- Chapter 23 -

Day of the Death Egg

Death Egg

As Robotnik's shuttle broke the stratosphere, Sonic held his breath. Eventually, the shuttle made it to the Death Egg, docking within. With that, he dropped off the shuttle, hiding and watching from the shadows.

"Any problems?" Robotnik asked.

"A few gripes from the slaves, but other than that, proceeding on schedule," Snively replied.

Sonic perked at the mention of slaves.

"Just make sure that the Death Egg is fully operational," Robotnik ordered. "I don't care if you have to keep them working 24/7, understand? Make an example out of a few if you need to."

As Robotnik walked away with Snively in tow, Sonic clenched his fists.

"Okay," he said to himself. "First step is getting those people off this ball of scrap."

Keeping to the shadows, he began following Snively, hoping to find the slaves. His efforts soon bore fruit when Snively entered a room where several people worked, on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

"Just when I thought he couldn't sink any lower," Sonic muttered.

"Alright, double time!" Snively ordered. "Dr. Robotnik wants this ship in perfect order! Anyone caught slacking will be thrown in the Roboticizer!"

Suddenly, a blue blur darted in, spinning around him and knocking him off balance. Dizzy, Snively collapsed to the ground, looking up just as Sonic grabbed him by the collar.

"Sonic," he greeted. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"I'd have been fine never seeing you again, Snively," Sonic shot back. "Guess it makes sense only a psycho like Robuttnik would want your conniving, backstabbing hide around."

"Hey, don't blame me," Snively retorted. "Blame my upbringing."

"I would, if I didn't know that your dad did everything to raise you right," Sonic retorted. "It's folks like you who give humans a bad name."

He punched Snively out before running back and forth, breaking the slaves' chains. They all began cheering.

"Thank you!" one cheered.

"You actually came!" another added. "Thank Aurora!"

"Thank me by getting outta here," Sonic replied. "Escape pods are down the hall."

The slaves all began fleeing.

-X-

Elsewhere, Grimer perked when he saw signs that the escape pods were being jettisoned.

"Doctor, something's wrong!" he exclaimed.

"What?!" Robotnik demanded. "What did you do?!"

"It wasn't me! It's the escape pods! The slaves are getting away!"

Robotnik gaped, before realizing the truth. "Sonic!"

"What are your orders, sir?"

"Get rid of the rest of the pods. No one else leaves this ship."

"And Sonic?"

"Have you finished the perfected Silver Sonic model?" Grimer nodded. "Deploy it immediately.

Even if it fails, it'll give me just enough time to prepare."

Grimer saluted. "Yessir."

-X-

Elsewhere in the Death Egg, Sonic was running through the station.

"I need to find the engine room," he muttered. "If I blow out the engine, this entire place goes up in flames."

As he went along, he stopped short as he heard something pounding nearby. He turned to see a metal door buckling in, before two metal hands reached out and tore it open to reveal a robot built in Sonic's likeness, but at least ten times his size. The robot had a very bulky, almost blocky, appearance, and was colored silver and gray with one amber eye. It also possessed three large spines down its back, a pointed nose and red feet. It also had wheels on the ends of each heel.

"Another metal me," Sonic deadpanned. "Real original, Robotnik."

Silver Sonic rolled into a spiked Spin Dash, barreling towards Sonic. Sonic performed the same move, the two moving in for a clash. They bounced off one another multiple times before getting out of spinball form and engaging one another, only to find themselves at a stalemate. While Sonic could easily outmaneuver Silver Sonic, the robot's raw strength outclassed his own, and its armor was able to take his best hits with minimal damage.

"I'm faster than you, but you're stronger than me," Sonic noted. "Great. How am I gonna get rid of you?"

He charged in for a kick, only for Silver Sonic to catch his legs and slam him into the floor, knocking a panel loose and exposing several wires that remained live. An idea forming, Sonic grabbed one of the wires and jammed it into Silver Sonic just as it raised its fists over its head to smash him. The robot began fizzing and sparking, its head twitching violently. When Sonic removed the wires, the robot fell backward, still sparking occasionally. For extra measure, he launched into a Spin Dash, knocking its head off.

"Like I said," he bragged, "there's only one Sonic."

With that, he pressed onward. He ran at full speed, barely stopping in time to avoid running into a pit. As he caught his breath, he heard a rumbling, and looked down to see a truly massive mech rising up on an elevator. As the elevator reached the floor he was on, Sonic took in the sight, seeing the mech was humanoid, its head and torso coming together in an indistinguishable egg shape. Its head and torso bore a great resemblance to Robotnik himself during his younger days, right down to his mustache and attire, but with a metallic grey scalp and a small antennae on the sides of its head. It also had yellow shoulders with red arrow marks on them, along with red and yellow arms with three spikes for fingers, a grey jetpack on the back, and thighs made of two grey spheres each. It also had large and armored red feet with kneecaps.

"Wow, what an ugly robot," Sonic remarked. "I feel sorry for you, pal."

"Don't," Robotnik's voice came from within. "Before long, I'll finally be rid of you!"

The mech launched a spiked punch, Sonic narrowly managing to jump back.

"My Death Egg Robot will smash you into blue jelly!" Robotnik ranted. "Prepare to meet your end, Sonic!"

"Yeah, yeah," Sonic rolled his eyes. "If I had a Mobium for every time I heard that…"

He slid under the bot, then jumped up, ramming it from behind. The robot was knocked off balance for a moment before Robotnik turned around. Incensed, the doctor began to viciously attack Sonic, forcing him on the defensive and damaging the room.

"Why don't you just give up?!" Robotnik demanded.

"Never really learned how to," Sonic answered.

The robot snatched up the shuttle before throwing it directly at Sonic. It exploded, sending him flying and further damaging the room. Sonic landed heavily, shaking his head.

"Okay…" he let out. "That one kinda hurt!"

"That'll feel like a love tap once I get through with you!" Robotnik declared.

The robot launched his fists at him a second time. Sonic got back up, jumping to avoid the fist. He then ran up the arm, jumping into the air and using a Homing Attack on the bot's face. As the fight raged on, fires began to burn, and Sonic was losing ground.

"You can't beat me, Sonic!" Robotnik boasted. "The Death Egg is powered by the Chaos Emeralds! I. Am. Unstoppable!"

At that moment, Sonic caught sight of a severed power cable. His eyes widened as he saw it was spurting multicolored energy rather than electricity.

"Well then…" he said, "guess it's time to even the odds."

As Robotnik approached, Sonic grabbed the cables in both hands, focusing as hard as he could. He recalled Longclaw's warning about the Emeralds, and their ability to channel both good and evil. Multicolored light began swirling around him as his spines began to stand on end.

"Whatever you're trying, it won't work," Robotnik spat. "Goodbye and good riddance, Sonic!"

He lifted the bot's foot, preparing to crush the hedgehog before stomping down. He chuckled, before a bright light shone, and the foot was slowly pushed back. Holding up the bot with a single hand was a transformed Sonic. His eyes had turned red, his fur a golden color, and his clothes a bleached white.

"What?!" Robotnik shrieked. "Impossible!"

"Very possible," Sonic retorted before charging forward, knocking the bot off its feet.

"The energy from that cable should've killed you!" Robotnik shouted.

"Hey, you're the one who pointed out what kind of energy was coming from the cable," Sonic retorted as he levitated off the ground, pointing at him. "Now I'm gonna scramble some eggs. Super Sonic style!"

The robot tried shooting out a fist at him, but Sonic Spin Dashed through it, shattering it. Robotnik looked at the now shattered fist, shouting in anger and fear.

"No, no, NO!" he screamed. "This is not happening again! I can't lose to a stupid hedgehog!"

"Get used to it!" Sonic retorted.

Sonic then flew in and out through the robot, shredding it to pieces. Robotnik let out a cough, struggling around in the rubble of the robot just as a horrible shudder and several small explosions ripped through the Death Egg.

"That's my cue to boogie," Sonic realized, giving Robotnik a mocking salute. "Been nice beatin' ya, Eggman!"

He was about to fly away when Robotnik held up a hand.

"Sonic, no!" he pleaded. "You can't just leave me here! You're the hero! You've gotta help me! You... you wouldn't turn your back on an old friend, would you?"

Sonic debated with himself briefly before narrowing his eyes.

"An old friend? No," he answered. "You? Yes."

With that, he darted off down the hall, leaving Robotnik in the dust.

-X-

Up in the escape pod room, Snively came running in as Grimer was launching the last of the pods.

"What are you doing, you idiot?!" he shouted.

"What Dr. Robotnik-" Grimer began.

"Forget what Dr. Robotnik wants! We have to get out of here!"

With that, Snively shoved Grimer into the last of the pods, climbing in as well and launching it.

-X-

Down in the lower parts of the Death Egg, several slaves were locked up in cells, clinging to one another. The red haired girl from before was being held by her parents, her eyes catching a glimpse of Sonic as he rushed to escape the wreck.

"Sonic…" she let out, reaching out with her right arm as everything exploded.

-X-

Robotnik finally emerged from the rubble of the Death Egg Robot just in time to see the surface of Mobius rapidly approaching through the windows. He gritted his teeth, clenching his fists and stamping his feet.

"I really...hate...that hedgehog." he growled, his rage building by the second. "I hate him. I hate him. HATE HIM! Hate! Hate! HATE! HAAAAAAATTTTTEEEE!"

-X-

Sonic managed to leap clear of the Death Egg as it exploded, falling towards the planet. As he fell, Tails came flying up in the freshly repaired Tornado, swooping in for the save.

"Nice timing!" Sonic noted as he landed.

"Wasn't about to let my best friend go splat," Tails replied.

Emerald Hill

They flew back to Emerald Hill, where everyone was waiting. The minute they saw Sonic, everyone was cheering. Everyone gathered around him, cheering and chanting. Sally ran over, pulling Sonic into a hug.

"You are by far the most reckless showboat I have ever known!" she scolded.

"But I'm your reckless showboat," Sonic pointed out.

"Shut up," Sally shot back, holding him tighter.

After a few minutes, they pulled away.

"What's the sitch?" Johnny asked.

"The Death Egg's nothing but a flaming crater on Mobius by now," Sonic replied. "As for Eggman, he didn't make it out. But I'm not gonna write him out of the picture just yet."

"Still, I'd call this a massive win," Sally remarked

About that time, several of the former slaves began entering the area. All of them looked beyond relieved, but more than a few looked nervous and sad.

"Hi, guys," Sonic greeted. "No need to thank me for saving your butts. Just pay it forward."

"Where's everyone else?" a slave asked.

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Else?"

"There were hundreds of us on that ship," another pointed out. "We were just one shift. Did the others make it out okay?"

The blood drained out of Sonic's face at that reveal.

"I…" he managed before he dropped to his knees, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach

"You mean, you didn't…?" A third slave began, realizing the truth.

"I thought you were the only ones on the ship," Sonic told them. "I... If I'd known…"

"There were hundreds of people there!" the first slave shouted. "Women, children!"

Several of the humans began speaking up as well, asking about missing friends and family. Sonic began to hyperventilate, his hands shaking and his face pale.

"Come on," Sally cut in. "Let's get outta here."

She ushered Sonic away from the humans, the Freedom Fighters quickly keeping them from following. Sonic looked almost the same way he did after he stopped being Dark Sonic.

"Sonic?" Sally asked.

"I left those people to die…" Sonic managed. "I... By Aurora, what have I done?!"

"There's still hope," Sally insisted. "We can find the Death Egg. Surely someone survived."

"Right…" Sonic nodded, regaining his composure with an effort. "Right. But there's no telling where it crashed down."

"We'll find it," Sally assured. "I promise, if anyone survived that crash, we'll bring them home."

Angel Island

Far from Emerald Hill, way across the Mobian Sea, an island hovered many miles above the ground. On that island, a red furred Mobian echidna rested near a stone altar. He wore a patterned loin cloth around his waist, several strips of cloth around his hands and clumps of his fur. A patterned bandana rested on his forehead, and woven shoes rested on his feet. He was reclining in front of a massive green gem, one easily twice his height and five times as wide. He chewed absentmindedly on a piece of grass, not a single care in the world. At that moment, he heard a low rumbling sound, and looked up to see what appeared to be a giant fireball falling out of the sky, headed straight for the island. Before he could react, it crashed right onto the island, wobbling it precariously. At that moment, the gem teleported away somewhere, and the island plummeted to the sea, splashing down. Once the echidna got his bearings, he looked up to see the Death Egg, damaged and scorched, but still intact.

"What the hell?" he let out before noticing the missing gem. "The Master Emerald! It's gone!"

He pursed his lips in thought, rationalizing the situation.

"It must have gone to the Hidden Palace."

With that, he turned his attention back to the Death Egg.

"That egg... could it be? The egg of the dragon said to destroy the world? (1)"

He thought about it for a moment or so, then shrugged.

"Well, whatever it is, I better check it out. This could be big."

Having made his decision, the echidna jumped off the altar, extending his limbs and gliding toward the crash site.

Author's Note:

(1): Taken from the Japanese instruction manual for Sonic 3. It's stated that Knuckles believed the Death Egg to be the egg of a legendary dragon inscribed on the Master Emerald's altar that was rumored to bring about the end of the world. Chaos, perhaps.

And with that, the Sonic 2 adaptation is concluded. Coming up next, the Sonic 3 & Knuckles adaptation!

Please R&R. Until next time!