- Chapter 49 -

Flying Battery Returns

Press Garden Zone

After learning about the Titanic Monarch, Sally quickly dialed the rest of the group on their communicators, informing them of everything she hacked out of Robotnik's files.

"The need for the Chaos Emeralds just became even greater," She declared. "Robotnik's created a massive titan, one powered by the Phantom Ruby and that makes the Death Egg Robot look like a child's toy. If we're going to stand even a small chance, we need those Chaos Emeralds."

"My friends and I managed to find one already," Chris reported. "We've got it and are moving on to the next zone."

"We're on our way to get the two on Angel Island already," Sonic declared.

"Bunnie, how's your team coming along?" Sally asked.

"We're working as hard as we can, sugar," Bunnie told her. "But Mirage Saloon ain't known for bein' hospitable."

"Okay," Sally said, "Once your missions are done, we'll meet on the Little Planet. Robotnik brought it back using the Phantom Ruby. That's where he's constructing the Titanic Monarch."

"Little Planet?" she heard Kat ask in the background.

"Basically what it sounds like," Keith discretely explained.

"We'll be there," Sonic assured.

"Good luck, everyone," Sally said. "Something tells me we're gonna need it."

Studiopolis

Chris was about to throw a Warp Ring when they heard a low droning sound from somewhere overhead. The trio looked up, and Kat's face went white.

"Oh, shit…" she managed.

Flying over the city was the Flying Battery, newly rebuilt.

"How bad is that?" Chris asked.

"It's the Flying Battery," Kat explained. "I watched it carpet bomb Angel Island."

Chris perked. "That's right. Sonic said he barely managed to put out the forest fire that thing caused."

"I remember everything just being on fire," Kat added. "Not much beyond that. I didn't even learn its name until later in Mushroom Hill."

She scowled as she looked up at it, clenching her fists. " Last time, I just ran and hid. Not this time. We need to stop it."

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?" Keith questioned.

Kat turned to him. "What do you mean?"

"For starters, how are we going to stop that thing?" Keith asked. "And with what?"

That gave Kat pause. She leaned against the wall, scratching the back of her head.

"Okay, you have a point," she conceded. "But we'll think of something. I mean, two geniuses and a survivor. We've got this. How would you get up there?"

Chris thought it over. "In lieu of stuff like a jet pack or Tails flying us up there, I'd say our best bet is just to wait until it's low enough and hop on."

"Then we need to get to high ground," Keith decided. "Breeze Media seems to be on its flight pattern. But we need to hurry."

With that, they hurried to the building. Kat quickly scurried up the fire escape, the boys not far behind. Once they were on the roof, they watched the Battery approach.

"This is by far the craziest thing we've ever done," Chris mused.

"Hey, we already tried to blow off your hands," Keith pointed out. "Why not add jumping off a roof to the list?"

"Well, because even if my hands were blown off, I'd still be alive," Chris defended. "If we don't time this jump right... it's a long way down."

"Quit psyching yourselves out," Kat snapped. "We can do this. We have to do this."

As the Flying Battery drew near, Keith took a deep breath. "Alright. On the count of three, we jump and hope for the best. One-"

"THREE!" Kat shrieked before jumping.

On instinct, the boys jumped after her. Kat landed on a panel below, and turned around, grabbing their arms in each hand. She dug in her heels and pulled, getting them up.

"Okay… how are you that strong?" Chris asked.

Kat shrugged. "Been working out."

"You're our age," Keith pointed out. "No matter how much you work out, you shouldn't be able to-"

Kat snapped her fingers, cutting him off. "Focus. Carpet bombing Eggman ship, remember?"

Keith snapped. "Right, sorry."

"We need to get to the main cabin," Chris said. "Then we can steer the ship out of the city and then set it on a collision course somewhere. From there, we use a Warp Ring and get out."

They made their way through the ship. It wasn't long before their path was suddenly blocked by a force field on either side.

"What the-?!" Keith let out.

A laugh sounded, as Snively revealed himself on the other side.

"It's a trap!" Chris shouted.

"Snively…" Kat was a mixture of nervous and pissed, her hands shaking as she clenched them into fists.

"Hello, children," Snively greeted cordially. "Enjoying the flight?"

"Drop the polite act, Snively," Chris shot back. "We all know it's as thin as your hairline."

Kat snorted at that, while Snively scowled.

"It seems Sonic's witticisms are rubbing off on you," he remarked. "Fine, then I'll cut to the chase. Hand over the Chaos Emerald you got from the Heavy Gunner."

"Chaos Emerald?" Keith asked. "Sorry, don't think I've ever seen one."

"Wish we could," Chris added. "Can you imagine what we could do with one?"

"Do you take me for a fool?" Snively demanded.

"Do you really want us to answer that question?" Keith questioned.

Kat snorted again, actually managing a giggle.

"Why is Eggman even after the Chaos Emeralds if he has the Phantom Ruby?" Chris asked. "Seems that's all the power he'll need."

"Insurance," Snively said simply. "Even if you do retrieve all seven Emeralds for Sonic, he'll be no match for the completed Titanic Monarch. But my uncle refuses to take that chance."

"Well, like I said, we don't have one," Keith insisted. "Never even seen one."

They held up their hands, Kat mimicking their pose. Snively gritted his teeth in anger before smiling maliciously.

"Alright. I guess we have to do this the hard way," he said. "As everyone knows, villains only divulge their plans in a certain situation. Can you tell me what that is?"

"Hmmm…" Keith tapped his chin. "When they think they've already won?"

"Yes!" Snively applauded. "We have a winner!"

He pressed a button, and the trio was dropped down a trapdoor.

-X-

They all landed in a massive pile of scrap. They stood up, having to pull small bits of metal out of their hair, clothes, and skin.

"I hope we're all up to date on our shots," Chris remarked, pulling a rather rusty piece from his sleeve. "Where are we anyway?"

Kat looked around, her heart dropping into her stomach.

"Shit. We need to get out of here, now!"

"Kat, where are we?" Chris reiterated.

Keith looked, gasping in realization.

"Oh, no… Chris, we're in a trash compactor!"

"That's right, kids!" Snively declared over a loudspeaker "Now, last chance. I know one of you has a Chaos Emerald. Give it to me NOW, or you're all going to be a lot thinner!"

"Screw you, Snively!" Kat shot back.

"Fine. You asked for it."

A low whirring sounded through the compactor and the walls began to close in on them. All three of them were on the verge of panicking.

"How are we gonna get out of here?!" Chris screamed.

"We can't!" Kat told them. "It's been sealed to prevent people from getting crushed! It can only be shut down from the outside!"

Keith looked around, frantically trying to work out a plan before seeing an electromagnet in the ceiling.

"That magnet!" he shouted. "It's gotta be what's controlling the compactor!"

"We need to destroy it!" Chris insisted. "We need to get up there!"

"Which one of you can disable it faster?" Kat demanded.

"Me!" Keith replied.

Kat knelt down, lacing her fingers together to give him a step. "Brace yourself."

Keith quickly took the offered step, and Kat boosted him up. He went flying up to the magnet, grabbing on and climbing on top of it. Almost immediately, he pried open the casing and began shutting it down. As the walls edged ever closer, Kat threw her arms out, putting every ounce of strength she had into keeping them back.

"Hurry up!" she screamed.

"Keith, we're running out of room!" Chris shouted.

"Just a few more seconds…" Keith twisted two wires together, and the compactor slowly powered down, the walls grinding to a stop. Once everything had stopped, Kat released the walls, panting a bit as Keith dropped back down.

"Cutting it a bit close, don't you think?" Chris asked.

Above them, Snively was listening on the loudspeaker. He blinked in surprise as he heard it power down.

"What's this?" he asked. "Where's the satisfying sound of three unruly brats being crushed?"

Kat promptly grabbed a pierce of scrap and threw it right at the loudspeaker, colliding with it and causing a feedback that forced Snively to recoil, a hand over his ear in pain.

"Damn, that felt good," she boasted.

Snively growled before letting out a dark chuckle. "So, you seem to have won. Fine. But let me leave you with an old saying: It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop."

Before they could take that in, suddenly the scrap in the compactor was ejected, taking the trio with it.

-X-

As they fell, Kat immediately grabbed onto the edge of an outside panel. She then grabbed Keith by his ankle, then Keith grabbed Chris by the arm. Kat let out a pained scream at the strain of holding up all three of them with one arm.

"This is more excitement than I planned on today…" Chris muttered.

"I- I can't pull us up!" Kat cried. "It's too much!"

"Then don't!" Chris declared. "Let go!"

"WHAT?!" Keith shrieked. "Are you out of your freaking mind, Chris?!"

"Trust me!" Chris assured.

Working with his free hand, he pulled out a Warp Ring and threw it below him, opening a portal back onto the Flying Battery. "Okay, Kat! Drop!"

She let go and the three of them dropped down through the ring.

-X-

They were then dropped right back inside, on the opposite end of the force field. They rolled off one another, Kat holding her arms in pain.

"Ow…" she squeaked out.

"Okay…" Keith panted, "if you'll excuse me for a minute, I'm gonna sit down and have a heart attack."

"Sorry, no time," Chris pointed out, standing up. "Who knows what Snively's gonna pull next."

He pulled the two to their feet. "C'mon, this way."

They made it to just outside the cabin room, when Snively dropped down in a massive spider-like mech.

"This is inconceivable!" he shouted. "How can I, the brilliant Snively Kintobor, be outwitted by mere children like you?!"

"Maybe you're just not as clever as you think you are," Keith said bluntly.

"Just give it up, Snively," Chris declared. "We've beaten every dirty trick you've thrown at us."

"You may have beaten me in a battle of wits, but let's see how you fare against the Spider Mobile!" Snively ranted, glaring right at Kat. "Sonic and that blasted Echidna aren't here to protect any of you this time! You're all dead!"

Kat glanced around, looking for anything she could use for a weapon. Her arms were already shaky from all the strain she'd put them under, but she wasn't about to back down.

"Guys, I need a club or something. Find me something I can smash with. I'll hold off the spider bot as long as I can."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Keith asked her.

"This isn't something we can outsmart," Kat insisted. "I'll be fine."

With that, Chris and Keith started looking around for anything Kat could use as a weapon, while Kat herself did what she could to fend off Snively. She rolled out of the way of the stabbing legs, grabbing one and managing to yank it free. Her arms immediately protested to the extended use and she was forced to drop it.

"You've reached your limit, girl," Snively taunted. "Another move like that, and you're likely to break every bone in both arms, if not your entire body."

"I don't think I broke anything," Kat winced, "but I definitely pulled something."

Suddenly, the pouch on her skirt began to glow. Seeing this, Snively grinned.

"Aha!" he declared. "I knew it! You do have a Chaos Emerald!"

His joy soon turned to shock, however, when light began shimmering around Kat and her arms stopped shaking. The small cuts she'd received also began healing, causing her to let out a breath.

"Okay, now that's more like it!" she declared before snatching up the spider leg.

"...Oh, no." Snively managed.

"This is for my family!" Kat shouted as she leapt into the air.

She used the leg as a spear, stabbing it right through the spider bot. The bot sparked, but Snively kept trying even as Kat began stabbing repeatedly.

"This is for Chun-nan!" she declared.

She then finished stabbing the now sparking bot as she grabbed Snively by the collar of his shirt, lifting him up.

"And this… is for months of HELL!"

She punched him with all her strength. Snively was sent flying into the far wall, denting it, and knocked senseless. Kat panted, stepping out of the downed robot. With that done, Chris hurried into the main cabin, typing away on the autopilot before rejoining them.

"I've sent the Flying Battery on a crash course with Mount Mobius," he told them. "Right into its mouth."

"Then I guess that's our cue to get out of here," said Keith.

"What about Snively?" Chris asked.

"He can take care of himself," Kat insisted. "Whether he makes it or not, that's up to him."

Conceding, Chris threw a Warp Ring. The three kids hopped through, just as Snively came to. He looked out the window, seeing the mountain closing in.

"Oh, sh-"

The Flying Battery collided with the mountain, exploding.

Studiopolis

The kids ended back up on a rooftop in Studiopolis, and Keith immediately turned to Kat.

"Okay, there's no way in hell you got that strong by just working out." he insisted.

"What?" Kat defended. "That's literally all I've done."

"You held open a trash compactor," Keith listed off with his fingers. "You pulled both me and Chris up with one arm each. Held all three of us aloft with one arm. And you ripped a robot apart! With your bare hands! No twelve year old human can do that!"

"He's got a point," Chris admitted. "Not to mention how the Emerald in your pocket reacted to you."

"It's done that before," Kat said. "I watched the same thing happen with Sonic."

"Wait…" Chris perked. "Have you been spending a lot of time around the Master Emerald Sonic mentioned?"

"Yeah, like most of my time," Kat confirmed. "I live on the shrine with Knuckles."

"So that's what's going on," Keith deduced. "You spend so much time around the Master Emerald that the Chaos energy emissions must be affecting you."

Kat looked down at herself. "I didn't realize that was possible."

"Chaos energy can do a lot of things," Chris pointed out.

"Wow…" Kat let out. "That's... That's pretty cool."

"Maybe later, we can see just how strong you really are so you don't injure yourself again." Chris offered.

Kat smiled. "I'd like that."

Mount Mobius

The Flying Battery was nothing but a pile of rubble before Mount Mobius. A cough sounded from inside as Snively struggled his way out, battered, covered in cuts and bruises, but alive. He looked to see the Egg Mobile approach, and sighed.

"As if today couldn't get any worse." he grumbled.

The Egg Mobile landed, and Robotnik disembarked.

"Snively…" he began, his voice terrifyingly even and calm, "tell me, where is the Flying Battery supposed to be?"

"...In the air," Snively confessed.

"Where in the air?" Robotnik added.

"...Studiopolis," Snively replied.

"Precisely," Robotnik nodded. "So tell me, why is the Flying Battery A, not flying, and B, all the way out here on Mount Mobius?"

Snively stammered, and Robotnik beckoned him with a finger.

"Come here, Snively."

"I tried to stop them, sir, but the Death Egg survivor and the Thorndyke and Kent boys put up a better fight than expected. They-"

"Come," Robotnik interjected, his tone harsh. "Here."

Trembling, Snively obliged.

"Now, would you mind explaining to me how three human children, who aren't even thirteen, could not only defeat you, but manage to DESTROY A TWO-HUNDRED-AND-FIFTY TON MACHINE?!"

Violently shivering, Snively tried to form a sentence to explain. "W-well, sir, they hacked the autopilot and- URK!"

Robotnik grabbed him by the throat.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't finish what those brats started," he growled.

"Uh…" Snively grinned sheepishly. "We're family?"

Robotnik's expression didn't change one bit.

"I'll try harder next time!" Snively pleaded. "Build a bigger, stronger machine! Please don't kill me!"

After a moment, Robotnik dropped him.

"Next time you fail me, I won't be so merciful." he warned as he made his way back to the Egg Mobile. "Back to the Little Planet. The Titanic Monarch isn't going to finish building itself."

"Y-yes, Uncle," Snively said, standing up and dusting himself off. "Of course."

Author's Note:

And there we have it. The Flying Battery is scrap once again.

Next chapter, we cut to the Mirage Saloon to see how Bunnie and co. are holding up.

Please R&R. Until next time!