HELP TAILS

When it comes to protecting others, Tails will always be your number one priority.

You go into your famous spin-dash and launch yourself at Metal Tails, who was in the midst of chasing your little buddy, striking him from behind. The robot doppelganger crashes to the ground, and then turns his attention to you. You spin around on your feet to face him back just as Tails lands by your side. "Thanks, Sonic," he said as he caught his breath, "I just needed him off my back for a moment..."

You give a thumbs-up. "I've always got your back, buddy."

Metal Tails charges up once more and launches himself at the two of you. You dodge in seperate directions and you twist around once more to face him. Metal Tails faces off against you as well… and is suddenly struck down by Tails himself, who had struck both his appendages on his robot-double, knocking him over.

"Now's our chance!" you shout, "Let's do it!"

In response, Tails grabs your hands, takes to the air, and spins in circles several times while increasing his speed. Once you're fast enough, you curl into your own spin as Tails releases you, sending you smashing into Metal Tails and taking him out.

Blue Bomber for the win! You and your fox friend high five in celebration.

But it doesn't last before you realize Amy needs help too. You see her struggling to go hammer-to-hammer against her own robot duplicate. You curl into your famous super spin and launch yourself at Metal Amy, striking her in the back. She's knocked across a good several feet, but spins around to face you once more. The boosters under her metal skirt (which house said boosters rather than legs) go full force as she blasts towards your direction.

KA-POW!

But so focused on you was she that she didn't notice the real Amy on the side with her hammer out, and smacking her just right, which sends her smashing into the walls. Metal Amy wasn't quite finished just yet as she staggered from the wall, shaking while nuts and bolts dropped from her.

"Let's finish her off!" you announce as you go into another spin. Amy knows just what to do, and jumps behind you with her hammer out. With a mighty smack, she launches you at Metal Amy, and you go plowing through her. She explodes with various metal bits crashing all over.

You rush back to Amy, offering a high five. "Nice teamwork!"

Nope, she's not having it. She instead opts to hug you around the waist tightly. "My hero!"

"Hey, you didn't do awful yourself, y'know," you grin.

SMASH!

You all turn after hearing the massive punch hitting titanium hide. You see Metal Knuckles staggering on his feet, trying to maintain his balance. The real Knuckles is standing across from him, both fists clenched, and eyes shut tight as he seemed to be concentrating. You think about going over to help, but stop short upon noticing a bright red aura form around him. In a split second, Knuckles shoots forward, fist extended, and slams into Metal Knuckles. The robot-doppler completely shatters into near-nothingness.

Knuckles stands in place after the attack, fist still out, but then topples down to his knees in exhaustion. You and the others quickly race over to check on him. "You all right, buddy?" you ask in concern.

The echidna nods his head. "I'll be fine," he replies, "Maximum Heat Attack doesn't usually drain me, but that guy gave me a bit of a workout… I had to give all I had left to take him out for good." He looks over at the rest of you. "How about you guys?"

"We took care of the other two," you respond and look around yourself, taking note of the lack of back-up or any other threat coming towards you. "You were right, Knuckles. This was just a trap, probably to lure us away from wherever Nega really is."

"So we're just wasting our time here?" Amy moans.

You twitch your nose, not liking having been tricked. "Pretty much," you say.

"We should get back to the Ocean Tornado then," Tails suggests, "If Nega isn't here, we oughta report back to the others. Maybe one of the other teams had better luck."

You nod your head in agreement, and your team escapes the faux hideout and back to your ship, where you set sails back to Blaze's kingdom.

Head over to Chapter 56