Sonic wasn’t exactly thrilled to be continuing an unnecessary battle. As he landed once more, he spun around just in time to face a few missiles that had just been launched from the back of the metallic behemoth, the cape that once lay proudly over its shoulders now having been torn away in the process. About-facing immediately, the hedgehog sped towards the wall on the opposite end of the room, veering up the facing in an attempt to either avoid, or lure, the incoming explosives. As the weapons crashed and exploded, confirming their lack of homing ability, the facility at large began to shake and rumble as a result, more debris and plating falling from the ceiling above. The instability was incredibly dangerous, considering that there
was a skyscraper standing directly above the chamber.
The hedgehog continued his run along the wall, watching the controlled robot pull itself up to its full height as it scanned the surrounding area. Grimacing, Sonic suddenly kicked off the surface with explosive force, curling into his signature ball and whirring through the air at an incredible velocity, taking proper aim at the head of the machine.
--
However, with a genius at the helm, the robot was more than capable to face the inbound threat. Aiming to continue being a distraction, Nega controlled the arm of the beast, turning to pull it back before whirling it forward with tremendous speed and agility, hoping to catch Sonic mid-air like a bat to a baseball. With a metallic boom that rang throughout the chamber, the Death Egg Robot’s arm connected solidly with its target, and Sonic hurtled waywardly into the air, sprawling out in the process as he shook the stars from his vision.
Through the loudspeaker, Nega laughed uproariously. “You must be worn down
already, for you to just take that shot without hesitation. Tell me, Sonic – how much
does it hurt, being an utter
fool?” The robot reached to the floor to pick up its trident. Though powerless without the Emerald, the weapon itself was still incredibly hardy, and Nega had every intent to put the thing through its paces before all was said and done. Gazing up at the hedgehog in the air, the robot’s left eye crackled with a flashing light, sparks occasionally seeping out of the crack in its lens. “I must say, it was quite a surprise, seeing
you, rather than
her. You really
are the quickest, I suppose. However…”
The engines on its back flared, and the machine, with one more push, launched, the attached rockets rattling noisily as they gave it their all for the final time. As he neared his quarry, Nega’s machine reared back, ready to thrust with that trident at a moment’s notice. “No matter how fast you may be,
you will never be smarter, or stronger, than an Eggman with nothing to lose!!”--
Meanwhile, on the surface, the final, desperate volley of explosives from VX’s battleship began reaching their intended targets. A great deal of Eggman robots had done their duty with preventing an all-out apocalyptic disaster throughout the base. However, many others still had slipped through the cracks, and several locations throughout the abandoned facility were reeling from the consequences. Explosions began to rock many of the facility’s many skyscrapers, and structures were beginning to topple, the resulting shrapnel and debris flowing rapidly down many of the streets and causing even more mayhem as badniks, Pawns and Hammers were thrown about in various directions.
Time was up – the base was on its way out.
The GUN agents that had been covering the air would soon find their jobs made more treacherously difficult as, in addition to the mayhem erupting all throughout the facility, a couple of the Battle Lord’s missiles were bearing down onto their chopper, eager to connect and bring them down with the resulting blast to the Hellish scenario taking place on the ground level.
Finally, a single mortar whistling through the air bore down from the sky, and soon, it would meet its mark in the form of the standalone skyscraper that towered above the hidden chamber below, striking the structure hard with one titanic explosion.
--
It was as if time itself had come to a crawl. Sonic shook the vapours from his mind, his eyes darting around to assess the situation unfolding all around him. It was a feeling not wholly unfamiliar to him – perhaps it was his strength? His Heroism? Who even really knew? But, regardless, whatever it was, that didn’t matter. It was time to act.
The hedgehog gazed down at his enemy. Nega was giving it his all for one final throwdown, and was
very quickly closing the distance between them both. In the distance, through the concrete up above, resounded the rumblings of terrible explosions, only getting closer with every passing second. The chamber, as it stood, was starting to fall apart, with the increasingly large probability that the entire
building up above was soon on its way out. All of this and more told the hedgehog that, well…
Now was probably a good time to
leave.
As time around him seemed to snap back to normal, Sonic furrowed his brow, his adversary cackling through the radio of his own creation.
( “No matter how fast you may be,
you will never be smarter, or stronger, than an Eggman with nothing to lose!!” )
Sonic waited until the time was right before suddenly cranking up a spin that whirled with such ferocity, a blue aura emanated brightly from his very being. As Nega flew up towards the hedgehog, he hurtled the trident straight and true, attempting to pierce the very core of his opponent.
However, that was all the hedgehog needed – as soon as the trident flew forward, Sonic’s spinning body merely made contact with the rod itself as the weapon
barely grazed past him by mere millimeters. With that, the whirling ball of blue fury screamed as quills met metal, sending it hurtling directly up the length of the trident, making his way up the arm – and promptly tearing the already damaged armour in the process.
It only took a fraction of a second for him to reach the head of the Death Egg Robot, and with a screeching sound of metal ripping apart at the seams, Sonic whittled through the machine like a heated knife through butter, and shot right past his enemy, reaching the ground floor and spiraling out of control along the tiled surface as sparks flew until the hedgehog finally unfurled and skidded noisily to a stop. He panted loudly, glaring up at the Death Egg Robot that, up until this point, had hardly moved after the striking blow. Slowly standing up, he started to dust himself off, his body covered with burn marks, oil and soot from the fighting.
“Smarter? Maybe. Stronger?
That depends. But, unfortunately for you, there’s somethin’ you and the other
Egghead just can’t seem to get a handle on, no matter
what.”
The robot shuddered, twisting up as sparks began to fly from its various joints, a piercing light shining from the heated cut that stretched across its domed head as the internal gears and wiring began to overheat within.
“
My determination and gut. Y’can’t
build a robot with that, ‘genius’.”
--
The speakers from within the Death Egg robot crackled with noise and static, as if the robot itself was struggling to speak. However, Nega spoke as normal, even with the accentuated breakups of his voice as the robot struggled to stay in one piece long enough.
“kZhzhhzrht—Hfhaha..—
ghfhahahaHAha…!! You r..ghkxz..
really are an utter,
utter simpleton!”
--
From up above, a gigantic explosion rang out with such a tremendous clamour, causing Sonic to fall unceremoniously onto his face from the sheer force. Pushing himself up, Sonic quickly gazed toward the ceiling just in time to watch as enormous cement blocks, sheer pieces of metal and iron, pieces of badniks, and all sorts of debris falling from up above, as the building on the surface began to collapse from the final strike of the mortar outside.
A larger chunk of debris found itself way hurtling directly into the malfunctioning rockets of the Death Egg Robot, and without fail, caused the autonomous weapon to explode violently without fail, putting an end to its brief tenure as the ruler of the abandoned facility, and silencing Nega from speaking anything further. A temporary fix, to be sure.
Sonic had a feeling he’d be seeing him again sooner than later.
As bits, parts and pieces fell all around him, the hedgehog figured it was time to escape, now that literally nothing else could get in his way at this point. Looking around, he decided to finally take off in the direction of his lookalikes, evading falling debris and garbage as he sped away. It was a victory, surely, but to the hedgehog, it still felt pretty hollow. He lost the emerald, and because Nega was so quick to jump into battle, he still had
no idea what was going on. But, one thing was for sure – he needed answers, and he needed them
pronto.
Making a mental note to check up with Tails at his earliest, Sonic followed the route of his brethren, hoping that the escape route would hold steady long enough for him to escape – not to mention the others, assuming they hadn’t left yet.
--
The explosions on the surface had rocked the very hallway that Shadow, Metal and Silver Sonic were occupying, and they were sure to notice that everything was starting to fall apart around them at this time. The Egg Hammers lining the hallway were devoid of life, but from the tremors up above, their enormous forms began to topple around, a few of which collapsed onto the floor as their mighty hammers swung about messily, capable of striking anyone foolish enough to pay them no mind.
There was no question about it, however – the place was going to come crashing down, and
soon.