Day 82

[from Sonic the Hedgehog Returns]

Dr. Julius Robotnik had a villainous grin on his face as he entered the Death Egg's control room. So far, everything had gone precisely according to plan. He'd deliberately leaked the information about the top-secret plans as bait for the Freedom Fighters. Had they failed to steal it, no harm done. Had Snively defeated them, he would have been free of them once and for all. As it happened, they'd escaped with the plans, but even that was no big deal. Now they knew what was coming for them, and they knew there was no way they could stop it. With their morale supposedly crushed, now was the time to strike.

Snively was already in the control room, poring over the monitors. As Robotnik entered, he turned round to face him. "Good afternoon, your excellency," he said. "The Death Egg's completion is on schedule; we should be ready to lift off in a matter of days."

"We're moving the schedule forward," said Robotnik. "Are the Death Egg's propulsion and weapons systems online?"

"Yes," said Snively, "but-"

"Good," interrupted Robotnik, not caring for the objections of his subordinate. He swept an arm dramatically, pointing at the controls. "Launch the Death Egg! Set a course for the Great Forest!"

"But your rotundness," objected Snively, "the Death Egg's outer shell isn't quite complete yet! The Freedom Fighters could-"

"Could what?" snarled Robotnik. "Fly up forty thousand feet in the air, through an army of Buzz Bombers, get inside, defeat our prototype guarding the engine room, and shut it down? Hah! There's no way they'll ever even get up here! Now launch the Death Egg! We're going to wipe the Great Forest off the face of Mobius, and those pesky Freedom Fighters with it!"

Snively knew there was no point in objecting further. There was nothing he could do to stop Robotnik from launching the Death Egg, even if doing so seemed like a big mistake to them. "As you wish, your majesty," he said. "Preparing launch sequence."

As Snively set about preparing for launch, Robotnik settled down in his command chair, steepling his fingers and peering expectantly at the monitors. "Let's see what this new power source is capable of."

***

Meanwhile, Tails was piloting his plane high above the factories of Robotropolis, trying to look for any trace of the Death Egg. This city had formerly been known as Mobotropolis, and had been the capital of the Kingdom of Acorn that had peacefully ruled over the planet. Then Robotnik had taken over, and everything had changed. The beautiful green city had been replaced by a haze of smog and pollution, with SWATbot factories on every street corner, mobile vans that roboticized anyone they encountered, and fifty-foot statues of Robotnik adorning almost every open space. It was truly a grotesque sight to behold, though to Tails, who had never seen the splendour of the old capital, the city had simply always been this way.

Sally's voice came through the headset once more. "Any sign of the Death Egg yet, Tails?" she asked.

"Not yet, Miss Sally," said Tails. "I'll keep looki- wait, what's that sound?"

A low rumbling sound was audible in the distance, and the ground beneath the plane seemed to be shaking a little. Tails followed the sound, looking to the right, and saw the one thing he had not wanted to see: the Death Egg's spherical form slowly rising from the ground in the distance, the steel behemoth suddenly dominating the skyline. Its profile had been obscured by a plethora of tall buildings and cranes, some of which promptly toppled over and crumbled as the machine rose higher and higher.

"Tails, what's going on?" asked Sally. "What's happening?"

In his shock, it took the young fox a moment or two to find his voice. "Uhh… well, the good news is, I found the Death Egg," he said nervously.

"And the bad news?" said Sally warily.

"It's launching…" said Tails, the fear evident in his voice.

***

Sonic, Sally and Rotor were gathered round a monitor, tracking Tails' progress via radar, as well as the plane's diagnostics. With those two words, the mood in the room changed dramatically. Sally and Rotor both looked fearful and shocked, while Sonic leapt forward and grabbed the microphone, his expression suddenly serious. "Tails, get outta there now!" he said.

"Will do," came the reply.

"Rotor, bring up your aerial recon satellites and start tracking it," said Sally. "If that thing gets too close to Knothole, we'll have to evacuate."

"Not gonna happen, Sal," said Sonic confidently. "We're gonna knock that thing out of the sky before it reaches the Great Forest."

"How?" asked Sally. "How will you even get up there to shut it down?"

"Do I even have to say it?" asked Sonic, as though the answer was obvious. "I'll use-"

***

"A plane?!" said Robotnik incredulously, as the craft appeared on the Death Egg's surveillance monitors. "Since when did those blasted Freedom Fighters have a plane?!"

"Shall we open fire on it, sir?" asked Snively.

"No, Snively," said Robotnik sarcastically, "I want you to invite it inside for tea and muffins." He angrily slammed his fist down on the control panel. "BLAST IT OUT OF THE SKY!"

"At once, your sphericalness," said Snively.

The Death Egg, and the Buzz Bombers escorting it, opened fire, and Tails was left frantically trying to dodge a hail of laser fire. Almost losing control, the plane was pitched into several barrel rolls before Tails managed to recover control, shaking his head to clear his dizziness before opening the throttle as far as it would go, accelerating away.

Robotnik was undaunted. "Ready… fire the Egg Cannon!" he declared.

Snively pressed a large red button on the control panel, and the Death Egg's giant metallic eyes began to light up with a powerful green glow as the laser charged up. Tails noticed the glow and started to panic. "Uh-oh."

Tails banked hard to the left, and a second later the Egg Cannon fired, an enormous green laser pulse blasting from between its eyes. It barely missed the plane, instead evaporating a good several blocks of Robotropolis. Firepower that immense could wipe out the Great Forest in no time at all. Immensely relieved to have dodged the beam, Tails continued to make his escape.

***

"He's out of weapon range now, sir," said Snively, "and it'll take a while for the cannon to charge back up again. Shall we pursue him?"

"Certainly," said Robotnik. "After all, I can only imagine that he's headed back to Knothole now. All we have to do is follow him, and he'll lead us straight to the Freedom Fighters."

"Very good, sir," said Snively. "The plane's travelling too fast for us to catch up with it, but I'm going to track it using our satellites. We'll be able to follow the path it takes, straight to Knothole."

"Excellent," said Robotnik, settling back in his chair. "How long until we arrive?"

"At our current speed, we should be at the Great Forest in about three hours," said Snively. "The Egg Cannon will be charged by then, and ready to destroy Knothole once and for all.

"Excellent," said Robotnik. "I've waited long enough to destroy those Freedom Fighters; I can wait a few more hours." And so he steepled his fingers, and waited.