Tails was still circling the Death Egg in the Tornado,
waiting for Sonic to get in touch, and so he was quick to spot the escape pods
being launched from the falling station. "Robotnik's got to be in one of
those," he noted. "If I can shoot it down…" This train of
thought was quickly derailed when Tails noticed a squadron of Buzzbombers approaching
at close range. "Never mind that," he said, "I'll have to just
concentrate on not getting shot down myself! Sonic needs me!"
Banking the place round, Tails began to engage the
Buzzbombers, shooting them down with the plane's machine guns while
simultaneously avoiding their hail of laser fire. I need to win this, he thought. I
can't let Sonic down. Oh, Sonic… I hope you're okay…
***
Meanwhile, Metal Sonic Mk.I was continuing to chase the
real Sonic through the corridors of the falling Death Egg, occasionally firing
volleys of lasers in the hedgehog's direction. Every single one missed. Sonic
turned to face the machine, taunting it while running backwards. "Man,
even when they're based on me, Buttnik's machines are useless!" he
quipped. "Ya can't catch me, and ya couldn't hit the broad side of a b-
WAAAAAAAAH!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the machine scored
an almost direct hit, catching Sonic off-balance and sending him tumbling down
the corridor. When he finally came to a stop, sprawled across the metal
walkway, Sonic let out a groan and almost immediately started to pick himself
up. In the meantime, Metal Sonic Mk.I had come to a halt and was preparing
another Spin Dash.
"I had to open my mouth," muttered Sonic as he
straightened back up again. "Well, come on then, ya big bag o'
bolts," he said, "give it your best shot!"
The robotic duplicate unleashed its Spin Dash, tearing
down the corridor towards Sonic at frightening speed, its metallic spikes
gleaming dangerously. Sonic merely dodged to one side at the last second,
shouting, "Olé!" The machine attempted to turn around in mid-spin, to
try and get another shot at Sonic, but in the tight confines of the corridor
this simply proved impossible and instead the machine toppled over, skidding
sideways along the corridor in a shower of sparks. Sonic winced and covered his
ears as the scraping of metal against metal created a horrific screeching
sound.
As the machine finally skidded to a halt, Sally's voice
sounded once more in Sonic's ear. "Sonic, you need to get out of there
now!" she insisted. "You're running out of time before the Death Egg
hits the lake's surface!"
"Yeah, I know!" said Sonic impatiently.
"This darn robot keeps getting in my way!"
"Then destroy it!" said Sally.
"I don't think it's gonna be that easy," said
Sonic, as the machine started to climb back to its feet.
"Well, you'll have to find a way, somehow,"
said Sally. "By Rotor's calculations, you have less than two minutes left."
"That's plenty of time," said Sonic. "Take
a chill pill, Sal, I got this."
Metal Sonic Mk.I began to rev up yet another Spin Dash
attack, and this time Sonic had an idea. As the machine launched itself at him,
Sonic dodged to the side as he had before, and then raced off down the corridor
at full speed. By the time Metal Sonic Mk.I had come out of its Spin Dash to
try and relocate the hedgehog, it was far too late; Sonic was halfway to the
exit and far out of the machine's visual range. Even if it knew how to follow
him, it would never be able to catch him now. Finally, Sonic had managed to
escape.
"Tails, I'm on my way to the exit," Sonic said,
speaking into his microphone. "You'll be there to pick me up, right?"
"Sorry, Sonic," came the reply. "I'm still
fending off these Buzzbombers. How long until the station hits the water?"
"Not very long at all, l'il bro," said Sonic.
"I need you to pick me up ASAP, got it?"
"Okay," said Tails. "I'll try my
best."
"Thanks, buddy," said Sonic. "I'll be at
the exit in about… three seconds."
Sure enough, mere seconds later Sonic emerged onto the
unfinished platform on the very edge of the Death Egg. Tails was still some
distance away, engaging the squadron of Buzzbombers, and the water below was
getting uncomfortably close. Sonic could see the reflection of the Death Egg
looming large in the sparkling waters below. "Why did it have to be water…?"
he lamented.
Still, Tails' dogfight continued. He wouldn't be able to
land amidst such hostilities, and the waters below continued to get closer and
closer. There was nothing else for it. Sonic would have to jump from the
platform, and hope that Tails would be there to catch him before he hit the
bottom. "Here goes nothing," he muttered to himself, and with that,
he jumped.
Tails spotted Sonic's jump and, ignoring the few
Buzzbombers that were left, focused his attention solely on saving his friend.
"Don't worry, Sonic, I've got you!" he shouted. Pulling into a steep banked
dive, Tails swooped down in pursuit of Sonic, leaving his tormentors in the
dust. He caught Sonic with just metres to spare, the hedgehog landing neatly on
the plane's wings as it skimmed over the surface of the lake.
"Nice catch, bro," said Sonic, high-fiving the
young fox.
"Thanks, Sonic," said Tails, smiling. "You
did great too."
"Well, duh," said Sonic. "When do I ever no-"
Sonic's bragging was cut off in mid-sentence by an
almighty crash from behind them. Turning round, Sonic and Tails saw that the
Death Egg had finally struck the water's surface, forming an immense circular
tidal wave at the point of impact. The shock ripped the flying fortress' metal
plating apart like rice paper, torrents of salt-water pouring through the
corridors and obliterating everything in their wake. Metal Sonic Mk.I was
helpless to resist as the torrent carried it away, the water frying its
circuits.
Had the Death Egg still had power, its electrics would
have met the same fate. Instead, the station was simply ripped apart at the
seams, slowly disintegrating from the bottom up into millions of pieces of
scrap metal, all the while continuing to sink lower and lower into the depths.
Sonic and Tails watched the fortress' gradual destruction, and both felt
immensely relieved, for they knew that Knothole was safe from annihilation for
another day.
"Sal, you there?" asked Sonic.
"Yeah," said Sally, her voice overflowing with
relief. "I'm here. Good job, Sonic. You saved us all."
"I know," said Sonic. "All in a day's
work. Glad I made it outta there in one piece."
"And that robotic copy of you?" asked Sally.
"What happened to that?"
"Went down with the ship," said Sonic. "We
won't be seeing him again."
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