Chapter 18: Anomaly
Sonic spin-dashed into a robot and sent it flying into two others, making them all explode. He then stood tall and wiped his hands.
"That's the last of them."
X-Tornado flew over before circling back around. Sonic ran off the runway as the plane came down. Three compartments on the bottom opened up, and a pair of wheels in each one came out. Then, the plane landed, its wheels screeching as they made contact with the surface. It rushed past Sonic and straight down the runway, and he ran after it. The plane quickly slowed down and came to a halt just outside the entrance to the hanger. Sonic reached the plane as Tails and Amy opened the hatched, and Tails took Amy by the hand, gently bringing her down in front of Sonic.
"You guys okay?" he asked.
"We're fine, Sonic," said Amy. "Are you okay?"
"I'm alright. Nice shot with the cannon, Tails."
"Thanks, Sonic, but we can't celebrate yet," replied the fox. "We still have to find Alex and girls and get them off of the Carrier."
Sonic nodded. "You're right. So, what next, little buddy?"
"What? Why are you asking me?" said Tails, surprised.
"Well, you are the captain here," Sonic simply shrugged. "And you gotten us this far."
"But it was your idea to fight off the G.U.N planes?" Tails pointed out.
"You were the one who came up with the plan," replied Sonic. "I just added to it. C'mon, little bro, have some faith in yourself. We have faith in you."
Tails stared at Sonic with wide eyes. He then turned to Amy, who gave him a big smile and nodded. He gave a brief smile of his own before looking down and bringing a hand to his chin.
"Well, we need to find Alex, but we also need to stop Eggman," he said thoughtfully. "We could accomplish both by sticking together, but I think it would be better if we split up. One to draw Eggman's attention, and the other to look for Alex. Amy, you said you would go find Alex and the others, but I'm worried about you running into any of Eggman's robots. Sonic, you can handle Eggman on your own, right?"
Sonic was about to answer when Amy interrupted him.
"I'll be fine, Tails," she said, "Alex needs help and Eggman will have his robot army to fight through to get to him. I'm not crazy. If I run into any robots, I'll just get out of there."
"But Amy—"
"It's okay, Tails," Sonic interjected, putting a hand on Tails' shoulder. "Amy can handle this. But I'm going to need your help getting Eggman's attention. After all, you're my right-hand man."
Tails thought for a moment before grinning.
"Alright," he said. "Let's do this. We'll meet back here."
"Oh, almost forgot."
He then took the communication device out of his ear and handed it to Amy.
"You'll need this more than I will," he said. "I know you can take care of yourself, Ames, but you are a member of this team. And that means we look out for each other. Let us know when you find Alex and the others. And if you run into any trouble you can't get out of, call us and we'll come running."
Amy stared at Sonic for a moment with wide, shimmering eyes. She then gave him a warm smile before taking the device and slipping it into her ear.
"Thank you, Sonic," she said gratefully. "I promise you can count on me."
The three friends exchanged confident glances, and Sonic punched his right fist into his left hand.
"Okay, team, we all know what to do. Let's move out!"
With that, Sonic and Tails raced off toward the head of the airship, and Amy ran into the hanger. Tails grabbed Sonic by the hand and flew to the upper deck. As soon as they came over, they saw a squadron of robots coming straight for them. Tails let Sonic go, and as soon as his feet touched ground, he sprinted towards the robots. Tails picked up speed and flew right beside him.
"You ready, Tails?" said Sonic.
"Ready!" nodded Tails.
"Then let's go!"
Inside the Egg Carrier…
Gamma walked down the hall, tracking the signal from its target. Shortly after it began its pursuit, it picked up a weaker signal close behind it. Now that signal was chasing its target. They were quite a distance away from Gamma, and the robot needed to apprehend this Mystic immediately.
When the signal crossed in front of a door, Gamma calculated that it could reduce its pursuit time by going through the door and crossing the room on the other side should there be one. It faced the door, and it slide open. The robot entered and was about to search for another door, when came to a full stop at the sight before it.
At the center of the large, circular room was a cylinder chamber. Inside the chamber, being prodded and drilled into by four automatic drills, was the body of a robot. However, Gamma's memory indicated that this wasn't a new robot body.
"Beta?"
Gamma's memory recalled the image of Beta. The robot in the chamber matched the robot's head and body shape and color, but its arms and legs were missing. All that was in their places were cut wires that sparked and sizzled with each jab from the drills.
Gamma turned its attention to the floor. All around were scraps of metal. The longer the robot looked, the more it processed that they were pieces of Beta's arms and legs. They lay on the ground, twisted and dented, and with wires exposed.
The sight made Gamma pause, its eyes flickering from green to yellow, and its joints suddenly locking. Once again, something strange happened. Something illogical, like its motherboard was being frozen, but there was no warning of a malfunction. Gamma couldn't process it. Nothing in its system could explain this anomaly.
It made no sense.
A beeping sound and blinking light on its screen rebooted Gamma's attention. It looked past the main chamber and saw a door on the other side. Its target's signal was beyond it. Gamma walked past the chamber and towards the door, glancing back for only a moment before exiting the room.
Elsewhere…
Alex sharply turned a corner and sprinted down the corridor. At the end were two doors with a sign that had the image of waves on it. Hearing the robot behind her getting closer, and desperate for a way to lose it, she headed straight for the doors and pushed them open. She soon found herself sliding to a stop and teetering on the edge of the deep end of a swimming pool. She quickly found her balance again and backed away.
"There's a pool on this ship," she said flatly. "Somehow, I'm not surprised."
The sound of the robot's engine rapidly approaching from the other side of the door caught Alex's attention. She looked around for anything that might help her. Finally, she saw a metal bar stretching across the ceiling. Channeling her Energy into her legs to gain height, she jumped up and grabbed the bar. She swung herself up like a master gymnast and perched on the bar like a frog just as the robot slammed the doors open.
Alex watched intently as the green shaped robot hovered into the room. It stopped right underneath her, turning in a circle, obviously scanning for any sign of her, but its cylinder shape couldn't allow it to look in any other direction.
"Too bad you can't look up," she muttered to herself, grinning.
As the robot moved forward, Alex noticed how close it was getting to the edge of the pool. Maybe this was her chance. Slowly, quietly, she positioned her feet on the bar and gripped it tightly. The robot moved closer to the pool. Just a little more.
Finally, the robot moved into position. This was her chance!
With one swift motion, Alex channeled her Energy, pushed herself off the bar, and swung down. As the robot turned around, Alex let go and struck it feet-first in the center, pushing it into the pool with a huge splash. Alex backflipped through the air and landed gracefully on the edge. Through the distorted surface, she saw the robot sink to the bottom of the pool. Its purple eyes flickered back to life, and it tried to sit up, but the water made the task more difficult. Alex sighed with relief. That robot wasn't going anywhere any time soon.
"That should buy me some time at least," said Alex. "Now, I've got to find the others."
Alex sprinted back out of the room and down the path she came before, hoping the girls were still safe.
Meanwhile…
Amy hurried down the hallway, stopping only to peek around the any corners she came across for robots. When all was clear, she continued on. A feeling of pride continued to swell in her chest. While she was focused on her mission, she couldn't stop hearing Sonic's words of encouragement in her head. He called her part of the team. He saw her as part of the team. He believed in her. Her hero believed in her.
"I won't let you down, Sonic," she said to herself. "You can count on me."
Then, Amy heard a series of racing footsteps up ahead. She came to a corner and saw three girls running towards her. They saw Amy the same time she did, and they came to a startled halt.
"It's okay," Amy said, calmly approaching them with her hands out in front of her. "I'm a friend. I'm here to help."
"Who are you?" asked the girl in a teal blouse.
"I'm Amy. I'm one of Sonic's friends. We're here to rescue you." Amy looked over the group, and noticed someone was missing. "Where's Alex?"
"She lured a robot away from us," the girl in the cream dress explained. "We don't know where she is."
"Oh, no."
"Amy?"
The voice at the far end of the hallway caught Amy and the girls' attention. They spun around as a teal light approached them. It came to a quick stop and disappeared to reveal Alex standing before them.
"Alex!" Amy exclaimed happily. "You're okay!"
"Yeah, somehow," replied Alex. "Boy, am I glad to see you. I thought I sensed your Energy."
"What about the robot?" the girl in the pink shirt asked Alex. "Where is it?"
"Don't worry, Hannah, I lost it. At least for a while. Are you all okay?"
"Yeah."
"Good."
Alex turned to Amy and was about to say something. But at that moment, she saw her bag around Amy's waist, and a worried look came over her face.
"You brought the Emeralds with you?" she exclaimed. "I told you to keep them away from Eggman!"
"We had to," Amy said. "We couldn't risk Eggman or Chaos finding them. We figured this was the best way to make sure they were safe. And don't worry. We'll get you and the others to safety. Here, you should hang onto these. You kept them safe this long."
Amy then took Alex's bag off and handed it to her. Alex hesitated for a moment before taking it. As she put it back around her waist, Amy pressed the button on her ear device.
"Tails, it's Amy. Do you read me?"
"Loud and clear, Amy," said Tails' voice. "Did you find Alex and the girls?"
"Yes. They're all safe. We're heading back to the X-Tornado now."
"Right, we'll meet you there."
"Got it. Amy out."
After disconnecting the call, Amy looked back at the others. "C'mon, we'll get you girls home safe and sound."
Alex furrowed her eyebrows before saying, "Actually, Amy, I'm—"
The sound of a heavy, metal footsteps cut Alex off. The group whipped around and saw a big, red robot with a laser gatling gun blocking their way. Amy shrieked in fear. It was the one that attacked her and Alex on the beach.
"Chaos Energy located," it said. "Target found."
"Not again," Alex groaned.
The robot raised its gun at the group, making Amy and the other girls step back. However, Alex stepped forward. She moved between them and the robot, her body tense for a fight, and her eyes glistening with determination.
"Amy, get Hannah, Taylor, and Brooke out of here," she ordered. "I'll handle this."
"But Alex—"
"Just do it!"
Then, Alex bolted towards the robot. It moved in to snatch her, but she ducked under its hand and slid between its legs. It turned around, its attention completely on her.
"That's right," Alex growled. "Come and get me, bolt butt!"
"Alex!" Amy screamed.
But it was too late. Alex sprinted down the hall in streak of teal light, and the robot pursued her. In a few seconds, they turned a corner and were gone. Amy immediately reached for her earpiece.
"Tails, can you hear me?" she said franticly.
"Amy, what's wrong?" replied Tails' voice.
"It's Alex! Eggman's robot's after her again! She just lured it away from us!"
"Hang on, Amy! We're on the way!"
As the call disconnected, Amy paused. Alex was in trouble, and she the closest one to help her, but she also had to get these girls to safety. She glanced down the hall. There were no other robots, and the hanger was just at the end of the passage.
She closed her eyes and thought of Sonic. What would he do if he was here? Knowing him, he would go help Alex. She was the one in danger. He always helps those in danger. That's what heroes do.
Finally, Amy took a deep breath.
"Follow the hallway to the end," she said to the girls. "It'll take you to the hanger. The X-Tornado is just outside of it. You'll know it when you see it. Sonic and Tails should meet you there."
"What are you going to do?" asked Brooke.
"I'm going to help Alex," Amy replied. "Now hurry."
Before the girls could protest, Amy sprinted down the hall and turned the corner Alex and the robot took. She didn't know what she would do once she found them. All she knew was that Alex had to help. Sonic had put his trust in her, and she was part of this team. She had to do something.
"Hang on, Alex," she said boldly. "I'm on my way."
