//------------------------------// // Freedom // Story: Sonic and EQG Forces // by SonicAKG //------------------------------// The Resistance Squad to rescue Sonic was aboard the stolen shuttle and now in the vacuum of space itself. As they floated through it, Rarity looked out in amazement at what she saw. "Oh my, I know we've been through a lot, but I can't actually believe I'm in space of all places." Rarity said as she stared at the neverending darkness. "This...is a little overwhelming." "Nah, it's no big deal really." Pinkie answered in a nonchalant tone. "It's like being in an airplane when you think about it, except instead of clouds, you just look at all the blacness." "She's right." Charmy nodded. "Once you've been in space, it's not that exciting. This is even my second time." "Hey, me too!" Pinkie brought up as the two turned to each other and high fived. In front of the cruiser, with some help from Espio, Knuckles plugged his communicator into the ship's controls. Doing so caused a large holographic screen to appear in front. It was blank before it received an incoming transmission, which showed Amy, Fluttershy, and Sunset with Manic and Rainbow Dash hanging around in the back. "Knuckles. Glad to see your mission was successful." Sunset expressed with relief. "What's the word now?" "Well, we just took off not too long ago." Knuckles answered. "How are things back on earth?" "So far, so good. We're managing without you guys. Nothing we can't handle. Amy said. "Though we hope you're back for anything big happens that we can't handle." Fluttershy expressed with slight worry. "It's so unfair that you guys get into space while I'm stuck on the ground." Rainbow Dash grumbled. "Do you know awesome being in space sounds?!" "Come on Dash, I need you on the ground to help make sure we're not totally defenseless." Knuckles replied Before Rainbow Dash could say anything, another incoming transmission appeared. It displayed Rouge, who appeared to be hiding in a corner and looking out with caution. This got everyone in the ship's attention as they looked at the screen. "Rouge, what's going in there?"Knuckles asked. "Well, I have some bad news. I didn't get to tell you this in my last message because of the transmission but it turns out Eggman's been keeping Sonic alive this whole time so he can banish him into space once he shows him his completed empire. And from what I've heard, it's soon." Rouge said. Hearing this made everyone form looks of panic. The situation had become even more than dire before. "What?! Shouldn't be surprised Eggman would pull something like that." Silver said as he clenched his fist. "We have to get to Sonic soon then. The more time we waste, the closer we are to losing him for real." "Silver's right, but the thing is, we still don't where Sonic is being held." Amy brought up. "That's bad." Pinkie stated as she hung her head. "Actually, I do." Rouge said. "That's good!" Pinkie said as she lifted her head up and grinned. "Sonic's being held on the Death Egg." Rouge informed the party. "Death Egg? Just what the hay is a Death Egg?" Applejack asked as if she didn't hear right. "The Death Egg is Eggman's top space station and his base of operations most of the time." Manic explained. "Sheesh, how many times is he going to rebuild this thing?" "You've dealt with it before?" Sunset inquired. "Yeah. In fact, it was how I first met Sonic and Tails." Knuckles elaborated. "What's this guy's deal with eggs?" Rainbow Dash questioned as she raised an eyebrow. "If Eggman's rebuilt the Death Egg, he's probably got some big plan of his. He only builds it in special situations." Vector stated. "I got a bad feeling about this." Suddenly, in the background of Rouge's transmission, large sirens were heard and the area started to glow red, startling her as she looked around. "One of my ships is missing from the spaceport. I haven't authorized a launch, so that can only mean one thing. That pesky resistance must've stolen it and are headed here! I want this area on full lockdown, do you hear me?!" Eggman's voice said over a speaker. "Yes, boss! Right away!" Orbot's voice answered. Hearing this made the resistance sigh in defeat. So much for the element of the surprise. With Eggman now aware of their plan, this made things...complicated. "You better hurry with your mission. In the meantime, I'll try and see if I can shut down security to get Sonic free." Rouge said. "Rouge out." The transmission of Rouge ended as it vanished from the screen. "Guys, good luck. We leave it to you." Sunset said. "Please, bring Sonic back." Amy pleaded. The transmission then cut, causing Knuckles to turn to the rescue squad. "Knux, since you've dealt with this Death Egg before, just what are we in for?" AppleJack asked. "The Death Egg is one of Eggman's most secure lairs and deadliest weapons. He'll do anything to make sure it doesn't get breached. Once we get there, be on your guard." Knuckles instructed. "Got it. So just fight our way through. Nothing new." Vector replied. "Hey, is the Death Egg shaped round like a ball, grey and kinda looks like Eggman's face, which is pretty creepy by the way?" Pinkie suddenly said as she turned to her right. "Uh, yeah...." Knuckle said, surprised at Pinkie's accurate description of the fortress even though she'd never seen it. "How do you know that?" Pinkie pointed in her direction, making the entire squad look. There, they saw the Death Egg right in front of them. "My word....I've never seen anything so...repulsive! Who would construct such a monstrosity?" Rarity said with distaste. "Eggman and that ego of his, that's what." Silver dryly answered. "Now that our objective is before us, we need to focus on making sure we reach it. As Knuckle said, the Death Egg is not something to be trifled with. If we fail, Sonic and the world is doomed." Espio advised the team as they all nodded and prepared for their mission as their ship got close to the Death Egg. The ship arrived at the landing bay for the Death Egg. The inside of it was totally metallic with large dimly lit halls with narrow corridors that were decorated with neon lights which had a sci-fi theme to them. The walls had various pipes and light panels shaped like triangles arranged in hexagons. Metallic bridges, narrow walkways and armored frameworks surrounding pipes made up various paths. Many suspended rails were carrying cargo throughout the Death Egg. Many pillars in the background had glowing red spheres around them, most likely for surveillance. As soon as the doors of the shuttle opened, the Resistance team branched off into different directions. Knuckles was with AppleJack, Silver with Rarity and Pinkie with the Chaotix. "All right everyone, with your small groups, explore the different routes. Be careful and don't get caught." Knuckles ordered through communicators while he and AppleJack were running down a large ramp. "Come on partner, let's find Sonic!" AppleJack declared as she and Knuckles continued down the way they were and entered a hallway. "This place is huge." AppleJack observed as she and Knuckles moved throughout the Death Egg. "Lookin' for Sonic will be like searchin' for a needle in a haystack." "I wasn't expecting this to be easy. Eggman's totally changed the Death Egg, I don't even recognize it from before." Knuckles stated. As the two of them got deeper into the base, they found themselves greeted by a legion of Egg Pawns, wh noticed them and aimed their weapons. "Well, one thing doesn't change...plenty of robots to smash!" Knuckles said with a grin. Knuckles and AppleJack then engaged the Egg Pawns. With brute strength, Knuckles tore through them using his fist, destroying a robot with each swing. AppleJack let out a few punches of her own, leaving the robots more crunched than outright destroyed. With their combined might, they made it past the robots with little difficulty. In front of them, the duo noticed a giant black structure blocking their path, making them look up. "Knux, can you toss me up there?" AppleJack requested as Knuckles gave her the thumbs up. "Sure, I'll meet you up." Knuckles said as he put his two hands together while AppleJack climbed over them. Knuckles then grunted and sent AppleJack high up in the air and on top of another platform as she landed. When she was at the top, it was totally dark and AppleJack couldn't see a thing. Suddenly, a series of red dots appeared, revealing a series of Buzz Bombers right in front of her, catching her off guard as they aimed their stingers at her. They fired a series of beams as she moved around to dodge them. "It's bad enough when these varmints are small..." She grumbled. AppleJack continued to evade the robots blast but realized she couldn't do this forever. Instead, she pressed her fingers in the ground and lifted a piece of the metal underneath her to use as a shield, which took all of the lasers fired at her, making her grunt slightly with each impact. AppleJack then gripped the piece tightly and tossed it as a boomerang, taking out a portion of the Buzz Bombers. A few more were left and aimed their lasers to fire before Knuckles suddenly appeared and glided through them, turning them into scrap before he descended on the ground. "What took ya so long?" AppleJack asked as she put her hands on her hips. "Climbing metal is not as easy as climbing rock."Knuckles informed her. While it was still dark, the two of them continued on ahead. As they moved on, lights began to appear, revealing they were heading down a large spiral staircase, which advanced them into the next portion of the Death Egg as they raced across the floor. More enemies blocked their path, but they were no match for the two of them and were dispatched easily. "Rarity and I found a room and there's....nothing to report. It's empty." Silver announced on his comm link as in the background, lasers were heard along with the sound of Rarity's shields defending against them. "Silver, we have to move now!" She said over the com. "This place is just so...dreary. It's so colorless and just....*shiver* gives me bad vibes." Pinkie said on the other end of the com. "The design must be to intimidate the captives." Espio reported. "Mission accomplished!" Charmy said in an anxious tone. "Guys, do you hear that? They're trying to surround us in. We have to deal with these forces!" Vector stated. After he did, the sound of metal being crushed and slashed along with explosions were heard over the other end. "Looks like the other's aren't having much luck either." AppleJack noted. "We'll just have to hope that this route is the best we've taken." Knuckles said. "I hope Rouge can turn down the security soon." Knuckles and AppleJack moved from platform to platform as they moved up higher in the section they were in, destroying any enemies that were in front of them. As they moved forward, the comms started to activate. "We've found a cell but it looks like it was used up until recently. Eggman must've kept our soldiers here." Espio noted. "That's awful. It must be dreadful being trapped in a place like this." Rarity said with dismay. "Eggman won't get away with this." Silver said with determination. "Eggman sure means business this time. I mean, I know he was pretty bad before from everythin' I've heard but it's like he's takin' it to another level." AppleJack commented as she and Knuckles arrived on a series of active platforms, which either took them up or down. "He's not pulling his punches. And neither should we." Knuckles stated as he put his fist together. The two of them found themselves on a pathway once more and the moment they began to traverse on it, a large siren was heard, making them grit their teeth due to their rotten luck. "Eggman must've put the Death Egg on high alert." Knuckles said. "Things are going to get complicated." "Well, we're not about to let some pieces of junk get in our way." AppleJack said. "He can send as many he wants but Granny Smith sure didn't raise a quitter." While Knuckles and AppleJack traveled on the pathway, they noticed it became more narrow and brightened. They soon found themselves in front of a blue Egg pawn which had cylinder-shaped jetpack and long laser cannons for arms. When it saw them, the robot fired a series of two beams, which Knuckles and AppleJack barely dodged as they split up to avoid the blast. In doing so, AppleJack found herself underneath the pathway to find another one that she moved on. She had to watch her step though as red bottomless pits sometimes came in front of her. Above, the Eggpawn kept trying to blast Knuckles, who has had difficulty avoiding the beams. The next time he moved, he fell down on the ground and landed in front of AppleJack with a loud thud. "Nice of ya to drop in. I was gettin' lonely down here." AppleJack said with an amused grin. "Oh, cute." Knuckles said as he rose up before he looked back upward with a frown. "We need to take care of that drone." "I have an idea, Knux. With the two of us down here, it can't see us from up there. Which means we got the element of surprise." AppleJack said. " We can move down here and wait for an openin'." "Sounds like a plan." Knuckles agreed as he and AppleJack moved under while keeping an eye on the Eggpawn, which was searching for any sign of them. The two them tracked the Eggpawn from below before they noticed another path which took them upward and gave them a shot at the robot. AppleJack then grabbed Knuckles and with great strength, tossed him towards the Egg pawn as Knuckles smashed through it with ease using his fist, making the coast clear as AppleJack joined him from above. "Let's keep moving." Knuckles instructed. "Wait, I sense a presence....Sonic's presence....He's nearby." Espio said over the comms. "Espio, now's not the time for your ninja-"Vector started before Pinkie caught him off. "No, he's on to something. I can sense Sonic with my Pinkie sense too!" Pinkie agreed. "What the? How the-" Vector uttered in a perplexed tone. Knuckles and AppleJack exchanged amused glances. "You heard em. We're near Sonic!" AppleJack stated. In another section of the Death Egg, a small control room with different monitors was seen, with Orbot and Cubot overlooking them. The monitors displayed the actions of the Resistance aboard the Death Egg. "Oh man, the boss isn't going to like this." Cubot said as he rubbed his head. "It's not too bad. As long as the security's up, they can't get too far." Orbot informed him. Above, the two of them heard the sound of banging and rustling, which made them look up. "Do we have rats?" Cubot asked as Orbot sighed due to how ridiculous the question was. "How can we have rats? We're in space."Orbot pointed out. The noise above them got louder and louder before a small metal bar plopped down in front of them, with Rouge coming down shortly in front of them. "Hi, boys." Rouge greeted with a wink. "This wouldn't happen to be the control room, wouldn't it?" The two robots backed away from Rouge. She was a super spy who dealt with Eggman's robots, so it was a no-brainer what she could do to the two of them. Rouge looked back and noticed a flipped handle on the controls. She quickly leaped over the two henchmen and landed near the handle, her hand just inches away from it. 'This is the security switch, isn't it?" Rouge said in a playful tone as the two robots exchanged worried looks. "I'll take that as a yes." Rouge decided as she flipped the handle the opposite way. In the prisoner's section of the Death Egg, Sonic was sitting alone in a dark cell, his hands and feets bound by blue energy cuffs. He was looking down, lamenting over everything that must've happened with him gone. Honestly, he was pretty worried about it, but he tried to look on the bright side. He was certain his friends were still fighting in his absence and that motivated him to return to them....if he could get out of here. Sonic then heard a large rumbling noise, which made him look up with curiosity to see the source. Just then, he noticed Zavok approaching him, making him frown. "You should savor these last moments of yours, child. The end is approaching." The red Zeti taunted in a malicious tone. Sonic just rolled his eyes. " I've heard you say that at least 4 times in the past 6 months. Yeah, yeah, I'm doomed, whatever." "I guess it's true what they say, ignorance is bliss." Zavok said. "You won't be cracking any more jokes anytime soon." "Actually, once we get out of here, the first joke I'm going to crack is you." Sonic said in a mocking tone. "You're not going anywhere, boy. The Doctor's fortress is inescapable. You can't stand against what he's built." Zavok said. "I've beaten him before and I'll do it again."Sonic said in a determined manner. "Anyway, why are you even here, Zavok? You were lame with the Deadly Six, but you're even lamer with Eggman. Don't you hate him?" "It doesn't matter how I feel." Zavok responded. As he did, Sonic noticed a few red glitches surrounding him, which made him raise an eyebrow. A loud siren was then heard, making Sonic and Zavok look around. The area then started to flash red and once it did, the door to Sonic's cell was opened and his cuffs vanished. Once this happened, Sonic formed a grin as he stood up and gave Zavok a smug look. "What were you saying about inescapable again?" Sonic ridiculed as he approached his enemy. "Fool, being free doesn't change your fate. You're going to die anyway and the method how doesn't matter." Zavok darkly said as he clenched his fist. Sonic then dashed outside past Zavok and turned to him. "Come on, it's been a while since I gave you a beatdown!" Sonic said as he pointed his finger at Zavok. Zavok charged towards Sonic with a fist, who easily evaded it with a sidestep. Zavok then jumped off the platform with Sonic chasing after him. Sonic landed on a large multi-hexagonal shaped platform and looked around, but saw no sign of Zavok anywhere. "Huh, did he take himself out? Works for me." He said with a shrug. Sonic then heard a loud buzzing sound and turned around to see the source. Zavok was riding a giant bee-like robot that resembled the Buzz Bombers, except it had 6 glowing eyes and large claws on it's lower body with a yellow and orange color scheme. Zavok smashed his fist togethor twice and released a powerful roar, indicating he was ready for battle. "Of course, it can never be that easy." Sonic said with disappointment. A series of small Buzz Bombers filled the stage and surrounded Sonic. With their stingers, they all charged towards him, who moved out of the way using his speed, making them crash into each other and explode in the center. "Bravo. Your minions took themselves out." Sonic sarcastically said with a few claps. "Impudent, brat! Take this!" Zavok yelled with slight anger as the robot he was on began to fire a series of lasers towards Sonic. Sonic dashed away as the laser kept trying to home in on him, but he was just too quick for it to hit. "That's right, boy! Run from your demise!" Zavok said. "Are you trying to accuse me of being a wimp? Look who's talking. You can't even fight me without some stupid mechs to help you. " Sonic retorted as Zavok grit his teeth. More Buzz Bombers appeared and when they did, Sonic turned into a blue streak to break through the entire swam mid-air. He grabbed one and smashed it into the last one. After he did that, he returned to the platform and noticed a giant shadow coming over him. Sonic looked up to see Zavok's mech coming down to smash him using its stinger. Using his speed, he pulled himself out of harm's way as the robot slammed the ground. As it did, the entire platform shook, launching Sonic in the air, which he didn't expect. However, he noticed this gave him a clear shot at Zavok and dashed towards him as a blue streak. Sonic crashed into Zavok's chest, inflicting some damage as the Zeti grunted. "Ha, score one for me!" Sonic declared as he landed on the ground. "Enjoy your final moment of pride, Sonic!" Zavok yelled. In the background, Sonic noticed a few other prisoners were coming closer to the bars of their cells and looked on at the battle, with curiosity. "Looks like I got an audience to watch me beat you." Sonic said. "Why do you insist on making things difficult?" Zavok questioned from above. More Buzz Bombers came towards Sonic as Zavok fired a laser once more to try and zap him. Sonic dodged the laser and while it chased him, he used it to destroy most of the robots after him. Zavok noticed this and stopped the laser, with more Buzz Bombers circling Sonic. Sonic became a streak once more and destroyed them as he moved around the platform. While he was in the air, he released a few kicks towards any incoming enemies, knocking them back into the others. He did a spin kick to get rid of the remaining pest before his feet touched the ground again. Seeing him like this, another swarm of Buzz Bombers appeared around him. As they charged into Sonic, Sonic turned into a streak as he went through them, using the mechs as a ladder of some kind as he was able to reach where Zavok was and dashed into him. Zavok blocked Sonic's blow, which sent him back. Sonic then dashed back towards Zavok as streak once more, this time unleashing a barrage of strikes. Zavok had difficulty guarding against Sonic's blows and his defense broke, which let Sonic hit through him as a streak 3 times as Zavok staggered due to the pain and Sonic landed on the floor. The prisoners witness the whole thing and became to cheer loudly, which made Sonic smirk. "Come on, Zavok. We haven't even started round 3!" Sonic teased. "You're going to regret this you worm! I'm going to make you suffer!" Zavok boasted. A few pieces of the platform then began to fall off, much to Sonic's surprise as he almost fell off but used his speed to dash back up ahead. "Wow!" Sonic said as he now saw that the platform was smaller than before, leaving him with less space. This time, the giant Buzz Bomber Zavok was on charged straight towards Sonic with its stinger out. Sonic ducked in order to avoid it as he slid against the ground. When he turned around, he saw Zavok coming towards him again and leaped into the air above it. While he did this, smaller Buzz Bombers tried to stab him but with his reflexes, Sonic zigzagged through each of them as a streak. As Sonic was falling down, he saw Zavok lift his mech up and come crashing down on him. It seemed as if though Sonic was going to get impaled, but at the last second, he did a boost mid-air just as Zavok crashed on the ground. Sonic then went towards Zavok as a streak, who knocked him above using a backhand. However, Sonic came down with a powerful stomp which Zavok blocked with both hands, leaving a blue impact and stunning Zavok, which Sonic used as a chance to hit Zavok as a streak, making him flinch due to the pain. Sonic then landed in front of him and Zavok shook his head. When he saw Sonic, he released a right hook that Sonic dodged by ducking. Sonic then released two quick right hooks of his own at Zavok's face, followed by a powerful kick. He did this combo again, though much faster and Zavok nearly lost his balance due to the impact of Sonic's blow. Seeing this, Sonic charged up as a more focused streak and rammed into Zavok with a powerful strike, leaving a blue flash in the aftermath. "No, this can't be! I can't be defeated again!" Zavok declared before fell off his robot and landed on the platform below with a strong impact. Sonic then came down in front of the defeated Zeti. "Ah, it was nice to stretch my legs after all this time. Thanks for the workout." He said as he gave Zavok the thumbs up. Suddenly, the red flicker from before came around Zavok's body, making his entire body flash before he vanished into thin air, much to Sonic's shock. "What the? Where did he go?" Sonic wondered. "I don't remember him doing that last time we fought." Sonic then felt the entire Death Egg violently shaking, making him almost lose his balance. Whatever was going on, it was a perfect time for him to make his move. He was about to dash off before he remembered all the other prisoners. Sonic saw that there were countless of them and this made him conflicted. He wanted to try and rescue them but it was risky. If he got caught again here, there would be no one to save them later on. Sonic then clenched his fist as he made his choice. "I promise. I'm going to come back here and save all of you. Just hang on tight." He swore. This made the prisoners, although uncertain, nodded as soon as they heard this. Sonic then dashed off of the platform to a higher area as he made his exit from the prison hall. Sonic was rushing through the metallic complex of the Death Egg as the alarms were on high alert and the area started flashing red. While he was running, giant black ceilings were attempting to crush him as they were lowered to the ground. "Well, so much for a subtle escape." Sonic said to himself as he avoided being crushed. As Sonic continued to make his escape, he zipped past a hallway with a series of metallic doors closing rapidly, just narrowly making it past them. Once he did, Sonic found himself on a red rail, which gave him a view of the planet in the background on his right. A series of Egg fleets were there around with a few mechanized asteroids. In front of him, Sonic saw smaller asteroids along with metallic structures ahead. "So, I was taken to space." Sonic realized. "Well played Egghead, but I'm sick of it already." Sonic continued to grind on the rail until he reached the end, causing him to jump off it. He headed towards a metal platform, which housed a few Egg Pawns. Sonic turned into a streak and destroyed them so he could make his way through. He then located another rail, which he used to get back inside the Death Egg. Inside, he saw the ceiling coming down again, which made him use his boost to avoid getting crushed. As Sonic continued on ahead, the walls started to fire blue beams, which he evaded using his reflexes. Sonic then found himself at the bottom of a corridor and saw the only exit was above him. Using his speed, he wall jumped from the different sides and made sure not to get hit by any beams fired by the wall until he reached his destination. Sonic then used his boost to accelerate out of that section of the Death Egg and he bounced off a few small meteors and landed on a rail that had 3 sections. In the background, he saw an entire fleet of Eggman ships alongside the Death Egg. "Eggman rebuilt the Death Egg again? He really likes the look of his own face. This time when I destroy this thing, it's gonna stay smashed." Sonic declared. While he was grinding, 3 flying Egg Pawns appeared in front of him. They each fired lasers to try and hit him, but Sonic alternated between the different rails and was safe. The rail took Sonic inside another section of the Death Egg, where he was greeted by incoming ceilings once more, which he avoided again by simply being faster than the speed at which they were coming down. Sonic jumped across a series of platforms and used his stomp to make a way down through a pile of metal blocks. He had to do this a few times in order to make a path. "Ok, so how am I going to get out of here? I can't fly in space." Sonic thought outloud before he got an idea. "Of course! I can just take one of Eggman's shuttles. He won't mind me taking one. He already has enough." Sonic was in an area with yet another ceiling coming down towards him. Using his stomp, he descended downwards in order to get away from it and found himself on a new pathway to run across. Sonic dashed on it and was sent out on another red rail. While he was using it, Sonic saw a few smaller spacecrafts heading his way. When one got close enough, he jumped on and hitched a ride. The ship Sonic was on followed the others as they all approached the surface of the Death Egg. As they got closer, many rays began to emerge from the fortress. "It's going to take more than a little light show to take me down." Sonic boasted. The craft Sonic was on got hit, forcing him to jump to the nearest one as the Death Egg continued its assault. This forced Sonic to jump from ship to ship to avoid going down. The last ship Sonic on was then struck by a bombardment of lasers, which made him jump off of it. As he did, Sonic then fell inside another entrance of the Death Egg in the form of a large shaft. Sonic then began to skydive deeper into the shaft until he saw he was in a large loading bay with a series of ships in the background. Sonic then landed on the ground and burst ahead. Near the end of the loading bay, Knuckles and AppleJack were fighting off some Egg Pawns, knocking them back with their strength and eventually defeating all of them. "How long have we been here? We haven't even found any sign of Sonic yet." AppleJack asked. "Honestly, I don't know. But if we don't find anything soon, then this whole mission will be for nothing." Knuckles said as he folded his arms. The two of them heard the sound of robotic footsteps and saw another legion of Egg Pawns coming their way. They got into a fighting stance and prepared to engage them in battle. Before they could, a blue streak appeared and went through all of the robots, taking them out. The streak revealed itself as Sonic who dusted his hands as Knuckles and AppleJack stared in shock. "I almost feel bad for smashing all of these robots. It's too easy now." Sonic said. "Sonic?!" AppleJack called, which made Sonic turn to see her and Knuckles. When he did, his face broke out into a large smile. "AJ? Knuckles? You guys are here? Awesome!" Sonic happily said as he rushed towards them. "What brings you here?" "We're here to save you. I organized this entire mission." Knuckles said as Sonic looked at him a skeptical manner. "You? Since when do you use your head?" Sonic questioned, making Knuckles lower his eyelids. "Don't make me want to leave you here." Knuckles responded with a slightly annoyed tone. "Good to see ya haven't lost your sense of humor. It's really great to see yer ok, Sonic." AppleJack said as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "And it's good to see some friendly faces after so long." Sonic replied. "I'd love to catch up, but we gotta go, now!" Knuckles informed the two of them. Sonic, Knuckles, and AppleJack raced to the stolen shuttle and were the last ones to enter it as it closed up. With everyone accounted for, the shuttle then prepared for taking off as it hovered above the floor. The doors opened, revealing space as the shuttle's engines started and it took off.