GeneX Generations
Chapter 12 - Unleashing Chaos
Stage - Egg Carrier, Sky Deck, Station Square - Sonic Adventure
Additional Stage - GUN Warship - GeneX- Tails the Fox
Briefly Revisited Stage - Launch Base Zone - Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
"I don't know what it can be but you drive me crazy!
All your cunning tricks make me sick, you won't have it your own way!
Can't hold on much longer,
But I will never let go!
I know it's a one way track.
Tell me now how long this will last!
I'm not gonna think this way.
Nor will I count on others!
Close my eyes and feel the burn.
Now I see what I gotta do!
Open your heart, and you will see!" - Open Your Heart, Sonic Adventure & Sonic Generations
The story thus far:
As Copter, Tails & Dimentime exit the Dream Temple, they meet up with Sonic, who has discovered a locked door in white space. Expecting to find something important behind it, Sonic set out to find the keys with Tails. Thinking something was fishy about this, Copter and Dimentime decided to check out this door for themselves.
All the while, Dr. Eggman has been plotting something big. He was searching for something at the ancient echidna pyramid. He required Froggy or a Chao's data for something. Now, he is preparing to launch his floating masterpiece, the Egg Carrier, ready to put his plan into action. Do Sonic and Copter stand a chance against what he has in store?
Now, on to the next chapter!
Copter and Dimentime soon found the locked door, a very large and menacing looking portal closely resembling the one that led to the Death Egg. It was situated between the areas they had already visited, and a number of areas still whited out, waiting for them to arrive. They weren't the only ones checking out the door, either. Knuckles the echidna was staring at the locks, his arms crossed grouchily. "Hey there... uh, you... What's up?" Copter asked. Knuckles glanced at them and groaned. "Aw, great... Punchy's friends... I'm in no mood for you jokers, so scram!" he growled. Dimentime glared at him. "You're not on your island anymore, tough guy! You can't boss people around!" he snapped. Knuckles sighed and turned to look at the door again. "Fine, do what you want... I'll just wait here for Sonic to give up and admit he needs me to find those keys! I can't believe he didn't bother to ask me for help! I'm goin' nuts just waiting around with nothing to do!! I wanna see some action, too!!!" he yelled, slamming his fist into the door in frustration, succeeding only in hurting himself a little. "Aaagh... That smarts... Tough door...." he groaned. Suddenly, they all were startled to hear a loud noise coming from somewhere in the distance! Something was shaking up Panic Puppet Zone, a pretty long distance away from them. The giant Robotnik statue in the zone seemed to be opening up, revealing a massive hatch in its belly, and from it, a large ship was flying out! Copter stared and shook his head. "That's kinda nasty when you think about it. A ship just flew out of his stomach." he said. Dimentime rolled his eyes. "Grow up. It's a statue." he pointed out. Knuckles gasped, recognizing the ship. "It's the Egg Carrier! I thought that was destroyed!" he said. Dimentime scratched his head. "That's not the Egg Carrier I remember..." he muttered, recalling a different one from Soleanna. Copter shook his fist at the ship. "Eggman!! Think you can hide from us up there!!? Well... um... You're right." he whimpered. Knuckles chuckled. "Are you kidding? This is my chance to FINALLY beat Sonic to the action! I'm not letting Eggman get away! Come on, we'll 'borrow' a ship or something from Launch Base Zone! There's bound to be some stuff left!" he suggested. Copter scratched his head. "Heck of a jog... And I got tossed like a salad last time I went in there..." he whined. Knuckles grabbed his arm and started running. "Come on, ya big baby!! You're coming! I may need a pilot!!" he insisted! Dimentime chuckled. "He may be disappointed there... I'll try to teleport up ahead of you, guys! Our time may be short! I'd try teleporting us all, but... It could be dangerous. I can't really see my destination." he shouted. "Fine!! See ya!!" Knuckles shouted back.
Copter and Knuckles hurried across white space, past the Dream Temple, Seaside Hill, City Escape, Speed Highway, the door to the Death Egg, Sky Sanctuary, and Ice Cap. Copter swore he could hear constantly changing music coming from somewhere as they ran, but shrugged it off as they neared Launch Base Zone. The base was in a bit of a shambles after the Death Egg had taken off, and as they walked along, Knuckles and Copter could see Slash and Sting still cleaning up some of the mess, currently moving a large, familiar looking broken arm. "Well, good to know those dopes are so busy they'll be staying out of our way from now on..." Copter mumbled. The pair stepped through a gate before Knuckles realized what they were doing, and Knuckles slapped his forehead as an alarm went off and several birdlike robots appeared. "WHY didn't we go around that!?" Knuckles groaned. Copter shrugged and quickly dispatched the robots with a few quick tail whips, then yelped as he nearly fell into a black Orbinaut! Its spiked balls were completely protecting its head, so Copter flew over it while Knuckles jumped and went into a glide. "No time for this!! Let's find some of Eggman's spare ships!!" Knuckles yelled. It didn't take long before they found a number of Egg Mobiles parked near a small depot, not far from where the Death Egg was once "parked." Classic Sonic and Classic Tails was there as well, looking somewhat lost. "Sonic, I don't think those keys are anywhere near here..." Tails realized. "I coulda told you that!!" Knuckles said in a huff, examining one of the Egg Mobiles. He was startled suddenly, as Amy popped her head out from inside! "I can't figure out how to start this dumb thing!!!" she yelled. Knuckles stumbled over, yelling in surprise. "Where'd you come from!?" he yelped. Cream, Cheese and Big peered out from behind another Egg Mobile, chuckling softly at Knuckles. Froggy hopped onto Big's head as well. "He sure gets spooked easy, doesn't he Froggy?" Big said cheerfully. Espio the Chameleon appeared out of nowhere as well, startling Knuckles further. "You need to strengthen your focus, Knuckles." he said, "It was far too easy for me to sneak up on you." Copter glanced around and started to feel himself growing annoyed as well. "Hey, stop picking on the guy! What're you all doing here, anyway!?" he demanded. Classic Tails shrugged. "Looking for keys." he said. Amy giggled. "I was gonna take one of these ships on an air search for Sonic, but young Sonic will do..." she grinned. Classic Sonic gagged, and Cream shook her head. "Oh, boy... Poor Mr. Sonic..." she said. Espio sighed. "I WAS looking for my team, but I found something more intriguing. Perhaps the bat girl would care to explain further..." he said. Knuckles looked around. "Bat... ROUGE!? Where is she?!" he snapped. Rouge dropped down from the sky on top of him, knocking him to the floor before stepping back! "Gotcha, Knucklehead! Espio's right... You're really slipping." she said. Knuckles mumbled incoherently as he rose to his feet, sounding furious. Copter rolled his eyes and got to the point. "What do you know that we don't, lady?" he asked. Rouge opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly, the whole Launch Base started to rumble! A hatch below where the Death Egg used to be began to open up, and just like with the Egg Carrier earlier, another ship began to rise! This one was rising along with a takeoff ramp, so there was still time to board it. To the group's surprise, it was a GUN Warship! "That's it! That's why I'm here!" Rouge shouted. Copter stared at the ship. "Gunner!? Aw, man!! He's working with Eggman again!? I should have known!!" he yelled, immediately taking off for the warship! Knuckles stared in surprise. "C-copter!! What about Eggman!?" he shouted. "Dimentime's got that!! Why don't you go help him?" Copter shouted back. Rouge flew off after Copter. "I work for the President first, and I think he'd be VERY angry with Gunner for working with Eggman!" she said. Classic Sonic, seeing the huge ship, immediately got very excited and sped off towards it! Classic Tails followed him. "Sonic!! Wait!! Th-the keys!! Sooonic!!!" he yelped. Amy hopped out of the Egg Mobile and chased after them. "Wait for me, Sonic!!! Don't leave meeeee!!!" she cried. Knuckles shrugged and hopped in the Egg Mobile, and Espio, Cream and Big each boarded another Egg Mobile. Espio glanced at them. "Are you sure you all can fly these things?" he asked. Big stared blankly. "I flew a plane once... I think..." he said as Froggy tugged his fur tightly. "D-don't worry... How hard can it b-be...?" Cream added, hugging Cheese for good luck. The Egg Mobiles each started up, and though none of them quite flew in a straight path, they all started heading towards the Egg Carrier together.
Dimentime soon teleported successfully onto the front deck of the Egg Carrier, where he found a swarm of bladed Spinner robots waiting to greet him. However, someone was already hard at work shooting the Spinners down one by one! Zipp the hornet was already on the deck! Dimentime ducked to avoid the bouncing blast of the Black Arms laser that Zipp was still using, and fired shots from his magic staff to aid in removing the Spinners. "What are you doing here, you psycho bug?!" he yelled. Zipp glanced at him and frowned. "H-how'd you get UP here!? Aw, never mind. More the merrier! I'm here paving the way for Shadow Arcangel! The ship is just about ready to take off!" he announced. Dimentime looked shocked. The last he knew, the engines were damaged and couldn't be repaired. "How...? What's going on, Zipp?" he asked. Zipp shrugged. "Don't ask me. I'm just here to disable this heap's weapons so we have an easy time taking down Eggman." he said. Suddenly, Eggman's voice rang out around them! "Mua ha ha ha ha! Don't get any ideas you fools! You haven't a clue what you're up against! Here, have a demo... Whew, I almost thought I was going to have another deja vu moment like I had at Lost World and Seaside Hill...." Suddenly, the Egg Carrier began to shift and move, changing its shape and becoming much more difficult to traverse! "Augh, what!? It transformed! Did you see th... Um..." Dimentime started to say. Zipp stared at him. "Shut it, Tails." he grumbled. "Hee hee hee!" Eggman laughed, "I bet you weren't expecting that, were you? There's only one way to get to me, Son... I mean, Coptwo, and that's through the Sky Deck! I'm... going to take five now... I feel like I'm reading a script..." he whined. Dimentime scratched his head. "How is that any different than usual, you cheesy walking cliche?" he said. Zipp growled. "Don't insult the maker of super weapons! He's my HERO!!" he said dreamily. Dimentime rolled his eyes and headed into the Sky Deck first. It appeared to be a huge, largely outdoor deck, loaded with treacherous walkways, giant laser cannons, and of course, robots. Zipp held onto the railing of the first walkway to keep from being blown away by the fierce winds blowing across the deck. "OK, hero status revoked, Eggman..." he growled. "Hey, guys! You finally made it here!" Dimentime and Zipp looked ahead to see a blue haired man in an alligator costume. "GATOR!?!?" Dimentime gasped, having no clue as to what he was doing here. "Shhh, indoor-outdoor voice. I'm trying to enjoy the cool view! Even though most of it is white. What's the deal? This is a cool ship though! Despite its lack of sails!" the strange man said. Zipp looked at Dimentime. "Can I shoot him?" he asked. Dimentime shook his head. "Umm... Why are you... here? And not a statue?" he questioned. Gator shrugged. Dimentime scoffed. "Probably too stupid and that somehow gets him out of it..." he mumbled. Gator looked around. "This place looks like fun! I hereby commandeer this vessel in the name of... um, me!! I'm gonna find a switch to play with the ship's tilt! Byeeee!" he said giddily, running ahead at high speed! Dimentime's eyes went wide at the notion. "Can he do that...?!" he stammered. "Now can I shoot him?" Zipp smirked. They both took off after him, officially beginning their exploration of the Sky Deck in the process.
Classic Sonic led Classic Tails, Copter, Rouge and Amy through the GUN Warship as it took off. The ship was more structured than Eggman's ships, and had many small hallways connecting the larger areas. As they passed one of these halls and reached a bridge going across an outdoor area, they found Gunner and Spy waiting for them on the other side! "Furry freak intruders! Surrender! You are in way over your heads this time! This GUN Warship is far more secure than the last ship I commanded. I had a little help from the good doctor there... He installed something on this ship to be powered by the Chaos Emerald, and there's no way I'll let you freaks take it!" he shouted. Spy tapped him on the shoulder. "Are you sure you should tell them all that?" he asked. Gunner frowned. "They're about to be DEAD!! Who cares!" he snapped. Rouge crossed her arms. "Just wait'll I tell the President what you're doing..." she said. Spy laughed. "We both know that you'll keep your mouth shut in exchange for a few priceless gems!" he said. Copter and Amy glanced at Rouge, who looked back at them defensively. "What!? Don't you DARE judge me! You have no idea what they gave me before..." she babbled. Amy shook her head. "You're pitiful..." Copter sighed. "I knew I didn't like you, bat girl..." Classic Sonic jumped and started moving forward as a number of androids joined Gunner on the bridge. They were androids based on Bucky's experiments, including Punchy, Vortex, Zipp and even Copter. "HEY!! You can't copy me like that!! I'll sue!!" Copter yelled. Gunner smirked. "Enjoy getting killed by yourself..." he said. Just then, several Chaos Spears flew down and blew up several of the androids, startling Gunner and Spy! Looking up, everyone could see Mephiles floating above the bridge! "How convenient! So many of my enemies in one place. I think I'll try bringing this ship down in a fiery crash! Hahahahaha!" he laughed, dropping to the bridge and charging at Gunner, continuing past him as the old man rushed out of the way and crashing through several of the androids! Gunner chased after him, but not before Classic Sonic could run and Rouge could fly in their own pursuit! "Spy! Have Guard keep the freaks lagging behind busy! And send in more robots!!" Gunner shouted. Spy took out a comm. device and relayed the orders. "Guard! We need backup on the bridge!! S.O.S!! Save ol' Spy!!" he cried. Guard flew over to the bridge in seconds, as though he'd been watching nearby all along, and was leading a swarm of GUN Beetles as well! Classic Tails saw this and gulped. "Is... is that a devil!?" he whimpered. Copter growled softly. "Close... It's a flying mutt. Hey, you wanna deal with him, Amy?" he asked. Amy pulled out her hammer. "Outta my way!! I gotta catch up with Sonic!!" she said. The trio started across the bridge, their battle in the GUN Warship now beginning.
Dimentime and Zipp found their way to what appeared to be one of the Egg Carrier's wings, or perhaps it was just a large outdoor platform. It was covered in gun turrets and huge laser blasters, but fortunately, the wind had died down a bit, possibly due to the unique environment of white space, now beginning to have an effect on the ship as it flew. Dimentime and Zipp took cover to avoid the ship's turrets, and then Zipp started glancing around. "Hey... My helmet's picking up Eggman's hover thing... FOUR of 'em?!" he grumbled, tapping his helmet in case it was malfunctioning. The Egg Mobiles piloted by Knuckles, Espio, Cream and Big had managed to arrive, but quickly found trouble as the ship's turrets and blasters began targeting them! "Huh... They must be designed to target organic life forms, therefore piloting the Egg Mobile provides no cover. How does Eggman slip past his own defenses, then?" Dimentime wondered. "He wouldn't go this way." Zipp pointed out. "HELLO!? HELP!? We're gonna get BLOWN UP here!!" Knuckles yelled, swerving his Egg Mobile around like a crazed pinball to evade the shots coming his way. "Cheese, help us!" Cream asked, backing her ship away while Cheese flew ahead, sneaking around the turrets and tackling several of them hard to destroy them! Espio decided to abandon his Egg Mobile and nimbly jumped between the shots coming at him, tossing a handful of shurikens at the turrets, which seemed to strike right where they needed to to cause them to explode! As the shots began to thin out, Dimentime and Zipp joined the fray, shooting with their respective weapons to take enough of the turrets out so the remaining Egg Mobiles could get close enough to the ground for their pilots to bail out of them! Big tumbled onto the Egg Carrier, ending up flat on his back, while Froggy landed safely on his belly. "Owww... My poor tail... At least you're OK, Froggy..." he whined. Cream & Knuckles pulled him to his feet as Cheese rejoined Cream. "Oh, thank you, Cheese!" Cream said, hugging the Chao. Dimentime stared at the group. "Knuckles... Why'd you trade Copter for all these guys? Where's Copter??" he stammered. Knuckles sighed. "It's a long story..." he said. "There'll be time for explanations later..." Espio said, pointing ahead, "We have company." E-2X Alpha, in his upgraded, winged form, was flying towards them, and he wasn't alone. The red Chao, Char was there, as well as a squad of robots including Spinners and newer models of the black Orbinaut from Launch Base Zone, called Unidus. "Hey, there guys! Miss me? Well, Alpha and I are baaaaack!!!" Char giggled. Alpha gasped loudly. "Lookie! I found the frog!! Mission complete! Can I go play Hedgehog Hammer now?" he said crazily. Char chuckled, but Big was not amused. "Not this again! Leave Froggy alone!!" he shouted. "Don't worry, Mr. Big. They won't hurt Froggy this time!" Cream assured him. Char grinned. "All right! Go get those intruders, robots! Chaaaaarge!!" he cheered. Knuckles growled, but smiled. "Finally, this is what I wanted!! Some action!! HERE I COME!!" he yelled, taking off and plowing through the robots in his path. Big followed suit. "Wait for meeee!!" he shouted, apparently feeling safer around Knuckles. However, his girth was knocking more robots in his path to pieces than Knuckles was! Dimentime scratched his head. "Um... I think they've got the robot situation well in hand... Let's move everyone!" he said, leading the way forward. Zipp frowned. "I wanted to do it!!" he whined.
The Egg Carrier and the GUN Warship were both gradually making their way to the locked door in white space. As they flew across the sky, Modern Sonic and Tails happened to be exiting City Escape after finding one of the three keys they needed to open the door. "Sonic! Look up there!" Tails gasped, pointing out the two ships. "The... Egg Carrier!?" Sonic exclaimed. "But who's flying it? Eggman got caught by that monster..." Tails said. Sonic looked at the GUN Warship curiously. "That GUN ship isn't fighting with it. Maybe Gunner's controlling both of them somehow..." he suggested. Suddenly, they felt the ground shake and heard more engines roar as a third ship started to take off as well! Shadow Arcangel was beginning to rise into the air and chase the other two ships! "Whoa! Tails... I think something's goin' down that we weren't invited to..." Sonic realized. Tails held up the two keys they found so far and handed them to Sonic. "You better look for the last key on your own, Sonic. I'll go get the Tornado that my younger self has parked around Sky Sanctuary so we can check this out!" he said. Sonic nodded. "All right, pal! Let's get movin' before those ships get where they're going!" he agreed. Thus, they headed off in different directions.
Inside Shadow Arcangel's control room, Punchy, Rainbow, Razor, Tommy, Illusi and Omega were gathered together, arguing. "I'm not going back to the GUN ship!! Forget it! It was a nightmare... I crashed the Hurricane through the hull, and later the whole ship crashed into the ocean. I don't know how it's even here now!" Punchy complained. "But Dark One, your experience on that ship is exactly why you would be a valuable asset in invading it now! We should go there!" Illusi insisted. "Negative. GUN forces do not interest me. We must take the battle to Eggman! I will have my revenge!" Omega asserted. Razor shook his head. "That Gunner jerk's gone too far this time! I want to see him brought to justice! He is NOT above the law!!" he snapped. Tommy shied away from the arguing. "C-can I just stay on the ship...?" he stammered. Rainbow tapped her foot impatiently. "Hey!! Don't we need to stop BOTH of them!?" she pointed out. The group started arguing louder, riling up the nearby Flickies into chirping angrily. Finally, Bucky, who was piloting the ship, fired a few bolts of electricity over their heads in a fit of aggravation! "SHUT UP!! I'm driving this ship!! We're going where I take us! Idiots..." he grumbled. "Stupid meatbags..." Omega muttered back.
Copter and the others fought their way deeper into the GUN Warship, finding their way to a large hangar of some sort. Guard led some androids ahead to block their progress, but there were only a couple Experiment based androids left. "Grrrr... Call in the backup!" he growled. A squad of Shadow Androids marched in after being called via Spy's comm. device, prompting Copter to growl furiously. "Rrrrrrrr... ENOUGH!! I have HAD it with you, Shadow!! I'll tear you apart!!" he screamed. Guard shook his head. "Grrr... That annoyed him, but that wasn't what I had in mind..." he said, snatching the comm. device while Copter, Amy and Classic Tails began smashing up the androids. After placing a quick call, it wasn't long before the backup Guard desired arrived on the scene, casting a pair of large shadows over the intruders. Tails looked up and whimpered, hiding behind Amy as the large, disc shaped vehicles hovered into their path! The war machines were covered in rocket launchers, and were each piloted by a GUN soldier. Guard smirked as Copter's jaw dropped. "Grrrrr... Say hello to Heavy Dog and Blue Falcon! Grrrr... They'll be 'assisting' me now." Guard said. "Oh, no!! Now what do we do??" Tails yelped. Amy held up her hammer defensively. "Um... I'll get back to you..." she said. Copter clenched his fists and shook his head. "I refuse to give up! You're nothing but a coward, Guard!! And I'm gonna beat you like always!!" As rockets started firing from the GUN mechs and Copter, Amy and Tails started their desperate attempt to approach them, another fight was happening on a bridge overhead, a place overlooking the planes parked in the hanger. Rouge and Classic Sonic were battling with Mephiles, who was changing forms throughout the battle. He blocked Rouge's kicks using the tails from Classic Tails's form. He caught Sonic as he jumped at him using the strength of Punchy's form, and then shot him across the bridge by turning his arm into a cannon shaped like Omega's arm! Sonic tumbled into the distance on the bridge, but quickly started to run back. "You fools are no match for me... I've grown far too powerful! And I'm only going to grow stronger!" Mephiles taunted. Rouge and Sonic attempted to attack him together, only to have him shift into Bucky's form and fly over them, jolting them with electricity as he went! "Aaaahhh!! No fair!!" Rouge groaned, "All right, so you're stealing all this power. What for, anyway!?" she yelled. Mephiles stared at them. "What for!?" he snapped. Just then, Gunner started to come up behind the trio. He was holding an explosive device. "Goodbye, freaks!!!" he hurled the device at the trio, expecting to catch Mephiles, Rouge and Sonic all in the blast, but Mephiles suddenly changed his form to Rainbow! "Did you know this girl has latent abilities locked inside her?" he said, somehow stopping the bomb and turning it back towards Gunner! "What!? Noooooo!!!!" Gunner attempted to avoid the explosion, but it took out the bridge below his feet, causing him to begin to fall as Mephiles cackled hysterically! "Gunner!!" Rouge gasped, looking over the side of the bridge. However, Spy was below him, and heard the explosion. "I got ya, boss!! I got ya!!!" he shouted, only to have Gunner land on top of him, knocking him over! "Ooooff!!! I need a better health plan..." Spy groaned. Gunner nodded shakily. "W-we'll talk l-later... Spy..." he stammered, battered and injured, but alive. Rouge sighed. "Is it weird that I'm relieved?" she asked, glancing at Sonic. He sighed as well and smiled, also relieved. Mephiles scoffed at them, reverting to Shadow's form. "You are weak. You will never win because you haven't the stomach to destroy your enemies..." he said.
Suddenly, an explosion tore open the hangar doors, and to everyone's surprise, Copter's plane, the Hurricane, flew into the hangar, piloted by Punchy! Illusi and Razor were hanging on to the plane's wings as well, and as the plane landed, Copter stared in disbelief. "You mean someone had fixed my plane, and I could have flown it onto the Egg Carrier instead of taking this suicide detour!?" he shouted. Punchy groaned as he hopped out of the plane. "This wasn't my first choice either... but apparently I'm an expert on GUN Warships somehow." he muttered. "You did find exactly where we needed to go somehow, Dark One." Illusi pointed out. Razor stared at Heavy Dog and Blue Falcon in disbelief. "Holy... Gunner's really serious this time... I only brought a pistol with half ammo..." he groaned, "Zipp wouldn't share much." Illusi nodded. "Aim your shots carefully, and leave the rest to us. I'll handle diversions." he said, sending a swarm of Wrongos out to mess with the GUN mechs as much as possible! Amy and Tails grinned at this development. "All right! Let's get 'em!" Amy cheered. "We can do it!" Tails added. They started off focusing their efforts on Heavy Dog, and now that the mech was distracted with the Wrongos, Amy and Tails could get in close and start smashing the rocket launchers on the sides! Tails flew Amy up so she could smack them with her hammer one by one, weakening the mech's offense! Razor quickly emptied his pistol trying to find a weak spot, but noticed the rocket launcher fall from the mech, seemingly intact. He ran over and picked it up, noticing that it might, oddly enough, be usable. "Oooookaaaay... I'll take it!" he said. Punchy found nothing he could use Chaos Avalanche on in the hangar, so instead he ran up to the cockpit of the machine and smashed his fists into it! He smashed through the glass and grabbed the pilot! "Aaaahhh!! Don't kill me!! Nooo!!" The pilot shrieked. "Yeesh, what a baby..." Punchy grumbled, carrying the pilot away. With no pilot, the machine started spinning out of control! "Stand back!" Razor shouted, prompting everyone to move aside. Razor fired several rockets at Heavy Dog, piercing the mech's armor and causing it to begin exploding! Meanwhile, Copter was fighting with Guard, dodging rockets from Blue Falcon the whole time. Guard slashed his scythe at him, firing energy beams for good measure, but Copter kept one step ahead of his blade! Thinking about the problem at hand, Copter flew toward Blue Falcon, luring Guard close to it as well! Their close proximity to the mech made it all the more difficult to dodge both its attacks and each other's, and in his frustration, Guard began to grow careless and strike Blue Falcon with his scythe! He sliced off a rocket launcher, nicked the mech's armor, all while Copter taunted him. "Hey, clumsy, are you fighting me or the mech!?" Guard growled loudly and chased Copter towards the cockpit, thrusting his scythe towards him, only to smash it through the glass and strike the control panel, narrowly missing the pilot! "Whups! Gunner's gonna write you up for that!" Copter teased. "You fool! Look what you've done!" The pilot yelled as the control panel sparked and the mech began to go out of control! Guard, groaning in defeat, grabbed the pilot from the mech and flew off as Copter flew away from the mech as well. In a moment, Razor fired a few more rockets to destroy Blue Falcon as well! With the machines and androids out of commission, Gunner and his remaining allies were forced to retreat deeper into the ship. "You'll pay for this, Guard!!" he shouted, having somewhat recovered from his fall. Copter started to run ahead, motioning to the others to follow him. "Come on! Let's go get the Chaos Emerald!" he suggested. Punchy's eyes went wide. "Chaos Emerald?! Oh, of course! All right, I'll lead the way! I know exactly where it is!" he said. Suddenly, Mephiles knocked Sonic and Rouge backward with a Chaos Blast and jumped down from the balcony. "Not so fast! I'll be taking that Chaos Emerald! If you fools don't want to be caught in the crash, I suggest you take that plane off the ship now! Ha ha ha... Of course, I realize that's out of the question for you, meddlers... So enjoy your deaths!" he laughed, heading off to search for the emerald! "Well?! What are we standing around for! Hurry!!" Illusi shouted.
On the Egg Carrier, Dimentime, Knuckles, Zipp, Cream, Big and Espio had nearly reached the end of the Sky Deck. Though they were still on the exterior of the ship, they were on more of a secure area, which appeared more like a room lacking a roof. On a high ledge towards the back was Gator, and he had discovered a big lever. "Ooooooh.... Joystick...." he said reverently. Below, the group soon felt the ship shake suddenly. "What was that??" Cream wondered. Knuckles looked around with wide eyes. "Tilt lever..." he whimpered. Zipp smacked his forehead. "There actually IS one!? That creep in the gator suit's gonna kill us all!!!" he groaned. Espio pointed to some metal bars ahead, which looked like ladders attached to the floor in an odd position. "Get over there, quick!" They hurried towards the bars as the ship began to tilt sharply, flipping dramatically to the point where they might fall! Big, Espio and Knuckles quickly grabbed on to the bars, while Dimentime started spinning his tails to fly, grabbing Cream's hand as she began to fall! "Yikes!! That was close!!" she gasped. He flew her to the bars, and they both grabbed on, but Zipp and Cheese continued flying in the air beside them. "This is NOT good... We've got company!" Zipp shouted. Char and Alpha were catching up to them after having been left behind earlier, and Alpha began shooting at them as they dangled from the bars! However, the ship started altering its tilt, messing with Alpha's shot and tossing the group around, though they kept hanging on! "GATOR!! I'll KILL you!!!" Dimentime shouted. Big groaned groggily. "I don't feel good..." he said as Froggy hopped off his head onto the bars, looking for safe ground. "All right, Alpha! I think we've got 'em cornered! Let's toss them in the jail!" Char grinned. Alpha spun his head around. "I smells a UFO!!" he said. Char scratched his head. "Huh??" he muttered. Suddenly, several explosives came hurtling towards Alpha, forcing him to fly out of the way quickly, along with Char! Omega was flying onto the scene, carrying Rainbow on his back! "We're here to help, guys! Hey, why's the ship all crooked?" she wondered. "Irrelevant! Must eradicate all Eggman's robots!" Omega yelled. A swarm of Spinners and Unidus were arriving to aid Char & Alpha at this point. "Hey, bro! Let's play laser tag! Oooh! Or Paint ball! Wheeee!" Alpha grinned. The ship's tilt was beginning to right itself now, and Dimentime turned to Espio. "Keep the bots occupied... I've got to stop Eggman!" he said. Espio nodded. "You can count on us." he said. Dimentime raised his staff and used it to teleport ahead, landing relatively close to Gator, who was clinging to the tilt lever nervously. "I almost fell, mommy..." he murmured. "Let go of the lever, idiot!!" Dimentime said, pulling him away from it and quickly centering the lever before moving on. Gator began to follow him. "Wait up! I almost died! I need a hug!!" he whined.
Dimentime & Gator quickly reached the ship's control room, which had been remodeled and expanded from the original Egg Carrier's. Inside, two men were seated. "Eggman! I'm here to put a stop to... Whatever nonsense this is!" Dimentime shouted. Gator nodded. "And I'm here to take command of this awesome ship!" he said. One of the chairs began to turn around, and Dimentime's eyes went wide as he saw the younger Dr. Ivo Robotnik standing before him once again, perfectly fine, despite having seemingly been captured by the monster some time ago! "How bold of you, barging in here, expecting to capture my... OUR Egg Carrier!" he said. Dimentime backed away in shock, and an electric barrier emerged to bar his way to Dr. Robotnik! "You!? I should have known! I mean... Eggman turning up... You couldn't have been captured, then!" he realized. Robotnik chuckled. "Sharp, aren't you? Not sharp enough, though." he sneered. The other chair turned around, revealing the present day Dr. Eggman. "Yes, Coptwo! We've been on the same team from the get go! I allowed my younger self to try the Death Egg scheme as a testing ground for something we're tinkering with together, and now we're ready for the next big test! Sit back and watch the fireworks!" he said, turning to the controls and pressing some buttons. "Now allow me to call in our little friend... The Time Eater!" Outside, a satellite dish mounted atop the Egg Carrier began to send out a signal, and in response to the signal, a portal opened up in the sky! From it, the monster emerged, which Eggman had referred to as the Time Eater! Aboard the GUN Warship, Copter, Classic Sonic and the others were attempting to reach the Chaos Emerald, but an announcement from Gunner played over the PA system. "Too late, Furry Freaks!! Ivo's plan has come full circle! Ha ha ha ha!!" As the ship began to shake, Classic Tails looked worried. "I'm not sure, but I think it might be a good idea to get off!" he suggested. "Go if you want. Take my plane in the hangar." Copter suggested, "I'll get the Chaos Emerald!" Outside, the GUN Warship fired a beam of blue Chaos energy at the Time Eater, filling it with power! Shadow Arcangel began to fly towards the Time Eater in a last ditch effort to stop Eggman's plan. "Kid... I suggest you find a closet or a table to hide under or something... We don't have seat belts!!" Bucky said as Tommy scrambled for cover and the Flickies flew around in a panic. Bucky was attempting to ram Shadow Arcangel into the Time Eater, but the creature simply swatted the ship aside, sending it spinning out of control! Eggman and Robotnik cackled from their control room. "No one can stop the Eggman Empire now!!" Eggman bellowed. Robotnik scratched his head. "Eggman Empire...? Say... That sounds pretty good, actually. Everyone was calling me Eggman, and I was finding it a bit annoying. But it's starting to grow on me. Perhaps it's time I embraced the future!" Robotnik grinned. Outside, with the Eggmen controlling it, the Time Eater unleashed a strange energy on the locked door, making it larger and causing it to truly match the door to the Death Egg in appearance, having previously been "incomplete." The Time Eater then created a trio of portals, vanishing into one of them while the Egg Carrier and the GUN Warship started to fly towards the others! Dimentime gasped upon seeing the ship heading for the portal. "Better get going, unless you'd like to be my prisoner!" Eggman smirked. "I hope your friends on the deck enjoy the trip through the portal... White is definitely their color!" Robotnik said ominously. Dimentime hurried out of the control room. "I don't even want your ship! It smells like your socks!" Gator said, sticking out his tongue as he fled the control room as well. At the Sky Deck, Char hastily left the group to find an entry to the interior of the ship. "Bye, guys! See ya later!" he said. Seeing the frightening looking portal fast approaching them, the group began to scramble for any means of escaping the ship! Rainbow hopped back on Omega's back. "Mush, Mega!" she shouted. "I can only hover, not fly, foolish echidna." he growled. Dimentime and Gator teleported in, looking panicked. "If we're caught on the deck going through the portal, we'll be turned into statues!! We gotta get off!!" Dimentime shouted. Fleeing as quick as they could, they soon found the Egg Mobiles they'd left on the ship ahead of them! However, the ship was already passing through the portal! Worse, there weren't enough Egg Mobiles for all of them! However, much to their surprise, the Tornado suddenly flew onto the deck, piloted by Modern Tails! "I think I'm a bit late, but anyone need a ride?" he asked. Rainbow & Dimentime quickly hopped on to the plane's wings. "Get us outta here!!" Dimentime yelled. The others hopped into their Egg Mobiles from before. "Let's go!! Let's goooo!!" Knuckles shouted in a panic as Gator leapt into his Egg Mobile. "Hey!! No hitch-hikers!!" he growled. "My ship!" Gator insisted. As the Egg Mobiles took off, Zipp and Omega jumped off the ship on their own, Zipp using his wings and Omega hovering as much as he could. They had made it off just in time to avoid being caught by the portal! Meanwhile, the group on the GUN Warship had also unanimously decided to bail upon realizing they were headed for a mysterious portal, but Classic Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Illusi had a lead on the rest of them. "How did I let you talk me into staying to show you the way to the emerald!?" Punchy growled at Copter. "Hush, let's just get outta here!" Rouge said. They made their way to the hangar, but found the Hurricane already gone! "Huh?! Wha!? SONIC!!! You dare not to wait for me!!?? That was MY plane!!" Copter shouted. "YOU told him he could take it." Razor pointed out. "Use the remote!!" Punchy suggested. "I can't recall them now! They might get sucked into the portal with us, and... We don't all fit in the Hurricane anyway... Let's find another plane!" Copter suggested. Oddly, though, the hangar was barren of planes. "Maybe we better find cover from the hole in the doors... In case the swirling vortex we're heading for is dangerous!" Rouge suggested. "R-right... This way!!" Razor shouted, leading everyone back into the ship! Mephiles observed them from the shadows. "Before I could get the emerald, too… No matter. But I have no interest in seeing what’s behind that portal…" So, he created his own portal and escaped into it before the warship passed through.
Having escaped the Egg Carrier and the GUN Warship, the groups were now assembling at the door that the Time Eater had manipulated moments ago. Classic Sonic knocked on the door a couple times, and tried to open it, but had no luck. "It's still locked..." Classic Tails pointed out. Amy raised an eyebrow. "Well, that seems pointless then. Why go to all that trouble if no one can get in?" she said. Classic Sonic then noticed Shadow Arcangel. It had crash landed up ahead, in the middle of an area of white space they hadn't explored yet. Sensing he may be needed, Classic Sonic rushed in the direction of the crashed ship! Classic Tails hurried after him. "I guess we're checking out that crash! Later, guys!" he said. Everyone else stuck around the door, wondering what to do about Copter and the others trapped aboard the GUN Warship, until Modern Sonic arrived. He was carrying the three keys with him. "What's up, guys? Having some sort of party or somethin? Oh, wait... tried that already..." he said. "And it stunk!" Gator added. Sonic shrugged and quickly unlocked the door, peering inside. "I'll be checking this out if anyone needs me..." he said, rushing inside without another word. Zipp scoffed. "Some nerve! We did all the work and HE gets to check it out!?" he growled. "What do you mean? He found the keys." Amy said. "It sure FEELS like we did all the work..." Knuckles grumbled. Dimentime rolled his eyes and started through the door. "You idiots! What EXACTLY is stopping us from following him in, anyway?" he asked. Amy's eyes went wide and she sped past Dimentime. "Sonic, here I come!!" she yelled. Tails and Knuckles followed behind her. "Amy, be careful!" Tails shouted. Then Dimentime, Big, Omega, Rainbow and Gator went through the door as well. Cream and Illusi glanced at Zipp. "I thought you wanted to go in." Cream said. Zipp frowned. "Are you kidding!? It's a TRAP! Besides, I gotta go check in with Bucky. Later!" he said, flying off. Illusi glanced at Cream. "Don't worry... I'm sure they'll be all right... I think..." he said. Cream hugged Cheese. "I hope so..." she murmured. Espio sighed. "Only fools walk into an obvious trap, though." he said. Illusi growled. "You killjoy..."
The group that entered the door found themselves walking amidst a ruined city. They were stepping atop the floating debris, the city having been flooded. "...Station Square...?" Knuckles mumbled, recognizing the scene before them. Rainbow gasped loudly. "Not AGAIN!! It took ages to dry out my clothes and sheets after the last flood!! Stupid Tubby!" she growled, prompting everyone to stare at her. "I... think this IS the last flood..." Tails pointed out. Dimentime sighed. "This explains a lot about the state of the city when I first visited it..." he said. A distance ahead of them, Sonic was jumping down from a rooftop to a lower platform and glancing ahead, noticing some activity in the water. Something enormous was rising out of the water, letting out a furious roar! Everyone looked over at it in shock, seeing dozens of tentacles surrounding a gigantic sea serpent with huge jaws lined with jagged teeth, though the entirety of the creature appeared to be made of water. It was Perfect Chaos! Gator yelped and backed away. "That is one big, ugly croc..." he grumbled. Big held on to Froggy nervously. "Not that thing again..." he whimpered. "It can't be! It's Chaos!!" Tails shouted. Rainbow sighed. "I hate that monster..." she said. Sonic stared up at Perfect Chaos and chuckled somewhat nervously. "And me without all seven Chaos Emeralds... Well, what's a hedgehog to do? I guess I'll just have to give it my best shot! Bring it on, Chaos!" he said, running off to take on the monster. Dimentime watched him in disbelief. "I said it before and I'll say it again... He's nuts!" he stammered. Amy grabbed him and shook him angrily in response. "HEY! That's my Sonic you're talking about!!" she shouted. Suddenly, Omega pointed out something overhead in another direction. "Eggman detected..." A safe distance away from Perfect Chaos was the Egg Carrier, and the GUN Warship as well! The two ships had flown in through the portals in order to observe Sonic's battle! "One and Two are up there!" Rainbow realized, pointing to the GUN Warship. "Let's get as close as we can and check it out!" Knuckles suggested, "There's not much we can do about Chaos!" So, they all began making their way towards the two ships, carefully traversing the ruined city. "I say this plan's all wet..." Gator muttered. Meanwhile, aboard the GUN Warship, Punchy had finally led the group to the engine room, where the Chaos Emerald was held on the last ship he'd infiltrated. Sure enough, a blue Chaos Emerald was fitted in a power terminal here as well. Copter ran ahead and quickly pulled the emerald out, immediately setting off an alarm! "Geez, you'd think cutting off the power would keep the alarm from going off. Well, let's get outta here, guys!" he said. "Oh, there's SOME backup power... But you're right, without the Chaos Emerald, this ship will fall into the ruins of Station Square below us!" Copter was startled as a hidden door slid open, revealing Gunner and Spy, as well as a massive mech that somewhat resembled the Diablon. The machine flew at Copter and fired several lasers at him, forcing him to scramble out of the way as quickly as he could! "Gaaaah!! What!? Station Square...??" Copter muttered. "Never mind, freak. You won't live long enough for explanations to matter. The Diablotron is about to tear you limb from limb!!" Gunner snarled. Rouge called out to Copter. "We got the emerald! Let's go!! There's no time to mess around with that thing!!" she shouted. "I'm inclined to agree!" Punchy added. Copter nodded. "Enjoy the crash, Gunner!" he said, running off with the others. Gunner was taken aback. "D-don't you DARE turn your backs on me, furry freaks!! FIGHT ME, YOU COWARDS!!!" he roared, controlling the Diablotron via remote to send it after them!
As the group below approached the two ships, the Egg Carrier began turning to face them. "Those fools dare to approach us!? It's high time they learned to fear the Eggman Empire!!" Eggman sneered as the front of the Egg Carrier opened up, revealing a massive laser cannon! Tails looked up at it and started to sweat. "N-no... He wouldn't!!" he stammered. "Wouldn't what...?" Amy asked. "TAKE COVER!!" Tails shouted, leading everyone behind the nearest wall they could get behind! In a moment, the Egg Carrier's giant laser fired down in their direction, splashing across the water and impacting the wall, leaving a large hole in it! "Waaaah!! That was close!!" Big gasped. "T-tubby's gonna fire again!!" Rainbow yelled, pointing at the Egg Carrier. "Retreat or be terminated!!" Omega shouted as everyone scrambled to find more cover! However, as they sought out the nearest wall sticking out of the water, one of Chaos's tentacles snapped across the area and knocked the wall over, destroying their best chance at avoiding the laser! "Aww, come on!! We weren't even bothering you, monster!!" Gator groaned. The laser impacted the water near the group, creating a huge splash that sent everyone flying backwards a little! Eggman and Robotnik laughed victoriously from their control room. "There's no escape, you little pests!" Robotnik sneered. "You should have known to fear my Egg Carrier!" Eggman growled. Aboard the GUN Warship, Copter and the others were seeking a way to escape, all while evading the Diablotron's lasers and rockets! To their dismay, they ended up wandering up to the bridge of the warship, a large control room with huge windows surrounding it to allow the captain to see most of the way around. Unfortunately, this room was a dead end! They jumped down from the elevated captain's platform they entered at and landed at the control area, but the Diablotron was right behind them! Razor gazed out the window at Perfect Chaos below them. "No way... I was on duty the last time that thing smashed Station Square! It ruined my old motorcycle!" he shouted. "You're a motorcycle cop?" Rouge asked. "Sometimes..." Razor replied. Punchy ran to the window while Copter was keeping the Diablotron busy. He looked from the Egg Carrier to the direction its laser was firing. "W-what!? Eggman's shooting at our friends... and Knuckles... with a superlaser!! We gotta do something or they'll be toast real quick!!" he shouted. Copter flew against the window as the Diablotron unleashed its anti-matter cannon, a destructive force that covered the whole area, stopping just short of the control mechanisms! "Wheeew... GUYS, can't you see WE'RE in a bit of trouble ourselves!?" he shouted. Gunner and Spy were standing at the captain's platform now, and Gunner was better able to control the Diablotron. "Stay at the window, freaks! I'll hurl you through it!" he shouted. Copter flew up, hoping to get the drop on the Diablotron, but the mech was also flight capable, and it flew after him, smacking at him with its giant arms! Rouge rolled her eyes and flew towards the Diablotron as well. "All right!! I'll help!" she yelled. While they were fighting the mech, Razor looked over the controls of the GUN Warship. "What the heck? This ship's crashing anyway, and things are looking grim for us. We might as well go down saving the others..." he said. Punchy stared at him and gasped as Razor grabbed the controls. "What in the heck are you doing!?" he shouted. "Improvising! Why don't you try to think of how we're gonna get off this heap while you cover me!" Razor suggested. Copter and Rouge each made several attempts to strike the Diablotron, but it would simply raise a shield and block them before countering with lasers and rockets! Frustrated, Copter turned to Razor. "Hey! We don't have enough thrust to ram the Egg Carrier, if that's what you're thinking! I have a better idea!" he shouted. Gunner was unable to really make out what Copter was saying from his perch, and he scratched his head. "Spy, what are they plotting?" he asked. Spy shrugged. "Surrender maybe?" As the Egg Carrier pointed its laser at the helpless group below once again, they found themselves powerless to get away this time. "This is it!!!" Tails whimpered. "DO SOMETHING!! Teleport us!!" Knuckles shouted at Dimentime. "What, ALL of us? I can't. Who am I to choose who lives and who dies!?" he whined. "Wow, you can teleport?" Gator said in amazement. As the laser was charging, however, the GUN Warship suddenly moved into its path! As it fired, the laser crashed through the windows of the control room! Copter and Rouge scattered away from the Diablotron as the laser disintegrated it, continuing trough and tearing deeper into the warship until an explosion resulted! It wasn't enough to obliterate the GUN Warship outright, but the ship was no longer keeping itself aloft much, and was falling much faster! As it began to fall, Perfect Chaos emerged nearby and grabbed the ship in one of its tentacles, which wrapped through the control room, nearly flattening Copter as he was making his way back to Punchy and Razor! "Yaaaah!! What's going on!? Is that thing gonna try to eat us like a can of sardines!?" Copter yelled. Spy shrieked like a little girl, his legs getting wobbly. "We're all gonna diiiiie!!" he whined. Gunner slapped him as Guard joined them on the captain's platform. "Grrrr... Uhhh... O-orders, sir...?" Guard stammered, even he becoming nervous in the presence of Perfect Chaos. "What do you THINK, idiot!? Get us out of here!!!" Gunner yelled, hiding his own panic as best he could. Guard grabbed Gunner and Spy and flew them out through the hole in the roof, heading for the nearby Egg Carrier. Copter and Rouge landed near Punchy and Razor, and the four of them stared in terror at the tentacle holding the ship. "OK, what do we do?!" Rouge asked. "I thought YOU knew! You're the government agent!" Copter whimpered. Suddenly, the tentacle began squirming around! It snapped across the control room, forcing everyone to either duck or jump it if they could, which Punchy failed to do and was knocked through the window! "Blaaargh! Remember me as an individual!!!" he shouted, only to have his arm grabbed by Rouge! "I will not! You are a total clone, and that's that!" she grunted. The tentacle released its grip on the ship, and Perfect Chaos sunk into the water, apparently seeking out Sonic once again. Now, the GUN Warship was falling rapidly. "Uh, guys... I think we gotta trust the water to cushion our landing... We gotta jump!" Razor shouted. Rouge pulled Punchy in and laughed. "YOU gotta jump. I'm gonna fly. Later." she said, blowing a kiss to no one before flying off and saving herself alone. The warship was rapidly falling, and they had to move fast. "All right... Now we die... Geronimo!!" Copter yelled as the three of them ran out the window and leapt as far from the ship as they could, plummeting into the water below! They'd escaped the warship, but now they had to survive the onslaught of the Egg Carrier and Perfect Chaos!
As the Eggmen waited for the GUN Warship to fall out of their laser's blast range, Sonic managed to strike Perfect Chaos on its apparent "brain" once again, enraging the beast. Despite not having the seven Chaos Emeralds, Sonic had picked up enough tricks in recent years to enable himself to stand a fighting chance now. In his rage, Chaos began summoning massive geysers throughout the city, many of them lifting up chunks of street or walls with them, which were carrying several of Sonic's friends up into a precarious and dangerous position! "Warning!! Ground unstable!!" Omega shouted. "Gee, YA THINK!?" Knuckles yelled from the separate platform he and Dimentime were trapped on. "The important thing is, I'm still safe!!" Gator shouted from a solid platform a fair distance away. "Sure! The immortal gets out of it somehow!!" Dimentime groaned. "Bluehair is NOT immoral... He's just a little immature." Rainbow said from yet another platform, which she was sharing with Amy and Tails. Big held on to his own platform tightly. "Careful, Froggy... The storm is getting scary!!" he cried. A distance away, Copter, Punchy and Razor were catching their breath on their own platform, and caught sight of a gigantic geyser shooting up from underneath the Egg Carrier! It hit the ship hard, knocking it into a devastating spin! "Nooooo!! Not AGAIN!! Chaos, you traitor!!" Eggman yelled. "Wait... This happened before?" Robotnik mumbled. In a moment, the two Eggmen were escaping via a pair of Egg Mobiles, along with Gunner and Spy, while Guard flew beside them. As the Egg Carrier crashed into the water in a heap, Copter, Punchy and Razor grinned at each other and exchanged fist bumps. "There IS justice, after all!" Copter smirked. "I keep saying that, but no one listens." Razor replied. With Eggman out of the picture, everyone started jumping from platform to platform along the geysers, struggling to get to safe ground! Rouge flew over to where Knuckles was and smirked at him. "Need a hand?" she teased. "NOT NOW, BAT GIRL!!" Knuckles yelled. "Either save us or scram!!" Amy shouted from her platform. Luckily, the struggle wouldn't last much longer. Sonic soon managed to launch himself high into the air with a spring, and struck Chaos's brain once more, sending the creature screeching back into the water for the final time! The geysers all began to stop, dropping everyone safely back down, though many of them found themselves swimming. Sonic managed to jump himself to solid ground, and as he took a moment to survey his surroundings, he spotted something floating in the water. It was the blue Chaos Emerald, which Copter had dropped upon landing in the water earlier! "Sweet! This was totally worth it!" he chuckled, fishing the emerald out of the water.
Sonic made sure everyone else got out through the door before himself, having noticed they were around during his fight with Perfect Chaos. As Sonic was finally exiting the door himself, he found Modern Tails had reunited with Classic Sonic & Classic Tails. "You've brought back quite a bit of this world." Classic Tails was saying to the younger Sonic as he was walking backwards towards the door. Noticing Modern Sonic, he turned around and hi-fived him. "You're doing great, Sonic!" he said. "You mean, 'you're doing great, Sonics.'" Modern Tails corrected, glancing at both Sonics. "Right, I may never get used to that." Classic Tails replied, scratching his head. He then gasped with surprise as white space appeared to shake, and the Time Eater once again emerged from a portal! "Watch out!" Modern Sonic shouted as they all ducked away from the Time Eater! The monster swooped away from them and soared towards a Chaos Emerald floating in the air, which appeared to have been frozen much like everything else! However, as the Time Eater attempted to grab it, the emerald repelled it, and it roared angrily before vanishing into another portal without the emerald! "That monster sure didn't like that emerald!" Classic Tails observed. Modern Tails sighed with relief at the monster's absence, and looked thoughtful. "Those things have come in handy in the past. We've already got a couple, but..." Both Tailses pointed at each other and spoke at once. "We need that emerald!" Classic Tails turned to the Sonics. "Sonic, you should go over there and check it out! I bet you can bring that Chaos Emerald back, just like you brought back our friends!" he suggested. "And I bet you double we're going to need all seven emeralds." Modern Tails added. Classic Sonic smiled and pointed at Modern Sonic, who returned the smile and gave him a thumbs up. They started to leave, but Classic Tails looked slightly concerned. "You guys have your work cut out for you!" he said. The Sonics turned around, grinning. "An adventure's no fun if it's too easy." Modern Sonic said, giving Classic Sonic a fist bump. With that, the four of them set out into the next area, having a Chaos Emerald and a few more places to return to color. Everyone else was assembled a distance away, resting after the danger at Station Square. Cream, Cheese and Illusi were still there as well, but Espio had left to resume his search for Charmy and Vector. Copter glared at Sonic as he left, knowing he had taken the Chaos Emerald. "That... emerald... was... MINE." he growled. Dimentime put a hand on his shoulder. "Let it go. You have a tailband, and it's arguably better." he pointed out. Copter glanced at him. "I really got to stop forgetting I'm wearing this thing... It really would have come in handy recently." he mumbled. While everyone else was chatting and resting, their attention was soon caught by the sudden arrival of SPOT, the robotic dog built by Tails, which Gunner had damaged before fleeing into the city a while ago! SPOT had been repaired, much like the Hurricane and Shadow Arcangel, and was beeping loudly so as to get everyone's attention as it approached! "Aaaargh!! What the!?" Punchy snapped. "Hey, it's the doggy who took a bullet for Mr. Tails..." Cream said. "What's it want?" Rouge wondered. Copter glanced at its screen. "Huh!? What in the..." he stammered, reading the text on SPOT's monitor: "Dr. Buck Stein hereby calls a truce and invites all available prisoners trapped in this white world to come to his HQ at Shadow Arcangel, RE: the recent events regarding Dr. Eggman and the 'monster,' and our next move. Snacks and beverages appreciated. Regards- Bucky."
To be continued...
