Sonic and his group swarmed to the front of the base where they grabbed the attention of several guarding robots. The steel-covered mechanics immediately launched into attack, forcing the group to scramble apart and pick them off one by one.
"Don't worry guys, we just need to keep the defense distracted long enough for Team Dark to destroy the doomsday device!" Knuckles called over his shoulder to his battling comrades.
Sonic chuckled. "Heh, I could do this all day!" He did a homing attack on one and used the acceleration from the bounce to do a homing attack on another. And another. And another. The blue blur was simply bouncing off of each of his opponents, either knocking the robot off balance or exploding it entirely. He jumped up into the air, smiling down at his enemies, until suddenly his face met the ground as something hard hit him in the back of his head. The hedgehog quickly rolled over and saw his own reflection in a shining, silver-and-blue face made of steel. The glowing red eyes of Metal Sonic stared him down, daring him to fight back.
"Hey, buddy! Long time no see!" Grimacing, Sonic rammed his fist into the robot's head. Metal recovered quickly and swung back, but by then the blue hedgehog had already gotten off the ground and spin-dashed him. The two dueled amongst the chaos, surrounded by Mobian and robot melee, but one never could seem to best the other.
"Look out! Coming through!" Amy smashed her hammer into the robot's back, but the machine simply brushed itself off and continued fighting Sonic.
Sonic smiled reassuringly to his pink admirer as he grasped the robot's arms in a wrestling stance. "Don't worry, Ames, I got this!"
Amy studied their tussle, then shrugged and took her hammer elsewhere in the midst of battle. The blue blur shoved the robot down, but Metal grabbed his arm and flipped him around instead, landing him back-down into the ground. The robot stood over him, glaring intensely at its biotic counterpart. Sonic returned the glare, equally intense, until his eyes drifted over Metal's shoulder and stared past him.
"Hey?! Uh, guys!"
Unable to hide his disconcertment, Metal looked up at what Sonic was seeing. High up in the sky, ebony clouds the sizes of mountains slowly swirled in an unnatural circle above the facility. In the depths of their inky blackness, red veins of lightning could be glimpsed, occasionally streaking towards the base which they all fought outside of. A long, blasting siren suddenly echoed all across the landscape, coming from the loudspeakers scattered around the facility, as a strong wind picked up, making the trees in the forests around them sway violently. Metal abruptly let Sonic go and turned to leave, but the blue blur leapt up and caught him by the shoulder, shoving him down into the ground.
"What's going on?" Sonic demanded, pressing hard.
Knuckles stopped fighting. "Isn't it obvious? Eggman's started up the doomsday device already!"
Silver quickly demolished whatever robots were left. He looked around, hands outstretched and glowing a bright, blue-green hue. "We have to help Team Dark or it'll all be too late!"
"Agreed!" Sonic called, sending most of the group running inside, and then leaned closer to Metal. "Where's Eggman? How's he planning on surviving this?"
Metal's red eyes simply stared past him, flickering slightly. They looked up at the sky, then back at him.
"My hatred for you is far greater than my desire to live." The robot suddenly shoved him off. "I will keep you away from that machine for as long as possible."
Sonic stared at him, stunned. "You mean, he's not here?"
Metal chuckled. "He is."
"Then don't make me repeat my question!"
The robot seemed to pause yet again and look up at the sky. "He's safe." Then he swiftly swung his foot up in a kick. Sonic evaded it and countered with a punch, which hit home. The robot staggered back.
"Prove it!"
A few of the Resistance members that had stayed gathered around, watching the scuffle.
"Sonic, what are you doing?" Amy groaned miserably, looking up at the storm brewing overhead, her short, pink quills fluttering all over the place from the wind.
Sonic kicked Metal into the ground. "What's the doomsday device supposed to do?"
Metal tilted his head to look up at him, the light of the red bolts of lightning reflecting off the top of his shiny, blue head. "It will wipe out all living matter on the surface of the planet."
Sonic pushed his foot harder into the side of the robot's head. "And how is Eggman going to avoid it?"
Metal grabbed the hedgehog's leg. "I said the surface, not the entire planet."
Sonic jerked his leg out of the machine's grasp and pointed at the base. "So- you'd rather stay up here fighting me than go down there and make sure the doctor's not obliterated along with us?"
The robot paused for a minute and seemed to rethink his life choices. He pushed himself off the ground, and the rocket in his back flared to life, a flame spurting out of his back. The robot zipped past the members of the resistance and into the base. Sonic sprinted after him grimly.
"Sonic, where are you going?" Amy called out.
Sonic waved her off, following the robot. "Don't worry about me, just go help the others!"
He sped after Metal, into the building and down the large corridors, up to a wall that opened, revealing an entryway that led into a massive chamber the width of a football field that dropped down hundreds of feet into absolute darkness. Sonic didn't hesitate to jump down after Metal, going into a complete freefall as he squinted down for a landing. The robot didn't even seem to notice him as he grunted when his feet painfully hit the floor, but the blue hedgehog recovered quickly and ran beside the flying machine, panting. They ran down some dark and long hallway, until a faint glow could be seen up ahead. The robot slowed down and stopped, landing before it. The corridor filled with light as he opened the door. Sonic squinted, until he saw a frantic group of jackals all surrounding a keyboard that sat beneath a large window. Eggman sat in the corner of the relatively small room, tied up and gagged, and his angry eyes widened when he saw Sonic. He began sputtering through his gag, and the jackals turned around.
"Sonic! Thank goodness!" Mathilda grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. The two peered through the window. On the other side was a large room, probably the same size as the chamber the blue hedgehog had fallen down moments before, only it went up instead of down and was glowing brightly, alive with the light that emitted from the mechanical-looking pedestal that sat in the center of the room. The Phantom Ruby floated inside the glass box embedded into it, blazing and glitching as it spun violently, and a single beam of red light shot straight up from the device.
Sonic stared, his green eyes reflecting red from the intense scarlet hue the ruby effused. Random bursts of lightning shot out from the pedestal, but other than the angry sputtering of Eggman, the room was completely silent.
"It's weird how quiet..." Jay began, but his voice was overtaken by Eggman's.
"It's actually very loud out there, this room is just sound-proofed, lightning-proofed, and-!" They turned and saw Metal Sonic had cut him free and ungagged him. "-Phantom-proofed!" Smiling evilly, the doctor took a step forward, only for all the jackals to point their weapons at him.
"Tch, so quick with the sharp things..." He stroked his mustache. "I wouldn't mind if you put those away... It's already too late anyway, I've started the device!"
"What, there's no way to reverse it? There's just an 'on' button, no 'off'?" Sonic asked, frowning.
Eggman's thoughtful pause was all he needed.
"Tails," Sonic turned on his earbud. "Eggman's started the machine, I need you here, ASAP!"
"Already here!" The fox startled them. "I saw you come running in behind Metal, so I followed." He looked over the keyboard at the shining ruby, a concentrated frown on his face.
Eggman chortled. "Oh, I should probably turn these on." He pulled out a remote, pressing the power button, and turning on several large screens in the front corners of the room. One showed the ruby's power levels, which were dangerously high. Another showed the doomsday device's completion level, which was not even at 1% yet. The last one showed how much time remained before the device completely wiped out the surface of the earth. 24 hours.
"Thanks for the extra pressure, Egg-breath." Sonic growled, standing between Metal and his friends.
"My pleasure!" Eggman smiled. He then let out short bursts of maniacal laughter as Tails frantically typed into the keyboard.
"You mad sicko." Aaron sneered before turning to face the flickering window again.
The private group chat of the Resistance began filling with steadily increasing concerned voices in Sonic's and Tails' ears. Overlapping voices discussed the storm growing outside, or sounded corrupted and disoriented, like the chat was being intercepted. Sonic turned his off and glared at Metal.
Tails suddenly stopped, the voices buzzing in his ear. His blue eyes trailed the keyboard's connector cable, and he followed the wire all the way to its source.
Eggman's grin slowly sunk into an annoyed scowl. "Shouldn't you be trying to override the program?"
"Sometimes it's better to work smarter, not harder, doctor." The young fox replied, examining the equipment the keyboard and monitors were hooked up to. A memory suddenly flashed behind his eyes.
"Sonic, you remember the war, right? How the Phantom Ruby worked...?"
Sonic tilted his head anxiously at his buddy. "Uh, the war? Yes. I'm not so sure about the ruby..."
Tails shot a glance at Eggman and turned to the blue blur. "It had a power source, remember? And a back-up power source, too!"
Eggman's scowl melted into a look of grim expectation as the gears turned in Tails' head. Sonic blinked. "What are you going at?"
The kid genius met Eggman's resigned look with one of excitement. "If that's the only way it could've been used, then the prototype Infinite was wearing had a power source, too!" He walked over to the keyboard and studied the gem determinedly. "And when he was combined with the ruby, he became his own power source!"
"That does explain why he was able to blow up Eggman's mech suit... and our base..." Sonic stood beside him, rubbing his chin in thought. "But then why wouldn't he be able to counteract the doomsday device?"
Tails smacked his hands down on the table in a sudden stroke of brilliance, startling everyone. "Eggman made more!!"
Eggman scoffed, crossing his arms. "You have no proof!"
The Jackal Squad each turned and looked at him, all of their steady, murderous gazes piercing through the space between them and the doctor. Metal Sonic stepped between them.
"Awaiting orders..." His metallic voice rang in the air.
Eggman slowly backed away as the jackals all pulled out their weapons once again and started towards him. He let out a shriek and burst through the door, fleeing the room. "Here's your order! Protect me!"
Sonic turned his intercom back on. "Resistance! Listen, there's something Tails figured out!"
Meanwhile, several hundred feet above ground, the scattered members of the Resistance stood around inside Eggman's dark, gloomy facility and peered through the windows to the outside, which was no brighter than the rooms they stood in. Swirling black and red masses of clouds circled the sky overhead, and the ground rumbled and shook as a violent earthquake shattered the earth. Shadow stood, concealed among the other members, as he stared in awe at the chaos ensuing before him. His own red eyes quivered slightly as a strange feeling overtook him, pulling back in old memories that had been folded and put away intentionally for good. The dark hedgehog closed his eyes and shook his head as if to clear it, before feeling a hand on his shoulder.
Rouge stood beside him, accompanied by Knuckles, both their eyes wide as they stared at the storm outside. The rumbling earthquake suddenly increased in power, making several members lose their balance as lights and machines precariously hanging from the ceiling fell down, nearly hitting a number of people. Rouge grabbed both the hedgehog and the echidna and held them tightly as the room percolated with screams and fearful cries.
Suddenly Sonic's composed, adjured voice sounded in their ears, bringing many gasps of relief.
"Resistance! Listen, there's something-" the audio glitched, "-figured out!" Rouge laxed her grip on her friends as his voice continued, "The Phantom Ruby- a power source! Which means- and destroy it! The only problem is-!" A longer stretch of static. "-than one! Do you copy?"
"We copy, Sonic!" Shadow replied.
"What did he say?" Knuckles asked, staring at Shadow in confusion.
Shadow raised his voice so the others could hear. "He and Tails figured out the Phantom Ruby still has a physical power source that we can take out, but the only problem is, there's more than one!"
"Good job, Shadow!" Vector called out. He turned to Charmy and Espio sheepishly. "I couldn't understand half of what Sonic was saying... It was almost like something was intercepting the signal!"
"Something was intercepting the signal! It was most likely the Phantom Energy radiating from the doomsday device!" Gadget gestured to the ceiling, before another quake abruptly rocked the entire facility. Rouge shrieked as part of the ceiling fell inwards, nearly hitting her, but her comrades pulled her back last second.
"Everyone get down!" Knuckles commanded, crouching down. "Get beneath any durable-looking table or chair you can find!"
The team scrambled to crawl under some form of protection from the earthquake. Omega stood over Rouge, Shadow, and Knuckles, his design allowing him to serve as defense from falling debris. The three huddled together, examining the room and making sure everyone was finding a safe place for cover.
"Sonic!" Knuckles called into his earbud. "Sonic, do you copy?"
Static came from the blue hedgehog's line. As Knuckles turned his head to talk to Shadow, Sonic's voice quickly cut in. "-stop Eggman!"
"Sorry, can you repeat that?" Knuckles replied back.
"Egg is escaping!" Sonic replied rather hurriedly. "Stop Egg!"
Shadow stood up, pulling away from Rouge's clasp. "I'll assist Sonic, you guys stay here and make sure that nobody gets hurt!"
Rouge said before Knuckles could decline, "alright, but stay vigilant and hurry!"
With a brilliant flash of green light that seemed to light up the entire room, the dark hedgehog teleported away.