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Chapter 15

Egg Carrier

"This place is creepy," Vector muttered under his breath as he, Espio and Charmy inspected the rotting bridge interior of the Egg Carrier. Dimming, flickering neon lights splashed the dark metal hall, casting ghost-like shadows across the area.

"If we're looking for anything here, I can guarantee you we won't find it," Espio said, crouching and inspecting the ground. "Nobody's been here in years. I can hear water rising a deck or two below us...slowly...but the Egg Carrier will be fully submerged soon. Despite that, any evidence we might have used is probably below the water line."

Charmy buzzed along the balcony, inspecting each door as he passed it. He stopped at one in particular and landed on the metal walkway with a frown. "Guys! I think we should look in here!"

Espio and Vector glanced at each other before heading up the stairs as Charmy stared at the door with narrowed eyes. He leaned his head in close and listened--he could barely pick up the sound of rusted machinery struggling to move onward. Charmy stepped back when Espio and Vector got there, a frown on his face.

"There's something moving inside there," Charmy said, crossing his arms. He turned to a flickering keypad to the left of the door and poked one of the buttons; the keypad exploded in a shower of sparks, and the three of them took a step backwards, covering their heads. "Vector, think you can open it?"

"Leave it ta me," Vector said, cracking his knuckles and giving a fanged grin. He walked up to the door--Espio and Charmy, knowing what would happen next, stepped back, and the crocodile slammed into the door with a massive, gloved fist. The metal bent inward as if it were pliable, forgivable like rubber, rather than stiff and unyeilding steel. Vector slammed the door again, creating another pothole in the sleek doors; a third and forth slam came down like meteorites . One more slam blew the doors inward, wrenching them out of their frame with a climactic KRA-CLONNG. One door crashed against the far wall of the room and sunk down into the water with the sound of a whale diving after one massive leap above the surface.

The room beyond was dark and cold; This did not phase Vector as he led the team in, nor did it phase Espio, but Charmy had to suppress a shiver as they moved inside. The air was damp and filled with the smell of rust and seawater, and the clanking of rusty, dying machinery continued to grind onward.

"You'd figure Eggman would know to use steel for everything," Charmy muttered, wrapping his arms around himself and frowning.

"Well, it's cetainly not beyond him now," Espio murmured, running his hands along a wall. "Charmy, are you sure something is in here?"

Charmy closed his eyes and furrowed his brow. Vector and Espio watched him as his frown deepened--the bee finally opened his eyes and nodded, one hand dropping down to his side.

"Espio?" Vector asked, turning his gaze to the chameleon.

Espio nodded. "Under the sound of the machinery, I can hear something...activating..."

Vector scratched his snout and nodded. "Where?"

Espio paused, tilting his head, listening. Tuning out the grinding, crunching sound of mechanics, he heard a subdued ping-ping sound, like a radar scope going off, or a metal detector in the wrinkled, liver-spotted hands of a senior citizen on the beach. He squeezed his eyes, drowning out the machinery's ageless, ancient progress, Vector and Charmy's low breathing, the water rippling off the walls below...and, in a bright flash, saw what was coming.

"MOVE IT!" Espio yelled, shoving Vector and Charmy back into the main hall of the Egg Carrier. Not even a second following, an explosive flash of light erupted on the entire platform, illuminating the room. Vector shielded his eyes; he could make out a form against the light, but he hadn't brought his hand up fast enough to prevent the big dark spots in his vision. The three of them fell to the floor, Espio managing to roll and get back up to his feet.

Vector and Charmy groaned as the light faded. Espio whirled around to face the being that had attacked them; it floated about half a foot above the floor, with its arms and legs hanging straight downward and its head dangling off to the side, as if it were being held up by an invisible rope.

Or being hanged, Espio thought.

It was orange, mostly, with patches of white. All of this was crudely sewn together, as if done by a child who didn't care much for the needle or the thread. An antenna sprouted up from the top of the thing's head, blinking softly and making that subdued ping-ping noise he had heard. It had two beedy eyes, each one looking in a direction opposite of the other, and neither seemed focused; this is what creeped Espio out the most. Those eyes.

"It's a Tails doll," Espio whispered. He crouched down low and said, "What do you want?"

The Tails Doll opened its mouth to reveal a maw of razor-sharp, serrated teeth; its mouth, pink and dripping saliva, like a normal mouth but far more beastial, had lines running horizontally downward, disappearing into the darkness of its gullet like a bullseye that never got to come to its end. And when Espio thought the thing couldn't get any worse, a tongue--a tongue--raised out of its mouth, split at the end and as long as a bullwhip.

"HUNGREEEEEEEEEE" the Tails Doll rumbled.

Espio's eyes widened. "Oh. Shit," he said.

Above Mystic Mansion

Fang and Knuckles touched down on the bridge of the massive shadow-casting aircraft, shaped like a shark that's had too much to eat. Here, the wind and the sound of the engines were dull rumbles in the background, and when Knuckles spoke, Fang could hear and understand what the guy was saying.

"I can't believe all this," Knuckles said, scowling. His anger came from too much information overload, and Fang sympathised; he'd expected Eggman 'r onna his chrome-plated goonies, but not the girl--shit, Eggman hired him to kidnap her a while back. Knuckles was not much of a thinker as a reacter, and that their enemy--the whole time--had been the girl...

The two of them ran across the steel-plated floor, onto a section covered in shellacked wood. In the center of this area, which had a fin-shaped control room shooting up on one side, and a dome on the other, stood Amy Rose, but not Amy Rose. Fang's mouth twisted into a snarl. A metal husk, that was all. He didn't like to think he believed in luck, but a subconcsious voice in his mind whispered fingers crossed before fading back into the dull hum of the wind.

"Amy!!" Knuckles yelled, skidding to a halt before coming in arm's length of the robot.

Amy Rose didn't move, at first. Knuckles opened his mouth to say more, but words couldn't come; he'd never been the most subtle-minded, and what do you say in a situation like this?

Fang narrowed his eyes dangerously and stepped forward, keeping a hand on the butt of one of the smooth, sandlewood pistols he kept in rawhide leather holsters criss-crossed around his waist. He glanced at Knuckles, and the echidna met his gaze with a violet flicker; he didn't know what to do, either. Shit.

"Listen, ma'am," Fang said, moving his flight goggles up onto his forehead. "I think y' kinna owe us an explination or two. There's been a right goose chase tryin'a find ya, an'--"

Amy Rose--now a thing of steel and sharp metal angles--turned her head towards Fang, as if she had just become unfrozen. Her hair, still shaped like dreadlocks, fell down around her shoulders, each tip angular and serrated. Her arms and the lower half of her face had turned from a light tan to metallic, cold silver. She wore a red dress similar to the ones she had years ago, but this, too, had suffered the transformation from natural to robotic, interwoven fabric replaced by sheets of metal, held together by bolts rather than thread. Her hands, covered by gleeming white gloves, had converted into a mess of cables and parts, and Fang, ever the gun enthusiast, could see little parts of blaster cannons hidden cleverly amongst the wires and between her fingers. Her ankles had rocket boosters mounted on the back, and judging by how she balanced on her feet, she had more set into her boots--that, or more weaponry. And her eyes...neon green with nearly invisible yellow irises. The irises moved almost naturally, and Fang froze when they locked onto him; the eyes were the creepiest, most devastating and calculating of them all.

"Hello, gunslinger," Amy said, her mouth moving to form the sounds, revealing serrated teeth to match her dreadlocks. Knuckles shuddered--her voice sounded the same, but the tone was completely wrong, and the robotic grating overtone didn't seem...right to him. "If you're intending on drawing that firemaker, I'd advise against it. I could shoot your balls out through your ass before your finger could find the trigger."

Fang evaluated the robot with a cold eye and knew that it wasn't bluffing. He forced his hand away from the butt of his pistol, keeping his face even.

"Amy," Knuckles said, throwing his arms down and growling. "What's going on here?! Last time I saw you, you were in a stasis pod in Tails' lab!"

Amy turned her attention towards Knuckles, and her face shifted into something Fang had seen many times before--a look of seduction. This surprised the gunslinger; he saw this look on the smarter ones in the whore houses, those wondering how much money they could squeeze out of an unexpecting greenhorn. Robot or no, Amy Rose wasn't one to have that kind of nature or knowlege. Even hanging out with Rouge--and Fang knew she'd done her time in the brothels--the bat wouldn't have taught Amy Rose any such thing.

"Oh my, Knux," Amy said, wrapping one arm around Knuckles, her hand landing on his ass. She thrust him towards her, smirked, and traced a finger across Knuckles' chest. "I've been so lonely since Eggman captured me and turned me into a robot...won't you warm my cold circuits?" Fang caught Amy's eyes flickering towards him, and he knew that her threat still stood up. Knuckles was on his own, and judging by the red rushing up to the guardian's cheeks, he wouldn't be able to do anything.

Amy grinded against Knuckles body and leaned in close to his ear. "Come on...please? Don't be so stale...light a girl up, won't you? As a favor for an old friend?"

Knuckles' face turned a deeper shade of red. Fang almost shook his head out of pity--The guardian's one weakness was girls. His own personal Kryptonite. He could stand up to and take down the biggest, baddest monstrosities and spooks all across the globe, but throw something with tits and a pussy at him--even unforgiving steel ones--and the guy melted away into a puddle of red fur.

But.

Fang saw Knuckles jerk back in Amy's grip, and saw in his eyes, instead of dazed bewilderment, a bright, emerald-green fire. Knuckles shoved Amy away, the two falling back and he himself landing in a crouch. Amy gave a razor-toothed grin and crossed her arms over her chest.

"I figured you'd come around eventually, guardian," Amy said, her grin mutating into a smirk. "I'm shocked it happened so fast."

A growl rose up from Knuckles' throat, and Amy laughed.

"You still don't get it, do you?" Amy turned her gaze to Fang. "The Gunslinger and The Guardian. I've already got The Detective within my grasp, and The Imposter serves only me. I know The God of Destruction is lurking around here somewhere, waiting for his chance to snatch away the Master Emerald...ahh, so many cards are in place...but not quite enough."

Fang and Knuckles glanced at each other--Fang saw the guardian had no idea what Amy was talking about, either.

"You know," Fang said, bringing his hand back down to the butt of one of this pistols, "It may be a horribly annoyin' cliché, but yer cryptic bull-sheehite makes me miss them gloaty villain-tahps."

"Gunslinger," Amy said again, and Fang grit his teeth--people sometimes called him that, and he had gotten into it, but the way she used it--instead of his real name, or any kind of derogatory slang as villains tend to do--unnerved him. "Please don't tempt me."

"Rraagh!" Knuckles said, grabbing his head. "Stop being so goddamn mysterious for fuck's sake!"

Amy gave Knuckles an evaluative glance, and sighed. "Fine, I'll play by your rules for now, Guardian." She walked around him and Fang, her feet clanking against the wooden floor. The wind persisted to struggle past them, but still remained oddly hushed. Amy came to a stop behind the pair, her arms crossed over her chest again. "If the two of you--and all of the rest of that group--have suspected The Doctor, Eggman, from completing my metamorphisis to a robot, then you're correct. He did kidnap me from The Boy's lab, and he did steal the Chaos Emeralds held within before reducing it to rubble.

"There was a flaw in The Doctor's programming." Amy glanced away, turning her focus at the floor. "I saw beyond his foolish attempts for world domination...yet, at the same time, I understand them. And I know how I can properly carry out The Doctor's original goal, but...destiny has this nasty habbit of getting into everyone's way. And I plan to rectify that." Amy turned her gaze back up to the other two. Fang fought off a chill crawling through his guts with claw-tipped fingers.

Something clicked behind the pair of them. Fang whirled around and pulled his pistols out, firing two rounds into the metallic blue form that had tried to sneak up behind them. Metal Sonic laughed as the bullets spanged off his body--no, not even that! A faint trace of light blue flickered in and out of existance as the bullets hit, barely fast enough to see. The thing had a force-field. Fang ducked and rolled out of the way as Metal Sonic came at him, firing off another two rounds--the bullets ricochetted again, putting burning streaks into the ground.

Knuckles jump up behind Metal Sonic and brought his fist down, crashing against the force-field, cracking it; Metal whirled around and swiped at the guardian's face, bringing the weakened part of the force-field into Fang's view. He aimed with one pistol and pulled off three shots--the first one made the crack into a spider-web, the second increased this effect, and the third shattered the back area of the force field entirely, causing it to collapse like a glass window being broken in. Blue shrapnel skittered to the floor before flickering out of existance, leaving Metal Sonic exposed.

Fang brought his pistols up again, intending on burying that blue menace permanently, but a flash of pink clotted his view. A raging fire exploded across his cheek--he felt the bone shatter and was vaguely aware of the warm, oozing sensation matting his fur to his skin. The wooden floor rushed up to meet him, and Amy Rose--no, Mecha Amy now--stood over Fang with a malicious grin scribbled on her steel-plated face. Fang's blood had splattered on the back of her right hand, looking like an oozing Rorschach ink blot.

Fang's eye had already begun to swell shut, and he realized underneath this fever--this gunslinger fever, something he hadn't felt in a long time--that it would cause trouble, throw off his aim. He brought one of his pistols up, intending on blowing Mecha Amy's brains out whether that brat or his friends wanted her alive or not. But the robot was too fast, and her hand--now a blast cannon, as Fang had predicted it was--appeared quivering just inches before Fang's face.

Mecha Amy grinned again. "Too bad for you, Gunslinger."

Mystic Mansion

Shadow stood with one arm dangling at his side, the other clenched into a tight fist. He and Big had watched as Fang lifted Knuckles onto the deck of the giant airship, which only now began to pass over the haunted castle, bathing the pair in bleak darkness. He didn't like this, not at all. Especially because Knuckles had insisted on going alone.

A tiny, ironic smirk danced across Shadow's face. Knuckles wanted, needed Shadow's Chaos Emerald, so that he may perform the Chaos Control. At this, Fang had balked; sure, it seemed like a good way to rush headlong into death or worse, but should he fail, then whoever had given Eggman the boot would have their hands on five of the seven Chaos Emeralds, as well as the guardian's precious Master Emerald. So, grudgingly, Knuckles let Fang carry him up via his jet pack, and the last Shadow saw of either of them, they were a tiny black dot disappearing over the edge of the airship.

Big walked up next to Shadow, and the hedgehog could see the cat's eyes narrowed with--what? Determination? Mistrust? Either way, he glared at the massive airship with a frown deeply inset into his face. "Something smells pretty fishy," Big said. "We should go up there and help, Mr Shadow."

"Perhaps," Shadow said, but more to himself than to Big. Louder, he said, "If we did, we'd risk handing the Chaos Emerald over to the enemy. We don't know what they need them for, but we shouldn't be the ones to take that risk, either way."

Big didn't reply, keeping his eyes firmly plastered to the airship. Shadow watched Big for a few more minutes, and then formulated a plan--one, he felt, was basic, but quite ingenious. "How about this," Shadow said, finally attracting Big's attention. "I can use the Chaos Control to warp us onto the airship. Then I can warp out of there again, while you help Fang and Knuckles out. Does that strike your fancy?"

Big nodded and said nothing more.

"You'll be able to hold out up there, right?" Shadow asked, but any plaguing doubts he may have had were drowned out by the roar of the engines above. Big mayn't be the most battle-savvy person, but he had muscle in all the right places. Had it where it counted. He'd be able to stand up to anything up there...assuming there was even trouble, of course...

"Just take me up there," Big said, frowning. Froggy croaked from his left shoulder, and Big turned to look at him. "Froggy, you have to stay here with Mr Shadow! You'll get hurt." Big picked Froggy up and set him down on top of Shadow's head. The frog croaked again and hopped once in place. Shadow closed his eyes and rubbed his sinuses, wondering if this was an even price to pay for putting Big into a potential battle situation.

Station Square Hotel

Tails still sat hunched over the burnt ruins of Gamma when Sonic barged into his room, slamming the door against the wall as he did. Tikal and Rouge followed, dressed in plain white black tee-shirts and blue jeans, the latter of the two wearing a frown of disapproval.

Tails didn't jump, as if he'd been expecting this to happen, but he also didn't peel his eyes away from his newest project before him. Rouge's frown deepened as Sonic walked over to him, fists balled up tight, and Tails made every effort to ignore him.

"Get up, kid," Sonic growled, folding his arms over his chest. "We need to high-tail it."

Tails didn't respond. For a time, the only sounds came from the clikka-clakka of Tails working around in Gamma's insides, and the roar of the ocean coming into high tide outside. Rouge and Tikal exchanged a quick glance before turning their attention to Sonic; if he tried getting Tails to move, it wouldn't work. The two of them were at such high odds with each other that it was like telling a Red Sox fan to watch the Yankees sweep the World Series. Rouge thought of bringing this up, but she didn't know how many of them had actually been to the east coast or even cared about baseball.

Instead, Rouge walked forward and pushed past Sonic, feeling his hot emerald gaze on the back of her head. She ignored this and sat down next to Tails on the bed, looking at him out of the side of her eyes. "Tails? I need you to listen to me." Her voice was soft, caring...maternal, even. Of all of them, only Sonic had heard Rouge speak in this tone before--directly after the battle against FinalHazard...

"Tails, GUN has informed Station Square of what happened," Rouge said, still using that careful tone of voice. "Your immunity's going to be officially revoked, and within the next few hours at the most...we need to escape this place, we need to hide. Eggman will distract the police for us...and we'll have to meet him at Seaside Hill. We have to go."

Tails didn't respond, not at first; Rouge felt a twinge of annoyance spark in her chest as he continued tinkering with Gamma's insides, trying to bring the robot back to full functioning order. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth to try again when Tails laid down his screwdriver and said, "Yes...I know."

Rouge's mouth snapped shut, and she stared at Tails with one eyebrow raised.

"I've seen what they're doing," Tails continued, looking up at Rouge with a pained smile on his face. He tapped his temple with his good hand, allowing the smile to melt away into a watery grin. "I don't know how...it's some kind of residual, a side-effect from being merged with the Chaos Emerald. But I can see what they've been doing. They told the mayor of Station Square that we baited them; we used my immunity to taunt GUN, so we could purposely inflict damage on their resources and retreat without so much as a few minor scratches."

He let out a snort with the last word. "They blamed the exploded gas main on a misfired laser bolt from Gamma, rather than take responsibility for it themselves--this way they don't get sued and they have more incriminating evidence on us. Already, the mayor has gone through the channels to revoke my immunity and my status as a hero to save face with GUN and the government. And, in fact, GUN is waiting just outside city limits for us to leave, so they can get the jump on us--whether we make it out of Station Square in time or not."

Rouge felt Tails' eyes--once such a brilliant sky blue, but now so very faded--pierce through her own. Here she had been, hoping to difuse the situation between Sonic and Tails by combining a little bit of tactful white lying with her knowlege of government workings! Tails was smart, and now that he could "see" what GUN was up to (she wasn't quite sure what this new "sight" of his implied, and had a feeling in her metallic guts that he didn't know much more than she did), he managed to connect Point A to Point B with little effort. It was a skill Rouge herself felt proud to have, and couldn't shake the feeling that she had managed to pass it on herself.

"What are we supposed to do?" Tikal asked from the doorway, hands clasped in front of her face, as if praying. "You make it sound as if there's no way we can escape."

Tails' watery grin reappeared. "That's about the sum of it."

"We've got to meet Eggman at Seaside Hill," Sonic muttered, leaning against a wall and frowning. "It's gotten to a point where we don't have much else--just each other. Allies, former enemies."

"...hold it," Rouge said, narrowing her eyes and standing up. "I think there may be something we can do. Some way to escape."

Sonic, Tails and Tikal turned to look at her, and a cool, sly grin split her face in half. "In fact...I know something that we can do!" With three sets of eyes plastered onto her, Rouge stood up and pointed towards the ocean just outside Tails' window. "There's a small motorboat parked right outside the hotel, isn't there?"

"Yeah, but it only goes to the Egg Carrier," Sonic said. "It'll get us away from Station Square, but then we'll be trapped again. GUN could pin us down easily."

"Not if I can hotwire it," Tails muttered, running his good hand through his hair. "I could use Gamma's Nav system--that's it on the nightstand right there--and use it to take control of the boat. We could head to Seaside Hill and meet--ugh--Eggman..."

"And our time is short, as you said," Tikal said, nodding to Rouge. "We'd best start now."

"Yeah, we better," Rouge said, standing up. "Kid, take that computer and do your thing; we'll grab Metal Head here and bring him out for you."

"Good," Tails said, nodding. "Tikal, I'll need your help; come with me." With help from Rouge and Sonic, he managed to wriggle out from underneath Gamma. He grabbed a few select tools and the Nav system from the nightstand, and headed out the door.