Emerald the Lynx: Thank you for your comment and please, let me know what you think of the future chapters! X3
Enjoy the chapter!
Entry 19
Enter The E.G.G.M.A.N.
''I am the E.G.G.M.A.N; that's what I am! I am the E.G.G.M.A.N; I've got the master plan! I am the E.G.G.M.A.N; that's what I am! I am the E.G.G.M.A.N with the master plan!''
– E.G.G.M.A.N. by Sonic Adventure 2 (Theme of Eggman)
xXxXxXx
''Bring it on!''
Sonic charged up, blue sparks flying around him, confronting Metal Sonic. Sonic grinned, well aware that there was no way that Metal would be able to keep up with him while he was powered-up like this. He was running so fast, he appeared to be teleporting around his robotic counterpart. So, this battle would be a piece of cake, a simple game.
Metal Sonic had trouble keeping up with Sonic, his sensors flashing red as they tried to warn him about Sonic's whereabouts. He tried to predict where his counterpart would appear next, but there were too many results, overwhelming his mind. His vision suddenly turned to static for a moment as he felt Sonic uppercutting him, but he managed to stay afloat, turning to where Sonic landed next.
''You are really resilient, Metal,'' Sonic said, charging up for another attack. ''You are as fast as me and you got a fancy weapon. Yet, you can't take me down.''
Metal Sonic charged up, firing a smaller blast at Sonic, who simply dodged it, clearly having the time of his life. Metal Sonic fired more blasts, but the cobalt hedgehog dodged them all as he ran through the street up to Metal Sonic, leaping and spin-dashing right into the robot. However, much to his shock, Metal Sonic managed to catch him and hold him in place, charging up another blast and firing at Sonic point-blank. The cobalt hedgehog hit the ground hard, sparks still flying around him.
''Sonic!'' Lucas called out for his partner, only to be suddenly stopped by Metal Sonic, who blocked his path.
''It looks like even with your power-up, we can still keep up with you,'' Ferra taunted him, with Lucas turning towards her. He kept silent, feeling his own BioEnergy getting drained the longer he and Sonic kept the Chaos Surge up. There was a sudden gust of wind, following by a clashing sound, as Sonic had recovered, spin-dashing right into Metal and knocking him down.
''What do you want from us?'' Lucas asked Ferra. He figured that, while Sonic dealt with Metal, maybe he could get more information from Ferra about what was going on.
''I had already told you; Metal and I are here for another round…'' Ferra started, but Lucas cut her off.
''I know you're working for Eggman, and I know he's behind this attack,'' he stated, his eyes narrowing. ''You're stalling us, aren't you?''
''Stalling you? Why would we do that?'' Ferra asked innocently, despite the unmistakable smug smile on her lips. ''Do you have to be somewhere? Or, maybe you're running out of time.''
''Just get to the point already,'' Lucas growled. His and Ferra's attention briefly turned towards Sonic and Metal, with Sonic managing to run up a building, but despite being still as fast as ever, he was clearly slower, and then going for a homing attack, landing a direct hit on Metal Sonic. However, the robot was more resilient than he appeared to be.
''How do you manage to manipulate BioEnergy to serve as a power-up for your partner?'' Ferra suddenly asked Lucas, who turned back to her.
''You mean, Chaos Surge?'' Lucas responded, blue sparks flying around him. However, the neon blue glow in his eyes grew dimmer. Ferra nodded. ''Why would any of us tell you that?''
''Perhaps for the challenge?'' Ferra suggested. Sonic, who had managed not only to dodge Metal Sonic's blast attack, but also overhear the conversation, turned to Ferra.
''I love a good challenge as any other, but I'm not that stupid,'' he told her. He turned to Lucas, who had narrowed his eyes, staring at Ferra, who was joined by Metal Sonic.
''If they really want a challenge, maybe we should give it to them,'' Lucas said, with one of Sonic's ears drooping as he gave him partner a slack-jawed baffled look.
''Are you serious?!'' he snapped. Lucas, however, ignored his protests.
''In order to perform Chaos Surge, your partner needs to attempt to absorb your BioEnergy, but then reject it once it's in an active state,'' Lucas explained. ''That allows for both of you to absorb it.''
''Lucas!'' Sonic shouted at his partner, completely irritated.
''So, that's how you do it? Interesting. Thanks for the information,'' Ferra turned to Metal Sonic, who extended his hand, calculating how to properly activate the BioEnergy for a Chaos Surge. Lucas felt Sonic tugging at his arm.
''What are you doing?'' Sonic hissed.
''You need to trust me on this. The moment they activate Chaos Surge, charge right at them. I don't have much BioEnergy left, I can only support you that much,'' Lucas replied. Sonic stared at him for a moment, then nodded, understanding what Lucas was up to. The two suddenly noticed a flash of light, turning to Ferra and Metal just as they managed to figure out how to activate Ferra's BioEnergy.
Ferra looked quite pleased, despite the sense of weakness she felt, as she observed the dark blue orb of energy sparking between her and Metal Sonic, only for both of them to get suddenly startled when Sonic spin-dashed right into it. She cried out in dismay as the orb of energy dispersed without getting absorbed, falling on her knees. Metal Sonic attempted to attack Sonic, but Sonic managed to grab him by his leg, swinging him around and throwing him against a building before spin-dashing into his robotic counterpart again, blue sparks flying all around as Sonic finally knocked his counterpart down, creating a small crater in the ground.
Lucas was breathing heavily, his eyes returning to their usual icy blue and Sonic's going back to green as he joined his partner. ''You okay, buddy?''
''Yeah… I cut off the Chaos Surge before I could collapse,'' Lucas replied, gazing at Ferra and Metal Sonic. Metal Sonic was still reeling from the attack, while Ferra was in a bad state, looking like someone knocked the wind out of her. She was on her knees, shaking.
''I'm surprised you knew this would happen,'' Sonic commented. Lucas gave him a sheepish smile.
''I actually didn't… I took a risk,'' he replied. Sonic gave him a surprised look, only to grin.
''You should take risks more often,'' he said as Lucas got on the hoverboard, then extended his hand. ''Let's get to Erekiteru before these two decide to attack us again.''
With that said, he pulled Lucas along, speeding down the streets. Meanwhile, Ferra and Metal Sonic were just glaring at the spot where Lucas and Sonic were moments earlier.
''I didn't not expect they'd pull something like that,'' Ferra grumbled, her legs feeling like lead.
'Your BioEnergy levels are very low,' Metal Sonic noted.
''Yeah, and I can't even move,'' Ferra muttered, taking a deep breath. ''At least we know now how to use Chaos Surge. Next time we meet the two, they're done for.''
xXx
''Boss, Metal Sonic and Ferra had been defeated,'' Orbot informed Eggman as he walked to what appeared to be a booth with a computer and a red gaming chair. Cubot then added, ''Mephiles and Toshiro are still not answering the call.''
''I anticipated this would happen,'' Eggman grumbled as he reached for what appeared to be a circular controller that fit around his arms like a gauntlet and put on what appeared to be a black VR headset in the form of black sunglasses. He turned to the monitor in the booth, eyes narrowing and he smirked. ''At least I don't have to further delay the direct confrontation. That hedgehog is dead.''
The monitors before him lit up, holographic screens appearing around him. Somewhere, away from the booth Eggman was sitting at, a giant red mecha had turned on, Eggman's laughter echoing through the room.
xXx
Shadow kicked the reptilian Buddy Bot back before spin-dashing it into pieces. He had been making quite a lot of progress dealing with the Buddy Bots, managing to break through most of them.
''There are three Buddy Bots upstairs,'' Touka informed him through the holographic screen. ''They're coming down the stairs. Just keep going down that corridor.''
''Understood,'' Shadow replied, the holographic screen next to him closing as he skated down the corridor and stopped at the stairs, looking up. His ears twitched as he heard heavy steps, aware that the Buddy Bots were coming down the stairs, no doubt alerted by his own actions. Nevertheless, they were no match for him, as he easily took them out with another spin-dash, not even needing to use his Chaos powers.
He stared down at the broken Buddy Bots, taking a moment to ponder whether the ARNavs inside the Buddy Bots were really still there, regardless of what Tails and Warren said, but he then ran upstairs to the next floor. He peeked into the corridor, noting there were no Buddy Bots in sight and he couldn't hear any of them either. He then tapped on his AR Visor, opening a holographic screen.
''Touka, where is the next group of Buddy Bots?''
On Touka's end, she was focused on the monitors before her in the surveillance room, trying to keep track of all the Buddy Bots that were still in the building. There were several blind spots or parts where there were no cameras, but fortunately, the Buddy Bots were either patrolling through the building or trying to break into the locked rooms, making it easy for Touka to spot them.
''Go down the corridor and take a left turn,'' Touka instructed him, spotting a gurney being knocked over and blocking a patient's room, with two Buddy Bots trying to remove it and breaking inside. ''There's two more of them.''
Shadow didn't answer and Touka spotted him on another camera as he spin-dashed right into the Buddy Bots, destroying them. He turned to the room for a moment, with the door opening as one of the nurses peeked out, stunned to see him. The ebony hedgehog turned his head, frowning as he spotted something further down the hallway and continued with his mission.
''If we had known that this would happened, we would've never accepted that donation from the Tamago Corporation,'' the receptionist, who was standing next to Touka, shook her head. ''Thank you again for helping us, but how did you know we'd need help?''
''I...'' Touka paused for a moment, unsure whether she should reveal this information, but then relented. ''Kisaki Kageura's my adoptive mother.''
''You're Dr. Kageura's kid?'' The receptionist was surprised. Touka didn't answer, instead focusing on directing Shadow.
''Shadow, take a right and you'll end up at the consulting rooms. You might run into Kisaki there.''
Shadow did as Touka had told him, smashing through two more Buddy Bots and turning his gaze towards the third, when he suddenly heard someone cry out.
''Don't do that!''
Surprised, Shadow managed to dodge the canine Buddy Bot before it could hit him, turning his attention briefly to the person who yelled at him. It was a pale little girl dressed in patient's clothes and an IV needle on the top of her hand, trying to get out of the consulting room while held back by Kisaki.
''You're hurting him! You're hurting my friend!''
''Alana, please, get back inside!'' Kisaki pulled her back, stunned to see Shadow in the corridor. ''Shadow, what are you doing here?''
''Helping,'' Shadow replied as he dodged the Buddy Bots attack. His ears twitched as he heard the little girl crying, but he forced himself to ignore her, smashing the Buddy Bot into pieces before turning back to Kisaki. She was still trying to keep the girl, who was now in hysterics, behind her. He glanced at the smashed Buddy Bot, then started picking it apart, finding the hard drive inside the robots head and then offering it to the girl. ''Your friend can be restored from this.''
Alana took the hard drive, then glanced past Shadow at the empty shell of the robot, then turned back to Shadow, nodding. She was still crying, but she seemed to have calmed down. Shadow then looked at Kisaki.
''Where is Touka?'' she asked.
''At the surveillance room,'' Shadow answered. ''The moment we heard about the Buddy Bots attacking everyone, we came here.''
A holographic screen appeared next to him, revealing Touka. ''Shads, I think we're done here. I checked all the cameras and I couldn't find any more Buddy Bots.''
''Honestly, I can't believe you two have done this,'' Kisaki shook her head, looking at Touka. ''This was dangerous.''
''We know, and the battle's not over yet,'' Touka replied, with Kisaki rising an eyebrow. However, before she could ask more, the holographic screen vanished. When she turned to Shadow, he too suddenly vanished in a flash of light blue light.
''Great,'' Kisaki grumbled, with her patient giving her a confused look.
xXx
''How are you holding up there?'' Minami asked Amy, who leapt and swung her Piko Piko Hammer at one particularly annoying Buddy Bot. The one was cheetah-like and surprisingly agile for a robot.
''Fine, but what about you?'' Amy replied, blocking the Buddy Bot's claws with her hammer. Minami didn't reply, her glowing pink eyes growing dimmer and dimmer as she put more energy into maintaining the energy hammer. Her movements became slowly more and more sluggish. The hammer felt much heavier in her hands than it should. Amy turned to Minami after knocking the Buddy Bot back, her eyes widening. ''Watch out!''
Minami followed Amy's gaze, gasping as she didn't realize another Buddy Bot sneaked up on her and pounced. Suddenly, a streak of red light appeared, with Minami flinching as the figure punched the Buddy Bot into tiny pieces.
''Knuckles!'' She was relieved to see the echidna, whose purple eyes were now glowing red and he was enveloped in red energy sparks. She then turned her gaze towards Lily, who arrived on her hoverboard, her light green eyes red as well. It was clear that they had used Chaos Surge earlier.
''It is great to see you two,'' Amy said, looking at Knuckles and Lily.
''I'm surprised we're the first ones here,'' Lily replied. ''Sure, we found a path that wasn't blocked by authorities or the Buddy Bots, but still, I thought Lucas and Sonic would be here before us.''
''It looks like the Hedgehog didn't make it. Maybe they have fallen in battle,'' Knuckles said, charging at another Buddy Bot.
''Or, they got held up by something,'' Amy suggested as she and Knuckles crushed the Buddy Bot.
''Until then, we can deal with these guys,'' Lily said, her fists now glowing with red energy. She grinned as she charged at a Buddy Bot, punching it straight into the ground. She waved her hand, noting how it didn't hurt at all, despite the fact that she just punched cold metal. ''Honestly, this Chaos Surge power is really awesome!''
''Until you run out of it,'' Minami replied, the glow in her eyes disappearing and her falling down on her knees as the pink energy hammer disipated. She was shaking, feeling weak. Amy ran up to her, worried.
''Are you okay?'' she asked.
''No, I feel awful,'' Minami replied bluntly, taking a deep breath. ''But, I'll be fine. Can you still fight?''
''Yeah, I can,'' Amy said with a determined look. Despite the Chaos Surge waning, she still felt energized. She, Knuckles and Lily surrounded Minami, turning towards the Buddy Bots who went after them, preparing for the onslaught.
xXx
''Are those Irregular Hunters?'' Tails asked Warren. The two were getting close to Erekiteru when they came across a few Buddy Bots.
''They are! They have the Hunter sign on them,'' Warren responded, only to feel a sudden surge of anxiety. ''Right, they too would probably take advantage of the Buddy Bots. The Irregular Hunters cannot go anywhere outside the AR Fields for too long.''
Unfortunately for them, they got spotted by the Hunter Buddy Bots, with sparks flying between their hands. Tails and Warren realized that these robots had some kind of taser, a weapon, and they were in trouble. They could fly over them, Tails with his twin-tails and Warren on the hoverboard, but one of the Hunter Buddy Bots was a hawk, going right after them. Tails and Warren weaved between the buildings and down the street, trying to get rid off the Buddy Bot, but the Hunter fired what appeared to be a burst of lightning.
''What the hell?!'' Warren shouted, him and Tails managing to dodge it and the attack shattering the edge of a building they were hiding behind. ''I did not expect that to happen.''
''They are Hunters, so obviously they'd have weapons,'' Tails said. ''Warren, we need to try out Chaos Surge.''
''I guess we should, but…'' Warren fell silent, only for him and Tails to flinch when they heard another explosion, the Hunter Buddy Bot trying to now shatter the wall behind them. ''We haven't had the time to try it out. We don't know what will happen.''
''Right…'' Tails trailed off, his eyes narrowing as he thought about it for a second. Unlike Sonic or any of the other team members, he didn't really have any special abilities. Sure, he could fly via his tails and he had a genius intellect, but that was it. He had no offensive powers beyond his gadgets. He shuddered as he heard a cold voice mocking him in his head.
''You're a kitsune, yet you cannot even create illusions. What a freak!''
Tails gasped when he felt Warren grabbing him, the latter holding onto the fox tightly as he tried to get away from the Hunter Buddy Bot. He managed to hide behind another building, with the hawk Buddy Bot flying past them. Warren sighed, glancing down at Tails in his arms.
''Are you okay?'' he asked.
''I am… I was just lost in my thoughts,'' Tails replied, his ears drooping. ''You're right, we don't know what will happen if we use Chaos Surge. Maybe it won't even work with me.''
Warren gave him a sympathetic look, feeling something heavy on his chest. He didn't mean to discourage his partner. ''Look, we don't know what will happen, but we do know how BioEnergy reacts in the presence of an Irregular. We should give it a shot.''
Tails frowned, silent for a moment, then looked back at Warren, nodding. ''You're right. We need to try it out.'' He then flew up, hovering right next to Warren, extending his hand. ''Ready?''
''Ready!'' Warren extended his hand, feeling his own BioEnergy being drained, with amber energy sparking between them.
''Chaos Surge!''
As an amber orb of energy appeared between them, they both absorbed it. Tails' light blue eyes and Warren's green eyes turned amber, with yellow and amber energy sparking around them, like electricity. They heard a screech, turning to the hawk Buddy Bot, who flew straight at them, charging up again for another attack. Without thinking, Tails held up his hand, releasing an amber electric wave, which caused the Buddy Bot to suddenly shut down and crash into the ground.
''That was awesome!'' Warren said, but then rose an eyebrow. ''What exactly was it?''
''I think I just shut down the Buddy Bot with some kind of electromagnetic pulse,'' Tails replied, the two spotting Sonic dragging Lucas down a street. He grabbed Warren's hand. ''Com'n, we need to hurry up.''
To Warren's surprise, the moment Tails pulled him along, he created a whirlwind behind him, causing him to fly even faster, to the point he managed to match Sonic's super speed. The two caught up with Sonic and Lucas, the two being genuinely surprised to see them.
''Woah, Tails, since when do you have super speed?'' Sonic asked, being stunned.
''It's a side-effect of the Chaos Surge,'' Tails replied, giving him a questioning look. ''Speaking of super speed, I thought you two have already reached Amy and Minami.''
''We ran into Metal and Ferra,'' Sonic told him. ''Long story short, we beat them, but Lucas ran out of BioEnergy, so we cannot use Chaos Surge. I'm still fine, though.''
Warren glanced at Lucas, who just shrugged, with the four eventually arriving at Erekiteru. They were amazed by the number of trashed Buddy Bots, with Amy, Knuckles and Lily fighting another batch off, that were actually Irregular Hunters. Minami was standing closer to a building, catching her breath. While Lucas and Warren went to Minami, getting off their hoverboards and Tails giving Warren his backpack, Sonic and Tails quickly joined the squirmish.
''Where were you, Hedgehog?'' Knuckles asked, turning to Sonic. ''You say that you're The Fastest Thing Alive, yet you're late.''
''First, I was fighting Metal. Second, we're teammates, you can refer to me by name. Third-'' Sonic replied, spin-dashing into a Hunter Buddy Bot that was about to attack Knuckles. ''It looks like you too are out of power.''
Knuckles looked down at his hands, surprised to see the red energy sparks fading. He turned to Lily, whose red glowing eyes became dimmer, returning to green as she cut off the Chaos Surge. Unfortunately for her, it was right as she was about to kick a Hunter Buddy Bot, narrowly having avoided being electrocuted and now being at the robot's mercy. She fell on her knees, her breath shallow, but the Buddy Bot suddenly fell over, with Tails flying right behind it, having knocked it out with his EMP ability. He gave Lily an encouraging grin, who smiled back as Knuckles helped her up, with Sonic standing next to the echidna, holding up four fingers.
''Forgot to add the fourth point; we're still missing Silver, Makoto, Shadow and Touka,'' he said, with Amy running past him and blocking the path of the Buddy Bot who sneaked up on the cobalt hedgehog.
''They'll be here, I'm sure. Now, how about you get in the game?'' she asked, giving Sonic a side-eye.
''No problem,'' Sonic replied, stretching and then sped right into the oncoming Hunter Buddy Bots.
Meanwhile, Lily joined Lucas, Minami and Warren, with Warren still having the Chaos Surge active and working on a smashed Buddy Bot. Tails' backpack was lying next to him, with the Miles Electric connected to the Buddy Bot. ''What are you doing?''
''Tails' Chaos Surge ability allows him to shut down machines. I'm trying to pinpoint under which signal the Buddy Bots function, so we can use that power on all the Buddy Bots across Neos City,'' Warren explained, turning his attention to the Miles Electric. He frowned. ''I'd need something to enhance the transmission signal, though. An antenna or a satellite will do the job.''
''Well, we're in Erekiteru, there's a bunch of electronics stores,'' Minami said, pointing at the building they were standing next to. ''Not to mention, they're all empty due to the evacuation.''
''I don't think we can just walk into a store and take stuff out of them,'' Lucas protested.
''If someone complains, I'll pay for it,'' Lily told him. ''Besides, we're trying to save the city, aren't we?''
''Yeah, we are…'' Lucas trailed off, with Minami and Lily promptly opening the door to the store and trying to find what Warren needed. Lucas and Warren exchanged looks, before Lucas joined the girls, having managed to find the antenna and bringing it back to Warren, who then attached it to the fallen Buddy Bot. He then looked up at Tails, who had grabbed Sonic and spun him around, causing the hedgehog to crash right into the closest Hunter Buddy Bot.
''Tails, I need your help!'' Warren yelled, waving at the fox.
''What is it?'' Tails asked, flying up to his partner.
''I managed to hack into the Buddy Bots' signal. If you use your EMP, we will be able to deactivate them,'' Warren replied, with Tails nodded. Warren then pointed at the Miles Electric, with Tails placing his hand on it and focusing. Suddenly, there was crackling of electricity, with an amber wave pulsing through the street and continuing through Neos City. To Sonic, Knuckles and Amy's surprise, all of the Buddy Bots they had been fighting suddenly fell over. They turned to Tails and Warren, the latter being exhausted, his and Tails' amber eyes turning back to normal, but was looking at his fox partner with pride.
''Is it over?'' Amy asked, glancing at Knuckles and Sonic.
''Of course it's over! They did it!'' Sonic celebrated, running up to Tails and Warren. ''Awesome work!''
''Hey, Warren was the one who figured out how to shut them down,'' Tails replied, with Sonic ruffling his bangs affectionately.
''Yeah, but you were the one who suggested we use their signal against them,'' Warren replied, taking a deep breath. ''Man, that Chaos Surge was exhausting.''
''Not only that, but also addicting. I never felt a power like this before,'' Tails noted as the rest of the group joined them. ''It's no wonder Irregulars get so aggressive.''
''Well, the main point is that the day is saved and that we have earned ourselves a victory celebration,'' Sonic noted.
''Not until you learned your lesson of not wrecking other people's property, Hedgehog!''
Team Neos suddenly turned towards the source of the voice, feeling a sense of dread creeping up their spines. They were shocked to see giant humanoid red, black and yellow mech flying down, whose head and torso came together in an indistinguishable egg shape, with the head also having a metallic mustache and glasses. On it's back was a jetpack and on the front was a red panel while it's arms hand pointy needles for hands. While the Irregulars remained stunned, their human partners were all hit by a sense of recognition.
''Is that… the Death Egg Robot?'' Lucas was the one to break the silence, rising an eyebrow.
''Hey, yeah, I recognize it now! It's from Sonic the Hedgehog 2!'' Minami was now more excited than frightened. ''That's really cool! Are we fighting the Final Boss now?''
The Death Egg Robot's glasses started to glow, showing a projection of Eggman face.
''While I presume that you already know who I am, I believe that it would be extremely rude to not properly introduce myself before I crush you all,'' Eggman said. ''I am the most brilliant mind in this world, Doctor Ivo Robotnik, and to answer your questions, I know who all of you are, Team Neos.''
''Nobody asked anything, Eggman,'' Sonic said snarkily, walking up to the Death Egg Robot.
''Oh, so we are going straight for the nickname? Very well,'' Eggman replied. ''This may be our first encounter in this life, but unlike you, I am prepared to take you down.''
''You'd have to first catch me,'' Sonic replied, speeding off in a burst of blue, avoiding the Death Egg Robot's attempts of striking it down with its needle-like hands. One hand got stuck in the ground, with Sonic running up the arm and landing on the mech's head, staring down the holographic screen, with Eggman giving him an irritated look. ''Your robot is too slow for this hedgehog, Egghead.''
''Who said anything about matching your speed?'' Eggman replied, pressing a button. Sonic suddenly felt a surge of electricity charging through his body, crying out in pain as the robot grabbed him by the head and threw him straight into the asphalt, leaving a crack in the ground.
''Sonic!'' Lucas screamed for his partner, who was still alive, but visibly bruised. Sonic rubbed his head, looking up at the mech, his eyes widening when he saw miniature red and black mechanic orbs that started flashing red being launched at him. He quickly got up, dodging the explosions.
''That was close,'' Sonic muttered under his breath, keeping a distance from the mech, who suddenly launched the clawed hands at him. Fortunately for him, Amy leapt right in front of him, smashing the robotic hand back with her Piko Piko Hammer.
''Are you okay?'' she asked, standing in front of Sonic protectively.
''Nothing I can't shake off,'' Sonic replied, joined by Tails and Knuckles. He then briefly turned towards Lucas, Warren, Lily and Minami, nodding assurringly. Their partners may not have been able to help them, but they were the main reason why they were protecting Neos City. Sonic then looked up at the holographic screen. ''Hey, Egghead, is that all you've got?''
''Apparently, I haven't hit you hard enough!'' Eggman growled, firing more mines at them, only for the explosives to get caught in cyan energy, which lifted them up and let them explode high above the street. ''What?!''
''Guys!'' The group turned towards the newcomers, that being Silver and Makoto, the sparking cyan energy surrounding them fading away as Makoto joined Lucas and co., while Silver landed beside Sonic and co. ''I'm sorry for being late. Makoto and I got caught up in a few fights and we had to use Chaos Surge and, well...''
''Hey, you arrived just in time for the big finale,'' Sonic assured him. Silver grinned back, him and the rest of the group facing the robot.
''Huh, I was wondering when the rest of your friends would arrive,'' Eggman said nonchalantly. ''I had planned to eliminate all of you at once.''
''I doubt your robot can do anything against my psychokinesis,'' Silver said, flying up and encasing the Death Egg Robot in cyan energy. To his surprise, Eggman started laughing. The grey hedgehog gave the doctor a look of confusion, feeling discouraged. ''Uh, did I say something funny?''
''Ho ho ho ho, I had already told your friends that I was prepared for this battle. And when I said prepared, I meant being able to counter each and every of your abilities, including yours,'' Eggman said, pressing a button that caused a forcefield to envelop the Death Egg Robot, cancelling out Silver's psychokinesis. Silver attempted to send a blast of cyan energy at the robot, but the forcefield negated it.
''It's no use,'' Silver grumbled as he landed next to the rest of his teammates. ''I can't get past it.''
''Have you finally realized just how pathetic all of you are?'' Eggman taunted, only to see a flash of orange light and be met with an explosion powerful enough to make the robot stagger back. This was followed by a light blue light, revealing Shadow and Touka, both charged up thanks to Chaos Surge. Orange and red energy crackled around them, sparking like electricity, their eyes now glowing in the same colour.
''That's one way to deal with the mech,'' Sonic commented, grinning as he glanced at Shadow. ''Points for the dramatic timing, Shads.''
Shadow briefly looked at Sonic, before turning his focus back to the Death Egg Robot. Sonic just pouted slightly at the lack of response, figuring that Shadow wanted to just be done with this mission.
''Let's take him out in one shot,'' Touka said, feeling Shadow drawing her BioEnergy and preparing for an attack. While this was only the second time they used Chaos Surge, Shadow was more confident in his control over it. Red energy was building around him, the mech stepping forward, with Shadow pointing his hands towards it.
''Chaos Blast!''
Shadow unleashed a powerful blast of energy at the Death Egg Robot, seemingly powerful enough to destroy it, only for the panel on the robot's chest to open, absorbing the blast of energy. Touka and Shadow gasped in genuine shock when they saw the generator inside the robot pulsate with the energy it just absorbed. The holographic screen of Eggman appeared, the doctor looking almost bored.
''This is why I should've made my grand entrance when everyone was gathered,'' he grumbled. ''To repeat it for the last time – I am prepared for any kind of attack you use on my mech!'' He snapped his fingers, grinning smugly. ''Thanks for the additional ammunition!''
The Death Egg Robot then fired the absorbed blast of Chaos energy at Touka and Shadow, with Silver suddenly flying before them, creating a barrier, but unfortunately, it started to crack, the blast being too powerful. Fortunately, Shadow grabbed Silver by his shoulder and with the last of the power he had from the Chaos Surge, he, Silver and Touka warped away, causing the blast to blow up the spot where they stood a moment earlier. The three landed next to the rest of the group, the Irregulars having joined their partners. Touka and Shadow have depowered, although curiously, Touka appeared to be less winded than the other human partners.
''Well, that backfired,'' Lily commented in a snarky tone, earning a glare from Touka and Shadow.
''That thing has to have some kind of weakness,'' Lucas said, his eyes narrowing. They couldn't touch the mech directly, unless they wanted to get electrocuted, the forcefield prevented Silver from using his psychokinesis on it and Eggman obviously had an answer for Shadow. They didn't have enough BioEnergy for another Chaos Surge and it was just a matter of time until any of the authorities appeared here since the Buddy Bots were now deactivated. However, there was something he had noticed, then turned to Sonic and the rest of the team. ''Let's scatter around. Eggman cannot keep an eye on all of us, so we can use this to our advantage. Try to find some kind of oddity in the mech.''
''Gotcha! Let's go everyone!'' Sonic said, with Team Neos scattering in all directions.
Eggman scoffed, sending more mines towards them, but Silver easily contained them with his psychokinesis. The robot then lashed towards where Knuckles and Lily were, going for a punch, but Knuckles met it with his own, only to shout in pain as he felt an electric charge. Eggman fired the other arm towards Amy, but she was saved by Sonic, who picked her up bridal style and sped below the robot, causing Eggman to briefly become disoriented, not anticipating the spin-dash to the knee from Shadow, the robot trembling.
Meanwhile, Lucas and co. tried to stay away from the mech for their own safety, but not wanting to let the Irregulars fight on their own, they scouted for something, anything, that would help them break down the Death Egg Robot.
''What's that?'' Makoto muttered under his breath, narrowly avoiding a stray mine that was meant for Tails and flying up on his hoverboard as he found a panel at the back of the robot, next to the jetpack. Instead of yelling to get everyone's attention, he flew up to Tails, pointing at the panel. ''I think I found something! Over there!''
''If it's what I think it is, I could use it to get access to the Death Egg Robot,'' Tails said, eyes narrowing in concentration. He then flew off towards Warren, who was holding onto his backpack. ''Warren, I give me the backpack!''
''Okay!'' Warren threw it towards Tails, the fox managing to grab it just as another mine flew towards them. Fortunately, it exploded before it could land anywhere near them, thanks to a well-timed Chaos Spear from Shadow. Having an idea, Tails quickly flew towards the ebony hedgehog.
''Shadow, I need your help!'' he said, with Shadow turning towards him. ''There is a panel on the back of the robot and I need to get to it.''
Shadow gazed at where Tails was pointing, then nodded, extending his arm. ''Hold on.''
Tails grabbed it, and Shadow warped them right next to the panel, all without Eggman, who was currently busy trying to take down Sonic, noticing. Both grabbed onto the jetpack, with Tails trying to pry the panel open, but it would budge. ''Shadow, could you-'' Before he even finished the sentence, Shadow fired a weaker version of Chaos Blast at the panel, destroying it and revealing the wires beneath it. Tails smiled at the ebony hedgehog. ''Thanks!''
Meanwhile, Sonic avoided another of Eggman's attacks, trying to keep the mad doctor's attention on himself. Sure, he couldn't touch the robot, but that didn't mean that he could run circles around it. He had spotted Tails and Shadow at the back of the mech, with noticing the grin of satisfaction Tails' expression as he turned to Shadow and the two warped away. Realizing that things have reached their turning point, Sonic ran up to Knuckles.
''Give me a boost!'' he said, pointing at the mech. Knuckles looked up at it, then at Sonic, nodding as the cobalt hedgehog rolled into a ball and the echidna threw him at the mech. Sonic hit the chest of the mech, bouncing up and landing on its head. As he expected, the holographic screen appeared before him, with Eggman grinning at him.
''You're done for, hedgehog!'' He gleefully pressed a button, but to his surprise, nothing happened. ''Wh- What is going on?!''
Sonic just smirked. ''Looks like Tails took care of the defenses.'' He turned towards his friends below the mech, yelling. ''Everyone! Go for an all-out attack!''
Sonic then leapt, curling into a ball and spin-dashing straight into the mech, causing it to stagger back, but it regained its balance. Eggman gritted his teeth, firing the hands as if they were missiles at the group, but Knuckles and Amy leapt forward, punching and hitting each of the hand and drilling them into the ground, while Silver flew above, using his psychokinesis on the legs of the mech to keep it in place.
Meanwhile, Sonic landed right next to Shadow, grinning at the latter. ''How about we finally finish this?''
''I thought you'd be disappointed that the battle is already over,'' Shadow replied in a teasing tone, him and Sonic both turning towards the mech.
''Oh, I am, but I have a feeling this won't be the last one,'' Sonic responded, both getting into a starting position.
The two hedgehogs then rushed towards the mech at a speed of light, leaving only a blue and a black and orange streak behind, going into a spin-dash through each side of the mech's chest. Each of the hedgehogs landed on the opposite buildings, using the momentum to bounce off them and strike right through the mech in an X pattern in perfect sync before landing on the ground, skidding to halt as they now stood next to each other. The Death Egg Robot exploded into tiny pieces, the holographic projection vanishing as Eggman screamed in pure fury.
''I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!''
Sonic and Shadow were joined by the rest of the team, who were cheering in relief that Eggman was finally defeated. Unknown to them, someone was watching their little celebration, standing high above on one of the buildings.
''Looks like the Doctor overestimated himself,'' Mephiles said. Toshiro's eyes narrowed as he stared down at Team Neos, who quickly scattered as clearly none of them wanted to deal with the clean up. ''Team Neos is quite capable of dealing with robotic threats and the Doctor made them aware of his presence. They will be better prepared next time he launches an attack.''
''I thought that was the point of this whole battle,'' Toshiro said, sounding rather bored. ''In any case, I doubt he'll be doing anything in the next few days, as the entirety of Neos City is on alert.''
''So, are you suggesting we delay our plan?'' Mephiles asked.
''We will strike when it's the perfect moment,'' Toshiro replied, his and Mephiles' gaze having been set on Touka and Shadow during the whole battle. He smirked deviously. ''After all, this is a family matter.''