-Chapter 62-

Making a Splash

Great Desert

The Freedom Fighters were still looking around the facility when they heard loud crashing sounds from the training room. They ran back to see the place completely trashed, most of the equipment broken and bent, and Kat and the Garnet sisters still on their feet, bruised and panting.

"Wow," Sticks remarked. "I've heard of feng-shui, but not kung-shui."

"Man... Echidnas got nothing on you two," Kat panted.

"Are you on steroids or something?" Topaz asked.

"Whatever you're on, I want some," Madonna declared.

"Anyone else but me kinda surprised they lasted this long against Kat?" Sonic questioned.

"As strong as she is, she's only twelve," Chris pointed out. "These guys have been fighting and working out a lot longer than her."

"They are trained soldiers after all, Sonic," Keith reminded him.

Kat then grabbed a large barbell, lifting it with one arm and chucking it at the women. Both of them rolled out of the way, then dove at her. They managed to pin her down, and it was at that moment Sarah stepped in.

"Okay, enough already," she snapped. "You've completely destroyed the training room with this fight. Now could you please settle down before you bring the ceiling down on our heads?"

They looked around at that.

"Whoops," Kat let out. "Sorry about that."

They got up at that, dusting themselves off.

"Aw man, did I miss the fight?" Knuckles walked in, surveying the carnage. "You should have contacted me sooner, Sonic."

"Not much to say," Sonic told him. "Kat fought these two to a draw. Probably would've been at it all day if Dr. Bennett hadn't broken it up."

"Course she would've," Knuckles slugged Kat on the arm, her slugging him back.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but there's a reason I came in to break this up," Sarah said, getting their attention. "Badnik activity was just reported on Northern Isle in the Acorn Archipelago."

"The Northern Isle?" Sally asked. "But that doesn't make any sense. There's nothing up there but the Lost Labyrinth."

"Think something there caught his interest?" Tails questioned.

"Does it matter?" Sonic asked rhetorically. "Eggman's up to something again. And it's our job to go to wherever he is, smash up his robots, and send him packing."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Knuckles demanded. "Let's go already!"

"We should keep the group small for this," Sally insisted. "We still need to finish establishing our foothold here in GUN. Sonic, you pick your team."

"I don't need a team for this," Sonic declared. "I just need my pilot."

Tails stepped forward at that. "Let's do this."

"Good luck, and be careful," Sally told them.

As Sonic and Tails departed, Sticks turned to Sally.

"So, we've got a South Island, a Westside Island, and a Northern Isle," she noted. "What, is there an Eastside Island somewhere in the archipelago too?"

Sally just rolled her eyes.

As the Tornado flew to Northern Isle, Tails tried to figure things out.

"I don't get it," the fox mused. "There's nothing to capture on Northern Isle, nothing to steal. Just a bunch of old ruins. Why would Eggman have any business on it?"

"Maybe there isn't just 'nothing' on the island," Sonic pondered. "Who knows?"

"Well, whatever's there, we'll find it," Tails decided. "Though why not send the team?"

"Honestly, I just needed to breathe," Sonic admitted. "Especially after Kodos."

Tails took that in before simply nodding.

Splash Hill Zone

Before long, the Tornado landed on the island. Sonic and Tails disembarked, taking in their surroundings.

"Is it just me, or do a lot of areas around the islands here look like Green Hill?" Sonic asked.

Tails checked the Miles Electric. "This place is called Splash Hill. Rolling hills, beautiful sunsets... it's essentially a paradise of everlasting summer."

"Huh," Sonic mused. "It's beautiful. Hard to believe Eggman's actually here."

"Because he's not!"

Sonic and Tails whirled to see the Egg Mobile flying in, but with Snively at the controls rather than Robotnik.

"Oh, it's just Snively," Sonic remarked. "See? No reason to send the team."

Snively scowled before just scoffing.

"You hide behind your team and risk your life for them far too much anyway, Sonic," he scoffed. "They're your weakness. That's why I don't have friends. Next thing you know, you're somebody's best man, they want to have the wedding out of town... Like nobody has anything better to do."

"No, you don't have friends because you're a conniving, backstabbing weasel and nobody who knows you can stand to be around you," Sonic shot back.

Tails snorted, covering his mouth with his hands as he tried to stifle his laughter. Snively's eye twitched.

"Laugh while you can, Sonic," he spat. "It's time for you to meet our latest weapons of destruction."

As if on cue, a group of monstrous looking hybrid Badniks rode in, all glaring at Sonic.

"Wow…" Tails noted. "Kinda patchwork, don't you think?"

"The strongest Badniks yet. The Seven," Snively replied. "Created by my meddling little sister, who's turning out to be A BRATTY UPSTART WHO'S SHOWING ME UP!" His eye twitched again before he composed himself. "But I'm interested in watching how they tear you to shreds."

"Wow," Sonic said flatly. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a bit bitter about the whole thing."

"So, why are you here and not Eggman?" Tails asked.

"Because my uncle is dead-set on retrieving Metal Sonic from the Little Planet," Snively replied. "They've tracked him to the Special Zone, and left me in charge of our operations here."

"Metal…" Sonic stiffened. "That's not good."

"We need to deal with Snively, fast," Tails insisted.

"Okay, next question," Sonic said. "Why exactly are you here on a backwater mass of land like Northern Isle?"

Snively rolled his eyes. "I'm glad you asked that, because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan."

At that moment, one of the Seven charged at Sonic and Tails, this one a modified Chopper Badnik with tank treads covered in spikes.

"NOT!" Snively spat. "Did you honestly think I would just monologue about my plan like my idiot uncle?! Choppalien, destroy these two!"

"Move, Tails!" Sonic shouted.

They split up, Choppalien going for Sonic. The blue blur jumped over him as he lunged, the Badnik's teeth clamping around a tree instead and toppling it with a single chomp.

"Whoa, someone's been brushing their teeth," Sonic noted. "I can't believe Eggatha created these. Well... actually I can."

"I'd love to watch him tear you apart, but I just don't have the time," Snively remarked. "I'll be back to gather what's left of you later. So long, Sonic."

With that, he departed.

"Alright Tails, how do we beat this thing?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know!" Tails exclaimed.

Choppalien turned to face Sonic, who ran in for an attack, only to narrowly stop in time as the Badnik opened his mouth, a secondary mouth extending on a piston that snapped shut less than an inch from Sonic's nose.

"Holy-!" Sonic yelped. "Okay, you have got to go down!"

He jumped back. "Time to call down the thunder!"

He focused with all his might, trying to draw upon the power... but nothing happened.

"Oh, come on!" he griped. "I could do it before!"

He was forced to dodge as Choppalien charged at him. "C'mon, Chaos energy lightning! I'm running out of time here!"

He tried everything, but not a single spark was showing itself. In frustration, he punched the ground.

"What am I doing wrong?" he demanded. "Why isn't this working?!"

Suddenly, Tails let out a yelp. Sonic's head shot up and he saw Choppalien chasing after the fox, its secondary mouth snapping at him. His eyes widened before his shock turned to anger, and then his body began to spark as he ran after them. Tucking into a Spin Dash as he went, Sonic rammed into Choppalien, knocking him into the air as the electricity coursed through his body. Choppalien exploded, bits and pieces of the bot raining down, dancing with remnants of the power. Sonic skidded to a stop, hurrying over to Tails.

"You alright, buddy?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tails nodded. "You?"

"I'm okay," Sonic assured before looking at his hands in annoyance. "Why is it that this stupid power only showed up at the last second? I tried to call it on my own, and nothing!"

"Hey, you'll figure it out, okay?" Tails promised. "Don't beat yourself up."

"Right," Sonic nodded before looking at the remains of Choppalien. "Well, one down, six to go."

"Snively went that way," Tails pointed in the distance. "We better get moving."

Special Zone

Meanwhile, Robotnik and Eggatha emerged from the Giant Ring, arriving in the Special Zone and taking in the various oddities. Eggatha's eyes sparkled with joy.

"This is amazing!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, but we're not here to sight-see," Robotnik reminded her, looking around before spying one planet in the distance. "Not the Little Planet, but a good place to start looking."

"How do we get there?" Eggatha asked.

"That… I don't know," Robotnik admitted.

They walked along for a few minutes, Eggatha looking around curiously. On a whim, she suddenly jumped, then began gliding through space*

"What in the-?!" Robotnik exclaimed.

"Just as I thought!" Eggatha declared, "Different dimensions means different laws of physics! Come on! This way!"

Robotnik shrugged and followed her, the two eventually arriving on the same checkerboard planet Sonic had landed on during his first adventure. They looked around, Eggatha gushing once more.

"Whoa… It's a giant checkerboard!"

"So I see," Robotnik mused.

They went along for a while, just as a monitor-like entity suddenly appeared before them.

"What in the name of-?!" Robotnik yelped.

"Greetings," the entity said. "I am the Omnipotent Omni-Viewer. What is your business here?"

"That is none of your concern," Robotnik snapped.

"If you say so," Omni replied. "Though you might find traversing the Special Zone a bit... difficult without my aid."

"Then can you help us, please?" Eggatha asked. "We're trying to find a robot hedgehog."

"Hmmm…" Omni mused. "You seek the Little Planet, I assume."

"How did you know that?" Robotnik questioned.

"I'm the Omni-Viewer, sir," Omni answered. "All-knowing and all-seeing."

"Then do you know where it is?" Robotnik asked.

"You will need to cross planet Meridian to get there," Omni's screen shifted, showing an image of the very planet Robotnik first pointed out. "But know this. I'm well aware of who and what you are, Dr. Robotnik. It's only due to the presence of your niece that I'm even bothering to help you out."

His screen then switched off and he vanished as quickly as he had come. Robotnik scowled at that.

"You'll eat those words one day, Omni-Viewer," he grumbled. "One day, I promise I'll reign over you."

"At least he told us where to go," Eggatha pointed out. "Come on, Metal's waiting for us!"

She jumped off the planet, gliding along with Robotnik following.

Author's Note:

So, yeah. This arc is an adaptation of both episodes of Sonic 4. With some differences for the first part; as Author of the Insane told me, just having Robotnik bring out rehashed and stronger versions of his past mechs like the wrecking ball Egg Mobile was lame and boring, hence why Robotnik rejected Snively's idea for that.

The first part of this arc will feature Sonic and Tails facing Snively and the Seven Badniks, interspersed with Robotnik and Eggatha searching the Special Zone for Metal Sonic; gives me a perfect chance to expand on the Special Zone beyond Chaos Emerald challenges.

Please R&R. Until next time!