• Published 3rd Jun 2020
  • 3,424 Views, 336 Comments

Sonic Forces: Into the Mania - GreenS21



In a familiar world, tyranny and madness now rule all. Will friendship rise again?

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Death Egg Rescue

The situation was a mess. The city itself was a warzone, but the surviving members of the Resistance felt like they were in a massacre. The day had started out with their full force attempting to drive Eggman's robots out and reclaim the city, but things quickly fell apart when Infinite arrived and began cutting down their numbers. Now the remaining Resistance fighters were figuratively backed into a corner, the square they were in looking like it was going to be the site of their last stand.

As the Resistance opened fire on him, Infinite calmly remarked, "There is no reason to resist. Your savior is no more." While he was speaking, he charged up a red beam in the palm of his right hand, firing it while moving his hand from left to right. The beam created explosions as it swept across the ground, sending Resistance troopers flying, all of them dead before or after hitting the ground. Only one remained.

A red wolf wearing only a pair of white and yellow shoes sat behind a piece of stone, cowering in fear and holding the sides of his head as he heard the explosions. A White Wispon from one of the troopers suddenly landed on the ground in front of him and, after a moment, he stood up and reached for it. Before he could grab it, Infinite spoke, causing him to miss it a few times, “I can taste your terror, child. All that anxiety and doubt…” The wolf grabbed the Wispon and pointed it up at the jackal, unsuccessfully using his left hand to try to steady his shaking right arm. “It’s delicious,” Infinite finished. He charged up a single shot in his right hand and fired it so it hit the ground just in front of the wolf, causing him to stagger back and fall on his rear, the Wispon falling from his grip.

As the wolf’s mind raced with thoughts, Infinite said, “Give in to your fear. Flee, screaming, and I’ll let you live.” The wolf looked between the Wispon, the bodies of the Resistance troops, and Infinite for a moment, the jackal looking like he was preparing another attack if the wolf didn’t heed him, before getting to his feet and turning to run. He could clearly hear Infinite’s dark laughter even as he ran from the square as fast as his legs could carry him.

________________________________________

Tempest walked over to the Rookie, seeing his eyes closed and his head bobbing up and down a bit, but also his body shaking as he sat on the bench. She watched him for a few seconds before she raised a hoof and shook his shoulder while saying, “Hey.” When he didn’t wake up, she gave him a harder push and said, louder, “Hey!” That caused him to wake up and he sat up straight as he looked up at the scarred unicorn. “Get up! Trish said we’re approaching the Death Egg.” She held up a facemask that appeared to have some kind of machine built into it, “Here. Techni suggested we all wear these until we at least dock so they don’t pick up on our chatter.”

As she walked away, the Rookie saw Sona sitting across from him, the rabbit already wearing her face mask. "You feel okay, kid? You looked like you were having a bad dream," she said, the waveform of her words appearing on the yellow screen on her mask as she spoke. He nodded, so she replied, "Okay. You did good back at the Chemical Plant. We're really going to be in the lion's den now; keep your wits about you." She stood up and started to walk towards the front. The Rookie watched her for a moment before reaching up to put his mask on.

Tempest, after tying her own mask behind her head, went up to the ship's controls, where Trish and Techni were seated in the pilot and co-pilot seats respectively with Rainbow, Applejack, and Salten standing nearby. Looking out through the canopy, the scarred unicorn could see the Death Egg and the fleet of ships surrounding getting closer, the station in particular getting bigger every second. The image Rouge had shown them hadn't been too great, but even if it was, Tempest guessed it wouldn't have been the same as seeing like she was now. The station was a lot bigger than she thought it was, almost the size of a small moon. A replica of Eggman's grinning face was built onto the front of it, almost seeming to leer at them in their comparatively smaller craft. "We'll see if you're still grinning after we're finished here, Eggman," Tempest thought.

After a couple of seconds, a robotic voice came through the ship’s communication systems, causing everyone present to look at the controls, “ATTENTION, UNIDENTIFIED SHIP. YOU ARE APPROACHING RESTRICTED SPACE. IDENTIFY YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY AND STATE YOUR PURPOSE OR BE DESTROYED.”

Trish unclipped her Miles Mobile and held it up in her right hand while the voice was talking, using her thumb to tap the screen a few times. She then shared a look with Techni, the cat giving her a nod, before she brought her left hand forward and used her finger to press a button to open communications on her end. She held her Mobile up in front of her mask as she said, “This is Prisoner Transport #08152017. We received new orders from command to deliver our prisoners to the Death Egg for special detainment. Our prisoner list includes three high-profile members of the Resistance: Espio the Chameleon, Charmy Bee, and Vector the Crocodile. Requesting permission to land.” Thanks to her mask and the program she opened on her Mobile, her voice came out sounding like an Egg Pawn’s.

There was silence from the other end for several moments after she released the button, then there was a whirring noise and they all heard, “CONFIRMED. TRANSMIT CODE FOR LANDING CLEARANCE. MAINTAIN CURRENT FLIGHT PATH.”

Techni began to type while Trish radioed back, “Code transmission commencing. Maintaining flight path.”

While she took her finger off the button and reclipped her Mobile, Applejack remarked, “Sure hope this works…”

Techni didn’t look up or say anything, so Rainbow said after a few seconds, “Relax, AJ, it’ll work. I’m sure Techni’s got it all figured out.”

Applejack turned to her and asked, “And what if somethin’ goes wrong anyway?”

Rainbow shrugged, “Then we just get out of here and come up with a new plan. We can do that, right?”

Tempest spoke up, “Unlikely. Our current path is going to put us right in the middle of that fleet. Unless this crate is swifter and more maneuverable than it looks, we’ll be destroyed before we even get a chance to turn around.”

Before anyone else could say anything, Trish annoyedly asked, “Could you all keep it down? We’re wearing these masks for a reason, but there’s no guarantee they’re completely keeping anyone from eavesdropping.” Everyone kept quiet at that.

Techni finished entering and transferring the clearance code and a tense minute of silence followed as they waited to find out what would happen. Before it could get to them, they received a call, “CLEARANCE CODE CONFIRMED. BEACON ACTIVATED. ESCORT CRAFT EN ROUTE. STAY WITH ESCORT CRAFT AND FOLLOW THE BEACON TO HANGER NINETY-FOUR. AN INSPECTION PARTY WILL MEET YOU UPON YOUR ARRIVAL.”

A collective sigh of relief was let out at that. “All right! I knew Techni wouldn’t let us down!” Rainbow said.

The cat replied, “Don’t celebrate yet. We’ve got our in; now we just have to secure it.”

Salten nodded, “Right.” He turned to leave, “I’ll go tell everyone to get into position.”

It didn’t take long for two red bird-like ships to flank the sides of their ship, guiding them along the intended path to their landing point. The rest of the trip passed in relative silence on the bridge, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie joining them as they continued on their way. Aside from an occasional glance out the sides at the escort ships, everyone looked straight ahead as the Death Egg filled the view from the front. As they made their final approach, the escorts broke off and the hanger doors slid open shortly afterwards, the doors sliding shut again after the ship had landed on the turntable in front of it.

Through the glass, Trish and the ponies could see the inspection party, comprised of two Egg Pawns and four Swat Bots, approach the front of the ship. Trish lowered the ramp so they could board while Tempest and Rarity moved to the back to peer down at the deck below. The holding area for prisoners was actually below the entrance deck, but they had everyone move up and stand on the sides for their plan. From where the two ponies were standing, they could see the Rookie standing with his back to the wall on the ship’s starboard side. Sona, Salten, Charmy, and Terv stood to his right and Matka, Espio, Vector, Aventura, and Techni stood across from them, all of them wearing handcuffs that were made to look like they were secured. All of their masks and Wispons were in the overhead compartments, kept out of sight until they needed them.

Everyone did their best to keep their gazes pointed forward as the inspection party came aboard. The Swat Bots began to look over the prisoners, two of them moving directly in front of Espio and Vector, while the Egg Pawns seemed to be searching for the ship’s pilot. Once they were all on board and sufficiently far from the door, Matka nodded at the Rookie and he raised his hands to his glasses in response, fiddling with them rather noticeably. He stopped when one of the Egg Pawns came over to investigate, but that was okay; Rarity and Tempest had gotten the signal. They looked towards the front and Tempest nodded to Trish, who turned back to the controls.

The robots stopped what they were doing and turned to look when the entrance ramp suddenly closed, sealing them all in. The other Egg Pawn walked over to the door to investigate. When it was standing in front of the door, Matka looked at the Swat Bot in front of Espio as she quietly undid her handcuffs, dropping them on the floor. When the Swat Bot turned to look, she brought her right fist up and slammed it against its face, damaging its optics. This immediately caught the other robots’ attention, but the Resistance members were ready. While the others undid their handcuffs, the Rookie used his grappling hook to grab the Egg Pawn’s foot and pull it out from under it and Espio grabbed an exploding throwing star and threw it up at the face of the Swat Bot in front of Vector, the crocodile turning his head away as it exploded. Matka hit the overhead compartment above her with a fist, shaking some of the Wispons out, and Trish and the Equestrians leapt down, and a close-quarters fight broke out.

A minute later, the ship’s ramp lowered again and Espio, Vector, Sona, and Aventura walked down it, Espio and Vector on the right and Sona and Aventura on the left, Espio, Aventura, and Sona with their masks tied behind their heads and Vector holding his over the end of his snout. While the others finished sweeping the remains of the robots into the holding area, they checked to make sure the hanger was clear. They peered out and, after not seeing anything after several moments, Espio and Sona went stepped off the ramp and began to survey the rest of the hanger. After a minute, they came back and Espio reported to Vector and Aventura, “All clear. For now.”

As the others came up behind the two, Aventura said, “Right. Our intrusion’s not going to go unnoticed for long. We’d better get moving, get as far as we can before security complicates things.”

Vector nodded, “Right. We’d better divide up our forces.” After getting in touch with Knuckles and Rouge and talking it over for a minute, it was decided that Fluttershy, Terv, Trish, and Matka would stay behind with the ship. Everyone else left the hanger, beginning the search for Sonic and the rest of the prisoners being held on the Death Egg.

After a few straightforward hallways, the group passed through a pair of doors into a much more open space. From where they were, they could see walkways running all around the room connecting to other parts of the station as well as lights of different sizes and what looked like large exposed pipes, giving it a more desolate feeling. Applejack looked up and around as she spoke, “Whoa Nelly! How are we gonna find… anything in this place?”

Pinkie piped up, “Look at all the lights! It’s almost like we’re looking at the stars outside!”

Vector adjusted his mask a little before he spoke, “Focus, everyone! There’s no time to admire the scenery; we’ve gotta find Sonic and the rest of the prisoners!” He started to lead the way down the walkway in front of the group and everyone followed. While they were walking, he looked over at Techni and asked, “Techni, you got any suggestions?”

The cat replied while looking at her Miles Mobile, “I was looking over the blueprints Rouge recovered while we were on our way up and I think I have… a decent idea of the station’s layout. Can’t say for sure since I don’t have an exact map, but basically…” She stopped talking and everyone came to a stop when an alarm suddenly started ringing.

“Yeah, I had a feeling it wasn’t going to take them long,” Aventura remarked.

“Goodness, that was fast,” Rarity commented.

Vector brought his mask down and said, “Come on, let’s move!” The Chaotix started running and everyone hurried to keep up. As they ran, they began to hear noises up above and they came to a stop and looked up. At first, they saw a big swarm of Buzz Bombers flying down, their laser stingers currently pointed back, but they soon heard a louder noise and saw a large number of red, bird-like Badniks further up, circling like a pack of vultures. “Balkiries! Those things are gonna cause problems! Take them and those Buzz Bombers out!” Vector ordered. Sona, Aventura, Techni, Salten, and the Rookie whipped out their White Wispons and started firing up at the Badniks while Rarity and Tempest shot bolts from their horns, Espio started throwing shurikens and kunais at any that started getting too close, and Charmy and Rainbow flew up to intercept them. It looked like they might have a chance at holding them back.

Unfortunately, it wasn't just their dwindling reserves and stamina that they had to worry about. More of both Badniks kept coming and they weren't making it easy to hit them, especially since the shooters had to be careful not to hit Rainbow or Charmy by accident, and some were still getting through. Vector urged everyone to keep following the walkway while still trying to fend them off and avoid their attacks. In the midst of the chaos, one Balkiry managed to slip through and crash into the walkway to the left of Techni. The resulting explosion blew her off her feet with a cry. Salten heard her, as did the Rookie, and turned, running back to her as he yelled, "Techni!" He soon reached her and knelt down next to her, asking, "Techni, are ya okay?"

Techni started to push herself up off the floor and said, "Yeah, I think so, Salten…" Before either of them could say anything more, Salten let out a grunt when he was hit in the back by a laser sting. "Salten!" Techni cried as he staggered towards the edge of the walkway without realizing it. She grabbed her White Wispon and quickly shot down the offending Buzz Bomber before jumping to her feet and running to grab him. She managed to grab the back of his uniform and pull him back, keeping him from going over the edge.

She looked at the scorch mark on the back of his uniform and put her hand on his right shoulder to steady him. “Are you all right, Salten?” she asked, but before he could answer, a trio of Balkiries made it past Rainbow and she turned in time to see them explode behind the two, sending them both over the edge.

The pegasus wasn’t the only one who noticed their predicament, thankfully. The Rookie had gone back to help Techni as well, but stopped short when Salten got to her first. He had noticed another walkway off the path they were following during the few calm moments that came afterwards and was working out if there was a way for them to reach it when the two were blown off the walkway. He noticed immediately and set the scanners in his lenses to help him process what he was looking at as he, a bit nervously, dove off the walkway after a few moments and using his grappling hook to latch onto one of the numerous pipes and run down it, using the momentum he gained to try to catch up to them.

He managed to reach them before they disappeared into the blackness and grabbed Techni’s foot with his right hand while he raised his left hand to fire his grappling hook up at an angle, the hook reaching one of the pipes and getting caught, allowing him to pull them up. They were still well below the walkway they’d been on and nowhere near another, so he broke the line off and continued shooting to keep going up, moving away from the walkway in the process. A group of Buzz Bombers up ahead noticed their progress and started to fly towards them to intercept them. The three of them didn’t notice, but Rainbow, who’d been keeping an eye on them, did and flew down, getting up behind the Rookie as he finished pulling himself up again and grabbed him under his arms, carrying him, Techni, and Salten forward while crashing through the Buzz Bombers in the process.

They managed to reach the other walkway without any further difficulty and land on it, taking a moment to catch their breaths. They then received a call on their Mobiles. Techni grabbed hers and looked at the screen, seeing the call was from Silver. She answered it and asked, "Hello? Silver?"

The hedgehog on the other end spoke, "Techni? Oh, good. We were just in contact with the others; they said they lost track of some of you during the 'fracas,' as Pinkie called it. What happened?"

Techni replied, “Well, to make a long story short, Salten and I both got clipped by a few lucky shots and fell, but Rainbow and the Rookie were able to catch us and get us back up, although we ended up on a different path than everyone else.”

Knuckles joined the conversation, “That might not be such a bad thing. Everyone else is further ahead, but it looks like they still have robots to deal with. Your path might allow you to continue the search for Sonic while getting around some of that.”

Techni said, “Good idea, Commander, although I think we should try to find a control room connected to the internment areas. Having access to one of those would do more than just help us locate Sonic faster. We’d be able to open the prisoners’ cells and free them from their restraints; it’d make it easier to help them get out when the inevitable riot breaks out.”

Knuckles replied, “Good thinking, Techni. I’ll leave it up to you. Do what you do best.” Techni nodded and disconnected from the call, returning her Mobile to the main screen.

She looked over at Salten and the Rookie a moment later and said, “All right, you two heard the Commander. Let’s find a control room and start messing with the system.” The two nodded and moved to follow her.

“Hey, what about me?” Rainbow asked a second later.

Techni stopped and looked up at the pegasus, saying, “Well, you can either come with us or go back to the others. It’s your choice, but we really shouldn’t hang around here.” She faced forward again, “Security’s going to be tight both ways, so let’s get moving.” She started to run and the Rookie and Salten hurried after her. Rainbow, meanwhile, took a few moments to think. Techni was a bit standoffish, sure, but her group was clearly the more underpowered of the two. She nodded to herself and flew after them, catching up in a second.

As they continued onwards, Rainbow grabbed her Miles Mobile and tapped on Applejack’s icon, calling her. It connected after a few seconds and she could hear noise in the background almost immediately. “Hey, AJ. What’s going on over there?” she asked.

On the other end, the orange earth pony pressed back against a wall as she held up her Mobile and said, “Ah’m gonna have ta call you back, Rainbow. We’re… slightly busy here.” She hung up and peered to her left out from behind the wall, seeing the others spread out behind barriers as they fought back against Egg Pawns and Swat Bots. The Egg Pawns had them pinned with their weapons, so Sona, Aventura, Rarity, and Espio were the trying to take them out first, but the Swat Bots were going to be the main hurdle to overcome.

All of a sudden, Pinkie let out an angered scream and pulled her Mark VI party cannon up out of her apron, much to the shock of the Resistance members. She poked her head up enough for her eyes to peer and, when she felt sure they weren't going to hit her, she swung the cannon up over her head and set it on top of the barricade, aiming it somehow before firing it at the robots.

The streamers, confetti, and pastries that came flying out knocked over the remaining Egg Pawns, but the Swat Bots stood unfazed, too heavy to be lifted off their feet. The party supplies did, however, get on their eyes and mess up their sensors, leaving them temporarily blinded. Seeing this, leapt to take advantage of it. Rarity, Aventura, and Sona started firing on them again to try to hold them like that while Tempest and the Chaotix left their cover and moved up, getting close before attacking. It took a minute, but they managed to take down the attack force.

Afterwards, they continued on for a short time until they passed through a corridor that emptied into a round room that had three doors they could choose from. They moved to the middle of the room and looked at the doors. "Which way do we go now?" Rarity asked after a moment.

“We don’t even know that we’re goin’ the right way, Rarity,” Applejack reminded her.

"Ooh! I love guessing games!" Pinkie piped up.

Tempest took a few steps towards the door on the right. “Unfortunately, we don’t have time for games right now. We’re no longer in a wide-open space and could easily get overwhelmed here. We need to make a decision,” she said as she looked at the door.

"How about we flip a coin? Or, ooh! Let’s play about Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo!" Charmy suggested.

Vector placed his hand over the bee's face, causing him to flail and utter muffled complaints while the crocodile said, "Pipe down, Charmy! Just give me a minute here; let me see if Techni has any updates for us." While still holding Charmy, he grabbed his Miles Mobile and, after seeing no new messages on the screen, called the cat. The call was answered after a couple of seconds and Vector asked, “Techni? You got anything for us?”

On the other end, Techni answered, “Just give me a minute or two, Vector.” She glanced to her right at Rainbow, Salten, and the Rookie, who were all gathered around a door. “We’re about to storm one of the control rooms. I’ll be plugged in soon,” she reported.

“Well, hurry it up! We’re at a junction and we’re not sure which way to go!” Vector replied.

Sona turned to look at the door on the left, her ears perking up slightly. She could hear multiple metallic footsteps on the other side of the door, the sound getting louder and louder. “I don’t think we’re going that way!” she said a moment later, backing up and adjusting her mask. The door slid open before anyone could ask, revealing a large squad of Egg Pawns on the other side of it.

Instinctively, Vector pushed Charmy back, the bee’s wings buzzing as he moved back through the air. He ended up bumping into Tempest, the tip of his stinger poking her in her flank and causing her to let out a yelp as she leapt forward without thinking, the door in front of her opening upon sensing her proximity and sliding closed as her hooves touched the ground. She spun around and tried to go back, but she could hear machinery working in the door before she started to run, the door locking before she could reach it. “Hey! The door won’t open!” she yelled, hoping someone on the other side could hear her.

Aventura had already started running towards the door when it closed and put her hands on it, hearing Tempest’s shout. “It’s locked on this side too!” she called back.

Espio over to the middle door and it opened for him. “This one’s still open! Come on, let’s get out of here!” he said to the others.

As everyone else ran towards the open door save for Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack, Aventura turned back to the right door and called, “Get moving, Tempest! They might be able to come through!” She then turned and ran for the middle door as the Egg Pawns raised their weapons.

As she, Rarity, and Pinkie followed behind the wolf, Applejack yelled, “We’ll try ta figure out where we are and meet up with ya later!” They managed to get through the door as the robots started firing and Tempest could easily hear the shots through the door. The hallway she was in was even narrower than the room they’d just been in, so she heeded Aventura’s words and turned to run away from the door.

Most of this was picked up on Techni’s end due to the call still being connected. “Ah, figs,” she uttered, moving the end of her earpiece up away from her mouth. She pushed away from the wall and moved to stand behind the Rookie to the right of the door.

“What’s going on?” Rainbow asked, Salten looking over her head curiously as well.

“They’re in trouble. No more waiting; we need to get in there and take control now,” Techni replied.

“Yes!” Rainbow uttered, pumping her hoof. She flapped her wings and, when Techni opened the door, shot into the room, surprising the Egg Pawns inside. While she flew around the room and took them out herself, Techni, Salten, and the Rookie stood in the doorway and watched, waiting to see if she would need any help. As it turned out, they didn’t have to worry.

Techni stepped up to the computer console in the room afterwards and plugged her Mobile into it, setting it to hack into the system while she used the keyboard to see what she could access. The Rookie stood close by watching her work and taking notes on what was appearing on the computer screens while Rainbow and Salten stood near the door. Less than a minute later, there was a beeping sound and she held up her left arm to look at the screen. “All right, we have access,” she announced.

“Really? That was kinda fast,” Rainbow said.

"A lot of my tech and programs are built off of Tails' innovations. I know a couple things, but he helped me get off the ground," Techni replied. She then turned back to the console and, after taking a couple of seconds to find what she was looking for, opened a communication channel on her Mobile and spoke, "Heads up, everyone. I've got access; I'm sending you all a map of the Death Egg right now."

Espio's voice came through a minute later with the sounds of fighting in the background, "Good work, Techni. We're a little pinned down at the moment, but once we get a minute, we'll try to figure out where we are."

Techni replied, "Actually, I might be able to save you a little time there. Let me see if I can figure out where everyone is." She started typing on the keyboard again, looking for something. "Where is it? I could've sworn I saw some security footage a minute ago," she said after a few moments, stepping back to look up at the screens. She noticed the Rookie step up next to her out of the corner of her vision and turned to look at him as he began typing. He soon clicked on something and footage from various security cameras filled the screens. “Huh. How’d I overlook that?” Techni wondered, feeling a little impressed. She looked at the Rookie and patted him on the shoulder, “Nice work, kid.” Salten let out a quiet hiss under his breath at this, feeling just a little jealous.

After a minute of searching, Techni radioed everyone, “Okay, I got a bit of good news, guys. You all ended up going the right way; you’re all close to the internment facilities. All three paths lead to an internment facility where the Death Egg’s prisoners are being held.”

While she kept working, on one end, Aventura ducked back behind cover and remarked, "No wonder they're throwing everything they've got at us. We must be getting close to Sonic."

Espio said, "I can sense his presence… but it seems faint."

On the other end, Tempest leapt to the side as she ran to avoid the beams fired by an Aero-Chaser as she replied, "I'm seeing some more dangerous robots that fly over here. I'm probably closer to him."

Techni replied back a few moments later, "Very astute, Tempest. Everyone's headed towards one of the internment facilities, but it looks like you're headed for the one Sonic's being held in."

Vector spoke, "Well, that's fine. Tempest should have no problem busting Sonic out of there, and once he's loose, they're gonna focus on keeping him from getting out. Should make it easier for us to get the other prisoners out."

Charmy cheered, "Yeah, it'll be super easy once he's running again!"

Tempest raised an eyebrow at the way they were handling this, but decided now wasn't the time to say something. She avoided another pair of beams from the Aero-Chaser before firing a magic bolt from her horn to destroy it. She then tapped her Mobile to rejoin the conversation and said, “All right. Techni, do you have any directions for me?” She started running down the metal hallway again while she waited for a reply.

After following Techni's directions for a few minutes, Tempest walked through another door and found herself in a large circular room that had an almost as big hole in the center. A glance to the left and the right revealed prison cells lining the walls, most of which were empty, and when she walked over to the edge of the hole and looked up, she saw there were quite a few more levels above her. Looking back down, she eyed the large platform in the center of the hole, noticing the three short walkways leading to it.

She suddenly heard Techni's voice come from her Mobile, "I see you on the security feed, Tempest. That's definitely the section where Sonic's being held."

Tempest looked up again as she asked, "Where is he?"

Techni replied, "All the way at the top all by himself. The lift is still working; you can use that to get to him."

Tempest turned and made her way over to the nearby walkway and ran across it to the center platform. She saw a control box across from her when she reached the platform and walked over to it to examine it. It seemed like it would be pretty simple to work: it had a lever on top that could be moved towards or away from her. She messed with it a few times to get the hang of it before pushing it away from her slightly and holding it in place while saying, "I'm going up.”

Techni replied, “Okay, I’ll give him a chance to see you before I work my magic. I’m ready to open all the cells, deactivate all the ‘cuffs, mislead the secu- huh?” She stopped short and leaned forward to look at one of the monitors, both Rainbow and Salten turning to look at her at the sudden pause.

Tempest also paused, stopping the lift as she asked, “What is it, Techni?”

The cat was silent for a few moments before saying, “Oh no! I see Zavok approaching Sonic’s cell! It must be time to move him and send him into space!”

Tempest gritted her teeth and said, “Well, let’s not stand on ceremony then!” She returned her attention to the lever, ready to push it away as far as it could go, “Start opening the cells, deactivate the restraints, and grant that hedgehog a pardon!”

________________________________________

Sonic sat on the edge of his bed, looking around a little as he felt the room shaking a bit. He didn't have much time to wonder about it due to hearing a familiar voice say, "Hello, Sonic." He turned his head and saw Zavok standing on the other side of his cell door.

As the door started to slide open, Sonic remarked, "Oh hey. Sounds like something fun is going on out there. Mind if I go join in?" He rolled his eyes, "Oh wait, I forgot. You don't understand fun. Wouldn't know it if it bit you on the butt."

The door finished opening as Zavok replied, "Flippant to the end, I see, and this is the end for you. The Doctor has issued your sentence and it's time to carry it out." He took a few steps in before stopping as a new alarm rang out, a red light flashing inside the cell.

Suddenly, the electronic shackles around Sonic's legs and wrists faded away as they deactivated. He waited a moment to make sure they were gone before sliding off of the bed and taking a few steps forward as he said, "Huh. Looks like I just made parole!"

Zavok's expression didn't change at this. “Do you think you’re free because you’re no longer in chains? Foolish hedgehog. Without your chains, you are an escaped prisoner, which means I am now free to deal with you however I deem fit. I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment,” he declared.

While he was talking, Sonic looked past him and saw the lift come to a stop outside his cell, Tempest turning and spotting him a moment later. Although he was surprised by her, he picked up on the fact that she was hailing him, so he looked back at Zavok and spoke, “Oh yeah? Well, there’s something I’ve been waiting for too: your face being reunited with my foot!” Zavok lunged for him after a moment and he leapt back onto the bed. Not stopping there, he leapt back and planted his feet against the wall, curling up into a ball as he pushed off and struck the Zeti in the face, bouncing up and landing on his back, where he spun in place for a few seconds before shooting off of him. He uncurled before he touched the floor and leapt for the lift as he ran out of the cell, landing near the center of it. Tempest was admittedly impressed by his maneuver, but she knew this was no time to stare.

After he landed, Sonic turned to Tempest and started, "Hey…"

Tempest didn't intend to be rude, but she cut him off as she turned back to the panel, "Hold on!" She pulled the lever all the way towards her, causing the lift to go down at full speed. It wasn't super-fast, but she kind of wished it was considering what still needed to be done. "There's a team working on getting all the cells open and the prisoners free. We already have trouble to deal with, so once they're free, we have to…" She was stopped suddenly when the lift suddenly came to a stop just above the first occupied level. Tempest pushed and pulled the lever a few times, but nothing happened. "Techni! Why isn't the lift moving now?" she asked.

Sonic heard the cat's reply coming from the unicorn's Mobile as he walked over, "It's not something over here! Everything's still unlocked; the only thing I can see is that power is somehow being diverted from the lift."

Sonic overheard this and came to a stop near Tempest. "Diverted? Wait… the Deadly Six were able to take control of Eggman's Badniks last time. If they can do it to other machines too, then that means…" Suddenly, as if in answer to his thoughts, both he and Tempest heard maniacal laughter ring out from below.

A familiar yellow orb with an equally familiar pink and black horned Zeti atop it rose up a moment later. "Where you going, blue? Think you and your friend are just gonna waltz on out of here? I don't THINK so! You want out, you gotta get past US!" Zazz jeered.

Sonic and Tempest heard a shout behind them and turned to see Zeena hover up into view at the other side of the lift. "I warned you I'd get even for all the times you insulted me and my beauty," she said. She held up her left hand, displaying her polished nails, "Now you and your little squeeze are going to feel my venom!"

A long large black and red creature flew behind her a moment later and Sonic recognized it as Zavok's robot dragon. The Zeti in question stood on its head with his arms crossed as it twisted around and came to a stop with its head hanging over the edge of the lift. "The time has come to face your end, Sonic. Do try to keep it interesting; we’re all going to savor watching you suffer," he said as he uncrossed his arms.

Sonic and Tempest stood back to flank as they sized up their situation. “Three of them and two of us,” Tempest stated.

“Doesn’t seem fair… for them,” Sonic remarked.

Tempest glanced back at him with a raised eyebrow, “You sure you’re up for this? You didn’t exhaust yourself with that last stunt?”

Sonic smirked back at her, “Are you kidding? I’ve been holding back all this time just waiting for the chance to stretch my legs. How about you? Feel up to knocking some Zeti heads?”

Tempest returned the smirk, “Whatever happens from here, I will remember that I enjoyed this moment.” They both faced forward and stood ready to fight as Zavok let out a loud roar.

Author's Note:

Hey guys. So this chapter is actually not finished yet. It's turning out longer than I expected it to be, but I just finished writing the big fight scene for it, so I feel like this is a good place to end the first part at and give you all a look at how its been going to thank you for your patience. Hopefully I"ll be done with the remainder of the chapter soon... ish.

So... notes.

The face masks that everyone wears in this chapter are based on the masks worn by Robotnik and Snively in the SatAM episode "Spyhog."

The Prisoner Transport number is the release date of "Sonic Mania."

Plenty of "Star Wars" references at the start of this chapter.

The area where Tempest gets separated from the rest of her group is similar to the tunnels that Sonic, Sally, and Antoine tried to use to escape in the SatAM episode "Warp Sonic."

The security room looks similar to the control room in the Zone Jail seen in Issue 31 of "Sonic Universe."

Pinkie is using an upgraded version of her miniature Party Cannon from the first issue of "Friends Forever."

That's all for now, guys. Hope you're looking forward to the rest of the chapter!