Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Sonic franchise. These belong to SEGA and other such as Fleetways and Archie Comics. This fanfiction is made for entertainment purposes only and not profit.

The sky was a crystalline blue, the sun shone magnanimously on the land accompanied by a gentle breeze that made the day's heat pleasant. Indeed it was a day for the perfect tropes of animals strolling across open fields and birds singing; which made the pitched battle on the edge of the Mystic Ruins all the more jarring. The Egg Carrier loomed ominously low in the sky dispersing a wide array of mechanised soldiers to the ground below that was punctuated with explosions. Amongst these explosions several anthromorphs moved across the battlefield, dispatching the robots as quickly as they appeared. A red echidna punched anything that came into his arm reach, a pink hedgehog swung a hammer in a vicious circle and a two-tailed fox zapped clusters of robots with his latest invention; an electrical pulse generator that fried the circuitry of any mechs that so happened to be unfortunate enough to be in it's path. But the majority of the carnage was the result of another who could only be seen for split moments when he decided to ease off the pace.

Having blasted through a small line of mechs, Sonic took an opportunity to stand atop one of the fallen scraps of metal, green eyes swiftly moving around the battlefield. He thought that the stream of soldiers descending from the Egg Carrier was decreasing which given the number of new formed junk piles on the ground made some sense. His friends were holding their own and he couldn't help but notice other groups helping them in their fight. Shadow and Rouge had seemingly been part of the battle early on. They had descended from the Egg Carrier with the first wave of mechs along with Omega. He assumed that the three had secretly stowed on Eggman's ship for some mission; likely to steal any of the seven chaos emeralds that the madman held in his possession. Given that Sonic hadn't seen the black hedgehog perform a chaos blast or use chaos control it was likely that they had failed in that regard. Chaotix had also joined the fight having arrived on scene with Knuckles. He had no idea what the group had been doing with the echidna but he was sure he'd find an opportunity to ask. But for now they still had a lot of enemies to dispose of.

Sonic resumed his attack, bouncing from one bot to another faster than anyone could track. He idly wondered how Eggman managed to acquire so many materials to build these things. Tails always struggled to grab enough materials for his inventions and was often heavily limited to only producing one. The doctor, however, seemed to have an unlimited supply of metal and other component pieces to make these things. Sonic's musings were interrupted by a whirring from above. He paused his attacks to look up at the hovering ship and noticed a large bay door opening. As the door expands, a large tentacle like appendage falls out and seems to hang limply for a moment. Then it suddenly contracts and aims an eye towards the ground, trained on the direction of the blue hedgehog. A brief sparkle is the only warning Sonic gets, but it is enough. He rushes out of the way as a blast of heat and light strikes behind him. The hedgehog continues moving through the mass of bots and scraps of metal as the beam attempts to follow him, destroying everything in its wake. Almost seeming to realise that the beam won't catch the speedster the attack halts. As the air at his back seems to resume a more normal temperature, Sonic twists around in time to see the mass of waving limbs fall to the ground. With a crash, a plumb of smoke and sand is thrown into the air. Everyone nearby throws their arms up to shield their faces. A booming voice rises through the cloud.

"I've had enough of you, rodents. Forever getting in the way of my plans." The dust cloud begins to settle and the silhouette of an octopus like creature reveals itself from the gloom. "This time I'll put an end to you."

Eggman's voice, amplified by his sound system, echoes throughout the ruins. The tentacle like appendages sweep through the cloud in a show of strength before training optical lenses on the blue hedgehog. Sonic grins. Every time the doctor would show off these monstrous creations of his it was a signal that his forces were starting to dry up. Taking care of that thing would likely put an end to the good doctor's plans and afford them at least a few months of peace again whilst he reformed his forces. That predictable nature actually made these fights easy to deal with. It was very different to that other's mode of operation.

"Hah. Good luck with that eggbreath." Sonic quipped before he started running adopting evasive manoeuvres. The tentacles each began to blast at him trying to preempt his movements and turn him into particles. Thankfully, his quick reactions at the telltale glints of the optics just prior to firing gave him the warning he needed. The closest call was he had was when one of the beams had struck one of the huge pillars that were dotted around the ruins. That coupled with a few surviving mechs that took the opportunity to fire at him, limited his room to dodge the incoming blasts. But an artful midair twist allowed him to escape the beam. He winced as the beam passed close enough to singe his fur from the heat it put off, but he had long since suffered worse. He dropped out of line of sight of the large mech and ran behind a berm that ran the length of the southern side of the ruins. He intended to use it to attack from a different direction and try to surprise the doctor.

"Faker!"

Sonic skidded to a halt as he located the sound of the voice. Shadow was huddled with the remainder of Team Dark and Chaotix behind a building. Sonic jogged over grinning.

"Didn't think you were one for hiding, Shadow."

The dark hedgehog face twisted in a snarl. "Zip it, faker, before I pull out your tongue."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Jeez, someone's had a bad day."

Shadow opened his mouth but Rouge slapped a hand on his shoulder. "You can enjoy your tête-à-tête later." She hissed. "Right now we have to destroy that octopus."

"Septopus." A voice crackled over a radio in Vector's hand.

Sonic leaned into the radio. "Tails?"

Vector, who's eyes had widened when the voice sounded, shouted. "How'd you get this channel?!"

"I took an electronic map of all the frequency signals in the areas and removed any that I know to be associated with Eggman, then…ow, hey!" There was a muffled voice from across the radio before Tails voice resumed. "Anyway no time for that. I was watching as that mech attacked and it seems that each arm can attack independently but there's a gap between firings and the length of gap seems to correlate with the strength of the beam and time it lasts."

"In other words, it needs to charge before each firing." Omega's robotic voice cut through.

"Exactly." Just then, Eggman's voice echoed across the area goading Sonic into coming out of hiding. This was followed by a series of blasts in random directions trying to flush him or his friends from cover. The group ducked slightly except Shadow who had to grasp Sonic's arm to prevent him from going out at the challenge. Sonic rolled his eyes as he snatched his arm from the other's grip and hunkered back down. "Guys?"

Vector's long snout bobbed down towards the radio. "Yah, we're here."

Tails seemed to sigh in relief then continued on. "Anyway, each of the arms has a round bulge just beyond the body."

Shadow leaned back slightly. "So, it's likely that each of the arms is powered by a Chaos Emerald."

"More than likely." Crackled back.

Sonic looked at Shadow confused. "How did you make that out?"

Shadow frowned at the blue hedgehog. "It's a septopus according to your kit and there are seven emeralds." Sonic continued to look at Shadow in confusion. Shadow shook his head exasperated. "Never mind. I'm not here to teach you Latin. Fox, did you see any way to detach those arms?"

There was a brief silence. "No. But those kind of arms are difficult to attach to a solid structure. The join at the body is probably the weak spot."

Rouge raised her hands nonchalantly. "So all we have to do is get past the waving tentacles with lasers of doom to the body and start chipping away until they fall off. Sound easy." She stated sarcastically.

Sonic laughed. "Shadow and I could probably get in and amongst them no problem, right, Shads?"

Shadow crossed his arms and humphed but that served to prove the point. Vector raised his fist up. "We can run a distraction to give you a head start."

Sonic smiled. "Sounds like a plan, guys. You all get Eggy's attention and Shads and I will do our thing." There were noises of assent all around along with nods. "Oh, and Knuckles, shove Tails again and you'll eat my sneaker." This was met with an undefinable return from the radio that Sonic had to guess was the echidna telling him to shove it. What followed was scrambling as everyone moved out to a starting point trying to remain out of sight of the machine that had conducted some more random firings. Sonic and Shadow remained in place waiting for their opportunity to go.

"Hey, Shads." The black hedgehog didn't bother turning in his direction but Sonic noticed the twitching of an ear in his general direction. "Bet you I can take more arms off than you."

Shadow sniffed. "And what exactly will that prove?"

"Only what we already know which is that I am better than you."

Shadow's red eyes met Sonic's and narrowed. "Faker, I am the Ultimate Lifeform. You'll never match up to me."

Though he had heard this and similar a thousand times over this never failed to make Sonic bristle slightly. "Hah. We'll see about that." That damned hedgehog always seemed to be so self-righteous and it never ceased to irk Sonic. He turned towards where the sounds of the mech firing was most prominent and adopted a runner's start posture. Shadow did similar to his left.

A moment later, Eggman's voice sounded. "There you are you rats!" Followed by the sound of the lasers firing. As if that were the firing of a gun at a race, Sonic and Shadow both launched forward. As Sonic's legs began to pound the sand faster, Shadow's skates flared to life and propelled him onwards. The two raced across the ground between them and the mech. Eggman seemed to notice them and shifted his priority to target them as opposed to their friends that were rushing about. The two split apart as the first laser was fired in their direction, then it was too late for Eggman. They were within the outer limits of the tentacles that Sonic realised where each twice the size of himself. They couldn't fire at him or Shadow without causing themselves some collateral. Unfortunately that wasn't Eggman's only means of defence. Without warning, several of the panels of the segmented appendages opened and issued sets of rotating teeth. Sonic hissed as one of these made contact with his arm before he could move out of the way of it. As the tentacles writhed, the saws also moved, contracting and expanding from the main hull of the mech, making them less predictable and thus more difficult to dodge.

Even so, Sonic reached the hull. He noticed the bulges that Tails had spoken of that were located half a metre from the main body. That area seemed to be covered with a rubber like sheath that shifted with the tentacles. He readied himself to attack when a panel popped off near his head unveiling a nozzle. Almost immediately fire gushed from it's end causing Sonic to roll away. A quick glance, showed several more that had turned the inner circle of the mech to dance with flames. He briefly noticed movement on the other side of the mech that he assumed must be Shadow facing the same problems he did. Sonic move back but was instantly met with tentacles seeking to crush and/or cut him. Eggman had really done a good job this time in protecting his mech, but he knew their was a flaw. The fire must have a fuel source, most likely a tank of something and that wasn't unlimited. He had learned this from previous mechs that used similar attacks. All Sonic had to do was not get crushed, sliced, shot or set on fire until they ran out. Piece of cake.

He began to move around the hull of the mech on the outer limits of the fire, continuing to dodge the metal arms and blades. He was beginning to feel battle fatigue coming on but he didn't have the liberty of stopping. Not until Eggman was defeated. Moments later, than seemed like a millennia, he noticed the first of the nozzles sputter and decrease its flame size. Sonic used this opportunity to strike at the join. As he spin dash he could feel the rubber tear from his quills and felt the first bit of metal buckle, but he wasn't able to take off the arm completely. He dropped down and heard a rush from the flamethrowers indicating that their output had been increased. Cursing Sonic skipped back and began moving around again. He glimpsed Shadow going the other direction but both were too busy trying to stay alive. As the flames died down again, he readied himself for another attack but a noise caught his attention. He cocked his head and saw a familiar falling object. Knuckles yelled as he plummeted towards the tentacle join and used the force of his fall to punch through. The arm fell seemingly wriggling for a moment as sparked flew from the detached wires. Knuckles smirked over at the hedgehog.

"Just thought I'd have Tails 'drop me off'."

Sonic deadpanned. "Worst pun ever."

"Whatever, hedgehog. All I know is I saved your bacon."

"Pfft, sure Knucks, you believe that if you want. I had everything under control."

"Oh it sure looked that way."

The two flinched as another nearby arm was taken off by a very livid looking Shadow. Sonic noticed that the hedgehog had a good amount of blackened fur across his usually tan belly which would probably account for the very bad mood. " If you two are done chatting care to actually do some work."

Sonic noticed that another tentacle lay on the floor on the opposite side of the robot. It looked like the one he had hit earlier. Clearly Shadow had finished the job.

"Sorry old man, I'll get right to it." Sonic snorted before spin dashing into a fourth. Now that he had space for more momentum and the flamethrowers had clearly ran out of juice he had an easier time ripping apart this one which fell to the floor just like its fellows. He was determined to get another two in before Shadow could get any more (he wasn't going to lose his own challenge). But as he moved to the next one he noticed one of the remaining arms turning back on them. Now that three of the arms next to each other had been removed, Eggman had clearly decided that he didn't need to worry so much about collateral. The preemptive glint informed him of the bot's next move before he dash forward. He felt the heat behind him again but didn't take much notice. He curled into a spin dash again and smashed through the base of the firing arm that dropped to the floor in a loud crash. He didn't let his momentum falter and crashed through the one immediately after. He landed in a crouch ready to attack again but looked up to see Shadow crashing through the last one. He grinned and stood up facing the central hull. Through the reinforced glass he could see Eggman now fidgeting in the console.

"So egghead, how about I come in there and give you a good scramble."

Eggman seemed to smile shakily. "That won't be necessary hedgehog, I have another engagement." With that he popped the canopy and launched himself and the Egg Mobile upwards towards the Carrier. Though not unexpected, the doctor had always been good at escapes, it was done in such a way that neither Sonic nor Shadow could follow, not without breaking one of the Chaos Emeralds out of their containers anyway. A beeping noise indicated that they wouldn't have the time for that, however. Sonic and Shadow both turned and leapt over the stationary appendages that had just caused them so much drama just before an explosion ripped through the hull.

Sonic was thrown forward by the blast and but the remaining metal arms provided enough cover to protect him from the fragmentation. His ears ringing he shook his head trying to clear his senses as smoke covered the area. He coughed and shakily stood up. His exhaustion now that the battle had ended settled in his limbs. Most predominantly his legs that as usual had taken up the bulk of the the smoke and dust began to settle he could just about make out someone shouting him through the ringing in his ears. He began to move forward but was knocked back as a pink blur crashed into him.

"Ow, ow. Amy, take it easy." He grasped the hedgehog's arms and held her at bay.

"Sorry, Sonic. Are you okay? Do you need me to fix anything?"

Sonic shook his head and let her go. He looked up to see Tails clambering over the debris and seemingly making a mental note of what was there. This would probably serve as a good chance for him to get some free materials. Sonic smiled at him and shouted, "Hey, buddy. You okay?"

Tails nodded but seemed to look around. "Where's Knuckles?"

"Oh, he's over there. Show off had to steal my thunder and chance to beat…" Sonic turned in the direction expecting to see the echidna but only saw his ebony counterpart a few meters away. Rouge and Omega hovering across to him. He met Sonic's eyes with slightly wide ones before he turned back towards where the mech was. Sonic felt his heart falter and he swept his eyes across that area. "Knucks?"

"Let me try, Sonic… I really think I can do this."

The relatively barren landscape seemed to shift into a city before his eyes. A monster, the feeling of fear and desperation, his friends working together with him to stop a catastrophe.

Sonic shook his head and moved back towards the crater that had been the central part to the mech. He dimly heard Rouge gasp and start shouting Knuckles. Sonic seemed to move through sludge, the thumping of his heart loud in his ears.

"The kid did good, even I'm impressed this time! Of course, I'm not too happy with the guy…after all I'm supposed to be the hero around here."

Rouge, Charmy and Tails had taken to the air surveying the area. The others were moving across the area themselves. Sonic felt the world receding in and out. Two times overlapping. Rouge shouted and shot down. Tails moved towards her. Everyone shifted and hurried that way. Sonic moved faster.

"He's okay right? He's just a little shaken up, that's all…"

Sonic could now clearly see where the three flyers had landed. Rouge seemed to be leaning over and shouting. But he couldn't hear her. He saw red between their bodies. A single gloved hand slipped into view and hit the ground. Limp. Motionless. Espio blocked it out. He made some frantic arm motions. Vector and Amy ran past. Vector grabbing Charmy and pulling him away. Charmy's tears fell down his cheeks. He seemed to be trying to get back. Sonic stood frozen. Staring. Shadow and Omega were the last to get there. Omega opened his chest and removed something. Shadow threw a look towards Sonic. He said something to the group. Tails head shot up and he twisted around. Blue eyes meeting green. Heart thumped ever louder. Eyes blurred.

"He's dead, Sonic."

Sonic ran.