Eggman Air Cruiser Theta, Command Center
Tangle couldn't believe it. They actually managed to pull it off.
We have all seven Chaos Emeralds!
Tangle smiled excitedly. She looked at Alcurine, who seemed disappointed that she didn't even need to use the Morality Ray. Apparently, the battle was over that fast. She even had a big monologue prepared and everything! But Tangle knew that even Alcurine was as excited for the seven Chaos Emeralds as Tangle was.
Tangle quickly pulled up another hologram, this one meant to call Eggman. After a push of a button, and a few rings, Eggman appeared on the screen, his hands stapled together.
"So, If you're calling me I'm assuming the mission was a failure?" He said, not even letting Tangle get a word in. Tangle looked frankly dumbfounded.
"Well, not bad for a first attempt. It usually takes several attempts to get all the Chaos Emeralds however-" He continued, before Tangle cut him off. "NO! Boss, we did it! We got ALL the Chaos Emeralds!" Tangle said, quickly and loudly.
Eggman paused, shock coming over his features. "W-wait. You did? Truly? On your first attempt!?" He said, anger coming over his features.
Tangle looked a bit worried, but Alcurine just rolled her eyes. "Yes boss, we did. Metal Sonic was able to steal the Cyan Emerald and T-squad was able to get the Purple Emerald." Alcurine said, her voice very blunt.
Eggman sputtered for a moment, before sighing. He shook away his rage, and when he did a giddy smile slowly replaced his anger. "Well well! I must say, I'm honestly impressed! Well done!" He congratulated, completely genuine.
Tangle felt far too happy at the compliment, and even Alcurine cracked a small smile at the praise.
A maniacal gleam appeared on Eggman's eyes. "Very good work indeed! As a reward, I think I'll let you decide…" Eggman paused dramatically. Tangle couldn't resist leaning closer to the screen.
"Would you rather come back to base and prepare for a counterattack, and possibly my greatest plan ever! Or… Would you like to test my newest mech right now?" He said boisterously.
Eggman didn't even need the verbal confirmation to know which one the lemur was going to choose.
"MECH! LET ME TEST THE MECH!" She yelled loudly in excitement. Eggman actually flinched at the volume, and made a self note to turn down the volume in the future when speaking to the lemur.
Eggman grinned. "Why, that's perfect! In fact, I expected that answer just in case you did manage it, and I've already have the mech primed to be delivered to your location! I put it in a device to bring it to your location as fast as possible, with the rest of the Chaos Emeralds. Also, I'm transporting another invention of mine, made to compliment the mech and the Chaos Emeralds." He said cheerfully.
Tangle smiled almost as evilly as the Doctor. "Oh yeah? What does the mech and invention do?" She asked, grinning.
"Why, the mech itself is one you'll operate! It's still in its prototype stage, so it won't automatically be able to just crush the entire Restoration with minimal effort. However… It should do quite a bit of damage. There's another part about operating the mech that I'm sure you'll like more than that, though…" He said, chuckling quietly.
"You see, you have to go pseudo-super for the machine to be powered. Congratulations Tangle, you get to see yourself in a golden sheen! But that's not all! The pseudo-super form isn't just one big battery! It allows you to control the robot with just your mind! And, as long as you're inside, the super form won't dissipate, meaning you can be super for nearly an unlimited amount of time! I came to that breakthrough while studying more on the Chaos Emeralds we had here!" He said, liking the stars that appeared on Tangle's face at the mere thought.
Idiot. While this machine will allow you to keep your super-form on indefinitely, eventually your body will automatically shut down when operating with that much chaos energy for that long a period of time. Not even Sonic can keep a super form forever. You don't need to know that, however. Eggman thought, his grin becoming darker.
"As to the other invention, you might think of it as a magnet, in a sense. As long as you're in close enough proximity to it, the Chaos Emeralds won't scatter when you deactivate your super form, but will be drawn and attached to it! It can be interconnected to the inside of the Chaos King Mech, so when you're finished having your fun, or are somehow defeated, the Chaos Emeralds will be right there, in front of you!" He explained, once again laughing maniacally.
Tangle looked giddy and downright crazy at the thought. She turned to Eggman, the stars never leaving her eyes for a moment. "So, it's called the Chaos King? Pretty awesome name." She said offhandedly.
Eggman just smiled indulgently. "Why thank you. I'm sure you'll like the design as well when it gets to your location. Are the pests doing anything?" He suddenly asked. Tangle quickly glanced over to another screen, which was showing the Restoration.
They had just about finished cleaning up the very last of the badniks on the ground, and now were just recuperating at this point.
"Not really, no." Tangle said, looking back. Eggman smiled. "Brilliant! Then just stay still and quiet, and by the time they notice what's in store, it will be too late!" He said, before the video cut out.
Tangle looked at Alcurine, who was looking thoughtful. "When do you think he'll get here?" She asked. Alccurine just shrugged. "Knowing Eggman, it will be literally any second-" Suddenly, Alcurine was interrupted by Eggman's booming laughter.
Tangle and Alcurine gave each other bemused glances.
Tangle then got an alert that one of Eggman's shuttles was entering the hanger, and Tangle just knew that it was the other Chaos Emeralds. She smiled, then Tangle and Alcurine started leaving for the hanger.
Outside Restoration HQ
Sonic and Silver groaned. The booming echo of Eggman's laughter made all outside restoration members straighten in fright.
Sonic looked at the most probable place Eggman's voice was coming from, and lo and behold, there was another Air Cruiser. This one was much bigger than the first three, and it seemed to be far more unique in design. This Air Cruiser was probably Eggman's personal head Airship, the Eggcruiser. If that wasn't bad enough, the Eggcruiser seemed to be air towing a large metal box, almost as big as the Eggcruiser itself.
Sonic quickly did a head count of all the Restoration members that could realistically help the fight. The count made him wince. A lot of members sustained injuries too bad to continue fighting, and the rest just looked exhausted. There was maybe half of the Restoration still in fighting shape.
The laughing finally petered out, and in its place was Eggman's gloating voice.
"Hohohohoho! Why, It seems my esteemed accomplices have put you all on the back foot! How does it feel, Sonic? Knowing that your defeat won't be by my hands, but by the hands of your supposed friends?" Eggman gloated through the speakers.
Sonic didn't want to admit it, but the words had gotten under his skin. The idea of his friends being the reason why Sonic loses to Eggman really did hit far harder than Sonic thought it would.
"But of course, we're not finished here yet! There's still a little Restoration that I need to crush! However, I think someone else is far more suitable for that job. Isn't that right… Tangle?" Eggman said, the maliciousness in his voice palatable.
Sonic's heart leaped into his throat. No wait, don't-
Suddenly, the metal box that the Eggcruiser was carrying violently exploded outward, walls of steel coming apart. Inside was the mech design that Rouge had shown Sonic earlier, albeit one that didn't look nearly as extravagant as what seemed to be the plans for the finished project, although it was still almost entirely painted a gold color.
Sonic was able to get a good look at the mech's face for the first time, and his breath quickened.
It was a mock of Tangle's face
A crackling of a mic could be heard from the mech.
"Right you are Doctor! Time to show those pathetic heroes what true excitement looks like!" Spoke out Tangle's voice, cackling.
The mech then dropped to the ground. At first, it seemed to only fall limply. But then, arcs of gold lightning started sparking over what Sonic correctly guessed as large metal cables. The limpness disappeared, replaced by a robot that seemed to move nearly as gracefully as an actual islander.
But somehow that wasn't the worst part.
The gold lightning crackling around the machine exploded outward from the mech's back. At around the halfway point to the ground, the lightning on the back solidified into a golden hologram of devil wings. It took a moment longer, but soon the mech's descent slowed down, then outright stopped. There it was, floating in the air, supported by its holographic wings and chaos energy.
"Ah! It seems the prototype for the Chaos King is working at full capacity! Tangle, you have a new directive now! Your new directive is to crush that pathetic excuse for a headquarters. Oh, and do have fun with it, will you?" Eggman said, a cruel smile evident in his tone.
The Chaos King saluted its hand, before blasting towards the Restoration HQ. Sonic yelped, realizing that he had just been watching the whole exchange unfold, and tried running to intercept the Chaos King. What Sonic was sadly unaware of however, was just how big the actual machine was, only seeing it from a distance. So, Sonic noticed too late that the machine was slightly bigger than Eggman's Phantom Ruby Death Egg Robot from the war. Because of its relative size, it was easily able to fly right over him, ignoring him completely.
While all he did was get ignored, he was able to get a much better look at the robot, and to his dismay he was able to see Dark Tangle standing in the glass cockpit, a golden shine enveloping her and a crazy grin on her face.
Sonic immediately bolted back, trying to figure out some way to get Tangle's attention. While he was able to get back to HQ, it didn't matter much because Tangle abruptly stopped about five hundred feet away. The Chaos King brought up one of its hands, palm open but fingers curled towards the Restoration. Suddenly, out of the fingers came out concentrated beams of golden lightning. All heading straight for the Restoration building.
Sonic looked back in a panic. There was no way he was gonna stop those beams from hitting, but he needed to get everyone out of the building before the beams destroyed it. Sonic did some very quick trajectory calculations, and realized that unless those beams would create giant explosions when hit, the worst of the damage was gonna be the main lounge.
Sonic eyes widened. That's where Shadow and Team Dark is!
Sonic rushed back in the building, moving the fastest he has in a very long time, quickly scooping up Shadow and Rouge, bringing them outside to safety. He then went in and tried to evacuate as much as he possibly could. Jewel was hoarded out along with several other members.
Sonic had just brought the last member in the main building when the laser struck the headquarters. The building was devastated, all of it exploding in a golden fireball, the entire building blowing pieces outward or crashing inward. Sonic looked at the devastation with a haunted expression.
The building… it was all gone.
Sonic had underestimated just how powerful the blasts would be. He got everyone out from areas he thought the beams would do the worst damage, just assuming that the beams were not powerful enough to destroy the whole thing.
Suddenly, a very different pillar of flame erupted from the debris. Unlike the rest of the fire around it, it was colored like regular fire, and the pillar of flame went straight up.
Slowly, a figure could be seen floating out from inside the flame. The flame dispersed explosively, adding more damage to the ruined building. The fire dispersing had now revealed a very angry Blaze the cat. She was looking at the Chaos King with utter contempt.
Blaze flew at the Chaos King, a streak of fire across the sky. Sonic quickly followed her.