Back to Chapter 93

“Alright,” Sonic announced as he stepped into Robotnik’s Tower, “The first thing we need to do is- LEG IIIIT!”

Ray and Mighty turned to follow Sonic’s gaze. A huge blaze was burning and chasing after them.

Ray groaned “Not again!”

“I wish I’d brought my pedometer, I bet I’ve have got a high score today…” Mighty grumbled.

The three friends, so close to their goal, once again found themselves running for their lives. It wasn’t as if Sonic didn’t enjoy running! He’d just rather not have been running away. Still, if that was the only way to ensure he didn’t get flame-grilled, he’d take it.

Up in the control room, Robotnik angrily stabbed at buttons on the panel in front of him, “Cursed hedgehog! I’ll show him! If he thinks he’s going to waltz in here, he’s in for a rude awakening! I’ll throw everything I’ve got at him!”

The demented doctor stabbed at a button with his index finger.

Back down below, Sonic, Ray and Mighty were just pulling ahead of the fire. With an almighty crash that almost startled the life out of them, the tank-like Badnik that had imprisoned Sonic when he first landed on the island burst through the wall, sending brick and rubble flying in all directions. The three friends turned on the spot and ran with all their might.

As the prison tank gained on them, up ahead a series of spiked beams slammed repeatedly up and down. Ray leapt into the air and swooped gracefully over and under the beams to the other side. Sonic put on a burst of speed and timed his runs perfectly to avoid getting hit. Mighty, however, decided to take the direct approach.

Uprooting the mechanism holding one of the beams, Mighty turned and hurled the construction with all his might at the tank with a loud cry of, “Eat this, ugly!”

The beam sailed through the air and smashed into the Robotnik face on the tank, cutting through it like a sword through tissue paper. The tank exploded impressively.

“Up here, guys! Come on!” Sonic called out. Rungs lined the wall up to the next level.

“Again? Is he running out of ideas?” Ray asked as he and mighty joined Sonic on the makeshift ladders.

The flying squirrel soon found he’d spoken too soon. Enormous circular sawblades popped out of the wall and began a vertical chase. The three animals’ hearts were almost pounding out of their chests but they had no choice but to carry on with their ascent unless they wanted to split sooner than expected.

With an almighty heave, the trio pulled themselves up to safety.

But not for long.

A huge crushing roller rolled after the three friends, much to Sonic’s annoyance, “Oh, give me a break”

“If that thing rolls over us, we’ll get more than one break,” Mighty noted before putting on the steam once more.

Ahead of the three friends was an opening to the outside. They had no idea what awaited out there- but they knew certain death was behind them, so no other option presented itself. The animals ran outside and, mercifully, the roller slammed into the door frame and stopped.

The friends found themselves stood on a metal flooring seemingly made out of pipes. It didn’t feel especially sturdy. In fact, it felt like it might collapse at any moment. Sonic quickly took stock of his surroundings, seeing the flooring looped around the outside of the building and upwards.

Sonic glanced at Mighty, then at Ray, “Guys, now would be a really good time to hold on”

With a deafening clang, the pipes began to fall away to nothingness below. Sonic grabbed onto Mighty and Ray’s arms and ran. His feet slapped against the pipes, the hard surface hurting the soles of his feet. But Sonic couldn’t think of that right now. He had no choice but to push on through any pain. His friends were counting on it. And so, too, was Mobius.

Further up the tower Sonic climbed, desperate for a moment’s peace. A door with Robotnik’s face painted above it made all too clear where the terminus of the collapsing path was located. Within seconds, Sonic got his friends to safety inside the doorway… only to immediately find they were being chased by fire once more.

“Anyone else getting that feeling they’ve been here before?” Mighty asked as the three set off running once more.

“No, look!” Ray replied, “The floor in here is different- it’s more ornate”

Sure enough, the floor was a patterned marble affair. Sonic knew what this meant, “No doubt Robotnik gave himself the comfiest suite in this building”

“Yeah,” Mighty agreed, “and I have a feeling he’ll be behind that big, red door”

A huge blast door lay ahead of the friends. As the fires came ever closer, the door slid open, closing behind the three Mobians as they entered.

Inside was the figure of Doctor Robotnik. He looked none too happy, “You know, you three have really made me rather annoyed”

“You’re annoyed?!” Mighty bellowed, “Buddy, when I’m through with you, you’ll know the true meaning of the word—”

“Ah-ah-ah! Not so fast!” Robotnik raised a finger, “And that goes double for you, Sonic. I thought you might like to hear the results of my experiment”

“What are you talking about, egg breath?” Sonic scowled.

“I created Robotnik Island using nanobots. A huge living death trap for my least favourite hedgehog! Of course, knowing your goody-goody nature, I had to kidnap these two as well as I knew that’d give you incentive to make your way through the island to face me. Are you boys tired from all the exertion yet?”

Ray panted for breath, “Well, to tell the truth, yes”

“That’s a shame. Too bad. This island was supposed to put Sonic through his paces. In a way, it’s remarkable that you’ve survived it. I’d commend you except for one thing”

“Oh yeah?” Sonic sarcastically replied, “And what’s that?”

“You made my experiment fail. And I hate that”

A floor panel slid away and a pedestal rose up from the ground. On it was a single button. Robotnik pushed it. Red lights flashed, sirens blared and a countdown of twenty seconds appeared on the screen.

Robotnik smirked, “Hope you’re not too tired for one last run. I’ll give you a fair chance at the escape route. Though I don’t know where you intend to escape to- there won’t be much of this island left once the nanobots disintegrate”

The floor beneath Robotnik slid away and, as he fell into a tube to take him to safety, slid back to cover the hole. Robotnik’s laughter echoed in the air. A door leading to an escape route out of the tower opened The countdown on the screen began to tick away.

“Twenty seconds?!” Ray yelled.

“We’re done for,” Mighty frowned, “Sonic, not even you can—"

Sonic cut him off, “Buddy, don’t you dare finish that sentence”

Grabbing his friends’ arms once more, Sonic rushed through the escape hatch. Maybe this would be a trap. If it was, he and his new friends were definitely dead.

But maybe Robotnik was telling the truth about giving them a fair chance.

But why would he? Why would Robotnik ever be fair?

It didn’t make sense…

Unless…

As he weighed things up in his mind, Sonic was running almost on auto-pilot. A little under twenty seconds later, he burst through the door at the bottom of the tower the escape route led to and led his friends in one final sprint.

Sonic pulled back his glove and pressed a button on his Kintobor watch, “Tails, pal, I really hope you and the bi-plane are nearby with that big jet engine because we could REALLY do with a lift!”

Robotnik’s Tower began to crumble. Then it exploded in spectacular fashion. The rest of the island seemed to follow suit. The nanobots began to crumble. Many of them reverted to their base setting, with the faux island taking on a metallic hue before turned into dust and blowing away.

Seas dried up. Volcanos ran cool. Ice cracked and crumbled.

Then, in less than a minute, the entire island was gone.

Ray and Mighty sat in the passenger seats of the bi-plane as Sonic stood on the wing. He looked back at his friend, “Tails, have I told you how much I appreciate your piloting skills?”

Tails laughed.

Not too far away, Robotnik hovered in his Egg-O-Matic, over the sea, specifically the area where Robotnik Island had existed not five minutes previously.

“I must admit,” he said to himself, “Sonic is a worthy foe. A detestable one, no doubt, but I almost have to admire an enemy who’ll push me to the very limit of my genius to find the way in which I finally obliterate him. This experiment may not have been a success… but I imagine the data I collected on Sonic will prove invaluable for our plans”

The Egg-O-Matic beeped angrily. Robotnik looked down at the dashboard. An orange “REFUEL” light blinked. No problem. He’d just land and refuel at his tower.

Oh.

The fuel reserves emptied, the Egg-O-Matic’s engines cut out. Robotnik plummeted like a rock towards the sea below.

The desperate doctor let out a plaintive cry, “I hate that hedgehoooog!!!”

With a mighty splash, the Egg-O-Matic collided with the water.

***

Back in the Green Hill Zone, Mighty and Ray were the guests of honour at Uncle Chuck’s, enjoying a slap-up meal in honour of their part in Robotnik’s latest defeat.

“Nice place you have here, Sonic,” Mighty noted.

“Oh this? It’s Uncle Chuck’s place really!”

Mighty chuckled, “I meant the Green Hill Zone. It’s beautiful”

Sonic nodded, “This is why I keep fighting. It’s a reminder of what’s at stake if Robotnik ever wins. I can’t let that happen”

“And I’m sure you never will,” Ray smiled, “You’re pretty great Sonic, you know that?”

“Thanks, pal. You know, you two are no slouches yourselves!”

A huge white, crackling flash filled the air. Sonic knew just what this signified, “Hey, Big Om”

The Omni-Viewer hung in the air before the three friends, a surprised Uncle Chuck and his very confused patrons, “It’s good to see you again, Sonic”

“So, is this the time you tell me what your deal is?”

“Not exactly. According to my databanks, this is the date of Robotnik Island’s destruction. Which means your friends here are Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel”

Ray nodded, “That’s us”

Mighty gave a wave, “In the flesh”

“I have great need of your talents. It is of the utmost urgency I enlist your help immediately”

Mighty raised an eyebrow and looked at Sonic. Sonic nodded, “It’s okay. Omni-Viewer is cool”

Omni-Viewer’s face faded into a sort of empty light, signifying to Ray and Mighty to clamber aboard. Mighty shook Sonic’s hand- perhaps a little harder than Sonic might have liked, but he tried not to wince, “You’re a real stand-up guy, Sonic”

Ray gave Sonic a hug of friendship, “We’ll never forget you”

“I should think you won’t,” Sonic grinned.

“You won’t have chance,” Omni-Viewer stated, “This will not be the final time you and Sonic meet, nor the final time you save the world. No, far from it”

The three friends shared a final glance and smiled as the implications dawned on them.

Mighty and Ray clambered into the Omni-Viewer’s screen as his face returned.

Sonic crossed his arms in mock irritation, “So, you show up, you take my pals away, you leave- this is getting to be a bit of a thing, Om”

“Our paths will cross again very soon, Sonic. Your heroic deeds have only just begun”

With another white, crackling flash, the Omni-Viewer disappeared.

Sonic turned to the baffled looking Chuck, “Two more chilli dogs please, Uncle Chuck- one for now, one for the road!”

On to Chapter 95