Chapter 27
Ready For War

The Skull Egg is the headquarters of Eggman and Wily, an egg-shaped fortress with a skull in front of it, built on a small rocky island just off a coast.

Inside one of the rooms, Eggman, Wily, Bass, and Zavok were gathered together, talking about the things that happened recently. "As much as I hate to say this, the stuff that happened so far has been the most successful things the resistance army had done!" said a disappointed Eggman. "This all happened after those people claiming to be from another world showed up!"

"Don't jump to conclusion about them winning just yet!" Wily said to Eggman. "We still have the number advantage when it comes to fighting force. Even with the weapon factory destroyed, our Skull Egg is still a weapon factory itself, producing a large amount of robots that will help us take down the resistance. Furthermore, it's not like we are the only ones with losses, as we managed to track down and destroy one of the resistance's hideouts! By analyzing their optic camouflage technology, we will be able to find out their other hideouts even if they are invisible to us. We will strike them at their hideouts and put an end to them!"

"Shouldn't we talk about the elephant in the room that let Shadow escape?" said Bass, glaring at Zavok. Eggman and Wily turned their eyes to the same person as well.

"I was so close to taking Shadow out! Who would've thought another speedster was there with him, catching me by surprise?!" said Zavok in anger. "However, now that I know who to expect in the future, I will see to it that I won't lose again!"

"The fact that you intentionally lowered the security of Prison Island just so you can get your selfish desire of fighting Shadow is already a big goof up that warrants you a scolding!" Eggman shouted at him in anger. "We kept Shadow around because we wanted to siphon his Chaos Energy, and without him at the resistance army's side, it was a huge blow to their fighting power, but now those are all gone thanks to your stupidity! Not only did you intentionally allowed him to escape, you couldn't even beat him after he did so! At least capture him again and put him back in prison along with his allies who came to rescue him!"

Undaunted, Zavok said to him while approaching him, "You better watch your mouth! Just because we're on the same side doesn't mean I serve you! I have my own interests, and I will see to it that I get to do what I want without anyone lecturing me!"

"We would've gotten along with each other if you weren't so stupid," Bass said to Zavok in a mocking tone.

Turning to him, Zavok said, "I could say the same to you!" This offended Bass.

The two looked like they were going to get into a fight, but Wily broke them up and said, "Enough! The last thing we need is fighting among each other! If we cannot work together, then we're going to let the resistance army get the upper hand! Just because we've managed to stay on top of them all this time doesn't mean it will be the same forever! I received information earlier that Mother Whale has been destroyed by them as well. It shows that they are getting more serious in reclaiming the world and pulling us down from our thrones more serious than before, so we have to work harder to keep that from happening!"

"We'll be producing more robots and coming up with an army strong enough to take them down, as well as a strategy on taking them out the easiest way," said Eggman, and then he looked at Bass and Zavok. "The both of you get ready for any orders you are to carry out. I'll overlook any failures you have for now. See to it that nothing goes wrong next time!"

Meanwhile, within the first resistance base, those who survived the attack on the second resistance base were brought over to this place to have their wounds treated. Robots that were destroyed but not completely annihilated still had hope of being restored, such as Guts Man.

T.A.L.O.S. was being inspected by Dr. Light, and Kilo was next to him, asking him, "Can you fix him?"

"The damage isn't that serious, so she should be able to return to top condition in no time," Tails said to Kilo. "Do you fix her yourself when she is damaged?"

"There's a limit to how much I can fix her. Most of the work is down by experts," replied Kilo. "I've never been able to do anything good by myself…"

"I'm sure you'll find what you can do best eventually. I'd say successfully carrying out the mission of destroying the weapon factory and surviving fights are good enough already!" Dr. Light said to her. "I'm not a combat expert, even if I do have martial arts training, but I'm still good at various things, such as computers and technologies, so I tinker with those things in ways that can help others. Though it's true that sometimes you'll have to work hard on things that you aren't too good with and improve in order to accomplish something... Pushing yourself hard a bit isn't always a bad thing! As long it's something you're comfortable with, give it a try!"

"Thanks for the words of encouragement. I'll definitely try hard to do things the best I can!" replied Kilo.

In another part of the same room, Tails and Epinel were inspecting the latter's hoverboard that was destroyed by Punk. "Yep, I can fix it, and I can even add new elements to it if you want to," Tails told Epinel.

"Really? That would be wonderful," replied Epinel with a nod before blowing a bubble gum.

"Though to be honest, this thing is actually pretty advanced already, so I'm not exactly sure what other ways I can upgrade it…" said Tails.

"You can always increase its top speed, if that's possible," said Epinel.

"You have a great idea there! Speed is what we do best, so let's try making it go faster!" said Tails in agreement. "Though I hope you can remain on top of it and not fall off…"

"I can handle a bit of speed no problem," Epinel assured him.

Within another room, Burningum was having a meeting with various people. "Things have been looking good so far, even if the loss of one of our bases was quite a blow, and may the souls of those who their lives there find peace…" said Burningum. After having a moment of silence for the dead, he looked at Shadow and said, "It's good to have you back again, Shadow! We were worried that you would be gone forever!"

"You underestimate me too much, commander," Shadow said to him. "As if those people can get rid of me so easily!"

"How'd you get captured in the first place anyway?" Sonic asked Shadow. "If you are as strong as they say, then it's not like you to get caught so easily."

Shadow let out a sigh and then said, "The Double Gear System… It's something Wily created that allows robots to push past their limits and do things they normally can't. The Robot Masters that fought me, including Bass, were all equipped with this. I was faring against them pretty well at first, but then they pulled off the Double Gear System at the last minute and overwhelmed me…"

"Double Gear System?! I have that in my world as well!" said Mega Man. "Doctor Wily also created it, but Doctor Light also has a copy of it which he put into me so I can fight against his Robot Masters who have them. In fact, it's still in me at the moment. I can use it whenever I want to, just that I haven't had the reason for doing so yet…"

"Then you may want to get ready to use it eventually," Shadow said to him. "Bass was using the Double Gear System the whole time when we fought him. I'm sure you all got a taste of it yourselves."

"No wonder… This Bass pulled off moves my Bass never used before…" said Mega Man.

"I'll have to be careful the next time I fight him then," said Snow White.

"I'm not sure if all of you agree with me, but I'm starting to think that we should take the fight to their fortress, the Skull Egg, now," suggested Burningum.

"You're saying this because you have confidence in the fighting strength of my comrades and I, right?" Laplace asked him.

"That's one reason. You have shown that you are indeed a valuable ally," replied Burningum.

"I think it is still too reckless even if that is the case," Cecil said to Burningum. "Just because these otherworlders have proven themselves to be competent, that doesn't mean we should be rushing headfirst into enemy grounds! We may end up suffering major losses!"

"We have been holding back and doing nothing for too long, and I think it's time that we actually make a difference," said Burningum, and then he started to sound angry. "We formed the resistance army to fight back against those two tyrants who are currently ruling the world, yet we have not been making any progress. This may sound selfish of me, but I'm tired of sitting back and doing nothing! I want to see progress right now and those two's heads on a pike!" He slammed a fist against the table after saying the last line.

"Agreed. We should launch a direct attack on them now," said Omega in agreement.

"Someone's impatient, but who am I to say that when I'm the kind to agree to something like this too," said Sonic.

"While this does sound reckless, I do believe it's time we take a large step forward if we want to win this war," said Dr. Light in agreement.

"I have no problem with this if it's what you want," said Red Hood.

"We will have to get ready for this. For now, let us ready everything we have and get everyone ready for what is to come," said Burningum. "Anyone one of you who have things in need of fixing or even training, don't be afraid to us know. We will do everything we can to help everyone get ready for this!"

Some days later, Eggman and Wily were busy doing stuff inside the Skull Egg when suddenly the alarm went off. They looked at a screen that showed the exterior and area around their fortress and saw a large army approaching them. It was the resistance army, coming together in various vehicles designed for combat, while some ran on foot at speeds fast enough to catch up with the vehicles.

"The resistance army! They're attacking us just like this?!" said Eggman in surprise.

"They're either very brave or complete idiots to think they can win against us like this!" said Wily. "Fine! If they want to die so much, we'll welcome them! We'll send out our army after them!"

"You have the same thought as me!" said Eggman. He then grabbed a microphone and shouted into it to broadcast his voice throughout the fortress. "Attention all units! Enemies are approaching the Skull Egg! Get ready to go out there and wipe them all out at all costs now!

The resistance gradually got closer and closer to the cliff that the Skull Egg is across of. Burningum was riding a heavily armored truck that took lead of the army driven by Maxwell. "Your orders, commander?" Maxwell asked him.

"If they do not come after us, then we'll stop at the cliff and bombard them from across the sea," replied Burningum.

As soon as he said that, a gate in front of the Skull Egg opened, and then a bridge rose from the sea and connected the entrance to the cliff. A large number of robots that came in various shapes and size came out, running across the bridge and getting to the cliff, heading towards the approaching resistance army.

"I guess that plan you said earlier is out…" said Maxwell.

"If it's a fight they want, then let's give it to them!" said Burningum with determination. He then broadcast his voice to everyone in the army using a speaker. "Everyone! We will now engage in battle with the Eggman-Wily Alliance! The fate of the world will be decided with this battle, so fight the best you can and make it through this alive!"

The army let out a cry of excitement and enthusiasm as they charged towards the approaching robots, ready to engage them.

Burningum then said, "I hope you know which of you I'm referring to. The six of you remember the plan! We will keep the robots occupied and force Eggman and Wily to empty as much of the Skull Egg as they could, and then the six of you head inside and go after those two leaders. Defeat them, and we will be able to win this battle!"

Sonic, Mega Man, Shadow, Proto Man, Laplace, and Red Hood nodded their heads as they set their eyes on the fortress across the sea. They knew what they had to do and began heading in that direction.

TO BE CONTINUED

I know it's a short chapter. It's mostly a setup for the next chapter. Please look forward to the climax of this arc as it begins next chapter!