Chapter Three:

Surrounded By Eggheads

'The more robots the Doctor sends out all provide a bigger challenge for me.'

Fiery explosions and the sound of clanking metal rattled the village to its citizens' bones, smoke rising into the sky from blazing fires caused by the attacking mechs.

Sparks flew into the streets with broken robot parts as Badniks did battle with a particular being, a very powerful being who'd accompanied most of the world's heroes who were on the scene.

And that being was Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form and a well-known rival/friend to the world hero known as Sonic.

Hordes of Egg Pawns rushed the black hedgehog, swords and laser guns drawn, Moto-Bugs charging in as well, an Egg Hammer marching in his direction. Shadow glared at the doctor's minions with a scowl, his inhibitor rings aglow while chaos energy crackled throughout his body.

On the next street over, atop an apartment rooftop Knuckles the Echidna, away from his home island, punched apart an Egg Robo, a model he had not seen in a long time, then he slugged out a larger Egg Pawn coming at him.

He punched his fists together with a grin, then he jumped down from the roof and glided over the streets while punching down Buzz Bombers flying his way.

Shadow glanced at Knuckles, nodding at his strength, showing his respects to a fellow rival of Sonic. Then he turned back to a horde of Egg Pawns surrounding him.

"CHAOS… BLAST!"

A mass explosion of energy sent bolts and robot parts flying through the air, scattering the surrounding Badniks. Shadow smirked, Eggman was going all-in with this attack and he was enjoying this challenge of taking out the most robots before Sonic could arrive.

"Hey, Shadow!" Rouge the Bat called from over on the next street as she went up against an Eggman-reprogrammed G.U.N Soldier robot, "Aren't you going to back up your friends too?"

"INQUIRY: WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO TEAM DARK?!" E-123 Omega buzzed on the rooftops.

"The Ultimate Life Form has no friends…" Shadow said, "And Team Dark isn't a set team!"

"WHAT?!" Omega and Rouge yelled.

Shadow chuckled. "I'm only kidding, Team Dark. Let the doctor's robots have it!"

In the seconds in which he was distracted from his conversation with his comrades, Shadow was pounded on by an Egg Pawn wielding a sword, it's eyes gleaming red.

More Egg Pawns ganged up on him, pinning Shadow down as he struggled against the robots. He punched a hole through a Badnik, tore out one's circuitry and kicked another robot off of himself.

"WARNING: SHADOW NEEDS HELP!" Omega wailed dangerously.

"Um, actually…" Rouge smiled, "He has that covered."

BWOOSH! A speedy blue blur raced into the town streets, tearing through robots on sight. Sonic the Hedgehog saw the Egg Pawns dog-piling Shadow and, fueled by his desire to help people, he charged in, launching a series of homing attacks, taking all of the Badniks out at once.

"I didn't need your help!" Shadow yelled.

"Yo, those guys had you overrun." Sonic quipped, kicking down an Egg Pawn coming at him, "So you're welcome. Sheesh, you should be more thankful. Sure, you're the Ultimate Life Form and all, but people have to accept help from others sometimes."

"Regardless, the timing of your arrival couldn't be more perfect, blue hedgehog. We've been covering for you as best we can, but the doctor's attack is much greater than we expected it to be, there may be something else is going on, this could be a trap laid for you in particular. I advise caution…"

"I got this, Shadow. Where's Tails?"

"On northeast avenue, fending off as much as he can. And as I was saying, I advise cau..."

"Thanks, Shadow." Sonic blasted off at light speed, leaving the dark hedgehog in the dust as he scowled with annoyance, just as arrogant as always.

"And he didn't even think things through or listen to my warning..." Shadow scowled.

On Northeast Ave., Tails whacked a Crabmeat with his wrench and avoided the swipe of an Egg Pawn, then he ducked to avoid an incoming laser fired at him by a hulking robot with a red eye, one of those Swatbots that Eggman had been employing... or was it an Egg Fighter, Eggman still had those.

Perhaps he'd been upgrading the Egg Fighters just like with most of the Badniks in recent times.

SKYEW! A blur rushed in, smashing up the Badniks and clearing the street, freeing up Tails as the fox saw his buddy make his appearance.

"Yo, Tails. Did I miss somethin'?" Sonic asked sarcastically.

"Glad you finally made it." Tails said happily.

"Oh, come on, that's my line!"

"Eggman's in town square, I think he's waiting for something and he's still commanding, but something odd is going on." Tails reported, "I'm getting reports that Eggman was spotted on the north end of town, the south side, in the marketplace, near the diner and everywhere.

"Whatever is going on, it's like he's using some sort of location scrambler signal or we're dealing with some sort of new tactic."

"Whatever the doc's up to, it's time to scramble some Eggman and send that mustached loser packing back to his lair!" Sonic said confidently, "You and the others keep at it."

"No, wait, Sonic!" Tails pleaded, "It could be a trap! Remember when he deployed Infinite?! SONIC! STOP!"

Too late, Sonic raced on ahead, plowing through more robots scattered across the street, Spin-Dashing through Egg Hammers, Egg-Robos, Rhino Badniks and Egg Fighters while dashing like mad. Sonic reached the heart of town, arriving in town square.

He looked around, scoping for Eggman and wondering where his insane nemesis was.

And then he spotted him, hovering near a walrus fountain in his Egg Mobile, shouting commands to his Badniks. Target in sight!

Sonic stepped forward, ready to confront his nemesis again.

"Hey, Eggman!" He called in his wisecracking manner, "It looks like you're going to have to pack up and leave town because, guess who's here; the number one guy who's gonna whoop your sorry tail all the way back to your supervillain lair!"

Eggman turned around, a sinister sneer in his eyes. "Sonic the Hedgehog, just who I've been waiting for…" The doctor said maniacally, "…And still beyond annoying as usual. No matter, it's time to bring out the big guns!"

"Oh, you bet. It's time to kick your butt and finish this before it goes further!" Sonic quipped.

"It'll be YOUR finish, Sonic!"

"Bring it, Egghead!"

Sonic launched himself at Eggman, ready to strike his Egg Mobile. But just before he could make contact, something rammed him in the side and knocked him into the ground unexpectedly. Sonic got back up, dazed and surprised, what had just happened?

"Hullo, Sonic…" A familiar Eggman-like voice said.

A large man was looking down upon the hedgehog from within an Egg Mobile-like vehicle, wearing a red-yellow and gray military uniform, sporting a smaller version of Eggman's mustache but still wearing blue pince-nez sunglasses.

"What the…?" Sonic yelled in shock, "Um, hi, do we… Do I know you?"

"Sonic, this is Doctor Eggman…" Eggman introduced, "Eggman from another universe."

"Really? You're teaming up with duplicates of yourself from other worlds now?"

Boom Eggman laughed, "I can see this Sonic is just as annoying as the Sonic of my dimension! Eggman has told me about you hedgehog, but at least we're not fighting in MY universe.

"According to the laws of multiversal theory, having two of the same person occupy the same reality will trigger a catastrophic anomaly that will be utterly devastating to the entire universe..."

"But that only applies to your world, Doctor." Eggman told Boom Eggman, "Here, the universe is much more stable, allowing us to interact."

"Either way, I'm kickin' both of your mustaches!" Sonic yelled.

"YOU LEAVE OUR MUSTACHE OUT OF THIS, YOU BLUE BUFFOON!" Boom Eggman yelled.

Sonic charged at the two Eggmen and barely got in a hit when something else rammed him, Sonic found himself on the edge of yet ANOTHER Egg Mobile, one that was alike Eggman's own.

He looked up and rolled his eyes with disbelief, finding himself once again face-to-face with the doctor's past self, the Eggman in the yellow cape with the red shirt without goggles.

Then another Eggman entered the picture, another recognizable one; Eggman Nega, flying in his Egg Mobile Nega. Eggman's descendant/future alternate universe counterpart smirked like a lunatic and fired a laser, Sonic jumped off, looking at the four assembled Eggmen.

"Wow, what are you guys gonna do aside from causing me trouble?" Sonic asked sarcastically, "Are you gonna perform in a band, are you a band? Maybe you should be The Eggheads..."

"AND HE'S SAYING THAT IN THIS WORLD TOO!" Boom Eggman cried.

"Or are you gonna form an Eggman Council?" Sonic went on, "You gonna take over the world together and become some sort of ruling council to divide up the regions, decide who gets what and why they deserve it...?"

"Do we look like comic book villains, hedgehog?" Eggman Nega yelled.

"My plan is simple!" Eggman snapped, "After years of being bested by the likes of you, I've decided that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and so I decided to call in MY YOUNGER SELF, OUR DESCENDANT, AND EGGMEN FROM OTHER UNIVERSES! TOGETHER, WE ARE THE EGGMAN ALLIANCE AND WE WILL CRUSH YOU!"

"Dang, how desperate are all of you?" Sonic yelled.

"VERY DESPERATE!"

Another Egg Mobile flew in, piloted by a cone-headed man with red-eyes in a uniform half-identical to Classic Eggman's but with orange linings. The new Eggman had a bushier mustache and a very cartoonish look to himself, the new arrival glared at Sonic with eyes ablaze with rage.

"Greetings, you stupid blue pingas!" AoSTH Robotnik growled.

"What the heck is that last bit supposed to mean?" Sonic cried.

"IT MEANS NOTHING!"

Lord Eggman arrived, followed by Green Boom Eggman, Sat AM Robotnik, Underground Robotnik, LEGO Eggman and Fleetway Robotnik, all in their respective Egg Mobiles.

A cape flapped in the wind as another Eggman appeared, Eggmandorf, sporting his black villain costume, crossed his arms as he stared at Sonic with menace in his eyes while floating in mid-air with a magical aura around his being.

The next thing Sonic new, he was surrounded by Eggman and almost every single one of his variants. LEGO Eggman was grinning in a goofy manner at the hedgehog, but seeing a LEGO variant of his arch-nemesis made things more complicated and confusing for the speedster.

"Yo, Eggman!" Sonic called, "Since you're hiring these guys to help fight me, why didn't you go to the Arabian Nights and, I dunno, get King Sharyahr on your side like you'd do with Knuckles?"

"Who needs that oaf?" Eggman snapped, "He's a disgrace to all the Eggmen, he may be a ruler, but he is certainly not like any of us and he doesn't have an army of robots! Even with more or less, we have you surrounded, you spiky pin-cushion. We will conquer this town AND THEN STAND VICTORIOUS UNDER THE BANNER OF THE EGGMAN EMPIRE!"

"Eggmen, ATTAAAAAAAAAAACK!" Boom Eggman screamed.

Eggmandorf's palms glowed and the sinister overlord unleashed his might, sending out an energy blast at the spot where Sonic stood, the other Eggman readied their weapons and opened fire as well. Sonic had prepared himself in the seconds before the attack, despite being surrounded.

The Eggmen fired all they had and dust flew into the air. From a distance, Tails and the others watched with concern in their eyes. Tails was the most worried out of all of everyone else on the team, especially after the last time something like this had happened.

Eggman and his counterparts stopped attacking, the dust settled to reveal nothing but a crater in the street. Sonic was nowhere to be found.

"Did we get him?" LEGO Eggman asked.

"HA!" Eggman screamed, "I THINK WE GOT HIM!"

"Are you sure about that?" Boom Eggman asked.

"We are certain that blue pincushion is GONE!" AoSTH Robotnik yelled.

"Hey, Docs! It looks like you're too slow!"

Sonic stood on a rooftop, overlooking the Eggmen. A sewer lid lay next to a manhole by the building the hedgehog was standing on, indicating he'd burrowed into the sewers during the villains' attack. Tails breathed a sigh of relief, Sonic was alright, Shadow just crossed his arms and gave off a slight smirk.

"HOW HARD IS IT TO OBLITERATE ONE BLASTED HEDGEHOG!" Underground Robotnik screamed with fury, "WE HAD ALL THE FIRE POWER IN THE MULTIVERSE AND WE MISSED THAT STUPID RODENT, NOBODY SHOULD BE SMARTER THAN US!"

"Well, now. Eggheads." Sonic remarked, "Like I said, and I've been saying it for some time..."

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT LINE AGAIN..." Boom Eggman yelled, "DON'T YOU DARE!"

"You're too slow!"

Sonic laughed and charged off the roof. He went for Eggmandorf, bonking him in the face, then he bashed up Classic Eggman until his Egg Mobile fell to the streets in a smoking haze before the speedster attacked Eggman Nega, knocking him out of the sky.

LEGO Eggman raced towards Sonic, only for his Egg Mobile to get smashed to pieces with LEGO Eggman's living head falling off of his body.

Laughing with glee as he ruined the Eggmen's day, Sonic knocked Boom Eggman into a building, then he bonked up AoSTH Robotnik and punched Sat AM Robotnik in the face, dazing him. Sonic spun Lord Eggman, watching him crash into Green Boom Eggman.

Fleetway Robotnik got knocked out of his Egg O'Matic next, Sonic spun Underground Robotnik's hover-pod and caused him to fall onto his Fleetway self.

Then the hedgehog went for Eggman, flying right at him and dodging as the doctor fired lasers at his longtime nemesis. Sonic closed the gap quickly and dented the Egg Mobile, staggering Eggman and taking him by surprise.

A horde of robots rushed in to help, Sonic noticed and smashed them all with a spin-dash while sending them flying with a blue tornado. Then, he sped out of town, his friends following behind to regroup, leaving Eggman to throw a tantrum while he and AoSTH Robotnik screamed, "I HATE THAT HEDGEHOOOOOOOG!"