The rescue party darted through the vents to reach the lift before it got too late. Fortunately, the elevator just arrived and everyone started to jump onto the roof. Knuckles jumped on first, then Amy, Blaze, and Vanilla. Silver was about to follow, but that's when the floor suddenly started to descend.
"Look out!" Shadow yelled as he stopped Tails.
"Guys!" Amy screamed.
They saw the view of their friends slowly shrink as the elevator descended. It already began to reach the lobby!
"Quick, get on!"
Shadow leapt for one of the cables and used it as a rope to slide down. Silver followed after him as well. Tails was about to jump, but the sight of a small and scared rabbit made him stop and look back.
"Cream, What's wrong?"
"It- it l-looks dangerous… I'm scared."
"Cream!" Vanilla shouted, they were running out of time.
"Cream, I know this may be dangerous, but trust me." He walked by her side and grabbed her hand. "Just hold onto me and everything will be fine. I promise."
She still had uncertainty in her eyes, but she slowly walked towards him. Tails reached out his hand and she took it. Then, he held onto her tight as he jumped onto cable and slid down. Once they reached the bottom, the scared rabbit still held onto the brave fox in fear.
"Hey, it's over." He whispered.
She risked opening her eyes and saw that they were indeed on the elevator roof and her mother came to her side. Her hold on Tails loosened and she held her mother instead. They both stepped away to calm eachothers nerves as Knuckles sneaked behind Tails.
"Way to be a hero, Tails."
The sudden voice startled the fox,
"Gah! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
"There's no time for this!" Shadow interrupted, "The emergency hatch, hurry!"
Everyone ran to said hatch as Shadow struggled to open it. Once it was, they all were silent as they saw Kevin waiting to reach the bottom floor with the trolley carrying their friend in the case above the boxes. Shadow looked at Tails and gestured to him to come over.
"We need to get to that case, I'll lower you down and you will unlock it." He whispered.
"That's crazy! He'll see us!" Tails objected.
"Do you have a better idea?" Shadow countered.
"Guys!" Everyone's attention went to Silver as he pointed at the indicators above the doors.
"We've passed the 12th floor, we don't have time to argue!"
Tails looked away, he knew Silver was right, but this could lead into danger. No… No, he's come too far to be stopped now. He looked down at the case, then at Shadow with a firm nod.
"Let's do it!"
Shadow wasted no time as he grabbed onto his legs and lowered him down. They weren't long enough of course so Knuckles jumped in. Then, Silver, Blaze, and Amy. Cream and Vanilla were the last two supports holding onto her as they were now able to reach the clips on the case. Tails tried to reach, but he needed more momentum. He started swinging a little back and forth and finally was able to unhook the lid.
Immediately after it was unlocked, it sprung open enough for a blue hedgehog to peek and saw his friend trying to reach him. He smiled as he grabbed his hands.
"Finally!"
Tails looked up and saw Kevin beginning to leave as the doors opened. Sonic tried to escape, but the evil doctor jumped out and pulled him back. Tails lost his grip as the sudden force pulled Cream and Vanilla off balance and lost the support. Sonic saw his friends collapse onto the elevator floor before being pushed down and the lid shut and locked itself. The other toys tried to get their bearings and Tails saw Kevin leaving the double doors. After he pulled himself together, he tried to run as fast as he could to reach the door before it shut to prevent the automatic lock. He was halfway there, but the doors were closing too fast. He wasn't going to make it! He had to think of something, anything…
In the midst of his brainstorm, there was a sudden grab on his tails and he felt himself being swung towards the door!
"Go, Miles!" It was Shadow! He swung him by his tails!
He landed hard in between the doors but it was successfully blocked and the others could get through. He pushed the door off him and everyone made it out. They reached the curb before the road and tried to make it to Kevin's car, but it started to drive off…
"We're too late…" Amy mumbled with a hint of sadness, "How are we gonna get him now?"
Everyone was too stunned to answer, they all just stood there in silence. Knuckles decided to show anger instead of the group's sadness and started to kick rocks that were small enough for him to do so. After he kicked a few more rocks, he looked over and saw something that gave him an idea.
"Hey, guys! Who's up for some pizza!"
They glanced over with confused looks as they saw the red echidna pointing over to something. Tails realized what he was trying to say and a bright smile appeared on his face. A pizza delivery truck was left next to them with the door wide open! The fox wasted no time and ran to it without a second thought.
"Come on, guys!" He yelled.
Everyone just stood there confused, but the realization kicked into their heads soon after. First, Amy ran. Then, Shadow, Knuckles, and the rest followed.
"Does anyone even know how to drive?" Blaze questioned.
Shadow jumped in, shut the door and started to announce everyone's positions, "Knuckles, Amy, you take the pedals. Miles, Silver, you navigate. I'll take the wheel."
Tails jumped onto the dashboard with Silver to view the highway in front of them while Knuckles and Amy jumped down to the pedals. Knuckles took the gas pedal and Amy took the brakes. Shadow pulled a few pizza boxes into position so that he could reach the steering wheel efficiently.
"There he is!" Tails spotted Kevin's car in the distance.
"He's at a red light, we can catch him!" Silver spoke.
"Maximum power!" Shadow ordered.
Knuckles rammed the gas pedal, but they didn't move. The navigators above had their confusion turned into fear as Kevin's car began to move at a green light. Tails gasped at the sight,
"It turned green! Hurry!"
Why won't it move?" Shadow grunted.
Blaze was on the sidelines next to Cream and Vanilla as she heard this go on. Then, she saw a lever on the side of the wheel that might control the mode of the vehicle.
"Amy! Knuckles! Push your pedals!" She ordered.
They did just that as the purple cat quickly jumped from the seat, to the center console, and to the lever. She grabbed it tightly and used her momentum to pull it down. It clicked down and the truck bolted onto the highway, nearly colliding with every car.
"Miles, Silver, Which way?" Shadow asked.
"Keep going straight!" Tails yelled.
Slowly, they were able to get close to Kevin's car as it started to turn left.
"Turn left!" Silver instructed.
Shadow jumped and climbed as the wheel spun counterclockwise. The truck made a sharp left turn which made anyone not ready fall to their side.
"He's going right!" Tails barked.
In response, Shadow spun the wheel clockwise to turn right. They followed Kevin until they reached the airport. They sped past the entrance and reached one of the gates.
"Amy, hit the brakes!" Tails said.
After the brakes were applied, Blaze pulled the lever upward which seemed to have locked the truck in place just like before. The truck stopped on a curb near the entrance to one of the airliners and the toys tried to look out the side window to find the greedy collector.
"Where is he? Does anyone see him?" Amy frantically asked.
"There he is!"
Shadow pointed to the direction of their target. Kevin was next to an employee, handing the case next to him.
"How are we going to get inside? We'll be seen." The little rabbit piped up.
"Look there!" Tails cheered. "We could use a dog carrier to sneak in, come on!"
The automatic doors slid open as a dog carrier sneaks in behind a pedestrian. Tails was able to cut two holes on the bottom near the front and used them to poke his legs out to move the carrier. They make it about halfway to Kevin before they hear footsteps approaching them.
"Someone's coming! Stop!" Amy whispered.
"Ooo! Look, a puppy!" A little girl cheered.
She was getting too close for comfort, any closer and they'll be seen. They think there is an actual dog in this cage, what are they gonna do? At the last moment Knuckles gave out a sigh of humility and rushed to the front. What he did next shocked everyone inside. He barked so loud that the little girl got scared and ran away. Once she was far away, they were able to move again.
"Say anything to anyone and I'll cave your face in." He growled.
No one said anything as Tails continued to move while the coast was clear. As they were passing the walkway to the conveyor, they could hear Kevin and the employee arguing with each other.
"Listen, Fly boy! The contents of that case are worth more than you make in years! You got that?"
"I understand, sir."
Once they made it, they were able to find a ramp onto the conveyor belt. Now, they were just a few cases away from Sonic. As they were being carried to the end of the belt towards an entryway, Shadow began to speak.
"Remember, everyone. Once we go through, we just need to find that case…"
After sliding past the black cover, they saw what really goes on behind the walls. There were conveyor belts everywhere! Going in every direction across the building from side to side. Everyone gasped at the sight, how were they going to find him in all this?
All of their thoughts were cut short when the carrier had a sudden drop onto a slide. Everyone was caught off guard that they weren't aware of the speed they were going until they hit the wall on the side of the conveyor before returning back to its normal speed.
The impact was so rough, nearly all the toys fell out in front of the carrier. They tried to shake off the pain and get their bearings as they started to look around. Tails removed some kind of sticker from his face which allowed him to see the case they were looking for ahead.
"Look! There's the case!"
Everyone looked in his direction and began to run before Blaze stopped and saw something conflicting with their first find.
"Wait! There's another!" She pointed over the wall to another case that was identical to the first.
With little to no time Shadow decided to split the team up.
"Silver, Blaze, Amy, Knuckles, you take that one. Everyone else, follow me!"
Each group split up to reach both cases in hopes to save their friend. Shadow led his group of Tails, Cream, and Vanilla up the conveyor, but as they were coming across a Y intersection, a large case blocked their path. Shadow jumped on a smaller one before it and used it to jump higher to get on the other side. Tails copied the move and so did Cream and Vanilla with some difficulty. But Vanilla's dress becomes stuck on a zipper. She tried to free herself but the grip on her dress was too strong. Then, the divider switch the flow of luggages to the other side.
"Cream! I'm stuck!" She cried.
"Mother!" The little rabbit turned around and ran back to her mother with her little chao.
"Cream!" Tails shouted.
"I'll help them, just go!" Shadow ran past Tails to help the rabbit family.
Tails nodded and ran further down the line.
With the other group, they ran closer and closer to their target. They jumped over so much luggage and finally arrived. Amy reached one side and Knuckles on the other. Together, they both unlatch the lock and lift the lid.
"Sonic!" They both screamed, only for nothing as inside did not contain their blue friend. Inside was just some clothes and other junk. Everyone sighed, but a sight of a propeller caught Silver's eyes.
"Hey, what's that?"
Tails ran and ran and finally made it to his friend. He unlocked one latch, then another. He moved to the center and pushed his hands on the lid to open the case.
"Alright, Sonic. Let's go- AGH!"
The sudden attack threw off his balance and he got too close to the wall and flipped over!
"Take that, fox mutant!" Robotnik groaned.
"Hey!" Sonic yelled and grabbed him by the collar. "No one does that to my friend!"
Sonic pushed Robotnik out of the case and started an all out brawl with him. The moment they both fell out of the case, the lid started to descend and was going to relock, but something from below the insulation stopped it from shutting…
Sonic tried to hold onto Robotnik while they were rolling around side to side, but the evil doctor pushed him off with a forced kick. He landed hard on the conveyor guard wall and fell on his back. He looked up to see the emperor storming over to him, he stomped his foot hard on Sonic's shoulder to which he heard a few cracks coming from the pressure.
"Gah!" He writhed in pain.
"This is your last chance, Sonic." Robotnik growled. "You can come to Japan together or in broken pieces. There are plenty of workers who specialize in action figure repairs. Now, get in the box!"
"Never!" Sonic defied.
"Fine…"
Robotnik raised his foot higher and was going to use all force on Sonic's shoulder hinge. The blue hedgehog shielded his face in response before the attack, but before it happened, someone forcefully rammed themselves into the dictator, saving him.
"No one hurts my son!"
Sonic opened his eyes and saw his mother in her long red cloak protecting him. There was something new in her hand, some kind of staff… No, it was too short. It had a small glowing gem on the top, was it a scepter?
"Mom?"
Aleena turned around and smirked, "If he can get out of his box, then so can I."
Sonic nodded with his own smirk and got into a battle stance. Aleena turned back to face their opponent.
"It's time to end this, Robotnik. Once and for all!"
She pressed a small button on the side of her scepter and it began to glow with the sound of a magical chime, aiming it directly at him. The robot scientist just groaned in frustration, now he has to fight two instead of one. He readied his attachment which now resembled an all in one tool of some kind.
"We shall see…"