A/N: So… this is the last chapter before my hiatus begins. There will be more info on that at the end of the chapter.
Anyway… guess who's even more excited for the Sonic movie than humanly possible? That trailer was nothing short of awesome. The redesign, they nailed it. Thank you, Tyson Hesse!
I've said it before, mostly on the Sonic movie subreddit, but I've never been more excited for Valentine's Day in my life. And I'm single!
On a related note, some of you may or may not have heard that Sonic X is coming to Netflix on December 1 (thanks, kitsune, for pointing that out). It's unknown if the Metarex Saga will be included, but it's looking like we'll get both the Japanese and English versions. It's already on Hulu and Amazon Video, but now Netflix customers can enjoy it as well.
As my latest couple chapters aren't quite reaching 15k words, I'm making 10k my new minimum to strive for.
I am currently in the middle of editing the first chapter. Like I said in the opening author's notes of the first chapter, as my writing skills improve, I might go back to work on previous chapters. I will do this with all chapters, but particularly 1-3 and 6-8. I will post these updated versions on Archive Of Our Own and DeviantArt first to attract larger audiences before updating this version of the story.
It's hard to imagine that this story is over a year old now. It's been an incredible journey thus far. Thank you all for the 75 reviews, 53 favorites, 56 follows, and nearly 16,000 views!
I want to thank rodrigoople. 3321outlook. As and PastaTacos785 for favoriting since my last chapter!
Now on to the chapter. This is the conclusion of the "Beating Eggman" arc, as well as the New World Saga as a whole. This has been one of my favorite sagas in Sonic X, because while it had its action scenes, it was also easygoing. The slice of life scenes, while difficult to write, were also a lot of fun to reread in the end.
There will be a heads-up, however. I'm issuing a WARNING for a bit of violence and injury in Chris' first scene; I won't go into details for spoilers' sake.
Also, I am renaming the E-18 Guerra-Hard. I was originally going to call it the Egg Marauder, but after translating its eyecatch card, I found out that its Japanese name is ガラハド (Garahadu). I suspected the name "Guerra-Hard" to be an error in translation. Therefore, I'm going to rename it the Egg Galahad, after the knight in King Arthur.
With that being said, let's move on to the reviews and what matters most: the story!
SuperTailsFan0812
I loved chapter 12. this was one of the intense chapter I ever saw. I also hope that Tails will be okay.
Also, You forgot to put an end quote when Chris was explaining to Tails about his goggles.
Anyways, I loved the chapter and can not wait for the next one. Keep up the fantastic work.
If you thought that chapter was intense, you might want to buckle your seat belt for this one. It's going to be quite a ride.
Thanks for pointing that out. I'm aware I've made a few typos across a few chapters, so I'm going back through my older chapters to tidy them up a bit.
I'm glad you loved the last chapter. Here's the next one!
Kitsune (first review)
continue with your story, it is really good(sorry for my lenguage, i am french)
Merci! Here's the next chapter!
Animation Adventures
Okay, this one I definitely remember. It was the show's first two-parter.
I can see change in the Knuckles scenes, and I continue to like how the gang is suspicious about things involving Mr. Stewart like the goggles. I know Chris is a kid, but I have to wonder why he never thought that was weird.
Looking back, I can see how Funfun would be a strange name for an Eggman robot. I just accepted it as one of those things that were a part of Sonic X, I suppose.
I also like that Rouge is aware of what the government getting their hands on the Chaos Emeralds could mean, and along with her own personal interest in gems and jewelry, has a heroic motive in wanting to keep them in hands that know how to handle them right.
Looking forward to part 2 of the Eggman Base Attack!
It is weird how no was never suspicious of Mr. Stewart, especially in "Sewer Search", in which everyone was all like, "Nah, he totally couldn't be a spy."
Because of all the show's strange robot names, that's why I decoded to go ahead and rename a lot of them. However, you'll be glad to know I'm keeping the name "Eggsterminator" for the Season 1 finale.
From the moment I started writing with Rouge, I knew she had to have a personality change. Sure, she could keep her flirtatious degree, but I wouldn't have her prioritize jewels over other things. Take "Countdown to Chaos", for example. She was more concerned over the Chaos Emeralds than Chris' safety. That isn't maturity at all.
Anyway, here's the conclusion of the base attack!
D.J. Scales
So the invasion has begun. This is gonna be epic but I have a terrible feeling that Eggman has a more sinister plan of retaliation in mind.
You can guarantee he has a backup plan ready. In fact, I'm sure every backup plan of his has a backup plan of its own. He always thinks at least two steps ahead.
kitsune (second review)
sonic x go on netflix! Good chapter, exited for the next!
Thanks for telling me about that! Here's the next chapter!
Rose
Update please
You bet! ;)
Disclaimer: We are not liable for any damages caused to Dr. Eggman's headquarters. However, it is protected with a 90-day warranty. Plus, the doc has insurance. That's cool, too.
Chapter 13
Episode 13
Dr. Eggman Falls! The City Rejoices!
War in the Pacific
Eggman's base – Outside – Sat September 25; 11:11 AM – Third-person POV
Having stepped out of the two boats, the GUN force led by Topaz set foot on the island and made their advance toward Dr. Eggman's fortress. It was a wonder there were no immediate robot threats for them to deal with at the moment. Topaz figured they were all preoccupied with the main diversion force. For someone of Eggman's brilliance, she thought he would have spotted them by now.
Just then Rouge flew into the invisible force field and landed hard on the ground.
"You okay?" Topaz asked.
"Peachy," the bat replied as she sat up, holding her sore head. "Wasn't expecting him to get his force field back up and running this soon."
"Well, he did," said Topaz.
Turning to one soldier who was holding the hole-creating device they brought with them during their last mission, she said, "You know what to do."
"Yes, ma'am," the soldier saluted before pressing the flat end of the device against the force field. A hole began to expand in the fabric of the energy, large enough for everyone to step through.
"Listen up, troops," Topaz announced over the din of the war as everyone crossed to the other side of the force field. "We're going in through a hole in the wall, same as last time. If I'm right, it should still be there. Robotnik's gonna be more focused on fixing the generator."
"Well, he didn't expect us last time," Rouge added, "and together, he's not gonna stop us this time either."
"Don't get cocky, Rouge," chided Topaz. "The guard is going to be much higher inside this time around."
"That's for sure," agreed Rouge.
They were silent as they proceeded toward the fortress. The terrain sloped gently upward, which would have made their advance fairly simple if it weren't for the ever-imposing threat of robot attacks.
"Good thing Eggman left when he did," commented Rouge. "Chances are pretty good the robots he left in charge in there are not as bright as he is."
"Perhaps," Topaz responded, "but there are still robots in there, and they can still kill."
"Since when has that ever stopped me before, hon?" replied a confident Rouge with a wink.
"They saw us," one soldier reported just as they reached the hole in the wall. Just as Topaz had predicted, it wasn't patched up. In fact, it appeared as though Eggman had never done anything about it.
"Inside! Now!" ordered Topaz.
Topaz, Rouge, and all twelve of the soldiers made a mad scramble through the hole just as an E-11 Beacon swooped down from above and opened fire on them. Once the troops were inside, the Beacon pulled up again. Everyone took a moment to let the sudden adrenalin rush die down.
"Well… now we know they can fly through the force field whenever they want…" Rouge dryly remarked.
"Casualty report," Topaz calmly stated.
As the rest of the soldiers reorganized and began to adjust to the darkness of the closet they were in, Rouge carefully looked outside, and she saw a few fresh burn holes in the GUN vests of the fallen.
"They got two of our men," she reported.
Topaz didn't speak for a moment – a moment of silence for the slain.
"Well… there's no going back now," Topaz said right before a few explosions rained down on the force field above them. "We gotta keep pressing on."
She then asked, "Rouge, do you have any idea how that thing was able to shoot at us from inside the force field?"
"Don't quote me on this, but I think Eggman made it so only his robots and firepower can go through it," Rouge said.
Topaz nodded. "Huh," she remarked.
"Kinda sounds like cheating if you ask me," Rouge said as she walked toward the door that led out of the closet, before Topaz took her arm.
"What are you doing?" she hissed.
"Just checking how dangerous it is out there," explained Rouge.
"Careful," cautioned Topaz. "We can't lose the element of surprise."
Rouge nodded and turned to the door. She gingerly turned the handle and peeked outside. A few seconds later, she turned back to Topaz.
"There are only a few Egg Pawns outside," she reported.
"Egg Pawns…" mused Topaz. "Tell me what those are again."
"Basically your everyday foot soldiers."
Topaz nodded. "Right. Everyone, get ready. We're going in."
The soldiers primed their firearms, and, after a three-second countdown from Topaz, they broke down the door, guns ablaze. The GUN soldiers' weapons made short work of the Egg Pawns. Some of them bore shields and lances, but they proved to be no match for Rouge' expertly-placed kicks. Once all the Pawns were down, Rouge landed next to Topaz.
"I don't like this…" Rouge grimaced. "Something is definitely going on here…"
"What is? Not too many robots?" Topaz asked.
Rouge nodded. "That, and… it's almost like Eggman wants us to advance."
"You know, you're 100% right," Topaz said. "But we have to keep our guard up at all times. Lead the way, Rouge."
They began to proceed forward through the fortress. Despite the unexpected setbacks, they were still moving at a good clip, until Rouge suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Topaz asked with concern.
"We're gonna have company in just a couple seconds," Rouge stated grimly.
Topaz was bewildered, and she gripped her gun more firmly. "I don't hear anything, how can you possibly tell?" she asked.
"We bats have excellent hearing," Rouge said matter-of-factly. "They should be here right about… now!"
Suddenly an E-12 Behemoth appeared out of nowhere, blocking the infiltration team's path. It was flanked by several Motobugs. Rouge mentally facepalmed. She was hoping she wouldn't have to encounter an E-Series robot this early in the mission. They would have quite the fight ahead of them.
To make matters worse, the base's alarm started to sound, and everyone was bathed in an intermittent red glow. The intercom crackled to life.
"Intruders have been detected in sector A1," Rouge could hear Decoe's voice speaking over the intercom. "All available units take positions at the generator entrance points."
Even though Rouge knew they were on to them, that didn't mean they had the advantage by any means. She was more than ready for a fight against whatever Eggman threw at them.
Tinaglin Villa – Sat September 25; 11:12 AM – Chris' POV
WARNING STARTS HERE.
By this point, the wind generated by E-35 Fujita was quite unbearable. It was mercilessly ravaging through Tingalin Villa, causing me to choke on the dust it kicked up. The fact that the rapidly moving air made it hard to breathe didn't make things any better. Furthermore, I was forced to close my eyes, as the extreme wind was making them water. I gripped the wooden plank firmly in front of me, but I didn't know if even that was enough to save me.
If I thought I had it bad, I looked up to see that Tails was in a far more life-threatening situation. The wind, which was fast approaching three hundred miles per hour, was levitating the entire X-Cyclone into the air, and it threw it helplessly over our heads like a toddler's toy. I had a scary thought at that moment; if the wind could do that to the X-Tornado which was hundreds of times my weight, how much easier would it be for it to blow me, Frances, and Amy away as well?!
With a sickening crunch, the X-Tornado finally came to rest about fifty yards ahead of us, garnering a sardonic laugh from Eggman through the loudspeaker. If I thought I hated him before, believe me when I say my grudge for him was way bigger than his grudge for me.
"I… I can't… hold on…!" Frances shouted from ahead of me.
"No matter what happens," Amy called back, "don't let goooo!"
It was extremely hard for me to hear her over the wind, but her determination drove me to grip the stake until my knuckles turned white.
But then the unthinkable happened.
In the blink of an eye, Frances' grip slipped from the stake she was holding, and she started to fly through the air like she weighed nothing at all. Amy tried to catch her, but the act of removing only one hand from the stake made her lose her grip as well. Even though their screams of fright were absorbed by the wind, they still echoed through my head. They sounded so real and haunting.
I felt my own grip slipping, but I refused to let go. It wasn't an option. But the intense tornado-strength wind coming from behind was too much, and my legs lifted up into the air from behind me. I was becoming airborne, and I was forced to completely let go to avoid having my arms bend too far back the wrong way.
I was truly scared for my life as I flew helplessly through the air, too scared to scream. I felt like I was going to die. Technically, I wasn't afraid of death itself. I was afraid that I was going to live and feel the pain once I landed.
The speed I was moving at was really frightening. Why was Eggman doing this?! He could have just taken the Emerald, but now he was taking it way too far!
After an eternity of what must have been only about seven seconds, I landed hard on the ground and rolled violently for several more yards before stopping next to a wooden fence.
I was in incredible pain. I felt like I was bruised from head to toe. In fact, my chest was throbbing in pain, and I really hoped I didn't break a rib when I hit the ground. Without moving, I examined myself, and my head and neck were still intact. They didn't sustain any injuries, which lessened the chance that I would need immediate medical attention. As for my rib, though… I needed to find out if it was broken or not.
I turned my head painfully to the side and looked back the way I came. The wind wasn't nearly as strong here as it was a moment ago. I estimated I had flown a good couple hundred yards… How did I even survive that rough landing?!
The moment I hit the ground, the wind had been knocked out of me, and I spent a good thirty seconds trying to get my breath back. My chest throbbed with every breath, which I hoped was not a sign of something worse.
Very slowly and carefully, I pushed myself into a sitting position. I was very shaky and quite bruised, which was why I couldn't move too much faster. Then I carefully lifted my shirt to check my chest. There was a huge bruise forming on my right side, as well as several other smaller bruises, but miraculously, I didn't have any cuts or fractures. In fact, I didn't seem to be bleeding anywhere else, either.
I was incredibly lucky. The worst pain I had was the soreness on my side where I landed, as well as the numerous bruises on my arms and legs. In fact, my left arm was hurting quite a bit from being bent in a wrong direction, but at least it wasn't broken. I would have to take it nice and slow from here.
If only Sonic was here…
With several weak grunts of exertion, I pushed myself toward the nearest fence post and leaned myself against it. Shielding my eyes from the gusty wind from the distance, I looked around for any sign of my friends. Neither of them were in sight, which was a very bad sign.
"A-Amy!" I weakly called before coughing. "F-Frances!"
That took a lot of energy out of me. But at least I didn't cough up any blood. That would have been a disastrous sign of internal bleeding.
I was just about to call again when I saw something pink starting to stand up in the distance. I was relieved to see that Amy could stand. That meant my message got through to her, at least. Fortunately, she quickly spotted me and ran over as fast as she could go. Even though she too was hurt, she seemed better off than I did.
"Ch-Chris!" she called, reaching my side moments later. "Chris, are you okay?!"
"I don't know…" I replied hoarsely as I felt tears in my eyes.
"Are you hurt?" she asked frantically. "Did you break anything?!"
"M-My side hurts…" I admitted. "E-Everything hurts..."
"Nothing broken though?" she asked with intense worry in her eyes.
I closed my eyes. "I-I don't know..."
I looked up to see Amy holding her right hand gingerly with her left.
"A-Are you okay…?" I asked.
"Yeah, I fell on my hand," she said, holding her right hand gingerly. "It's probably gonna be sprained for a while." She looked beyond us. "Where's Frances?"
"I don't know," I said quietly, trying to rest my voice. "I didn't see her."
"Can you walk?" Amy tenderly asked, bending down to try and help me up.
"I-I can try…" I said.
I started to push myself up, but it was quite painful. Fortunately, Amy was able to help me the rest of the way to my feet.
"There you go, take it nice and slow…" she eased, even though her voice was tense.
I was quite weak and winded from the trauma Eggman had just put me through, and my legs felt shaky from the adrenalin pumping through my veins, and I felt like crying, but at least I could still walk, and that's all that mattered.
Once Amy was satisfied that I could stand up on my own, she let go of me and looked over at the fallen X-Cyclone in the distance.
"I have to go see if Tails is okay," she told me as she headed in that direction. "See if you can find Frances!"
We parted ways, and I began to look around for Frances. I threw a glance over at E-35 in the distance. It was still not moving, but it was still blowing air in our general direction. Eggman seemed to be searching the ground, in case the wind somehow unearthed the Chaos Emerald. I doubted that possibility, though.
I looked down just in time to see Frances on the ground about thirty feet from where I had just been. Sadly, she was a bit worse off than I was.
"I-I found her!" I weakly called, grateful that Amy could hear me from that distance. "She's unconscious!"
"So is Tails!" she called back, before she looked up to see Fujita approaching us, taking slow, lumbering steps.
"Oh gosh, it's coming!" she shrieked! "Tails…!"
I stood by Frances, watching as Amy pulled her hammer out of seemingly nowhere. She raised it above her head and slammed it down on the canopy multiple times, trying to break it to get Tails out of there. But as much effort as she put into each swing, none of them seemed to be doing anything to the glass.
And then I realized, even if she did manage to break the glass, not only would she risk injuring Tails, but with a broken canopy, we wouldn't be able to fly back home! But on the bright side, at least this meant the canopy was super strong.
Slowly and regretfully, she put her hammer away. It was pretty painful to watch. She finally had to get down from the X-Cyclone and run back toward me. She looked alarmed.
"Chris, we gotta go!" she warned. Sure enough, Eggman and E-35 were approaching us even closer than before… and with two of us out cold, we were helpless to do anything. But on the bright side, the wind seemed to be a little less strong now, but it was still super strong.
"Quick, help me with Frances," she urged. "We gotta go now."
She bent down and attempted to lift the top half of Frances. It was very tricky for her to do it though, as her hand was still sore. I caught on and lifted Frances' legs, and we began to carry Frances as far away from E-35 as we could. But it was hard to do it quickly.
And then it dawned on me.
"Wait, we gotta help Tails!"
A few tears pricked Amy's eyes. "I couldn't break it…" she whimpered. "I'm sorry…"
"So, um… Does that mean-"
We heard a sickening crunch from behind us. We turned to see Fujita stepping on the front of the X-Tornado. We immediately felt guilty that we weren't able to do anything to help Tails. Amy let out a scream, followed by a sob, and I too felt a few tears in my eyes.
Then the tide of battle turned in the blink of an eye…
At long last… Sonic the Hedgehog arrived on the scene, a grim expression on his face. I was immediately filled with great relief. Help had finally arrived. He finally came!
It took him nothing more than a cursory glance to sum up the situation before the hedgehog surged toward E-35. However, even he had some difficulty running against the wind it produced, now that it was much stronger at the source.
We stopped running once Sonic arrived, relieved that he finally came. We watched as he executed a perfect spin attack at the Fujita's feet, sawing them off. Without a solid leg to stand on, the entire robot fell onto its back. As a reward, the sudden updraft blew Eggman away, despite his best attempts to dodge it. I was surprised that it went down so quickly.
"Keep moving!" Amy told me, her sudden voice snapping me from my trance. "It's not out yet!"
"O-okay!" I said as we continued to carry Frances away from the scene. That didn't stop me from looking back again.
I saw Sonic rushing over to Tails, and I imagined the poor fox must have just regained consciousness, because the canopy was now open. Tails looked like he was very shaken up, as he was crying freely into Sonic's shoulder. After about thirty seconds, Sonic looked in our direction.
"It's okay, you guys!" he called. "It's down for the count!"
I looked at Amy, wondering what she was thinking, before she nodded her confirmation. We began to carefully carry Frances back toward the X-Tornado, which was about a hundred feet away. By now my side was hurting more than it did earlier, not to mention my arm, mostly because of my exertion from carrying my classmate. I just hoped this whole ordeal would be over with.
Tails was still crying by the time we reached him and Sonic, and the tears were freely dripping down his cheeks.
"It's all right, buddy," comforted Sonic. "It's all done now."
"I-I thought I… I was gonna d-die…" admitted Tails. "It… I-It blew my p-plane away, and…"
The weight of the whole situation crashed onto my shoulders in that instant. Somehow I didn't realize just how close to death we all came, especially Tails. I looked over to see that all the airbags were deployed in the cockpit, and I knew that if it weren't for them, Tails would not be here now.
"T-Tails…" I weakly spoke, before I walked over to him and gave him a gentle hug. But I did not expect him to wrap his arms around me tightly and let out a few sobs of relief knowing that I was safe.
"W-We almost d-died…!" he sobbed.
"B-But… I'm still alive," I tried to reassure Tails. I was not used to giving comfort.
"But…"
"Chris is right, little bro," added Sonic with a smile. "We're still alive and kicking, and that's all that matters."
Tails took a few shaky breaths before he looked up at Sonic, his big blue eyes still filled with tears. Even though he was slowly starting to calm down, he was still crying.
"S-Sonic… he whispered. "I-I wanna tell you… I did my best… but it still wasn't enough…"
Sonic joined our hug and gently rubbed his back. Amy smiled before approaching us and doing the same.
"Hey, don't sell yourself short, Tails," Sonic gently said. "Even though I wasn't here, I know you well enough to know that you didn't give up no matter what."
He gently rubbed the back of Tails' head before stroking behind his ears, making Tails smile.
"Sure, some of Eggman's robots are pretty powerful, and you can't really take 'em on all by yourself. In fact, even I can't fight 'em all my myself. But I just wanna say… I'm proud of you."
"Yeah," Amy said with a smile as she patted Tails' back. "You didn't give up no matter what! And I just wanna say, you're a real Freedom Fighter, Tails!"
"And… thank you for protecting us," I said, giving Tails another hug.
Tails smiled, his tears of fear changing into tears of gratitude.
"Th-thank you…" he said as he hugged all of us. "Y-You're my bestest friends ever!"
"And I'm proud to call you my little bro too, Tails!" Sonic said with a big smile as we continued the hug.
Just then there was a weak-sounding noise from nearby. I looked over to see that Frances was slowly starting to stir. Sonic saw this too, and he grit his teeth in silent anger at the pain that Eggman put her through.
"F-Frances…" Tails whimpered in worry.
"What happened to her?" Sonic said in a low voice, making me glad I was on his side.
"I think she landed hard when we were blown away by the robot," I said, my voice shaking, even though I thought I was calming down.
Sonic looked up to the sky and clenched his fists.
"Eggman is going to pay for what he did to you today… Which kinda reminds me, what are you guys doing out here, anyway?"
"Oh, we found a Chaos Emerald," spoke Tails now that he had calmed down. He then gasped in realization. "Oh, I just realized, we still need to dig it out!"
"No problem," Sonic said with a smile. "Is there a shovel here I can borrow?" asked Sonic.
Just then I noticed Frances starting to stir once again from where we laid her down.
"I think Frances is starting to wake up…" I announced.
All eyes turned to her, and Tails climbed down from his plane as the girl's eyes slowly fluttered open. However, when she tried to sit up, she gave a quiet yelp since she had landed hard.
"Easy there," soothed Sonic. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
"Y-Yeah- Ow…" Frances whispered, tears starting to well in her eyes. "H… How did I survive that…?"
"You were incredibly lucky," Sonic said.
Turning to us, he asked, "What about the rest of you guys? Any broken bones or anything?"
"I don't think so," I replied, remembering the weakness that I was still having. "Just… l-lots of bruises and scratches... and my arm feels weird..."
"What about you, Ames?"
"Just my hand," she answered. "I can walk it off though, but…" She looked up at Sonic. "Sonic… We gotta make sure something like this never happens to us ever again."
Sonic nodded. "I know."
"Hey Frances, can you stand up?" Tails asked.
"I… I don't know… I don't know, it hurts so much…"
"I know…" Sonic said before he took her hand. "I can help you up if you want."
"O-Okay… Thank you…" she whispered as Sonic and Tails started to help her up. However, as she was slowly moving her weight to her legs, she let out a cry and collapsed.
Tails gasped!
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I-I think… my leg is broken…" she whimpered before she started to silently cry.
Amy bent down to Frances' level "Wait, it is broken or- H-Hold still, Frances, I'm gonna feel your leg, 'cuz I just wanna check and see if it's a fracture."
"O-Okay…" whimpered Frances as she squeezed her eyes shut tightly.
Amy gently felt Frances' left leg, gently applying pressure at certain points. Frances yelped when Amy felt a part of her lower leg.
"O-Oh, sorry about that…" apologized Amy. "Um… It doesn't look broken, but just to be safe, I don't want you walking on it, okay?"
"O-Okay, Amy…" Frances whispered.
"It could still be a fracture," Tails pointed out. "Because not all fractured bones go through the skin."
Just then I noticed what looked like a purple bruise on Tails' head.
"Hey Tails, I think you hit your head on something when you crashed," I said.
"Wait, wha-" Tails felt his head. "Oh, no wonder I'm feeling dizzy right now!" He closed his eyes and leaned himself against the X-Tornado. "Wow, my head's really spinning!"
"Okay, you need a minute to rest, Tails?" Sonic asked.
"Y-Yeah… If it's okay," he said as he carefully held his head.
"All right, you do that and I'm gonna find that-"
Suddenly a loud rocket engine ignited, and Fujita started to levitate itself into the air to make up for its lack of legs. We were all taken by surprise, but that surprise changed to fear when it immediately generated a wind gust. However, it was so weak it was almost pathetic. It felt just like a windy day at the beach. That didn't stop Amy from taking action.
"Guys, run," she ordered on impulse.
However, we didn't need to do anything because Sonic was already way ahead of us. He reached into Tails' bag of rings in the front seat, and pulled one out. After absorbing its power, he curled himself into a tight ball and propelled himself directly at the heart of E-35. The wind its giant fan created offered no resistance to the hedgehog, and he burst through the robot with incredible force. It exploded, sending shrapnel directly into the air. Fortunately, none of it hit us.
The now-familiar adrenalin that was flowing through me was finally starting to die down, and my heart was pounding from the would-have-been threat. Only now did it hit me just how much trauma I had been through. I never wanted to go through anything like that again. In fact, I never wanted to see Dr. Eggman again either as long as I lived. This whole ordeal was a living nightmare, a stark reality of the cost of making friends with aliens.
Sonic saw the fear in my eyes and walked toward me.
"You doing okay, bud?" he asked.
I shook my head. "N-No…" I admitted. "I-I…"
I hesitated before taking a deep breath.
"S-Sonic… I'm scared…" I admitted with a little hesitation. "Um… I-Is it… um… Is it worth… g-going on adventures any more…? I… Th-there's… t-too much danger, and… and I almost died…"
Sonic's face softened, and he laid a supportive hand on my shoulder.
"Chris, listen to me," he said in a firm yet gentle tone. "It's totally worth it when you got friends who have your back all the way. And besides, you get to have all kinds of fun and experiences you never thought you would get to have." He looked me square in the eyes. "Trust me, Eggman's not gonna lay a finger on you as long as we are here. You got that?"
I slowly nodded. I was glad that Sonic was really supportive and protective of me, but that didn't fix what Eggman did to me and my mental state.
"Now then…" Sonic looked over the field. "Mind if you show me where you guys were digging at?"
"Yeah, follow me," offered Tails as he walked away from the X-Tornado. "I just hope the shovels are still there, though."
That was something I gave too much thought to. It was possible the wind had blown them away somewhere. Then we wouldn't be able to easily get the Chaos Emerald!
Frances tried to get up, but she winced as she was forced to sit back down again. Sonic, who didn't walk too far, saw this.
"You might wanna stay here and rest a bit," Sonic said. "I don't want you standing on a leg that may or may not be broken."
"O-Okay…" relented Frances as she tried to make herself comfortable by leaning against the side of the X-Tornado.
The rest of us followed Tails as he led us back to the spot we had been digging in. It was much easier to find than I thought it would be, since it was marked by the edge of the destruction Fujita had left in its wake. Fortunately we were able to quickly locate the disturbed dirt marking the area we had been searching. It was then that we made another surprising discovery as well.
"Hey look, the shovels are still here!" Tails pointed out.
"Oh, that's great!" cheered Amy. "I guess that means the wind never blew on this part of the farm!"
Sonic was the first to pick up a shovel, followed by me, and then Amy and Tails. We got to work digging, and before long, Tails lifted a shiny yellow gemstone from the earth. Victory was in the air and our hearts. Somehow… this was worth the pain earlier.
"We found it! We found it!" he announced with unbridled excitement. "This is our third one! That means we only got four more to go!"
Suddenly a stray laser came out of nowhere and hit the ground inches from Tails, causing him to help and drop the Emerald back into the hole. My heart beat a mile a minute for the thousandth time that day.
I was the furthest one away from the Emerald, so I was unable to join the mad scramble for it. However, none of us were able to get it in time, as a claw suddenly grabbed it out of the hole. I looked up the see the Eggmobile, and a flexible claw firmly grasping the Chaos Emerald.
Sonic leaped up to grab it, but the doctor was one step ahead of him and swung the claw out of the way. Furthermore, he was too high up for Sonic to easily reach him.
"Guess who never left," Eggman taunted as he removed the Emerald from the claw's grasp and held it up in his own hand. "I knew I could depend on you all to do my dirty work for me! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a military invasion to put an end to."
We watched the doctor fly away, and I was a bit surprised that Sonic was not chasing him.
"Are you gonna stop him?" I asked.
Sonic took on a new determination. "Yeah… but not in the way you think."
I was confused, and judging by the others' looks too, so were Amy and Tails.
"What do you mean?" asked Tails, his head tilted slightly to one side.
Sonic turned back to us, a cocky smile on his face. "We're gonna get this Emerald and the one he stole from us in Diamond Stadium, all in one go."
"Wait, does that mean we're going to Eggman's base right now?" Amy questioned.
"Yes, now," Sonic said. His tone shifted to a more serious one. "I've been meaning to tell you guys, but the government kinda made an unspoken deal with me. One of their head honchos came to our door and said we can all live here as citizens as long as we destroy Eggman's base within twenty-four hours. Turns out they already sent forces to start the attack."
Tails had a thoughtful look as he pondered this information.
"Well, normally I wouldn't have anything against that… but we can't. I mean… we all took some pretty heavy hits earlier." He rubbed his bruised head tenderly. "And we would be flying right into a battle when we're all hurt."
Sonic looked concerned. If he was stressed, he was doing a great job hiding it.
"We don't have a choice," he said grimly, shocking all of us, but mostly me. "We have absolutely no time to waste, which means we don't have any time to drop off Chris and Frances somewhere safe."
"What?!" Amy exclaimed. "Sonic, no, there's gotta be another way!"
"I mean, leaving 'em here is our only other option, but that's just… there's no way it's gonna work," Sonic admitted. "Sorry, guys… but I know it's all gonna work out in the end. After all, I've yet to lose a fight since I got here, right?"
"I guess so…" I admitted. I started to get flashbacks of when I flew with Tails for the first time. While I didn't mind flying with him, I really hated going into battle. I kept cringing and fearing for my life. Tails knew this, and so did Sonic. But this time, however, there was no choice. I wasn't ready for this.
We wordlessly picked up our shovels and walked back toward the X-Cyclone, which was still lying on its side. Frances was still there where we left her, and she looked up as we approached her.
My bruises were starting to get to me even more, and my chest didn't feel so great either.
"All right, stay back, guys," Tails cautioned us as he climbed back into the X-Cyclone. "I just need to get the X-Cyclone back upright and then we'll be good to go."
It took about five minutes for the fox to get his aircraft back upright. Sonic had gotten Frances out of the way, since she still couldn't walk yet, and all of us were covering our ears except for Sonic, who was used to the noise.
I was downright scared for what was coming up within the next hour. We would have to go into battle. Just because stuff like that looked cool on TV didn't mean I should always want to be in that kind of action in real life.
Due to my anxiety, the next five minutes seemed to last forever. My thoughts drifted to Eggman, and the Emerald he had just taken from us. He now had two Emeralds, leaving us with only one. But even with one Emerald, he was still a major threat. But he had two, which would spell catastrophe if he were to put them to good use. As much as I wanted the Emeralds to be on our side, I couldn't bear the thought of being in another dogfight.
At last, Tails opened both of the canopies.
"Finished!" he announced.
Over the next minute, he flew down and helped us inside the craft, seating us in the same spots we were in when we got here. He had to be extra careful with Amy, though, as her hand was still injured; and he had to be extra careful to not touch Frances' leg.
Sonic leaped up onto the wing of the plane, which took me by surprise, as I was not expecting him to ride on the wing of the X-Tornado like a surfboard.
"Turns out, the damage wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Tails said as went through his pre-flight procedures. "But still, it's gonna need a thorough check-up when we get home, since most of the damage is in the nose cone." He turned to look at Sonic. "Hey Sonic, thanks for giving me those samples of Eggman's rubber. They really saved the internal wiring today."
"Any time, Tails," Sonic said with a wink. When Sonic had brought the rubber home after that unfortunate day at the resort opening, Tails had used it to reinforce some of the more critical wiring within the X-Tornado.
"Quick question," Amy said. "How's the military going to know that this is our plane and not one of Eggman's?"
"Oh…" thought Tails. "Yeah, I didn't think about that…"
"Oh, I'm pretty sure everybody and their brother has seen us by now," shrugged Sonic. "I'm sure they'll figure it out."
"I hope so…" admitted Amy.
"Guys?" Frances spoke in a quiet voice. "…Should we put the shovels away first…?"
"Way ahead of you!" volunteered Sonic as he leaped off the wing and ran toward the shovels. However, he paused before looking at the destroyed barns, the back to us as he pointed his thumb toward the barns.
"One little problem… Is that Eggman's doing?"
"Yeah," I replied.
"So where do we put 'em?" asked Amy.
Instead of answering, Sonic simply picked up all four shovels and leaned them against the fence before zipping back to the X-Tornado and standing on the wing once more. In this time, Tails had closed both canopies.
"Hey Tails?" Frances spoke. "Isn't it dangerous for Sonic to like… um, ride outside like that?"
Tails shrugged. "Not for him, it isn't," he answered. "In fact, he actually likes riding on the wings even more than sitting inside."
"Hm…" thought Frances at that answer. It sounded really dangerous to me too, but I figured I could be okay with that as long as Sonic was safe.
Now that we were all secure and buckled in, Tails repositioned the wings into flight mode.
"Well, that's working better than I thought," Tails said aloud.
"What is?" I asked.
"I thought the wings were gonna take a lot more damage than that," he remarked. "Good thing I'm wrong, I guess!"
"Yeah," agreed Amy.
Next, the boosters ignited, and the plane started to lift off the ground. After we were about fifteen feet up, Tails changed the X-Tornado's legs back into boosters, and we felt the cabins lowering as they clicked into place within the craft. However, there was a mechanical groan from the front compartment, the one I shared with Tails.
"Uh… What was that?" Amy asked in some alarm.
"I think… I think our compartment's taken some damage from when I crashed," Tails reported. "I can fix that later." He eased the joystick forward, and we began to move. "For now, though… as Sonic like to say, 'Let's crack that Eggman wide open!'"
Even though I was still very afraid, I smiled at his confidence. Sonic had really taught him well.
We took off for Eggman's fortress, leaving behind what was essentially a war zone. I really hoped we wouldn't get in trouble for the damage Eggman had done to the farm and this year's corn supply.
WARNING ENDS HERE.
Eggman's base – Main hall – Sat September 25; 11:17 AM – Third-person POV
"Topaz, you and your squad go for the escorts," instructed Rouge. "I'll take the Behemoth!"
"Hope you know what you're doing," Topaz said as she and her soldiers got their weapons ready. Rouge bolted into the air right before both sides erupted in a hailstorm of bullets and lasers. The ceilings were very tall, which meant Rouge didn't have to worry about getting caught in the crossfire.
The Behemoth aimed its left arm directly at the GUN platoon while they were occupied with the Motobugs, and began to charge energy. From her last visit to the fortress, Rouge knew exactly what it was about to do.
Wasting no time, the bat Screw Kicked the robot's left arm off, and it fell to the floor with a heavy metallic clang. The socket where it was once attached began to spark with live wires exposed.
The Behemoth immediately retaliated by trying to swat Rouge from the sky with its remaining arm. Rouge reared back, and while the Behemoth was recovering, she bolted forward and Screw Kicked it directly in the center of its chest. It took a bit more effort from her than she was used to. Eggman had given his E-12s specially thick armor.
"Heads up!" she warned as she pulled back. The troops all backed away with her just as the Behemoth exploded violently, taking all of the remaining Motobugs with it. Surprisingly, there was very little far-flying shrapnel.
"Phew, that was some ridiculously tough armor," Rouge quipped. "Topaz, any more robots inbound?"
Topaz took a phone-like device off her belt and brought up a radar screen. She studied it for a few seconds before looking up.
"Nobody yet," Topaz said. "Still, we can't be too careful…"
"Right on," agreed Rouge. "You know, they don't even have to come after us to intimidate us. They're all just chilling at the generator, so that means we're gonna need all the manpower we can get." She looked ahead. "And lady-power."
Just then Topaz's radio alarm went off. Her hand shot down to her side to lift the radio from off her belt.
"Topaz here," she spoke.
"Radar has detected a new object approaching the fortress," General Meyer spoke from the other end, "and we're also picking up a very strong energy signature with it. It's just like the one a couple weeks ago."
"Is it him?" Topaz asked with some concern in her voice.
"Affirmative; we have a visual," Meyer grimly replied, before asked, "What's your status?"
"We're in and on our way to the generator now," reported Topaz.
"Copy that. Good luck, and stay safe," Meyer said as they broke contact.
Rouge looked quizzically at Topaz because she only got to hear her half of the transmission. Topaz turned to the rest of the troops under her command.
"Heads up, boys," Topaz announced. "Eggman's on his way back with a Chaos Emerald."
"What?!" Rouge exclaimed, more surprised about the news of the Chaos Emerald than the doctor. "But how did he find it? And where?"
"That's not our jurisdiction," Topaz curtly stated. "Just the generator."
Rouge nodded, and they pressed on. Rouge knew that once Eggman arrived, he would have two Chaos Emeralds in his possession, which meant he would have the advantage over Sonic and his friends who had just one. With two Emeralds, Eggman would become an even more serious threat to Planet Earth.
Eggman's base – Command center – Sat September 25; 11:19 AM – Third-person POV
Decoe and Bocoe were up in the command center overseeing the invasion. This battle, which was going in their favor, was the most activity the soon-to-be Eggman Empire had seen since everyone arrived on this planet.
Just then Decoe caught sight of a new blip on the radar screen. It was approaching the base; however, it was moving slower than the average speed of the United States Air Force's aircraft. Decoe knew what it was.
"Doctor Eggman is returning now," he reported. "He has a strong energy signature. I calculate a 96% chance it is the Chaos Emerald."
Bocoe activated the device to communicate directly to all deployed robots. "All units, hold your fire until Dr. Eggman is safely within the fortress," he instructed. "Additionally, the Buzzbomber fleet nearest to the doctor is to escort him inside."
Just then Decoe's radio signal went off. He immediately responded to it.
"Platoon leader, report," he said.
"The GUN platoon has destroyed the E-12 unit using overwhelming force. They are now advancing unhindered toward the generator," the platoon leader reported.
"It is only a minor setback," amended Decoe. "Deploy another E-12 unit to stall the Guardians of the United Nations until the doctor regains control."
"Affirmative."
Once finished, Decoe turned to Bocoe in his seat. "It is not known how GUN penetrated the energy shield and entered the fortress."
"My best calculation is they breached the energy shield in the same manner as their last approach," speculated Bocoe. "We must remind the doctor to strengthen the barrier once the skirmish has concluded."
Decoe took another glance at the radar. "Dr. Eggman is now safely within the confines of the force field."
"All units, resume the assault," Bocoe ordered.
Immediately after he released the radio's talk button, the entire fortress shook from the impact of an exploding missile.
"The shield's power is now 8%," Decoe read from the monitor. "At this rate, it cannot last much longer; and given GUN's progress, neither will we."
Just then Bokkun flew back into the room for the third time that day. His boundless hyperactivity could make even Charmy Bee seem boring.
"I'm back from the kitchen!" he loudly announced. "And I just heard a really loud boom. What happened?"
Decoe turned back to look at the hovering robot. "The force field is weakening," he said. "Additonally, Dr. Eggman is returning with the Chaos Emerald. He will enter this room any minute."
Bokkun paused. "Then… then that means Sonic's gonna be here really soon too!"
"Affirmative," Bocoe added. "Preparations must be made accordingly."
"Well, on the bright side," Bokkun said, "I'm kinda glad Dr. Eggman didn't send me out to deliver a message for Sonic. This way we can be extra sneaky!"
Seconds later, the doors to the secret elevator opened, and Eggman stepped out and entered the room. There was a yellow glow in his hand from the Chaos Emerald.
"I'll take it from here," he announced.
"Welcome back," Bocoe said. "In your absence, we have destroyed fourteen aircraft and two ships." He paused, unsure of how his creator would react to his next piece of news. "However…"
"However what?" Eggman barked.
"…This attacking force was only a diversion for a GUN platoon to access the generator. They are already inside, and we have all available robots stationed there already."
Eggman sighed. "I step out for half an hour at most, and look what's happened already. This is a mess." He turned back to Decoe and Bocoe. "I trust you two have used my robots wisely, especially Super Badniks and E-Series robots."
"Affirmative," Bocoe said.
"I predict a 90% chance Sonic will show up within five minutes," announced Decoe.
"In that case…" nodded Eggman, "I shall make that hedgehog priority one. Launch a second wave of robots to intercept and eliminate the craft they call the X-Tornado. I'll deal with the pincushion's inevitable arrival myself."
He walked over to the console, then pressed a few buttons. A green chair rose up from the floor in the center of the room. It was designed to resemble his command chair from back in his Robotropolis days, but this chair had several different amenities, including a virtual scope and a joystick.
"What is this?" Decoe asked.
Eggman grinned. "My virtual weaponry chair," he explained. "It can be remotely connected to various large robots, but this time, I'm going to hook it up to the missile port on top of the fortress." His virtual weaponry chair greatly resembled the one he used back in his Robotropolis days.
The scientist walked toward his chair and sat down, He looked through the scope and firmly grasped the joystick in front of him.
"You won't win today, Sonic the Hedgehog…" he whispered, aiming his crosshairs at the approaching X-Tornado.
Danny's house – Sat September 25; 11:17 AM – Third-person POV
All across the country, people everywhere were tuning in to the news, which was covering the intense fight at Dr. Eggman's fortress. It was being broadcast from a safe distance away from the fortress via news helicopters and drones. As usual, Scarlet Garcia was doing a brilliant job covering this story.
This Saturday morning, Danny Richmond and his family were among the millions engrossed in the fight. No one was saying a word. It was turning out to be the most televised war since the Persian Gulf War.
"Hey Danny, is your alien friend coming to fight too?" Danny's seven-year-old little sister Lisa asked.
"I hope so," Danny said. "I'm pretty sure Sonic already knows, and if I'm right, he's gonna go there any-"
Just then the family's landline phone started to ring, and Danny's father walked over to answer it.
"Hello?" he spoke, before turning to his son. "It's for you, Danny. It's Helen."
"Okay," said Danny as he took the phone and held it up to his ear.
"Hey Helen, what's up?" he said. He knew that Helen was already back in town, since she had only been in Idaho for a few days.
"Danny, are you watching the news right now?" she asked.
Danny glanced over at the TV for a moment. "Yeah," he replied.
"Listen," Helen continued, her voice growing increasingly urgent. "I have a bad feeling that Chris and Frances are in that plane right now."
"Wait, what?" Danny said incredulously. "Oh man, I totally forgot about that! Does this mean Tails can't drop 'em off anywhere?"
"Yeah…" Helen said sadly.
"W-Wait, why not?" Danny asked.
"You know how Sonic will do anything to stop Eggman?" asked Helen.
"Yeah?" replied Danny as he scratched his head for a moment.
"Well, he probably heard about the attack, and at this point, I'm thinking there was a change of plans, like, they didn't have any time to drop them off."
Danny noticed commotion from his parents, sister, and sixteen-year-old brother Jamal, and he lowered the phone and looked up at the screen to see the X-Tornado appearing. It was only a speck on the screen, but its four wings made it indistinguishable from the other military jets.
"Oh, it looks like they made it to Eggman's base!" reported Danny.
"Sorry, I have to go now, Danny," Helen said. "A friend of my mom's is coming soon."
"Oh, okay then. See you later!"
Almost as soon as Danny hung up the phone and put it back on the receiver, his father turned to him.
"Did I hear you right? Are your friends really on board that plane?" he asked. "Out there in the middle of battle?"
"Y-Yeah," Danny said solemnly. "Helen said she didn't think there was any time to drop them off."
"There he is!" exclaimed Lisa as she excitedly pointed to the screen. Sure enough, the X-Tornado was in clear view. A now-familiar blue hedgehog was expertly riding one of the wings.
"Is that Sonic on that plane?" Danny's mother asked.
"I think it is," his father answered in an optimistic tone.
"Yup, that's him," Danny confirmed. "If anyone can stop Eggman, it's Sonic!"
Even Danny was amazed at the confidence coming from his own voice. Perhaps exposure to Sonic had that effect on him.
Eggman's base – Main hall – Sat September 25; 11:22 AM – Third-person POV
A few minutes after the heads-up about the inbound doctor, the GUN infiltration team was continuing toward the generator with little to no hindrance whatsoever. Now that they knew exactly where it was located, the return trip seemed a whole lot easier. However, with the numerous robots everywhere and the fact that their presence was known this time, such was not the case.
"I don't like this," muttered Topaz. "It gives me the creeps that no one's even coming to meet us." She shifted her grasp on her assault rifle. "It's almost as if Robotnik wants us to fall into a trap."
Suddenly Topaz stopped at the sight of what was lying at the junction ahead. There was yet another E-12 Behemoth. Fortunately, it was unflanked this time.
"Spoke too soon…" Topaz sighed. "This is gonna be a looong day…"
"You go ahead," Rouge instructed. "I'll cover you."
"Roger," nodded Topaz. "Onward, troops!" she told her team and they continued their advance toward the generator, leaving Rouge to take on the Behemoth alone.
Just as Rouge predicted, the giant robot took a swing at Rouge, who nimbly flew back to avoid the attack. While it was reeling, she prepared to execute a Screw Kick to finish it, just like the last time, but she was forced to stop her attack and dodge the robot's powerful cannon arm as it fired a massive laser at her. This robot seemed more prepared for Rouge than the last one she fought. It was only a minor setback, though.
As she reeled back, Rouge became aware of the sound of gunfire and explosions from further up the hall. To her that meant Topaz ran into trouble.
Telling herself the Behemoth could wait, she flapped her wings once and glided swiftly down the hall, narrowly avoiding another blast from the Behemoth she had just abandoned. She hoped doing a risky move like that wouldn't come back to bite her.
It didn't even take her a few seconds to see that Topaz' regiment was not only engaged with the enemy, but they were outgunned as well. They were up against at least half a dozen E-13 Guardians.
Topaz looked up just in time to see Rouge approaching.
"We could sure use your help over here!" Topaz called before ducking under a stray laser.
Rouge yelped as she was suddenly grabbed from behind by the Behemoth she had abandoned. She thought she didn't let her guard down. It must have sneaked up behind her, its heavy footsteps masked by the fight.
"I'm… urgh… a little busy here!" Rouge shouted back as she struggled to escape. To the Behemoth, she said, "Must be a bit hard to pick on someone your own size."
Just then the entire nearby wall exploded, creating a gaping hole. With a wild whoop, Knuckles the Echidna leaped through the carnage he had just created. He was wearing his favorite hat, a sight Rouge hadn't seen since some time before the war.
When the wall exploded, the Behemoth was caught off guard and it dropped Rouge. The GUN soldiers immediately dropped to the ground to avoid any flying projectiles, most of which landed around them harmlessly, and some of them struck the Behemoth, doing no damage whatsoever.
"Hope I'm not late to the party!" Knuckles exclaimed.
"Oh, believe me," Rouge said, overcoming her surprise as she got up, "there's plenty of party left for you, Knuckles."
Topaz turned back, making sure the Guardians weren't going to execute a sneak attack during this turning point. If this newcomer was here, then that meant the military successfully penetrated the force field.
"Thanks for dropping in!" Rouge said, deciding now wasn't the time to flirt with him. She Screw Kicked the Behemoth's legs, rendering it immobile, before leaping back. She watched as Knuckles easily finished off the robot in a flurry of punches, deactivating the E-12 in seconds, and without even causing an explosion. Then the echidna bolted toward the Guardians.
"Hold your fire!" Topaz ordered her troops. They all backed away as Knuckles leaped into the fray and smashed the E-13 Guardians one by one. There was absolutely no stopping this machine. Guardian after Guardian went down, metal flying everywhere. Rouge pitched in as well, and together, they simultaneously took out the last one. Now everyone finally had a moment to breathe.
"How'd you get here so fast?" Rouge asked.
Knuckles wasn't too surprised to find out that Rouge was on Earth and working with GUN. Government work was her second personality, after all. And Knuckles did hear about an "alien" working with GUN, and figured it was her.
He shrugged. "I rode a missile."
Topaz's eyes widened, and Rouge shrugged as well. It wasn't something she wasn't used to.
"You were here when it happened, right?" Knuckles asked. "Chaos Control, I mean."
Rouge nodded. "Your deduction skills are impeccable as always."
"I mean, you had to be. How else are you here on Earth?" Knuckles said.
"Okay, can someone tell me what's going on?" a slightly flustered Topaz asked. To Knuckles, she asked, "Who are you? Are you with Sonic?"
"I'm Knuckles," he introduced himself. "And yeah, for the most part, anyway." They still had their rivalry moments, but Sonic was still a friend nonetheless. He knew full well Rouge could tease him later for this, but with the urgency of the situation, he couldn't care less.
"And what are you doing here?" Knuckles asked as they continued moving.
"Sergeant Topaz of Gun Division Alpha," the sergeant formally introduced herself. "We're here to blow up the generator."
"Whoa, that's crazy, even for you," Knuckles disagreed, holding out his hands. "Even if you do manage to get in there and shut it down, it's gonna be next to impossible to get back out alive."
"I'm well aware," Topaz said. "Now, what are you here for?"
Knuckles crosses his arms. "Why do you want to know?"
"Basically to see if our goals align," Topaz replied.
Knuckles hesitated a moment before answering. "Huh, fair enough. I'm here for the Chaos Emeralds," he explained. "Chances are they're probably down at the generator somewhere. Hope you have room for one more."
"The more, the merrier, Knuckie," cooed Rouge.
"Not now, Rouge!" groaned Knuckles under his breath, trying and failing to suppress a blush. Still, it was a good thing he was making the Emeralds his biggest priority. He would leave Eggman to Sonic. Knowing Sonic, he was on his way over right now.
Eggman's base – Outside – Sat September 25; 11:19 AM – Third-person POV
"There it is," Tails said, breaking the thoughtful silence as Eggman's foreboding fortress came into sight. I could already feel my heart beating faster and faster within my sore chest.
This is it…
"Okay, guys," Tails announced, probably more so to me and Frances, because I was sure Amy already knew the drill. "Hang on tight and hope for the best. It's gonna get rough from here on out."
"Looks like the battle's already started," Amy commented, before her voice changed to alarm. "Oh, the Badniks just noticed us!"
Tails opened fire at a few of them, immediately destroying the nearest few robots. Sonic also got into the action, leaping off the plane and spinning into a few other Badniks before immediately returning to the wing. His landing was perfect, with barely any friction whatsoever.
Suddenly an alarm went off in the cockpit, and he announced, "Heat-seeking missiles! Brace yourselves!"
Sure enough, I looked up to see several missiles flying straight toward us. Tails sharply banked to the right just in time to avoid them, and I was forced to hang on tight. I cringed as three of the missiles nearly hit us. Frances cried out, and I tried not to let my own yell rise from my throat as well.
"It's going to be okay!" Amy tried to reassure Frances. But deep down, I knew it was not okay. It was far from okay.
Tails suddenly pulled up, and I was forced to hold on once again as several lasers from a large turret on top of the fortress passed underneath us. At this rate, I was going to lose my lunch, and I was sure my already injured body couldn't handle that.
I knew that Tails was an excellent and more than capable pilot, but this was too much for me. With every passing second, I felt like we would be hit by a laser or missile, and we would go down. I really wished I didn't have to be pulled into battle with them, but it was what it was. As Sonic had said, there was no time to waste. Those were the scariest words I had heard yet.
"I can't get close enough to the fortress," remarked Tails as he scanned the robotic blockade. "Too many lasers!"
"What are you trying to do?" I asked.
"I'm gonna try and to blast a hole in the wall big enough for Sonic to get through," explained Tails, "but these guys- WHOA!" he was forced to suddenly bank to the right to avoid an attack from a Beacon, which was quickly destroyed by a military jet. "L-Like I was saying, these guys are really tough!"
"Good thing the military's here to give us plenty of cover," commented Amy.
We spend the next minute or two circling around, shooting down any robots that got too close to us. But the more we shot down, the more that came in to swarm around us. In fact, they were more focused on us than the military. I looked down just in time to see a ship going down, along with a few aircraft. Tails was right. These robots were way too tough and persistent.
"Hey, I think I see an opening!" Tails announced.
He fired a pair of missiles toward the base. I watched as the robots tried to fire at them to intercept them without any luck. It kind of reminded me of the Death Star trench run in Star Wars. The missiles impacted the side of the base, blowing a large hole in the side.
"Bulls-eye!" Tails cheered.
Satisfied with the size and distance of the hole, Sonic gave a thumbs-up from his position on the wing and leaped off, curling into a tight ball and hurtling himself directly toward the hole. He disappeared inside a moment later, kicking off the infiltration mission. Now all we needed to do was survive until Eggman was scrambled.
Eggman's base – Command center – Sat September 25; 11:23 AM – Third-person POV
Eggman let go of the controls and lifted the scope, now understanding the full extent of Sonic's plan. The military was providing cover for both the GUN force and the X-Tornado, and now Sonic was inside the base. This whole day was going south.
"Doctor, why have you ceased fire?" Decoe asked.
Bocoe glanced at the radar. "Doctor, Sonic the Hedgehog has breached the exterior structure of the fortress."
"Does that answer your question, Decoe?" Eggman said as he rose from his seat. Without waiting for an answer, he added, "We're moving on to phase two. You three, you know what to do."
He left the room, confident that he would get rid of his rodent infestation once and for all.
Eggman's base – Inside – Sat September 25; 11:23 AM – Sonic's POV
In a word, that infiltration Tails and I pulled off was flawless.
Now that I was inside one of the halls of Eggman's humble abode, I looked around for any signs of opposition. I could hear the distant sound of gunfire coming from far away. That meant I wasn't alone in there.
As Eggman's fortress was familiar territory for me, I knew exactly where the command center was, so I had no trouble making my way up there. It wasn't far, but still, something didn't feel quite right…
I tried the door, only to find it unlocked. That in itself set off warning signs in my head. But I knew I still had to enter and see if the doctor was home. He needed a checkup from the neck up.
Another thing that was unnerving me was the fact that I was completely alone. It was way too quiet, which made me suspicious. There was absolutely no one – no Badniks, not even Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun.
I was a bit surprised when I became aware of mechanical moment from behind me. I turned around to see that Eggman's three hench-bots were there in the command center all along. They were simply hiding out of sight, waiting for me to come in.
Before I could react, Decoe threw something gold and shiny to the ground at my feet. It quickly expanded, and I realized too late that it was a Warp Ring. I had no idea how they got a hold of one.
I had no time to react or even say anything as I fell through the ring. I landed on the floor of a large, dimly-lit room. It was so big that I actually began to wonder if I was even still in the fortress.
"Welcome, Sonic."
The voice came from seemingly nowhere, but I knew who it was all too well.
Section by section, the room's lights began to turn on, revealing an enormous robot in front of me. Floating next to it was none other than the bald nut job himself in his Eggmobile.
Eggman began the process of docking his craft within a compartment in the robot that was designed for it.
"This is the E-18 Egg Galahad," he introduced. "And this will be your last day alive, at least in your natural body."
"I already told ya once, Robuttnik, I like my natural body the way it is," I sassed.
"Nothing lasts forever, Sonic," Eggman said. "My new roboticizer is coming along quite nicely, and I'm pleased to say you will be honored with becoming its first occupant."
"Now where have I heard that before…?" I taunted.
"This time, however, my success is guaranteed. Don't get your hopes up on victory this time, Sonic!" Eggman exclaimed as the Egg Galahad came to life and started to bear down on me.
Eggman's base – Inside – Sat September 25; 11:29 AM – Third-person POV
One of the doors to the generator rocketed across the room as Knuckles blew it off his hinges in one mighty punch. He and the GUN team stormed in, easily dealing with all the Badniks in the area. Topaz entered last to make sure they weren't being followed, before she turned to her men.
"Cover us!" she ordered the rest of the soldiers as they headed back outside. She turned to the last soldier in the room.
"You there, get the C4 ready," she instructed, taking another uneasy glance outside.
The soldier nodded and prepared the bomb he was carrying. Meanwhile, Knuckles glanced at the generator. He couldn't believe that they were going to literally strike their first major blow against Eggman since they arrived here, and it had only been over a month.
"We're doing great," commented Topaz. "At this clip, we'll be outta here at 1200 hours."
"All set, ma'am," the soldier reported. "Will ten minutes be enough?"
"It should be," the sergeant replied, scanning the room. "Too risky to make it fifteen. All right, I think we're done here. Has anyone seen Rouge?"
Knuckles gestured to a hole that, unknown to him, was the same hole that Rouge had accidentally made during her last visit.
"I saw her go up there," he replied. "Knowing her, she's looking for the Emeralds."
"Alone?" Topaz huffed incredulously before looking up at the hole. "Rouge, can you hear me? The bomb is set. We're leaving now!"
"I'll catch up," Rouge called from above. "We got some unfinished business here, remember?"
"No, we're leaving now!" Topaz shouted back. However, she never got an answer back from Rouge. She picked a fine time to let her petty jewel fascination get the better of her.
Suddenly the sound of machinery filled the air, coming from all sides.
"What's going on?" Topaz asked in disbelief.
"Don't know," breathed Knuckles as he looked around for the source of the noise.
"Just got word from the rest of the squad," the soldier said, lowering his radio. "They're locking down the whole facility."
Topaz cursed under her breath as the doors finished closing. She hoped Rouge was having better luck than they were.
"Hey… you guys know about this?" Knuckles spoke up. Topaz followed the echidna's gaze to a maintenance ladder leading up to the room above them.
"Huh, good find. Maybe we won't die today after all," Topaz said, glancing at the bomb. 9:30. It was crunch time.
After scanning the room to make sure there weren't any robots trapped in there with them, the soldier climbed up first, then Topaz, and lastly Knuckles. At the top was the breaker room Topaz was in during her last trip. She quickly spotted Rouge frantically searching everywhere for the Emeralds.
"What on Earth are you doing?" Topaz shouted.
"The Chaos Emeralds… They're in here somewhere, I know they are!" she called frantically.
"They'll have to wait," Topaz said. "In case you didn't know, we're trapped in here with a bomb."
"Tell me something I don't know!" Rouge shouted back, searching high and low for any sign of the missing Emeralds. "Like how much time's left on the bomb!"
"About nine minutes," Topaz called.
Rouge finally stopped searching and sighed. "Ughh, you know what? Forget the Emeralds," she relented. "Forget the world's most powerful and gorgeous gemstones! Nine minutes is more than enough time for a lady to make her exit."
She flew down the ladder past Topaz, and soon the forceful sounds of heeled shoes slamming on the door reverberated throughout the room. Topaz sincerely hoped she would make the breakthrough they needed. Even if the bomb didn't go off in nine minutes, they would quickly run out of air in the sealed room.
"It's no use," Rouge called. "This door is tough as nails."
"Let me try," volunteered Knuckles. Walking past Topaz and the soldier, he slid down the ladder and ran over to the door where Rouge was panting from her exertion.
The echidna narrowed his eyes. "Whoa, you couldn't even dent it…?"
Without waiting for an answer, Knuckles launched a full-on assault on the reinforced door. Punch after punch made their mark on the door, but the same fists that destroyed countless robots and boulders could not cause a simple gate to cave.
"What is this door made of…?" panted Knuckles, rubbing his sore hands. He turned to see Topaz and the soldier coming back down the ladder. Topaz was visibly disheartened. She balefully glanced at the bomb.
"Is there any way we can disarm the bomb?" she asked in a low tone.
The soldier looked up at Topaz. "Ma'am, all the technicians are locked outside," he said. "I'm just a soldier."
That did it for Topaz. Overcome by all emotion, she fell on her knees and covered her face in despair. There was no escape, and now they had less than eight minutes left to live.
She couldn't believe it was all coming down to this. She and her squad had come so far… and now they were going to go down with the fortress. Knuckles was completely right. This was suicide.
"It's too early to despair, Topaz!" Rouge said, noticing her new friend struggling to not break down.
"We got out of tougher scrapes before, and this one's no different," Knuckles added. "Just hang in there. We'll get us outta here!"
Rouge turned back to the door. "Doesn't look like it's possible for us to break through alone," she surmised.
"Which can only mean teamwork," Knuckles said.
Rouge winked. "I like the sound of that."
The two Mobians proceeded to relentlessly pound the door, determined to free not only themselves from the generator room, but the whole country from Eggman's tyranny.
Eggman's base – Inside – Sat September 25; 11:29 AM – Sonic's POV
Fighting a giant robot in a limited space was far from the hardest thing about fighting Eggman's newest robot. What was hard was the fact that even though there was light, there wasn't enough to clearly see in the chamber, which made my fight a bit harder.
Also, it was not helping matters that his robot was extremely fast despite its overwhelming size. It was a good ninety feet tall, and it was dodging me like I was slow. I figured my best strategy was to somehow catch it off guard.
In a completely unexpected move, the Egg Galahad kicked me with tremendous force into the ceiling, leaving a Sonic-shaped impression in the metal texture. As I fell, Eggman's mechanical monstrosity slapped me into the wall. There was definitely a bit of pain there, and I hoped it wouldn't affect my performance.
"Hohohoho! This is the most fun I've had toying with you in quite some time!" the doc chortled.
If this is toying with me, I thought, do I wanna know what all can it do at full power?
I fell to the ground, feeling winded from the sudden attack. I tried to get my breath back as I slowly started to pick myself up, but the Galahad's giant hand pinned me to the ground with utterly crushing force. It would have killed anyone else instantly, but not me. I found the pressure to be incredibly strong, but it wasn't overwhelming yet.
"I gotta hand it to ya, Eggy…" I groaned. "You actually managed to make a decent robot this time."
Even though I couldn't see Eggman from where I was, I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was smirking.
"While I commend your complimenting my genius, 'decent' is quite the mediocre term," he said, sounding muffled on account of his giant robot hand crushing my whole body. "I know you're dying to know the secret to the Egg Galahad's strength, and since you won't last long anyway, I might as well tell you. In case you haven't noticed, the Egg Galahad is powered by a Chaos Emerald."
That wasn't really any surprise to me.
"Or should I say two?"
That was news.
"Well, that explains a lot," I said. "Now I know what happened to the Emeralds you stole from us."
"Stole?" repeated Eggman in a mixture of amusement and disgust. "It was more along the lines of a 'generous donation'. You're too kind, you know." He chuckled. "Actually, I have your gullible friend Tails to thank for discovering both of them for me."
"Leave him out of this," I demanded. Tails already had his share of bullies. He didn't need any more, especially Eggman.
"You are in no condition to demand anything of me," retorted Eggman. "Now let's get this over with!"
Just then I heard a faint beeping sound coming from somewhere. Eggman grumbled in agitation before there was a pause.
"I'm busy right now! What do you want?" I heard him shout. I assumed he was using a communicator to talk to Decoe and Bocoe. That meant he was distracted, which meant I could plan my escape.
"We have succeeded in locking Knuckles, Rouge, and the leader of the GUN force within the generator compound," Decoe reported.
"Prior to their imprisonment," added Bocoe, "they have activated a detonation device that is set to explode seven minutes from now."
Eggman sighed. "How stupid do you have to be to get yourself trapped in a room with an active bomb?"
Thanks to this handy distraction, I was able to use my supersonic strength to push the Egg Galahad's hand off of me and move out from underneath it.
"You know, Eggy, you really shouldn't talk on the phone and drive!" I taunted.
"Look what you made me do! The hedgehog just escaped because of you!" Eggman yelled into the communicator. "I'll call you back!"
"Hey, don't plan too far ahead, Robuttnik," I chided. "For all I know, you're gonna be busy evacuating in a few."
"Foreshadowing…" Eggman muttered. "Or you're bluffing. Either way, I will still win!"
His giant robot attempted to step on me and pin me to the ground with its hands again, but thanks to my speed, his attacks were completely missing by a mile. In fact, I felt like I had more than enough time to get out of the way.
"I'll have you know I never run from a fight!" he crowed. "I've been planning a long time for this battle."
"Really?" I smirked. "Well, I bet you never planned for this!"
Without hesitation, I sprinted up the Egg Galahad's leg. Eggman was now completely vulnerable. I knew I could have done it earlier, but I wanted to toy with him a bit first.
"I should have taken this fight outside, where E-18 could unleash its full potential," I heard Eggman mutter.
"Too late for that!" I called. "Also, I got one little critique about your show and tell act earlier…"
I broke through the Galahad's torso with a well-executed spin dash, grabbed both Chaos Emeralds even though they were very hot to the touch, and burst out the other side in one go.
"It's time for less telling and more showing!"
Even though I had the upper hand with both Emeralds in my grasp, there was a slight catch. I had forgotten just how erratic their nature was on Earth. They did something to me that never happened before.
The cyan and yellow gems, already bristling and quivering with raw Chaos energy, began to glow even brighter, reacting to the positive Chaos energy within me. Then they began to levitate me off the ground. Looking down, I saw that I was glowing slightly. This felt really different. It was kind of like going super, except I was a lot weaker, and I was still blue.
"Note to self: make a backup power source for every Chaos Emerald-powered robot I make in the future," mumbled Eggman, oblivious to my new-found Chaos abilities.
Guided by the Emeralds, I slowly began to fly through the room. I moved my arms to the left to see if I would fly in that direction, and to my amazement, I did fly left. It was so incredible! It was almost like going super with just two Chaos Emeralds!
Using these powers to my advantage, I thrust my arms forward to increase my speed, then steered myself toward the Egg Galahad. Chaos energy, the power enriched by the heart, enveloped me as I painlessly flew straight through the core of Eggman's E-18 Egg Galahad. As I exploded out the other side, I figured one blow wasn't enough. I had to make sure there was nothing left of Eggman's robot.
I directed my body through the Galahad again and again, causing the robot to spark. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Eggman ejecting his Eggmobile from its compartment.
"You'll pay for this, you impudent rodent!" he shouted. Normally I would have a hard time hearing him over all the noise I was busy making, but the Chaos energy was amplifying all of my senses.
As the Egg Galahad started to explode, I could also hear Eggman relaying orders to Decoe and Bocoe over his communicator.
"Mayday! Retrieve Orbot and Cubot! Secure the corundum! Evacuate the base! Every robot for itself!"
You're out of time, Eggman, I thought.
I soared out of the room, the fortress' thick walls proving to be no obstacle for me. If what Eggman said was correct, GUN was in the fortress with me, and they had set a time bomb in the generator room, but they somehow got themselves locked in there. My next move was to free them and puncture the fortress to add some fuel to the coming fire. The giant explosion would be way past cool to watch from a distance.
Eggman's base – Inside – Sat September 25; 11:37 AM – Third-person POV
Rouge and Knuckles were still attacking the door nonstop nearly five minutes later. Topaz had to admit, she was still nervous about what would happen if they couldn't break it down in time. At the same time, she was grateful that the two Mobians each possessed superhuman strength.
"I can feel it," Rouge called over the din of her assault. "Any second now, the door's gonna go."
Topaz wandered as close as she dared toward the bomb and peered at its seven-segment LED display. Less than 2:30 remained. If they survived this ordeal, they were going to have to cut it close…
Suddenly there was a metallic clanging noise that made Topaz jump. She turned to see a gaping hole in the door.
"Got it!" Knuckles shouted as he rubbed his sore fists. He turned to Topaz and called, "We were able to make a hole in it, but I don't know if it's gonna be big enough for everyone to fit through."
"It better be," Rouge stated firmly. "We go now or we're dead."
Suddenly there was a huge explosion as one of the back walls near the ceiling exploded, and Sonic the Hedgehog literally flew into the room, aided by the two Chaos Emeralds he was holding. He quickly saw their predicament and burst through one of the walls low to the ground near the door. The noise was tremendous, but it was a small price to pay for freedom.
However, the moment Sonic broke through both of those walls, debris rained toward the two Mobians. Rouge saw it coming before Knuckles did, and she acted fast and tackled the echidna to the ground, using her body to shield him from any potential falling debris. Miraculously, none fell on them.
Once the majority of the dust cleared, Knuckles sat up, feeling bewildered that Rouge saved him. But before he could speak, Rouge put a finger to his lips.
"Hush now," she whispered. "I'm just returning the favor for your last-minute rescue earlier. Now we're even."
Knuckles rose to his feet, feeling grateful deep down for the save. But more than that, he was a bit confused about something.
"How on Mobius was he doing that just now?"
"No time!" Topaz urged. "Go! Now!"
Snapping out of his trance, Knuckles was the first to leap through the hole in the wall, followed by Rouge, Topaz, and the soldier. They quickly reunited with the rest of the infiltration force, who were all still gathered outside the broken door and fighting off a horde of approaching robots.
"The bomb's set!" Topaz shouted to her forces. "We're leaving now!"
No one needed to be told twice. Everyone sprinted toward the hole they came in at, and a few soldiers held back the robots from the rear. Once they were outside and the fortress was gone, victory was theirs.
Eggman's base – Outside – Sat September 25; 11:38 AM – Chris' POV
I was fascinated, even mesmerized to a degree, as the battle raged all around us. Tails continued to expertly shoot down more Badnik swarms and E-series robots. But the more that went down, the more there were to easily replace them. It was literally a disposable army. If I wasn't so frightened at the many close calls we were having, I probably would have enjoyed it.
I was so engrossed in the battle that I had almost forgotten about the painful throbbing in my upper chest from the conflict at Tingalin Villa. I couldn't tell if it was getting worse or not. Whatever the case, I would have to get it checked out as soon as we returned home.
Suddenly my attention was drawn to something breaking out of the side of the fortress. The object began to gracefully fly in and out of it- no, through it. It didn't take me long to see that it was Sonic, and he was holding brightly-glowing cyan and yellow lights in his hands.
"It's Sonic!" Frances cheered.
"What is he doing?" I wondered aloud. "And wait, are those the Chaos Emeralds?"
"Mhm," nodded Tails.
"But they don't work like that," Amy stated. "How's he even doing that?"
"I guess anything goes without the Master Emerald," Tails speculated. "…sort of. But anyway, I was listening to GUN's radio chatter just now, and it sounds like there's an explosive device inside that's about to go off."
"Really?" Frances remarked. "Do you know who set it?"
"I don't really know," Tails replied as he banked left. "But I think GUN did it."
Silence filled the cabins as we started to fly away from the fortress. I knew Sonic would see us and catch up in no time, so I wasn't worried.
"I can't believe it… We're actually gonna defeat Dr. Eggman!" Frances said, putting all our thoughts into words.
"Yeah!" Amy said. "You excited?"
"Yeah! Then he's not gonna scare us all anymore!" Frances exclaimed.
"All right, GUN made it out," reported Amy. I had been hoping they would make it out in time. Now their biggest issue would be lengthening the distance between them and the fortress.
Suddenly the entire fortress exploded in a brilliant flash of fire as the bomb detonated, drawing our attention and filling us with awe. It was really mesmerizing. Luckily for us, we were too far away from it for any debris to reach us.
I was a little bit worried about Sonic, but before I could ask if he was okay, I saw the hedgehog flying toward us, both Chaos Emeralds in his hands glowing vividly. He was visibly beaming with exhilaration as he landed on the X-Tornado's wing. I was so proud of him for recovering the Emeralds. We all were.
Even though Frances and I had some pretty bad injuries from our unfortunate encounter with Eggman, I felt like the doctor had gotten his just desserts today. I knew our next priority was to get us home ASAP and get our injuries checked out. But for now, we were filled with unspoken ecstasy.
We had finally defeated Dr. Eggman.
A hotel room – Sat September 25; 4:52 PM – Third-person POV
Jerome Wise was watching the proceedings on TV from a private hotel room in Station Square. He was going to stay there overnight before returning to Washington in the morning.
He had to admit, the sight of the fortress exploding was impressive. He didn't know what caused it, because he had no context aside from Sonic using the so-called Chaos Emeralds to puncture it over and over. The C4 utilized by GUN may have aided in its destruction.
Even though he had just witnessed the ultimate downfall of Dr. Robotnik, something didn't settle well in his stomach, and it had to do with the aliens.
Now that Robotnik was gone, their popularity would skyrocket beyond belief. In fact, he became concerned that they would eventually overrun the way America was run, especially since he had indirectly promised them citizenship if Sonic defeated Robotnik. Now the deed was done, and it was too late to walk back on his word.
In short, something needed to be done about them. They may not have meant any harm, but they were simply taking over. However… he had no idea how to go about their… removal, because he would be subpoenaed and fired if he was found out.
As if by fate, his cell phone rang. He pulled it from his suit pocket, and he saw that it was an unknown number. Against his better judgement, he decided to take it.
Before he could say anything, a familiar gravelly voice spoke from the other end.
"Is this the number of Chief of Staff Jerome Wise?"
Jerome was a bit shocked. This was Eggman's voice he was hearing. There was no way he was still alive right now. He was sure Eggman was inside the fortress when it exploded.
"Y-you survived…" Jerome stuttered, looking around to make sure no one would overhear him, and he was satisfied that he was alone. "You shouldn't be alive right now. How are you still here?"
"It was by the skin of my teeth," Eggman said in a low voice. "My base is completely destroyed, unlikely to be rebuilt without arousing the suspicion of the humans. The military did a thorough job."
"But how do you even know my number?" Jerome demanded after regaining his composure.
"I have my ways," dismissed Eggman.
"Then… why are you calling to tell me this?"
"Let's not cut to the chase just yet!" Eggman said. "You see, Mr. Wise, I've been looking at your track record, and I must admit… I like what I see. In fact, you could even say I'm impressed."
"Are you trying to dig up dirt on me?" Jerome asked, more confused than ever.
"No, in fact, quite the contrary," the doctor spoke. "In fact, I just wanted to commend you for standing up to your Commander in Chief, especially when he was the one who orchestrated the attack."
Jerome was mildly surprised at the doctor's approach.
"I… Frankly, I had no choice," he said. "Congress did not approve of a diplomatic approach with you. They said you are too obstinate, and he decided that attacking your headquarters was their last resort. To me, it feels like a first resort, actually."
"I don't blame them," said Eggman. "The United States Military is a resilient bunch."
"Doctor, if you didn't know, since I'm sure you have eyes all over the city-"
"I do," confirmed Eggman. "Er, go on."
"Um, the President sent me to enlist the aid of Sonic earlier, but he wasn't home. I was, however, able to speak to the Thorndykes' servants, and they told me he would do it on his own terms."
"That hedgehog has always marched to his own drummer," Eggman clarified. "What about it?"
"Well, I'm convinced that they were the ones who blew up your fortress, not the GUN teams. And because of that, their popularity is going to skyrocket out of control. In all honesty, I'm worried that they're going to overrun America, and… frankly, I want to do something about it."
Eggman was thoughtful for a moment, which left Jerome wondering what the doctor was thinking.
"This brings us full circle, then," Eggman said. "It seems we have more in common than I first thought. In which case… I'd like to offer you a proposition, Jerome."
Jerome allowed a small smirk to play across his features.
"I'm listening."
A/N: And that concludes "Beating Eggman, Part 2" as well as the entire first sixth of the Sonic X rewrite! Wow, time has really flown.
Some of my key differences:
- I wanted to make a longer delay for Sonic to arrive at Tingalin Villa so that I could add in some more action scenes. Additionally, I made those scenes far more intense.
- Knuckles now has his hat from the OVA! Even though it is technically not his original hat, I still wanted to have it anyway.
- I added Badniks to the fight because I wanted to have even more robots taking part in the fight.
- I replaced Danny's scenes with one scene at his house, and introduced his family. Also, I wrote a brand-new scene with Jerome and Eggman at the end.
- I combined all the numerous Topaz scenes to limit scene changes.
- I renamed the E-18 Guerra-Hard to the Egg Galahad.
I will be going on hiatus to expand my backlog. While all my ideas are finished through Episode 20, I still need to type drafts through at least Episode 19, which shouldn't take as long as formulating ideas. You can expect the next chapter to be up some time in late January.
Speaking of the next chapter, I will not be rewriting "That's What Friends Are For" for reasons I will explain in the next chapter. However, I will summarize it.
During the hiatus, I plan to write a Sonic X comedy oneshot. This should be out some time in the coming weeks. In fact, maybe I should make it a Christmas special or something.
Also, I'm going to put a poll up on my main page soon. Do you think I should add time stamps and locations to scene changes, such as "Thorndyke Mansion - November 24 - 9:54 AM - Chris' POV."?
Next time is "Skirmish in the Sky", featuring the glorious return of our amazing, benevolent, cherished, delightful, EGGcellent Dr. Eggman! Don't miss it!
