Chapter Thirty-One:
In The Hands of The Eggmen
"Let go of me, you stupid hunk of junk!" Amy shouted as Metal Sonic carried her in his clawed grasp, "If you don't let me go, we know how this one ends! You kidnapped me before and Sonic was there to save me! Guess what? When he comes to save me, you won't be facing one Sonic this time, it'll be... Whoa!"
She stopped short of her shouting and cursing of Sonic's duplicate, her mind bubbled with shock as the pink hedgehog processed the scene of the location that the hedgehog Badnik was taking her to. Eggman had many bases, but this one looked far different from his other bases.
Usually, Eggman's bases were in cities or space stations or underground labs. It was rare for him to build a base out of a castle or a mountain, but Eggman's newest base was a shocker, the place looked like it had been made out of a mountain and turned into a castle of rock combined with metal. Yet, Amy could tell it was an Eggman base, thanks to the symbol of Eggman's likeness carved into the rock.
Above her and the fast-moving Metal Sonic, the evening sky began to darken as eerie clouds rolled in and lightning flashed. Bolts of lightning flashed over the new Eggman base, which seemed to emit some kind of sinister magical aura, explaining the clouds and the lightning.
Despite her bravery in the face of peril, Amy found herself to be feeling quite spooked. And just down below, she could see hordes of robots guarding the gates, accompanied by what looked like monsters.
Metal Sonic flew towards the structure, and blasted through an opening in the wall. Before Amy knew it, she was in the metallic interior of this eerie Eggman structure. She saw some banners with Eggman's symbol on them. However, they were looking pretty different, especially with the near-demonic Eggman face and the cone-shaped head of one of Eggman's counterparts.
"Excellent work, Metal Sonic."
It was never easy to forget that voice, after all the battles, after all the encounters. Amy looked up, facing Doctor Eggman once more. She hadn't seen him since the village. And she was aware that his counterparts were here too. The pink hedgehog looked into the glasses-covered eyes of the mid-weight scientist, then she spotted the rotund yellow-caped scientist who was Eggman's younger self.
Classic Eggman rubbed his hands together in a collected but evil manner. Eggman #1, the current Eggman whom Eggman #2 had yet to become, snapped his fingers and Metal Sonic dropped the pink hedgehog. Eggman laughed his most vicious laugh yet, laughing like a raving lunatic, and Classic Eggman cringed before joining the laugh as well.
One of Eggman's counterparts, the Eggman wearing the black armor and cape, floated in while letting off another evil laugh. Amy shivered, knowing that despite all the defeats and no matter how much he would be treated as a joke, Eggman was still dangerous to the max.
And he always would be dangerous, in the past, present, and future, and throughout every universe where a Sonic and an Eggman existed.
One of the doctor's Catcher robots came forward and surrounded the hammer-wielding pink heroine with its beam cage, which lifted Amy off the ground, before carrying her to another ominous room full of menacing Badniks, Eggman statues, and more sinister banners, where she was placed within another cage.
That was when the hammer girl noticed a haunting black light out of the corner of her eyes and looked up, seeing a dark colored gemstone that gave her the vibe of a corrupted Chaos Emerald. Amy studied it, then she recalled the image from one of her cards that depicted a gemstone like it.
"Behold the Black Emerald." She heard Eggman declare, "And combined with the seven Chaos Emeralds we will soon have in our possession, this will be our engine to victory, the ultimate weapon that will ensure Sonic's demise and the conquest of everything. You are very lucky to see it for yourself, and, predictably, you will be watching as we unleash its power."
Her gaze shifted from the Black Emerald, settling on the sight of Eggman approaching her cell with Orbot and Cubot, accompanied by all of the versions of himself that the mad doctor had sided with, along with a cartoonish-looking Burrow Bot, a bipedal Clucky, and a wacky Coconuts-type Badnik.
As she looked at the assembled pair of supervillain scientists who were the Eggman Alliance, Amy nearly cringed when she saw a female version of Eggman in a dress staring at her in a menacing fashion.
"Did that cartoony cone-headed counterpart of yours make a female clone of himself?" The pink hedgehog inquired.
"No, you puny pink porcupine!" AoSTH Robotnik declared, glaring at Amy with his frightening red-black eyes, "You're staring at my mother! This is Mama Robotnik, and she is the co-leader of our alliance, AND WILL ENSURE OUR FINAL VICTORY OVER THAT BLASTED RODENT EVEN IF SHE GIVES US GRIEF AND TORMENTS US BOTH!"
"Really now? She looks too ugly to even be your mother." Amy said in her best snarky tone.
"Soon, the Chaos Emeralds will be in our possession just as the Black Emerald is..." Boom Eggman declared, "...AND WE WILL BE STRONGER THAN EVER!"
Just then, a squat needle-nosed man entered the room with a tablet. "Doctor Robotnik, I have a report from our drones." The man said, "The attack squads were taken down by the Sonics and their friends, which is near predictable, and, according to the report, Princess Sally and the Freedom Fighters have joined up with the group and reunited with the Sonic of our world.
"Another Sonic has also joined the alliance of Sonics, the scans have confirmed it is the Sonic of the designated universe STC #93, the same universe where the Robotnik identical to Scratch and Grounder's master is from. The hedgehogs are on the move, and Princess Amy of Myrule is accompanying them along with a white hedgehog."
"SONIC'S HERE?!" Fleetway Robotnik stamped his foot.
"How interesting..." Sat AM Robotnik mused with a sinister smile, "So, little Princess Sally and her band are here in this universe. I can't wait to see them. Even though they found their Sonic, they will soon learn they are too late to prevent our ascension."
"Agreed." Eggmandorf mused, "And to hear Princess Amy is on the move, we know there are two of them. We've already caught Amy Rose, but the princesses are all that we need now. With the Chaos Emeralds and the Black Emerald combined with the TriChaosForce, THE MULTIVERSE WILL BE RIPE FOR THE CONQUEST!"
Eggman smiled at the Dark Lord. "I like your way of thinking." He remarked, then he turned to Metal Sonic, "Metal Sonic! Go grab Amy's royal counterparts from Myrule and bring them to us. And, while you do so, make sure you lead Sonic to our doorstep!"
'This is going to be bad.' Amy thought as she watched Metal Sonic fly off, the pink hedgehog was fearing the worst. Despite the fact Sonic had pulled through in the past, the chance that he could fail this time was as high as ever. Amy dropped to her knees, silently, and grimly. Not a word, she looked away from the Eggmen, trembling with fear.
"Today will be a glorious day for us!" Lord Eggman declared, "Despite all of the failures we faced since our partnership began, we are close to the threshold of victory and complete power is in our grasp! Perhaps a short banquet is in order."
"We should receive prrrromotions." AoSTH Robotnik remarked with wicked glee.
"YOU'LL GET A PROMOTION AFTER SONIC IS DESTROYED, YOU SHORT-SIGHTED BUFFOON OF A SON!" Mama Robotnik yelled, terrifying her son. "Don't start rejoicing until we've smashed him!"
"All our lives have been building up to this..." Boom Eggman said, spreading his arms in a happy manner, "We fought so hard to get to this point, we have just about all the ingredients needed to decimate that hedgehog once and for all. Oh, I can't wait to conquer Bygone Island when I get back to my universe after we've smashed all the Sonics."
Snively departed the room, glancing at the Eggmen as they discussed their excitement over what would be their impending victory. The needle-nosed lackey strolled through the corridor, looked at a picture of Eggman, and muttered, "Go ahead and party while plotting, you mustached fool."
"Excuse me..." Morpho was standing in the hall, just feet away from Snively. He shapeshifted into Sat AM Robotnik, and glared at the lackey with a sinister glare, "WHAT WAS THAT, SNIVELY?!"
"What I meant was, 'soon we will rule.'" Snively told the shapeshifter with a sheepish smile. Orbot and Cubot glided towards the lackey, staring ominously at him with their bright blue eyes, and Snively let off a nervous laugh that contrasted with Morpho's evil chuckle.