Last time on Sonic the Hedgehog, Team Fighter began their escape plan thanks to Amy's strength being something the royal guards completely underestimated. Thanks to this, the pirates were soon freed, along with the captain, Titania. Though now we leave the good captain as Tails and Rotor initiate their plan to stop the brine before it reaches Meropis…

Outside of Meropis, Tails was given a hand in swimming back to his submarine that, thankfully, was still parked where he last left it - beside the pirate ship. Once he and the pirates jump out of the water, the fox shakes his fur dry.

Tails: "Alright, everyone! I know you're waiting for your captain, but we don't know what Meropis is going to do. So hide somewhere safe until the coast is clear!"

Pirate: "Aye aye! Alright, men! Start movin' the boat! Raise the anchor, lower the sails!"

As the pirates scatter to get the ship moving and avoid potential pursuit from the Meropis guards, Tails flew over to his sub and pulled out his tools.

Tails: "Whatever Rotor's got planned, I can only hope some adjustments here and there will help. Otherwise, Meropis is as good as gone."

Tails pulls out a screwdriver and gets to work on modifying his submarine.

Rotor, back in Meropis, bashed his way through multiple guards as he hurried towards the lab sector of the castle. He then spots guards heading that way as well.

Guard: "The prisoner, Titania, has escaped! By the Queen, we will capture her and whoever released her!"

Rotor: "Not if I can help it…"

Rotor then rammed his way through the guards, bowling them over when they weren't looking. As he went up the stairs, he quickly smashed the controls on the emergency lockdown button, sealing the soldiers outside.

Rotor: "That should buy me some time…"

Rotor rushes his way into a vacant lab and starts grabbing what tools he could. A hose, an experimental brine converter, and a few wires and cables. He worked on the contraption as quickly as he could, making sure what he made could fit on and work with the Sea Fox. He had to hurry… All of Meropis, whether they deserved it or not, depended on him.

During this, Amy and Julie were starting to feel the pressure of holding back most of the Meropis guard on their own. Amy was starting to get tired as she started panting.

Julie: "Amy, you need to take a breather. I can handle the guards from here."

Amy: "Nah… Don't worry… I can swing a while longer… I think the hard part is that these are real people and not just a bunch of robots…"

Julie: "So we have to hold back. Yeah, I get you… But we're Freedom Fighters; we don't kill."

Amy nods before she slams her hammer, sending a shockwave to send the soldiers trying to get them from a distance with lasers from their spears into the air. Julie continues to fire her gun until she hears a rather unfortunate sound - 'click click'.

Julie: "Crap! Outta power!"

Amy: "Urgh… We need to fall back!"

Amy and Julie darted the other direction away from the soldiers, but were greeted by a flanking battalion with several higher ranked officers leading the pack. Amy readied her hammer as she saw they were surrounded on both sides.

Amy: "Well this is unfortunate…"

Julie: "Yeah tell me about it. When Meropis is said to be the mightiest army-wise, I should've believed them."

Amy: "But hey, I'm not going down without a fight. Are you?"

Julie: "What do you take me for? A wimp? If I'm going out, I'm going out how I came in - kicking and screaming!"

The two smiled at each other, but then heard the sound of singing. Before they or the soldiers knew it, magical walls appeared around groups of the soldiers, exploding in an array of white petals that sent the soldiers scattering. A figure then jumped over the crowd of soldiers, unleashing a barrage of nets to catch a number of them under. The figure lands, revealing it to be Rei.

Amy: "Rei! You came to save us!"

Rei: "Not just me."

Rei points to the crowd she just jumped from, Queen Aleena walked by the downed and trapped Meropis soldiers before stopping and placing a hand on her hip.

Aleena: "Those that mess with my subjects or my son will not face mercy - but instead my wrath. No matter who they are!"

Julie: "Whoa… Sonic's mom is… awesome… No wonder my mom likes her so much."

Aleena: "Kids. Do give us some room. Time to show this kingdom that it takes more than an imposing kingdom and sheer numbers to win a battle."

Rei: "Skill, determination, and a little bit of faith. Time to make history."

Aleena and Rei posed in a battle ready stance, causing Amy and Julie to stare in awe. But then they refocused as Amy and Julie watched their backs, ready for any reinforcements.

Rotor finally finishes his project, dubbing it the 'Brine-Go-Away' machine, as he holds it over his head.

Rotor: "Finally finished. With this, it'll convert brine into resourceful energy. Basically giving the Sea Fox a boost. Now I just need to find a place where I can meet up with Tails…"

Rotor then remembered his one exit got blocked because of his hastiness. So instead of taking that route, he smashed through the floor and creating his own route through the castle. Once he was finally outside, he saw the Sea Fox swimming just over the city. With a smile, the walrus exited the protective bubble and swam his way to his little buddy.

Tails: "Hey, Rotor! Did you finish your side?"

Rotor: "Yep! I just need to attach it and…"

Rotor started attaching the device to the Sea Fox, plugging it in and smiling as he succeeded. Tails quickly opens the hatch for the walrus to get in, draining the water once the hatch was closed.

Tails: "All systems are green! Brine-Go-Away ready to get going!"

Rotor: "Then let's head for the trench before Meropis soldiers spot us and try to shoot us down!"

Tails didn't need to be told twice as he immediately jets his way toward where Rotor directed him.

The Sea Fox soon arrives to the growing trench and overflowing Brine River, Tails seeing what exactly Rotor meant. Though Rotor was more confused…

Rotor: "Weird… The trench wasn't heading directly towards Meropis last time the captain told me…"

Tails: "No time to think about it! Brine-Go-Away! Activate!"

With the push of a button, the vacuum began to suck in brine and convert it into energy that the Sea Fox filled up on, giving it a near endless supply. But as the duo got busy with the brine, something startles them.

Metallic & Monstrous Voice: "RAAAAAAARGH!"

Tails: "Wh-Whoa… What was that?"

Rotor: "I dunno, buddy… But it came from the trench."

The duo looked down into the brine below them as they see… something in the thick fog. Something massive. A tentacle then shot up from the brine, swinging at the submarine, forcing it to back away as three more tentacles shot up. Another four then followed as it pulled out a massive robotic octopus from the trench, the size of the head big enough to be devour an entire portion of Meropis by itself. Glowing red eyes acting as spotlights greet the duo before Tails spots a familiar logo.

Tails: "No way… EGGMAN IS BEHIND THIS!?"

Rotor: "Eggman? Friend of yours… Or enemy more like?"

Tails: "Enemy. He's trying to turn Mobius into a wasteland for his robotic utopian empire. He's our number one priority. Which means this guy must be producing brine!"

Rotor then sees brine being created from the exhaust vents of the robotic octopus, now seeing what Tails meant.

Rotor: "Well if he's making the brine, then let's shut off this system then!"

Tails: "Yeah! Let's do this!"

The fox pushes a few buttons before two laser cannons appeared on the side of the Sea Fox, engaging an offense mode for the submarine. The Brine-topus lets out a massive metallic roar before the exhausts unleash a massive fog of brine, blinding the fox pilot.

Tails: "Oh that's a lot of brine…"

Rotor: "Keep calm, Tails. This thing is huge; there's no way it can maneuver any shots fired at it."

Of course, it wasn't the shots hitting that was the problem. It was the tentacles coming from the fog and trying to strike at the sub. Tails starts to move the Sea Fox to avoid the incoming tentacle swings before turning to fire the lasers at the monstrosity. They were blind shots so he only hoped he could hit the exhausts. By some miracle, it worked; an exhaust was destroyed and some of the bring fog had vanished. Tails then proceeds to fire more shots at the exposed vents, destroying them until the fog had completely vanished. The Brine-topus lets out a roar in rage before opening his mouth and arming several torpedo cannons.

Tails: "Oh, I do not like the look of that."

Rotor: "No, but look!"

Rotor spots what looked to be the power source of the large Badnik; a large blue whale Mobian in a capsule being used as a battery. Tails went from slightly scared to furious as he saw where he had to hit; the connectors holding the capsule. The Brine-topus, however, fires an assortment of torpedoes at the submarine, aiming to destroy it before it could be destroyed. When the underwater missiles failed to hit the Sea Fox, the tentacles were used, attempting to slap the Sea Fox around. Tails avoided the tentacle and fires a blast of energy from the cannons to hit the weak spot. With a single charged shot, the capsule was destroyed, causing the blue whale to swim out.

Blue Whale: "Oi! You think you can keep a bloke like me down!?"

The blue whale slams his tail on the Brine-topus' head, knocking it back from the force. Tails pilots the Sea Fox to fire off another charge energy blast to knock the robot back further, causing it to fall into the trench below, completely destroying the Badnik.

Tails: "Yeah! We did it!"

Rotor: "Awesome, buddy! …But uh… Who's that?"

Tails looked at the blue whale who… was substantially larger than their modest little sub. Though this was natural for a larger Mobian, it was still jarring. Tails used a speaker to talk to the Mobian.

Blue Whale: "Hello, boys! Um… Where am I?"

Tails: "Outside of Meropis, sir. Who might you be?"

Blue Whale: "Meropis? Ah, blast. I'm way far from home then. Ah well. The name's Jarvis! I'm a collector of valuable ancient artifacts - namely jars - from the Mystic Ruins. I happen to live near there, so if you're in the area, do drop by! I'll give you a good ol' fashion tour of the ruins as thanks for saving my hide from the terrible beast."

Tails: "Oh. That's fine, Jarvis. Though how did you end up in the belly of the beast? Just curious."

Jarvis: "Quite a tale, old boy. I was out swimming for exercise when I suddenly bumped into some strange building. Next thing I know, I'm surrounded by strange metallic men! This mustachioed fellow then comes and stuffs me in some glass orb! The nerve!"

Tails: "O-Oh… So you just got too close to… this strange building…"

The young prodigy immediately suspected that Eggman had a base of operations near the Mystic Ruins; he thought it best to remember this for later if they happen upon that section of Mobius.

Jarvis: "Well, my friend. I must be going now. Do stop by! Ta ta!"

The blue swam off towards to surface - presumably to get some air - vanishing from sight. With a sigh, the boys relaxed, having accomplished their mission.

Rotor: "Whew… Well, that's one problem taken care of. Now we just have Meropis itself…"

Tails: "Don't worry. When it comes to solving problems, Sonic is number 1 at it."

Though Tails' confidence in Sonic was well founded, the reality was much different than fiction. Within the throne room, Titania stood alone, facing Queen Angelica… in a duel to determine Meropis' fate…

To be continued…