-Chapter 130-
Braving the Waters
Cocoa Island
On the Cocoa Island pier, Tails and the others waited patiently as a Warp Ring opened up. Knuckles and Kat walked through, the two carrying the Sea Fox overhead.
"Okay, easy, the pier's a little slippery," Knuckles warned.
"Yeah," Kat agreed. "I do not want to drop this thing on our heads."
Slowly and carefully, they made it to the end of the pier, dropping the sub into the water.
"There ya go," Kat said.
"Sorry we can't do more to help," Knuckles added. "Dad's doing alot better than before, but he's still insistent on maintaining guard rotations."
"We understand," Sally assured. "Don't worry."
"I'm guessing Sonic ran ahead as usual, trying to avoid water?" Kat guessed.
"Um… yeah," Sally nodded, going with it.
"Figures," Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Still Sonic the Chicken, even after that Meropis incident."
"Now stop that," Sally admonished. "We all have something we're afraid of, Knuckles, and it's much harder to kick fears like that than you think."
"Yeah, yeah," Knuckles said flippantly. "Good luck with the birds."
The two hopped through a Warp Ring to Angel Island.
"You sure we shouldn't have told them about Sonic?" Johnny asked. "That he's-"
"No," Sally shook her head. "The last thing we need is everyone panicking and acting like chickens with their heads cut off."
"We can handle this. No need to get the others involved unless absolutely necessary," Tails insisted as he headed down the pier toward the Sea Fox. "Watch your step on the pier, guys. Some of the boards are looOOOSE!"
As he spoke, Tails had happened to step on one such loose board and fall right through the pier into the water.
"What was that?" Johnny laughed as he looked through the hole in the pier. "I didn't quite catch that last part."
Tails popped up, soaking yet with an annoyed look on his face. "Laugh it up, Lightfoot."
Robotropolis
Having finished pummeling Snively, Metal dragged him to the doors of the Citadel, bodily tossing him out and clapping his hands as if clearing dust.
"You are no longer welcome in Robotropolis," he said calmly. "Vacate the city limits immediately and have a nice day."
Snively got up, dusting himself off. "This isn't the end of it! Tell my uncle he'll rue the very day he spurned my-"
Metal just slammed the door in his face before returning to the throne room.
"The trash has been taken out, Doctor," he told Robotnik.
"Excellent," Robotnik nodded. "Now to focus on finding Sonic."
He pulled back his sleeve, activating a communicator in his arm.
"This is Dr. Robotnik. Report in."
"We have completed our latest sweep, Doctor," came a Swatbot's voice. "No sign of the hedgehog."
"Then look again," Robotnik ordered. "He's somewhere in the village, I know it."
"Yessir."
"Maybe you were wrong about the Warp Rings," Eggatha suggested. "He may have snagged one or two. I mean, Springtrap's not that big. There's only so many places he can hide. If Sonic is in the village, wouldn't they have found him by now?"
"Hmmm…" Robotnik stroked his chin in thought. "Perhaps we need to send something with a bit more processor power."
Right on cue, Metal stepped forward. "I volunteer, Doctor. Sonic is injured and weak. Easy pickings."
"Very well," Robotnik nodded. "Go to Springtrap and find Sonic, and if the village happens to take a few hits in the process, oh well."
Metal clenched his fist. "Mark my words, Dr. Robotnik. Before this day is done, Sonic will be right in the palm of our hands."
Springtrap Village
Sonic peeked through the window at the streets below, checking on the search party. He then glanced at his leg, carefully putting pressure on it. He winced a bit, releasing the pressure.
"Nope, still broken," he muttered with a sigh. "How long is this gonna go on? I need to run, like now!"
He heard the sound of engines and his blood went cold. He looked out the window, seeing Metal Sonic arriving. He quickly pulled away from the window.
"Crap…" he let out. "I hate my life…"
Metal looked left and right, scanning for any sign of his archrival.
"Sonic the Hedgehog!" he declared at the top of his voice. "I know you're in Springtrap somewhere. Will you come out and face your doom like a man... or run and hide like a coward?!"
"One, not a man," Sonic said quietly. "Two, can't run, even if I really want to. But hiding I can do. Sometimes the way of the coward is the smart way."
He hobbled away from the window, looking for any place to hide.
"Show yourself, hedgehog!" Metal roared from outside. "The longer it takes me to find you, the worse it's gonna be!"
"Yeah, not gonna happen," Sonic scoffed.
He heard metal footsteps approaching, and scrambled as fast as he could to look around.
"C'mon, c'mon," Sonic hissed. "Aurora, if you're really there and take requests, help me find a place to hide!"
His eyes then fell onto a cupboard. "Thank you…"
He curled into a ball and hopped into the cupboard, the doors closing.
"Please don't see me, please don't see me, please don't see me…"
He held his breath as he heard Metal enter, along with the sound of what was undoubtedly the robo-hog scraping his metallic fingers along the wall as he slowly walked around.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are…" Metal let out softly.
Sonic did his best to remain silent.
"What's the matter, Sonic?" Metal taunted. "No bravado? No witty banter? I'm disappointed. Did the Battle Kukku child's bomb blow up your courage along with your leg?"
The words were grating at Sonic, and he had to physically fight his instincts to rebuke them.
"Have it your way. I can be patient. You can't hide from me or the horde forever; the village is only so big."
He walked out of the room. Sonic waited a minute before peeking out. He looked in all directions. All was quiet; there was no sign of Metal. He flopped out of the cabinet, rolling onto his back.
"I seriously hope that the others are having better luck than I am…" He focused on his leg again, vibrating it to keep healing. "When my leg's better, Metal, I'm gonna make you eat those words."
Cavern Island
In the seas around Cocoa Island, the Sea Fox headed through the underwater tunnels of Cavern Island, Hope at the wheel.
"Keep it slow," Tails warned. "These tunnels are narrow."
"Got it," Hope nodded.
Tails brought up the Emerald Radar, looking it over. "The Emerald's somewhere in the tunnels. We're getting warmer."
"I think I see something up ahead," Sally piped up.
"Bringing us in," Hope steered the Sea Fox down down one of the tunnels. Up ahead, the group could see a glow. Johnny clicked on the headlights, and they got a good look at the red Chaos Emerald embedded in the rock wall.
"Bingo!" he declared.
"Activating excavation claw," Sally pressed a button, a mechanical arm reaching out and snagging the Emerald. It retracted in and a small trapdoor opened. Johnny reached in, pulling out the Emerald.
"Four down, three more to go," he noted.
"Taking us out," said Hope.
As soon as they had pulled out of the tunnels, Tails noticed something on the sonar before a splash sounded. They looked out to see what was undoubtedly a depth charge sinking toward them.
"Oh, this is not good!" Sally cried.
"Engines at full speed!" Hope declared. "We can NOT let that hit us!"
She darted away just as the charge went off. Johnny grabbed the periscope, looking around before seeing what dropped the charge on a surface; a sizable metal cruiser piloted by Battle Birds.
"We've got a big bad battleship above us!"
Tails took a look. "Not just any battleship. One specifically designed for anti-submarine warfare."
"Did they know about the Sea Fox somehow?" Sally pondered.
"I don't think so…" Tails said.
"Well, we can't just sit here with our thumbs up our noses!" Johnny insisted. "This crate have any weapons?"
Hope looked. "A Volkan Cannon, as well as Proton Torpedoes."
"Ready the torpedoes!" Tails ordered.
Johnny nodded, turning to the controls before taking aim at the ship.
"Eat this, bird brains!" he declared.
"Ready!" Hope began. "Aim! FIRE!"
Johnny slammed his fist on the button. When the smoke cleared, the ship was scorched and dented but intact.
"Oh, goody," Johnny deadpanned. "For a second I was afraid it'd be too easy."
"Prepare for second attack!" Tails ordered.
Johnny threw open the torpedo tube, readying another Proton Torpedo as Hope swerved to avoid another depth charge.
"C'mon, hurry!" she shouted.
"Working on it!" Johnny snapped.
He jammed the torpedo in, slamming the hatch. "It's in!"
"Sally, you take aim!" Tails insisted.
Sally grabbed the periscope, looking closely at the ship and aligning the crosshairs.
"Got 'em in my sights! Fire!"
Sally hit the button, launching the torpedo. It impacted the side of the ship again, causing the metal to buckle a bit.
"Wow, they build their tech to last," Hope mused in admiration. "If this was an Eggman ship, pretty sure it'd be sunk by now."
"One more should do it!" Tails insisted.
"It better, because this is our last torpedo!" Johnny retorted.
He stuffed it into the tube as Hope avoided another depth charge. "Ready!"
"Fire!" Tails shouted.
The fox hit the button himself, the torpedo shooting out and striking true. This time, the ship started striking down.
"Whoo-hoo!" the group cheered, exchanging high-fives.
"That did it!" Tails exclaimed.
"Now, where's the next Chaos Emerald?" Sally asked.
Tails checked the Miles Electric.
"Green Island," he replied.
"Then let's get going," Sally insisted.
Hope set course for the Green Island, Tails looking out the window in determination.
"Hang in there a little longer, Sonic…"
Springtrap Village
Back at Springtrap, Sonic was forced to delay healing his leg and hide as another Badnik patrol came in, searching around.
"This is getting irritating," a Swatbot muttered. "We've searched this entire village top to bottom twice already. How hard can it be to find one damned hedgehog?"
"He's here somewhere," Metal snapped. "Do not stop until you find him! If it takes us all week, we will drag his charred carcass back to the doctor!"
The Swatbots saluted, then got back to the search.
"That guy needs to get a life," Sonic muttered.
He looked at his leg, groaning in pain. "Heal already!"
He ducked into a crawl space as more Badniks searched around, sighing in annoyance.
"Why do I have to be so popular?"
Author's Note:
Things are getting hairy for Sonic, aren't they? Here's hoping he heals up all the way so he can give Metal and the clunkers the slip.
Next chapter, Tails and co. get into a rumble in the jungle at Green Island.
Please R&R. Until next time!
