Last time on Sonic the Hedgehog, after a botched infiltration by Tails and Amy, they were defeated and seemingly killed by Metal Sonic. Sonic and Knuckles battle him together, able to push him back a bit, but ultimately his upgrades prove too much for the powerhouse duo. Even Sonic's new Light Speed Attack proved unsuccessful in denting the robot. However, as they were about to be finished off, Sally and Julie arrive on the scene and help defeat Metal Sonic. But as they catch their breath, Eggman himself appears, ready for combat. The final battle begins…
Eggman smiles, laughing even, as he slams the knuckles of his newly augmented Big Arms, spinning the arms around as he prepares for the fight.
Sonic: "Oh you have got to be kidding me…"
Eggman: "Oh I'm hardly kidding. You seemed impressed with that red echidna's punch… So here's mine."
Eggman tosses out a punch at the group, the impact sending a massive electrical shockwave towards the group, forcing them back even more, almost off the ship entirely.
Eggman: "Believe it or not, this is an improved version of a prior model. I feel like some upgrades were… necessary after the Death Egg was destroyed."
Knuckles: "Yeah? Tough luck because it'll take more upgrades than what you have!"
Knuckles charges in, jumping off the arm that landed, readying a punch at the Big Arms' cockpit. However, his punch was caught by the hand of the other arm, which then proceeds to get him full in its grasp before slamming him onto the ground.
Eggman: "Oh I beg to differ, you freakish mammal."
Sonic: "What's the plan, Sal?"
Sally: "One of us has to distract Eggman while the others aim an attack at the exact same time. If we can pull that off then we should beat him."
Sonic: "Alright. One distraction, coming up."
Sonic then rushes at Eggman, trying to get his attention.
Sonic: "Hey! Your Death Egg was a pretty dumb idea! Weak security, weak robots, and your robot had a really dumb design to it!"
Eggman: "How dare you! My ideas are perfect! You wouldn't understand being such an inferior Mobian rodent!"
Eggman starts to fire off his arms, each slam they made causing a shockwave. Sally picks up Knuckles who gives a nod as they rush in at Eggman's cockpit. But as they closed in, Eggman quickly moves out of bounds, causing them to almost jump off the ship. Julie rushes in to grab Sally's hand while using a grapple hook to stay on herself.
Eggman: "Fools! Did you not think for a second I wasn't aware of my machine's shortcomings? I don't call myself the greatest scientific genius for nothing!"
He says before getting ready to fire off his spike missiles at the hanging trio of heroes.
Sonic: "You know, doc. This isn't exactly a comfy ride."
Eggman pauses before seeing Sonic's face at the top of his windshield.
Eggman: "What!? You!? Where are my fists!?"
Sonic: "Oh they're coming."
Sonic smirks before standing up, taunting Eggman before jumping off just as the Big Arms slam onto Eggman, causing his Egg Mobile to spin out of control. Sonic lands back on the Egg Carrier, pulling up Julie, Sally, and Knuckles.
Sally: "Good work."
Sonic: "Save it until Ro-butt-nik is down for the count. He'll be back once he gets his bearings again. Knowing how his mechs work, hitting him with his own attacks won't do a whole lot by itself."
Sonic states, remembering doing the same trick on the Death Egg Robot and it not doing a lot.
Julie: "Hmm… I might have an idea. Same strategy as last time, but… with a twist."
Julie looks over to see a cannon in the distance.
Julie: "Fight fire with fire power."
Knuckles: "Eggman's anti-air junk?"
Sally: "Think you can command something like that?"
Julie: "With a bit of wire pulling, yeah. Just keep him busy."
Sonic gives her a thumbs up just as Eggman rose from below the Egg Carrier, looking very mettled.
Eggman: "A cheap shot, hedgehog. But you won't get me again with that!"
Sonic: "We'll see about that."
Eggman smiles before proceeding to aim his arms at Sally, launching them directly at her. Sally throws up a barrier to protect herself, but it shatters after a brief pause, the impact knocking her back quite a bit. Another arm rushed at her, but is stopped by Knuckles, who holds the arm back with all the might he could muster.
Knuckles: "Grr… This thing is no joke!"
Eggman: "Hehehe… Consider this a 'fist bump', chump!"
Eggman then fires off the other arm at Knuckles, but Sonic immediately tackles it, knocking it away from both his friends.
Sonic: "Urgh… That barely knocked it away… Come on, Julie… Hurry…"
Julie, meanwhile, had snuck away from the fight when Eggman wasn't looking, running as fast as she could towards the big anti-air turret of the Egg Carrier. As she approached, several Badniks appeared to stop her.
Julie: "Sorry, but you're not getting in-"
Sage: "Cease."
The voice of Sage rings out as the robots are forced to shut down. Except for one Egg Robo, which Sage took manual control over.
Julie: "...Huh? What is…?"
Sage: "...Go. Do what you need to. Stop Robotnik… Stop… Father…"
Sage simply fired the Egg Robo's laser at the deactivated minions before aiming it at itself before firing. Julie was left confused, but she shook her head and resumed dashing at the turret. Back at the real fight, Sonic and Knuckles continued their struggle, the latter being pushed back by the fist.
Eggman: "How about this then? Get a load of this!"
Eggman then fires off the spike missiles, stabbing them in various parts of the arena. Once they land, they all emit a huge EMP, shocking Sally, Knuckles, and Sonic. This caused Knuckles to feel the full brunt of Eggman's attack, knocking him back with Sally. All three of them began to feel the numbness of the attack as they could barely stay on anything more than a knee.
Eggman: "Quite shocking, eh? I know… My personality is very electrifying! And this isn't even the lightning round!"
Sonic: "Y-Your p-puns… S-Suck!"
Eggman starts to laugh as he positioned his Big Arms in such a way to crush Sonic. But as he positioned them, he is suddenly hit by a big blast, knocking him back a bit. He looks around before seeing a turret aimed at him, commanded by Julie.
Eggman: "What!? How dare you!"
Julie: "Eat energy fire, Egghead!"
Using a makeshift controller, Julie aimed the turret at Eggman as he flew out of bounds. He launches his fists at the turret, but the fists get repelled back by the energy fire. When he attempted to close the distance, Julie shoots him back. Unfortunately his spike missiles did connect, causing some damage to the turret. The echidna kept firing though, destroying on Big Arm as it falls out of the skies in a trash heap.
Eggman: "No! My arm! How dare you defy me!"
Julie: "I'll defy you any day of the week!"
Julie continues to fire away on the turret, but the energy supply runs out as she hears a bunch of clicks. Eggman smiles before throwing his fist at the turret, smashing through it and sending Julie flying out, injured. Sonic sees this and growls as he tries to get feeling back into his legs.
Sonic: "Come on… Come on…! Julie needs you, hedgehog…!"
Sonic starts to dash, still a bit numb but his speed increases before he goes full speed, grabbing Julie before a barrage of spike missiles hit her.
Eggman: "Hm? Oh, you're up again, eh? Oh well. I can finish you even with one arm!"
Sonic: "Yeah? Let's see you try!"
Sonic runs with Julie in his arms, avoiding the Big Arm coming at him before dropping her off with Sally. Sally looks at Julie, then at Sonic and Eggman fighting. A realization hits her after a moment.
Sally: "K-Knuckles… Can you s-stand?"
Knuckles: "B-Barely…"
Sally: "This is… our only chance… While Sonic has him distracted…"
Knuckles sees what Sally means and nods. He then tries to get up, struggling against the numbness as he rushes at Eggman from behind.
Eggman: "Hold still already! You can't beat me as you are!"
Sonic: "You're mostly right. But can you beat him?"
Eggman seemed confused before he looks down, his eyes going wide as he sees a fist coming straight at him.
Knuckles: "Take this, Eggman!"
Knuckles slams a fist with enough force to absolutely shatter the cockpit's windshield, grabbing Eggman by the shirt and throwing him out. The cockpit, without a driver, starts to go out of control before flying off under the skies, an explosion indicating its destruction. And soon enough, the Big Arm chasing Sonic flies over the hedgehog, limply falling through the clouds into the ocean with the other arm.
Sonic: "Whew… Looks like we won this fight."
Sonic rushes back and finds Eggman stumbling to his knees, seeing himself surrounded by Sonic, Knuckles, and Sally.
Eggman: "No! Defeated! My plans have been foiled!"
Sonic: "Yeah. The good guys always win. Now… Return everyone you captured and turn those Mobians you've turned into robots to normal!"
Eggman: "Fine… You win. I bow my head in shame… Or I would if you did win!"
Sally: "What do you mean, Eggman? Your ship has been damaged and you are captured. There's no escape!"
Eggman simply adjusts his glasses, smiling sinisterly as light glares from his glasses.
Eggman: "Should I remind you that I am no 'man'? I am a robot first and foremost. Even if you were to capture me, you would only get a useless body without a brain. I can upload my AI anywhere in the Eggnet. …Which reminds me… How did you know of my plans, rodents?"
Sonic: "Like we'd tell you."
Eggman: "Oh that's perfectly fine. Because I already know… Sage…"
After a few seconds of pause, Sage makes her presence known through a hologram, arms crossed behind her back.
Sage: "I am sorry, Father. But access to the Eggnet has been disabled for you. You will not be able to move to another body. You have gone too far in your pursuit of power."
Knuckles: "Whoa! You're that kid from before! What's going on!?"
Sage: "It is quite simple, echidna. My father's pursuit of total domination had taken a turn that I disagree with. …Destroying Mobians is one thing, since at least it would have been quick and painless. It is something you may disagree with, Mobians, but it is what I was programmed to believe. …That is until my latest encounter with Jenni… Her will to fight for a being like that lynx… Her ability to defy death for so long… I began to think… And then your plan to turn Mobians into robots. It was beyond cruel… So I'm sorry, Father…"
Sage pulls up a holographic control panel as she types in some commands.
Sage: "But I will no longer be working with you. …Don't think this makes us 'friends', Sonic. You are still my enemy and I do intend to destroy you. So at least make it easy on yourself and stop resisting."
Sonic: "No can do. I don't let others decide my fate."
Sage simply rolls her eyes, finding that declaration meaningless. She then hovers her finger over the delete button.
Sage: "Goodbye… Fath-"
Then her finger starts to vanish, as does her toes, followed by her legs. Eggman smiles as his holographic projection appears, walking up to Sage.
Eggman: "So my plans for world domination are disagreeable, hm? And you chose to side with these fools just to stop me, hm? I'd be proud of you… if I wasn't also angry. And so… I decided to time a deletion on you. Long enough for you to admit being the one who gave those fools information on my plans. …But sadly, you failed. Since you never saw all my plans."
Sage: "Wh-What do you mean?"
Eggman: "Do you think this kingdom was my real target? Oh, you should know better. This was merely a detour for me. A little sightseeing."
Eggman smiles wider as Sage's body started to vanish more, causing her to panic. The Freedom Fighters watched as Sage looked genuinely scared.
Sage: "B-But I am your computer! I hold all your important data!"
Eggman: "You? Pah! You were replaceable from the start. A mere pawn in my conquest. And your services have been canceled."
Eggman's hologram stomps on Sage's head, causing her to cry out. She reaches a vanishing hand out to Sonic.
Sage: "S-Sonic! P-Please help me! I don't want to die! I don't want to disappear! Please!"
Sonic froze, genuinely feeling sorry for Sage. But what could he do? He knew nothing of computers and he couldn't learn fast enough to save her. In an act of absolute cruelty, Eggman stomps on Sage's head, causing the rest of her form to vanish. Everyone just started in absolute horror and disgust… Eggman just did that to his own 'daughter'.
Sally: "You… You just murdered her…"
Eggman: "Hm? Oh don't be dramatic. Not like you could've done anything. Oh, and it seems everything is ready… Time to leave."
Sonic: "You're going nowhere, Ivo!"
Eggman: "Oh I am. But not without a parting gift. Ta ta for now."
Eggman's hologram vanishes as his body goes limp. The glasses fall off, revealing blinking lights. Sonic immediately knew what that was as he grabbed the body and ran as fast to the other end of the ship as he could. He tossed the Eggman body over the edge, the body exploding hard enough to send Sonic back. He ran back after getting back on his feet, looking at Sally as she pulled out Nicole.
Sally: "Nicole. We need you. Where is Eggman?"
Nicole: "I'm doing a scan. I dunno where he… Wait…"
Nicole's eyes went wide as she got an alert… from West Island.
Nicole: "West Island… is under attack!"
Everyone's eyes went wide. Everyone except for Sonic. No, rather than stay frozen in shock, Sonic leapt off the side of the ship, landing on his burning island.
Sally: "Sonic!? What are you-"
Sally's scream fell on deaf ears; Sonic ran towards the ocean, running as fast as his legs could, defying the very gravity that would since him under the water. His face showed fury… Absolute fury… He had been fooled, his home had been nothing but a diversion, and worse yet… He saw someone screaming for help get murdered right before his eyes… He wasn't letting Eggman get away with these atrocities… Not ever again.
At West Island, the entire island is on fire as a large foot lands in the streets of Metropolis, taking up a large chunk of the city. Agatha, Jenni, the Pronghorn Sisters, Tails Doll, and Rei look up at a towering figure as heavy rain comes down upon them. Two sets of spotlight eyes turn on as the titan sized mech comes to life, an evil smile on its face as a metal mustache adorned its face. A deep, yet familiar voice accompanies it, letting its latest enemies know who stands before them… A literal god among robots…
"Bow before me, Mobius! For I am your emperor! Your god! Death Eggman!"
To be continued…
