connecting the island to Eggman's base because the second it opens up, they're gonna be dealt with, " stating the obvious to their annoyance.
" It sounds good, too good to be true. Are you sure the voltage is gonna be high enough? Was it tested on something enough like Metal Sonic? " Knuckles asked. Sonic said unhappily, " No, " and Gemerl pointed out, " I'll keep kicking him until Tails closes the portal, so he wouldn't be able to do anything. " Sonic said, " You're free to go punch him a bunch after the fact if you really wanna make sure he's beaten. We really don't want Metal Sonic to get out of that room. The last thing we want is him catching up to Eggman after we get him out of that base. "
Knuckles asked, " What's that big syringe? " and Sonic wished he had clothes with a pocket in them so he could've hid it and avoided this question. Tails looked at the buttons again and explained, " It's gonna make Eggman go to sleep. " He didn't think he needed to fully explain it and no one else was in a hurry to. Knuckles said, " Oh, okay. He would be annoying complaining too much, otherwise. " He had been thinking that it looked poisonous and wondering why his friends would've decided to use it after all this time. As everyone looked nervous around him, he said, " It's too bad the stuff in it has to look like that. The color reminds me of the Metal Virus right away. But I know you guys wouldn't use THAT. It's just a nasty coincidence. I never knew stuff to put you to sleep looked gray. "
Sonic just said unhappily, " Yeah, " scratching his neck, thankful that Knuckles had never gotten hurt enough or need a dentist badly enough to have to see the needles used to do that. There was a silence where Knuckles took note of Sonic's melancolic mood, and pointed out, " I'd expect you to be excited to mess with Eggman. What's wrong? " There was another silence, and Sonic felt obligated to break it. He explained, " I've been fighting Eggman for so long at this point that I'm worried that I'm gonna miss it when he's not a threat anymore. "
Knuckles said with his arms crossed, " You know there's plenty of other jerks for you to fight with, right? You've got tons of enemies and I'm sure a lot of people would be selfish enough to jump at the chance to take Eggman's place if they thought they could, if there's people willing to work for him, like Starline, so maybe your life won't change as fast as you think. " Sonic admitted, " Good point. "
Knuckles asked in confusion, " So why do you still look like you're going to a funeral? Is that needle gonna do more than just put him to sleep? I don't think it'd be like you guys to try to kill him of course, I'm just wondering why you talked like that's gonna end it once and for all. Is he gonna be put to sleep long enough to get him to prison? "
Tails explained, " After he's put to sleep I'm gonna put a second portal below him to send him falling into it and then a third portal to send him somewhere else from here, and he's never gonna be a threat again after that, but he's gonna be fine. Trust me. " Knuckles asked, " How do you know? Couldn't they sentence him to death? " There was another silence, before Tails said, " That's not gonna happen. Sonic had a talk with the guy in charge of his fate, " which was technically true.
Knuckles said, " But couldn't he have been lying to humor you? Even if he wasn't, he could change his mind. " There was another silence where Sonic and Tails looked nervous, before Tails said, " That's a chance we have to take to guarantee that he's never gonna be a problem again. It's the best plan we've got that doesn't involve simply, you know, doing something we'd feel bad about. Even if the serum doesn't do what it's advertised to, it's probably still gonna mean he's not a threat anymore so it's worth doing, and if not we could handle it. " Sonic snarked from stress, " I'd like to see you come up with a better idea. "
Knuckles said, " What about putting him in a cell in a place other than a prison, like here? Then no one would be trying to execute him. Tails could build it and I could feed him through a slot in it, and it could be soundproof so I wouldn't have to listen to him, so I wouldn't mind. " Tails said, " But then he wouldn't stand trial for any of the things he did. " He hated having to mislead him, but he was desperate. Sonic said, " Yeah, that's what Espio said he wanted. He deserves to have to sit through all of that. "
Knuckles hesitated before saying, " Alright, good point. " Tails said, " We could put a portal below him in his cell after that to take him to safety anyways. It's not like most people know the Warp Topaz exists, let alone know it's here, which would make them think it'd have to be you or my friends doing that. " Knuckles admitted, " Good point. "
They didn't want to get to a point where they'd end up lying to him, but they were worried that if he knew the truth, he'd go ballistic on them. All Tails had the courage to say was, " He could be in a cell like that in the Sol Dimension, too, you don't have to be burdened with him. Blaze said she wouldn't mind. " Knuckles replied, " She wouldn't? That's generous. "
Sonic reminded him, " Shouldn't you be guarding the Emerald? " Knuckles looked surprised and said suspiciously, " You know when anyone comes to my island I hear their plane from a mile away! That's why I'm here, so I don't have to be right in front of it as long as I'm on the island. You know that, so why say this now? I'm beginning to think I'm not wanted here. Since when do you want me to leave you alone? You weren't doing anything that looked fun, so I'd think you'd appreciate me talking to you. It gave you something to focus on so you weren't bored. "
Sonic made an excuse, " Yeah but we've got nothing else to talk about now, so until- " Knuckles pointed out, " What about how our days went? I know mine wasn't interesting, I just read in front of the Emerald as usual, but I'd expect you to be eager to talk about how things have been with YOU, especially since you love to brag. Instead you've been nervous around me for no reason, like you've got something to hide. And the only reason I could think of for that is that the syringe does more than put him to sleep. But it'd still let him stand trial, so it can't be the obvious that it'd kill him. Is it, ' side-effects, ' you're hiding? " Tails said, " Yeah and there's no way to get this done without that being a thing. "
" Is that all? Why didn't you just tell me in the first place? " Knuckles asked. " We thought you'd be mad at us! Are you? " Sonic said. Knuckles replied, " No. I'm not happy about it, obviously, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do. " Sonic said, " I'm not happy with it either! But everyone I talked to about it insists on it. I was kinda hoping you'd back me up on this even if I didn't want you to lose your temper and break it or something. "
Knuckles said, " Anything's worth making the world safe from him. I'd object if it was someone nice but this is EGGMAN! " Tails said, " That's a relief. " Knuckles remarked, " And no offense but with the way you and your friends were dealing with him, at that rate we'd be old and gray by the time he stopped being a threat. Maybe this way we'll actually be done with him in less than ten years. With his level of technology, he might as well be a wizard to me so I bet he could make himself immortal with it while we're gonna get too old to fight him, so if you're thinking old age is gonna stop him anyways, think again. We can't keep putting off what needs to be done just because of your feelings. " Sonic noticed nobody around him complaining about the remarks and said, " Yeah yeah, I get it, it was taking too long. Are you saying you would've been happy if one of us finished him off instead? "
Knuckles admitted reluctantly, " Not happy but I'd know it'd be the smart option. As a guardian of the Master Emerald, I spent my life preparing myself for the idea that if anyone went after it, I'd have to do anything it took to make sure it's safe from him, and I never would've imagined I would end up not trying hard enough to deal with the first person who stole it. When you told me you'd get my Emerald back, I never thought Eggman was gonna survive afterwards. I wouldn't be able to bring myself to kill him either, but that's just because I never did it to someone before, and spent my whole life not fighting with anybody, and at least I'm willing to admit it's a good idea. I was raised by the echidna scrolls to be violent against anyone who threatens an Emerald, that's what being a guardian is all about. It's not like we have a non-violent solution. "
Sonic pointed out, " But if Eggman didn't live long enough to release Shadow, he never would've saved the world from the Black Arms! So it's good that we kept him alive that long. Nobody had any way of knowing he'd be that useful in the future, and he never could've done that if I hadn't been leaving him to his own devices every time, so what if he's still needed again? "
Knuckles replied, " Okay that's a good point but what are the chances he's ever gonna be needed again? Besides what if Eggman ended up destroying or permanently injuring one of your friends? We're very lucky it hasn't happened already, it's a roll of the dice every time they're in danger! It'd never get a chance to happen if you finally DO something about him but if you don't, it'll be partially your fault, for caring more about what you wanna do than protecting everyone else and he'll get himself killed anyways if this fighting with you lasts long enough! He'll either get himself blown up with an exploding mecha or something or his health would fail from the stress. You'll be saving his life. It's a miracle he's lived this long. "
Sonic asked angrily, " Fine, but what if Eggman realized he was wrong and wasting his talent and became a nice guy instead? It couldn't happen if he was put down before that! Any good he'd do would be worth it. " Knuckles said, " That'd be better obviously even if it'd never happen. It'd be ideal if they could make good use out of Eggman without him being in a position where he could cause any harm. It'd be nice if they could make sure he's doing nothing but good with his skills, even if behind a prison cell, but knowing him he'd find some way to sabotage the stuff he made or fixed to make it cause trouble anyways. I'm sure he could turn anything into a deadly machine for him. He could end up sending an army of kitchen appliances after people after being made to fix them. So if he's still evil it's not worth the risk, and he's not gonna stop being evil on his own. "
Sonic said, " Yeah, good point, but if he actually changes- " Knuckles interrupted, " I've been burned too many times from having faith that he could change just for him to trick me into turning on you. My point is, I want someone to actually do something about him instead of beating his mecha and leaving, and I bet everyone else is just as tired of that. Ask the rest of your friends and they'd say the same things. Most people in the world wouldn't want his life preserved and would just look at you funny for even talking like this. So it really is just you only wanting to do what you want. You owe it to those people. "
Sonic remembered how Rouge and the Chaotix were willing to defend Mr. Tinker and looked annoyed at how likely it seemed as a result that they would want him to return him to that state, as well. The only friends of his that wouldn't be satisfied would be the ones who wanted to kill Eggman outright. " So if you need to give him some gray goo to get him to justice, then I'm all for it because dealing with the same few things over and over from him is getting old. I haven't missed it. "
There was an uncomfortable silence before he asked, " What are those side-effects? " and Tails and Sonic looked nervous, as they were wondering if he really meant what he said and if he didn't, they couldn't be honest, or lie that they were too horrible. Sonic said, " You don't really wanna know, do you? "
Knuckles asked, " Is it that bad? I'm just curious. I can handle it. I'm tougher than that. " Eventually Tails said, " Disorientation. " He looked confused, and Sonic said, " Yeah, he won't know where he is and we'll have to tell him ourselves. " Again it was technically true, so it was an easy thing for them to tell him. Knuckles said, " And? That can't be IT if you were putting off telling me for this long. Besides there's never only one side-effect to something, and if you're gonna drop him through a portal, he'll be disoriented anyways! "
Sonic asked him desperately, " Are there any side-effects you'd say would cross the line? " Knuckles replied, " I don't think so, I don't want to see him deal with them of course but it's for the good of billions of people, AND my Emerald! One guy getting sick would be worth putting an end to Eggman's schemes especially if Tails can fix anything wrong with him anyways. He's supposed to be a genius, so I'd be surprised if he couldn't. " Sonic kept making Tails nervous that he'd let the cat out of the bag as he asked, " What if he couldn't because they're permanent? They're permanent changes to him! "
Knuckles cringed before saying, " Still! It's for the good of everyone else and I'm sick of him trying to steal my Emerald! Although it's pretty unlike Tails to come up with a plan that'd do that. I'm proud of him for having the guts. I'll feel sorry for Eggman. I might even visit him and give him a, a gift basket or whatever. But I thought the most good people of all were supposed to be all for making sacrifices for the greater good, like Shadow when he tried to sacrifice himself. This time it's you who's gotta make a sacrifice by swallowing your pride. "
Sonic said, " I did that when I agreed to come here. Now I'm gonna have to do it again! I never thought I'd be jealous of Shadow. I bet he didn't feel bad at all before destroying the Black Comet, making an entire species extinct, after getting rid of what's basically his father. I think he didn't have a choice at the time if he wanted to protect the world, so I'd have done the same thing, but it'd have been torture for me. And I'm not even gonna be destroying one person and even going along with THIS is agony, and I haven't even started doing it yet. "
Tails pointed out as he was lost in thought, " One of the side-effects is being able to heal really fast. " Knuckles said, " REALLY? Good for him. But he was being evasive about one of the bad ones. " Tails said, " Technically there aren't any bad ones. He'll be much better off. " Knuckles asked, " Huh? Is this getting off on a technicality? Sonic isn't acting like that's true at all! "
He pointed out, " The side-effects are huge benefits. He might even live a lot longer because of them. There's a lot of diseases he'll be immune to. He'll never have heart trouble after this. Even the worst one that Sonic's upset over is still a good thing even if he won't know it. It'll even make his own life less stressful. It won't do anything like put him in pain, keep him from moving, or even make him less skilled at anything. "
Knuckles asked, " How will he not know it'll be a good thing if it'll make his life happier? If it's good, then why won't you tell me what it is right away? If it's not gonna hurt him or paralyze him and he'd be still just as smart, you've already ruled out all the things that'd cross a line I'd never think you'd cross. The only thing - " " Finally! " Tails exclaimed, and they looked at him with Sonic smiling in relief, and he said,
" I've set the potential locations of the portals. Sorry Knuckles but we wanna get this plan over with as soon as possible. We can explain the side-effects later! " Knuckles said, " Uh, fine. It's not actually important. By the way, do those portals close really fast? " Sonic replied, " Not compared to other portals. Why are you asking? We told you Metal Sonic's not gonna be able to get here. "
Knuckles pointed out, " If you open and close a portal over Metal Sonic, it'd split him in half. You wouldn't even need Gemerl. But if it closes too slow to do that before he'd turn around and fight, it won't be worth the risk of having him halfway on my island. " Tails said, " Yeah, they just barely close too slowly to be worth it when he can move at sonic speed. I wouldn't risk it. That's a last resort if anything. Now come on, guys, let's do this! But you stay here, Knuckles, there'd be nothing for you to do there. "
Knuckles complained, " I just wish I could do something to be a part of this final victory. I missed getting into fights and we're the first of Sonic's friends to meet this guy! Oh, right, and Amy too. I forgot about her. And she's not even here! You really rushed over here, didn't you?! Did you even tell her the plan? " Tails said, " No. Considering how idealistic she is, we weren't sure she'd approve, so I don't even know if I'm gonna tell her. But the only things we could do would be something Gemerl's already got covered. If you tried to hit Metal Sonic when he was being shocked, you'd be shocked too, and he's not gonna stop shocking him until we're done in that room. It's not like there's more than just one killer robot in the room with him, I didn't see that on the screen. Orbot and Cubot don't count. " " I know… " Knuckles replied.
Then he perked up a little with a nervous smile and said, " Why can't I go into the portal and hold Orbot and Cubot still if they try to stop us? Maybe they'd be able to stop Sonic! We can't risk them using the needle on Sonic. Nothing would be more humiliating than being foiled by Orbot and Cubot, so we'd better make sure! " Tails and Sonic smiled, knowing that he was just making a lame excuse to get involved, and Tails said, " Hmm. Okay, why not? We were all thinking they were gonna cower in the corner the whole time, so why account for them? But if they actually cared enough to take action because they're programmed to be loyal to Eggman, they could always grab Sonic's arms, pull him away, or maybe even use the thing on him if they have the guts. "
Sonic nodded, with the rope in his hands and the syringe tucked into his shoe, with the needle harmlessly against his sock. They still knew Sonic was probably only going to take a few seconds, and he was sure Gemerl could stop Orbot and Cubot himself because Metal Sonic would probably be broken from the first kick, but in case the electricity from those boots wasn't nearly powerful enough for that compared to something like Surge's shocks in a watery bubble was, there was no harm in having some insurance.
Tails thought, " Actually I could put a portal below Orbot and Cubot to get them out of there, but Knuckles would have a lot more fun going there personally. And the portals are so big it would have Sonic and Eggman fall into one if I opened up one below Orbot and Cubot in the wrong place. "
He saw on the screen that Eggman was sitting in a chair in a room with Metal Sonic, Orbot and Cubot around him, staring at a big screen. Tails said, " I found Eggman on the screen. He's sitting on a chair right now, Sonic, and it's just far enough from the desk that you could run around it no problem. " Gemerl put his hand out near Sonic and told him, " Your hands would be too busy with holding and tying the rope at first to hold the syringe. In case of an emergency I'll fly away with it, " and got handed it. At last, he counted, " 3, 2, 1, " with Sonic and Gemerl standing close to the multi-portal generator as well.
