Sonic Series Fan Fiction ❯ Megamorph ❯ Chapter 9

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

By: Tsuikai

"Shadow.... Shadow, are you okay?" Shadow snapped back into reality only to see Knuckles. "I wanna say that you look tired, but I already know that you can't get 'fatigue' in a sense."

"Hm, I was concentrating." Shadow replied. "Even I have to think from time to time."

"You haven't been the same since you dealt with that incident at Tails' place. I hope he's all right."

"She, Knuckles. She." Shadow corrected. "How easily you forget."

"I need to start drinkin' cheep beer, the good stuff is making me lose it."

"It doesn't affect me at all." Shadow replied.

"Neither does alcohol poisoning."

"Aren't you late for work?" Shadow asked.

"Nope, Tikal's show doesn't come on until later."

"I meant at Rouges, but it's interesting to know you have 2 jobs."

"I like money... and kickin' ass to make it. I have the night off from Rouge's club."

"I see." Shadow said. "I have a feeling someone is walking around with a Chaos Emerald." He lifted a chaos emerald and looked at it. "One must be near here, this one is still glowing."

"But there's no one around... Do you think it could be fake?"

"The only fake emerald I know of is the one ingeniously made by our little genius fox." Shadow replied.

"So Tails had a fake in the lab?"

"No, she used it on the ark incident, since then I believe it's still on the Ark."

"Oh yeah, the one that Sonic tried to give Eggman, but almost died from it."

"Yes. That one."

"I see... well, let's look around anyway."

The two walk on, looking around for the emerald with little luck.
"How irritating..." Shadow said. "I wonder where it is..."

The two stopped walking and Shadow looked into the air. "Do you hear something?"

"Does something sound like propulsion?"

"Yes."

"I think I see something, look over there." and Knuckles points into the sky.

And as he pointed out, Shadow looked to the area to see a large Aircraft carrier, clearly built and designed by Eggman. "Let's bring it to ground level." Shadow said.

"Beam me up, Scotty." Knuckles jokes.

"Let's stick to 'good' jokes." Shadow replied, unaffected. He puts a hand on Knuckles shoulder. "Hold on tight. Chaos Control!" And he warps them both to the craft.

As the two arrive, cannons are pointed their way. "Wow, a lot of security. Good...that means the Doctor is on board." And Shadow dashes forwards, being shot at, but the bullets don't affect him as they would have hoped.

Knuckles runs behind Shadow... Times like these would be easy pickings on a Hard Line. He thought.

As Shadow ran, he warped, destroyed a cannon, warped again and destroyed another on the other side of the ship, before warping back into his line. As the two approached the main command building, it opened up and out shot several old versions of Metal Sonic, from the days of Silver Sonic to Metal Sonic's current form; even a few Mecha Sonic's were around. The two stopped running and watched as they were surrounded. Then Eggman appeared on a monitor.
"Greetings, Gentlemen, how may I be of service to you today? I'm impressed you found my ship, then again, I led you here like a pack of stray dogs." And Eggman held up the Grey Chaos Emerald for them to see.

Shadow laughed cockily. "So, you truly do have a death wish. You'd best hope that you can stop me Doctor, because once I have your fat throat in my palm, I promise you that you will not breathe again afterwards." He yelled angrily at him.

"I don't mind leftovers, just save some meat for me." said Knuckles

"Ooh hoo hoo hoo. Such amusement. But no, I feel quite safe here." Eggman said. "How do you like my new Army? I'm sure if I make enough, even Sonic will fall and Eggman Land will be built on the remains of Station Square." And Eggman laughed loudly.

"After what you did to Tails. No place is safe for you, Doctor." Shadow said as he began to remove the ring on his wrist, which shocked Eggman.
"You're not serious, Shadow! You'll destroy this whole city." He called out.
"And? You're point being?" Shadow asked, as he removed one ring.

"I better take cover." said Knuckles

Shadow finished removing the rings. "Cover? No, you want to run away, very fast." And then the ship began to shake violently as Shadow's body began to shoot out energy, his body going red in the process.
"Shadow! Wait! We can talk this out!" Eggman pleaded.
"Talk this out? TALK THIS OUT!!!!! DID YOU TALK THIS OUT WHEN YOU ABUSED TAILS BODY AND DESECRATED HER!" Shadow roared as more energy and electric sparks began to flow over his body. "THE TIME FOR TALK IS LONG OVER! YOUR TIME TO DIE IS NOW!"

Knuckles leaps from the aircraft and glides away, but notices a small capsule. Hmm... I better tail this thing just in case. He thought. The last thing that needs to happen is Eggman's backup plan doing damage as well. Hopefully Shadow won't go as berserk as he did when the Black Arms invaded.

Shadow's power actually caused the ship to malfunction and plummet to the floor, meanwhile, the many metal Sonics charged Shadow and he warped away. As he appeared, one Sonic shattered into thousands of pieces and Shadow began work on destroying the rest. As he did so, he warped from one to the other, quickly turning them into nothing but pieces. Warping into the main command room with Eggman. "CHAOS!" The red-angered Shadow warped and appeared at the good doctor, taking his throat to his palm, and slamming him into the floor where he melded with it. "BLAST!"

From Knuckles point. He heard the nuke go off and the ship became just a mushroom of dust.

"So much for leftovers..." said Knuckles.

And Shadow warped next to Knuckles, putting his rings back on his wrists. "Damn fakes..." He uttered.

"Fake emerald after all, what a shame." said Knuckles.

"No, the emerald is real." Shadow said, pulling the emerald. He then took a computer chip and tossed it to Knuckles. "The Doctor wasn't."

"Great, another Egg Bot. Well stay alive, we're following a pod."

A large screen comes into view, and Eggman appears on the monitor.
"Doctor! Show yourself you coward!" Shadow barked.
"Now, now, Shadow, no need for that. I knew you wouldn't be civilised, so i had this little backup escape your reach, i still have much to say." Eggman replied over the monitor.
"You better choose your last words well, Doctor!"
"Yes, yes, I've heard it all before. But, my new plan is coming into motion. I plan to create the ultimate Sonic killing machine. And that pod you are following is a decoy, it was made to lead you to this monitor, but you always were gullible. Especially you, Knucklehead."

"Whatever is in that pod, it won't get far." said Knuckles.

"Sure, sure. You might be interested to know, Project Chimera is a complete failure, so I don't need Tails any longer."

Eggman laughed. "In fact, I doubt she'll live much longer."

"Pray that isn't the case, because if Tails dies...."

"Like you'll find me, fools." and Eggman cackled.

"Then you'd best hope someone who shows at least a little compassion kills you first, Doctor. Because you'll wish that you'd have taken a gun to your own head long ago, if I get to you first." Shadow replied. "We find you all the time, so why should this be any different?"

"Trust me; you will have a different outcome this time around."
"Eggman," Knuckles began, "allow me to give you a warning."
"You? Warn me...? This is out of the blue... or should I say out of the red?"

"The list to give you your genocide runs looooong, and narrow. And even if you manage to cheat death, the reaper will have your ass."

"You can only dream of my demise." said Eggman.

"You won't escape me forever, Doctor!" Shadow growled.

"Why, Shadow. I never knew you were so keen to get into Tails panties. It's not like you to be so fond of someone of the opposite gender." Eggman laughed.

"You and Vector both." Knuckles said under his breath.

"What?!" Shadow gritted his teeth. "Don't push me, Doctor! As if I don't have enough reason to kill you already!"

"Maybe she'll wear a pair of panties with your trademark signet on them. So do you like tidy white, or candy apple red?" And so the sparks began to fly off of Shadow again, his rage heightening. The area around beginning to shake violently. "Admit it, you want to fuck that foxes brains ou-..."
"ENOUGH!" BOOM! The whole block then became rubble and Knuckles was send flying into a building, the monitor being destroyed completely, crashing to the ground. Luckily, Knuckles wasn't too badly hurt.

"Damn, what is with Shadow?" he wondered aloud.

As he looked over, Shadow's rage clearly had not subsided, the power causing a crater in the floor and debris flying all over the place.

Eventually, he calmed.

"Hey, Shadow, take it easy." said Knuckles. He then walked next to Shadow. "Eggman never pushed your buttons like this before." he said.

"Humph..." And Shadow simply walks away.

"Shadow, look at where we are. It's the outskirts of Station Square." Shadow takes notice.
"Hm...." He takes an emerald. "One more to go." He uttered. "And I believe it's in Station Square, someone must have it."

Tails walks out of the bathroom with a small bag and yawns as she heads into Rouges private room. Rouge looked at the vixen.
"More sickness?" She asked.
"No, I was applying my prescriptions." Tails replied.

"Hm, I'd ask, but something tells me I shouldn't." Tikal said.
"Probably not."

"Don't look at me, I have no idea what she's taking." Rouge said.

"I wasn't going to ask you." Tikal said. "Anyway, you said Vanilla phoned?"

"She's bringing the girls by to help out. Apparently, they need a time out of the house and she's using the 'trouble' excuse to do it. In any case, Omega is already on alert."

"The trouble excuse?" Tails questioned.

"Vanilla saw what happened to your place on the news and is concerned for your safety." Rouge cleared up. "You know, it's the 'Mother complex' thing."

"Oh." Tails lowered her ears sadly. "I see."
"Well, they shouldn't take too long getting here." Tikal said.

"Besides, they're probably gonna try and cheer you up too, Tails." added Rouge.

"No doubt." Tails replied.

Amy, Cream and Marine just entered, and Rouge sees them on the security camera coming into the bar.

"Well, I have a club to run." said Rouge. "C'mon Tikal, I wanna' let you try a new drink."

"Shall I come or stay here?" Tails asked.

"You stay there, just to play it safe. Did you want anything, by the way?"

"You got anything that stops lactation?" Tails asked.

"You leaking already?"

"Believe it or not."

"I'll grab it. Go ahead and head back to the club life, Tikal."

"Sure." And off Tikal walks.

Rouge looks at Tails. "Yeah, you're leaking, and dried milk doesn't do your chest fur justice when it mats up." the bat notices.

"Indeed..." Tails replied. "Cold showers don't work either."

"Cold showers? That's a disaster waiting to happen."

"Vanilla's suggestion."

"Vanilla's nipples probably don't harden when exposed to cold water. But then again, Momma said that stuff is trial and error."

"Well, mine definitely was an error and I think I'm going to have to start buying bras too. I've never had large breasts buuuut; I've noticed they're definitely getting bigger." Tails said.

Rouge laughs. "You probably won't be able to shower with your sensitive chest." Rouge then takes Tails into the room. The fox sits on the bed and watches Rouge look around. "Ah, here we go." she said. Tails tilts her head slightly.

"Well, it isn't a miracle cure, but it'll help out." and Rouge hands Tails a breast pump.

Tails blushes slightly. "Um...okay."

"The instructions come with it, so don't worry. After you empty out, you should be fine." Tails begins to read through the instructions, her blush clearly deepening as she does so.

Rouge shakes her head. "I'll leave you to get familiar with your 'helper'. Just save me two cups of your milk." and Rouge leaves Tails alone.

"Yeah...like that'll happen..." Tails uttered, she continues with the instructions.

Meanwhile, Blaze and Tikal were there to greet the girls and Vanilla just showed up.
"So, where's Tails?" Amy asked.

"Upstairs." Tikal answered. "Rouge is having a heart-to-heart with her again."

"I hope she's not upset again." Cream worried.

"Nah, something about prescriptions."

"We'll leave that topic alone then." Amy said.

"So, I take it everything is fine at Vanilla's house." and up walks Blaze.

"Yes. But we were ordered to come here." Amy said.
"I'm right here you know." Vanilla pointed out.

"So, how long have you been around anyway, Blaze?" asked Marine.
"I've been here for a while." Blaze answered. "I think I like this drink called a Kahlua."
"That's a good drink." noted Tikal.

"Anyway, you were going to tell us about Metal Sonic, Amy." Vanilla said.

"Metal... Sonic?" asked Blaze. "This I gotta hear."
"Save room for me on that boat." added Tikal.

"It's a long story; Tails knows it better than I do." Amy replied.

"Tails is busy." out walks Rouge and gets behind the bar. "So, what can I get you girls to drink?"

"I always wanted a Club Soda." Marine answered.
"You're too young for that." said Tikal.
"Agreed." added Blaze. "Water for me."

"I'll have water too." said Amy.
"I still wanna Club Soda." Marine grumbled.

"You're too young." said Vanilla.
"I'm not thirsty." said Cream.
"Can you make me an Incredible Hulk?" asked Vanilla.

The music in the club stopped and everyone looked at Vanilla. "What, can't a single mother have an Incredible Hulk? And I know you two queers at table five aren't shocked. I can smell that Zima from a mile away."

"Zima? You snuck Zima's into my club?!" Rouge was not happy.
"We like Zima, thank you very much." said one of the two guys.
Omega grabbed the two and held them over his head. "SNEAKING DRINKS INTO THE CLUB IS PROHIBITED." he said.
"Toss their asses." said Rouge.
"AFFIMITIVE."

The two men were chucked from the club, suits upon impact. Omega then walked back into the club. "Alright, let's clear up one thing." Rouge announced to everyone in the club. "Sneaking in drinks to my club is prohibited. But if you get caught, get caught with something decent. Zima's are for pussies, and I don't serve pansy drinks in my club. And if the lady wants an Incredible Hulk, she can have one."

Before the club activities can resume, Omega goes out of the club, but is thrown through the window.
"WARNING, WARNING, HOSTILE ROBOT DETECTED!" he shouted.

"Everyone, get out of the club, this is not a drill!" Rouge yelled.

With the sudden disturbance and Rouge's outburst, the club screamed and scampered, slowly getting out of the club. The only ones not panicking so much were the girls and Omega, who jet boosted back out the window.

After about a minute of silence, the roof caves in and Omega slams to the floor, dust clouds spraying everywhere. The girls duck for cover, and watch the last dust ball as it fades. The moment it clears, they see a Metallic version of Sonic, but he was taller than the rest and though he had thin arms and legs for precision movement, the wrists and ankles were chunky, clearly containing lethal weaponry to destroy with, that and the feet were jet propelled. It had a red eye visor, which clearly was multiple scanning; nothing was going to get by this machine.

What the hell is that? Wondered Blaze.
Something tells me I'm gonna have another ruined dress. Thought Tikal.
I guess that's a Metal Sonic. Thought Marine.

"That's not the Metal Sonic I know..." Amy gulped.

"That doesn't help us." said Marine.

"I'm sorry, this one's different, so sue me." Amy replied.

Mecha looks around the room. "Scanning the area." It spoke.
"TARGET DESTROY!" And Omega grabs Metal's leg's and throws it into the wall, standing up and turning his arms into machine guns.

"PROCEEDING TO DESTROY ALL EGGMAN ROBOTS!" And Omega opened fire on Metal.

"I don't know if it's just my instincts talking, but this doesn't seem like a safe place to me." Cream said to the others. "We gotta leave."

"I say Eggman's come for Tails." said Rouge. "And I've been waiting for some payback."

Vanilla looks at her wrist gear. "Status report." she said.
"T minus five minutes." the voice said.

Metal boomed out of the wall and crashed into Omega, knocking him back, though not far as Omega's feet had a decent grip to the floor. Omega changed his cannon to a flamethrower and open fired on Metal's head, to little effect, Metal knocked his arm away, and then fired three tank piercing rounds from his left arm through Omega's left shoulder pad, causing severe damage to his arm, but it was still attached. Omega lifted Metal by his arm and rotated his upper body, swinging Metal around before flinging him out the window.
"DAMAGE REPORT: 23% DAMAGE." Omega said. "PROCEEDING TO ELIMINATE EGGMAN ROBOTS."

Fire doesn't seem to work. Thought Blaze.
"My club..." Rouge was pissed.
"I'll go and help out Omega." said Marine.

"I think I'll go check in on Tails." said Tikal.
"Take Vanilla with you." said Rouge.
"I'll back up Tikal." said Blaze.
"Great." and Rouge flew outside. "Move your ass, Amy."

"Right!" And Amy takes up her hammer. With those words, Marine, Rouge and Amy head to battle alongside their red metal companion whilst Vanilla, Tikal, Cream and Blaze head into the back to Tails room. Metal flies in towards his target, to narrowly avoid a large missile from Omega. It warped behind Omega and rips his right arm into Omega's back causing slight malfunction to the robot. Rouge however flies in and gives Metal a swift back-kick to Metal, launching him away, Amy leaps over Rouge to bring her hammer into Metal, only to have Metal catch the hammer, causing it's head to come off violently into a table and Amy grabbed by the throat. Metal drops Amy, but gives her a sharp blow with his elbow, sending her flying through a wall, destroying a large stock of Rouge's fine wines.

"Tell me you have more hardware than that." said Rouge. She flew towards Metal. It's times like these I wish Knuckles was here. She thought and charged the robot. She dove feet first at Metal, only to be grabbed by her heels. She was soon thrown into a wall.

Luckily for Rouge, she was thrown into Amy, knocking the pink hedgehog down in the process. Metal soon flew towards them, but was slashed by an anchor, knocking him slightly off course. Marine leapt from a rock with her weapon in hand, and slammed it into the robot.

"Ahhh...You okay, Rouge?" Amy questioned, trying to stand again. "That thing hits hard. Luckily i got a spare hammer..."

"I should've worn my steel toe boots." said Rouge.
Marine is sent flying and lands nearby. "When you two are done playing possum." she said.
"Wait, is that an anchor connected to a chain?" asked Rouge.
"Where's your weapon, luv." and Marine started spinning that chain around.

Metal grabs Marine by the head and lifts her into the air slightly, clearly planning to crush her dead. However, a metallic arm of Omega grabs Metal's, causing malfunction, letting Marine escape. Metal ejects spikes from his free arm and stabs it into Omega's chest, however the red robot simply places his free arm on Metal's chest firing his beam cannon, launching Metal high into the air.

As he was pushed, Metal turned his own arm into cannon and fired a beam cannon right back at Omega, which struck his already damaged shoulder and Rouge was not happy to see Omega's arm rip completely off. The beams stopped and Metal landed with a thud and was clearly quite paralysed, though only temporary.

"How are you holding up, Omega?" asked Rouge.

"DAMAGE LEVELS ARE AT CRITICAL LEVEL. THIS ROBOT IS A WORTHY OPPONENT, BUT NOTHING WE CANNOT HANDLE. I CAN PROCESS ENOUGH FOR A BLAZING TORNADO." Omega replied.

"That works for me." said Rouge, "But afterwards, fall back to the club for repairs."

"WILL YOU BE ABLE TO HANDLE THIS ALONE?" Omega questioned her.

"Not really. But we'll stand less of a chance if you're totalled."
"And how do you plan on fixing up Omega?" asked Amy. "Tails can't repair him in her current state."
"I can try something." said Marine.

Inside the club, Tikal and the other girls can hear the madness going on outside. "It doesn't sound pretty out there." said Blaze.
"Not pretty at all." added Tikal.
Cream was once again frustrated. "There's no choice, we have to help." she said and headed downstairs.
"Cream, no!" Blaze yelled.
"I'll be fine, but someone better get a hold of Knuckles." and downstairs Cream went.

Tails was still in her room, she wasn't oblivious to the battle, but she wasn't entirely concerned either. I wonder how long it takes. Either they win or I am taken. She thought, she curled up on her bed, burying her face in her arms. I'm such a burden...

Vanilla went in to check on Tails. "Tails, are you holding up okay?" she asked the fox.

"Not really." Tails replied, looking up.

"Things will turn out for the best, just don't worry."

"Even if I am captured again and forced into situations like before, I know Sonic will save me, so it doesn't matter what happens so long as everyone is okay." Tails replied.

"We will be. Well, I'm going to go and help out the girls. Stay safe, okay?" Tails simply curls up again.

Vanilla leaves the room and heads out the back door of the club. I better go see if I can get a hold of Shadow. She thought and left.

Back with the battle, Omega and Rouge had performed the Blazing Tornado, which caused Metal to shut down......for only a moment as it was back up again, knocking Rouge violently into a wall, causing one of her wings to be injured. Metal was brought to the floor as Amy slammed her hammer into it's back, but it wasn't long before Amy was sent flying high into the sky. Omega fired his beam cannon, only for Metal to warp behind Omega and attempt to spike him again, only Omega saw it coming and evaded. Omega opened up his shoulder pad, filled with missiles, as Metal flew backwards, launching out the spikes at Omega, Omega firing the missiles, both robots were hit and brought to the ground, Omega sustaining serious damage.

"Holy shite! Won't this thing stay down?" asked Marine.
"Marine, get Omega back to the club now!" said Rouge.
"But... but we-"
"Omega won't be able to take any more damage from this fight. Take him to the club and get him repaired."
"Fine, you win." and Marine ran towards Omega... however, explosions knocked her away from the heavily damaged robot. Her landing was hard and her body rolled three feet away. She was down for the count.
"Great, now we have two people out of commission." said Rouge.

Metal stood triumphantly on Omega, looking toward Rouge.
"Mission successful." It spoke.

Ricochet sounds were soon heard, and then Metal was struck from the side and sent into a wall. Rouge, despite being confused, was thankful for the close call as she headed toward Omega. What was that? She wondered.

Rouge ran over to Omega and managed to help the robot up. "Can you even hear me?" she asked. Omega couldn't speak, all that came out were jumbled noises. He was sparking severely from his damages and one of his light sensors was out, the other dim. Rouge also noticed his power supply was 'bleeding'.

"Not good, not good at all." Rouge said and started to carry Omega back to the club. Unluckily for her, Metal was charging towards them. However, the robot took another blow and was knocked to the side. Must get back to the club. she thought.
"Get going, Rouge... I'll cover you." To Rouge's delight, she heard Cream's voice.

"Gonna need some help getting wounded out of here." Rouge called out.
Cream flew down near Rouge, Omochao guns in hand. "I'll buy you time, but I don't know how much." she said.

Cream leaps out of the way of Metal, only enough to get a good shot in on him and knock him away from Rouge though. Metal changes his target however and Cream becomes top on the hit list. Metal charges in and Cream fires at him, however, he completely vanishes.
"What..?" Cream questioned. Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her right cheek and flew off to the left, after slamming into the ground and bouncing like a rock skipping on water, she was stopped by the metallic monster, lifted and launched. Metal pursued and began knocking Cream around like a ragdoll, though the doe managed to get some decent shots in, she was clearly getting pummelled. Metal took her by the cuff of her neck and pelted her to the floor, where she collided with a nasty bang. Metal landed behind her, took her by the neck and brought a gun turret to her head.

Just as he was about to execute the doe, he began to malfunction. He dropped Cream and tried to get away, to no avail. Tails had managed to fly her way in and plug Cream's hacking device into his circuitry and was slowly destroying him from the inside out. However, he gained enough strength to punch Tails away. Tails however recovered easily enough, and the machine she was using was crushed.
"Target acquired. Proceeding to capture." And Metal walked over to the fox, who was backing away. As he reached out, a flash appeared and Shadow stood guarding Tails. Metal lifted his hand to punch the Black Hedgehog, but Shadow pointed up. Metal looked, just in time to be punted in the head by Knuckles and knocked away.

Rouge held Omega and was still trying to get back into the club. "You guys took your sweet time getting here." said Rouge.
"Sue us, we had to deal with people fleeing in terror." Knuckles explained.
Blaze and Tikal came out to help. "You look like shit." said Tikal.
"No thanks to you." said Rouge.
Blaze took Marine. "Man, you guys look like hell." she said. "And what are you doing out here, Tails?"

Tails lifts unconscious Cream onto her back and walks over to the girls. "I got worried..." She said to them.
"Anyway, leave this one to us now...I still have a lot of ANGER TO VENT!" And Shadow began to expose his rage.
"Scanning detecting. Ultima-.." And Shadow punted Metal into Knuckles who punched it into the air, the two chasing after him.

"Someone needs to repair Omega." Rouge points out.
"Where's Amy?" asked Tikal.
"Shadow, deal with Omega, I'll handle the bot." said Knuckles.
"I'll see if I can find Amy." said Tikal, then changed into a sphere of light and went in search for Amy.

"No way! Not until I get some back pay!" Shadow yelled at Knuckles, before dealing another swift blow to Metal.

Blaze takes Cream off of Tails and the girls, with Vanilla get back inside and put Omega on the floor. Tails instinctively looks over Omega to check what she can do.
"Okay, Rouge, get some tools, I'm gonna talk you through this, unless I do it myself." Tails said.

"I'll fix him up, you've done enough." said Rouge.
"It's times like these I'm glad I went to get the medkit." said Vanilla.
"Here are the tools, Rouge." said Blaze as she handed Rouge the toolbox.
"Okay Tails, let's get some instructions." said Rouge.
"I'll go help look for Amy." said Blaze.

Meanwhile out with the battle, Metal was getting a beat around. Knuckles punched him to the ground where Shadow dealt him a swift blow to the side. The two chased.
"Your friend is hurt! You should be repairing him, or is your pride too much for that much kindness?" Knuckles mocked Shadow.

"Fuck you, Knuckles! Fuck you!" And Shadow warped above Metal. "Chaos BLAST!" And after a short nuke, Metal skidded to a halt, but was punted in the face by Knuckles. Shadow charged in afterwards and leaped above him. "Chaos! SPEAR!" And he launched 6 different yellow spear like light attacks, which caused Metal some serious damage. Knuckles fell back down onto Metal with a nice blow to the head. Metal then lifted up his own fist and punched Knuckles away slightly.

Metal landed away and sparked, falling to a knee as Knuckles and Shadow landed a few feet away.
"Careful, Shadow. I know this model type. This is Mecha Madness." Knuckles said.
"So?"
"The last time Madness appeared, it was Sonic robotocized by Eggman, he was a difficult enemy." Knuckles explained.
"Well, this one's not so tough." Shadow spat. "Let's finish it o-.." In that instant, Knuckles was walloped away skipping along the floor. "Damn!" And Shadow narrowly avoided a swift kick.
"Recharge complete, commencing destruction of inferior life forms." Madness spoke.
"I'll show you inferior!" And Shadow warped behind Madness and went in for a roundhouse kick, but it was caught and Shadow found himself launched into Knuckles.

Knuckles caught Shadow. "Like I said, difficult." he reminded the black hedgehog.

"Arrrrr!" And Shadow boomed forward, knocking Knuckles over in the process, he crashed into Madness, knocking him away, before pursuing.

So much for controlling his anger. Knuckles thought and dug into the ground.

Shadow and Mecha rolled into their respective spin balls and began crashing violently together, causing windows to smash and in some cases, buildings to crumble and fall to the ground. Luckily, all civilians by this point had evacuated. Shadow brought a kick in to finish, but Mecha warped behind him and performed his own, knocking Shadow through the floor.

Before the robot could continue, Knuckles shot out of the ground with an uppercut. The blow ended up knocking Madness ten feet away. "Quit acting like a pissed off drunk and start looking for a weak point, Shadow." the echidna advised. "Otherwise, we'll be fighting this thing in vain." and he charged the robot.

Boom! The ground exploded into a crater and Shadow dashed forth. "I did." He said as he ran next to Knuckles. "Check the left of its chest. Omega did some damage and I'm pretty sure it's main power accelerator is there."

"Great... I should've brought my fighting gloves." said Knuckles.

"Nothing we do alone will penetrate it. However, that little trick we've worked on should do the trick." Shadow said.

"I'm open to suggestions, so lead on."

Knuckles leaped into the air and Shadow spin dashed into Madness, knocking him back. He leaped up and took Knuckles by the wrist before turning into a spinball, spinning Knuckles around in a violent loop. "CHAOS....!" And Shadow launched Knuckles at Madness, Knuckles turned into a purple flame as his right Knuckle glowed red. As he reached Madness, he plunged his glowing fist into his chest.
"KNUCKLE!" And Madness was flung to the ground and exploded, the result being his damaged remains with a gaping hole it his chest. Shadow and Knuckles landed by him.

"He's not getting up after that." said Knuckles.

"If he does, we'll knock him back down." And Shadow walked past Madness, giving a swift kick to its head as he walked back toward the club. "Let's get back."

Knuckles and Shadow get back to the girls who are inside of the club. Rouge was still trying to fix up Omega, but he was in really bad shape. "Ow... I feel like I got my clock rung." Marine finally stirred, bandages on her head.
"So what next?" asked Rouge.

Tails was on a laptop, typing away but still telling Rouge what to do.
"How's Omega looking?" Shadow asked.

"Horrible, his main processor is fried and I'm trying to work some magic on it." Rouge answered.
"You can use my metal hat to try and jerry rig a new one." offered Marine.
"Thanks for the help, but it won't work."
Tikal came back with Amy. "I guess the fighting's over." she said. "Amy's banged up really bad, but nothing too serious."

"Okay, check, check and...send!" Tails said, clicking the last of her keys on the laptop.
"What did you do?" Shadow questioned.
"I've just activated a system from my lap, which apparently is intact, so you should here a bang momentarily, once you do, someone go outside and look for parachuting pods." Tails replied.
"That doesn't tell me anything."
"I booted Lavender through the backup power and had her pod and a few spare parts and pieces launched over here. Should take 5 minutes or so."

"What happened out there anyway? It sounded like we were being nuked." Blaze asked.

"Let's just say that our fight was nothing but Madness." Knuckles answered.
"Where's Vanilla?" asked Marine.
"She isn't back from looking for Amy." Rouge answered. "She patched up you guys and went after Tikal and Blaze did for Amy."
"Great." Tikal said.

"Gzzzzzzyaaaccckkkkk...." Omega let out as his repairs were underway.
"Rouge, take a clamp of some sort and close it on the split in the wiring on the left of his motherboard. Hopefully that should fix his speech mechanism temporarily." Tails said.

Rouge followed Tails orders and patched up Omega. "Talk to me, Omega. You look pretty bad, but you aren't fodder." she said.

"DON'T INSULT ME, I'M TOO POWERFUL TO BECOME FODDER." Omega answered.
"How is your self repairing programming?"
"SELF REPAIR.... DANGER, DANGER, HOSTILE ROBOT!"

Before anything else could be said, Knuckles is thrown into the club after he took a walk outside. His frame was sent through the roof which was on the floor and even a table. "Company..." was all he said before passing out.

Madness walks into the club, and everyone saw that the bot appeared to be half damaged. You've gotta be kidding me. thought Marine and Shadow.
"That damn thing can heal itself... just my luck." said Rouge.
"I've had enough." said Blaze. "Tikal, let's buy time." and she charged Madness.
Marine picked up Cream as Tikal went to assist Blaze. "Forget fighting, let's bail out of here, mates." she said.
"Shadow, get Tails and Omega in the back. I'll grab Amy." said Rouge.

Shadow however charged forth, knocked Madness away slightly and landed next to Omega.
"Tails! Move your ass over here!" And with a slight delay, Tails ran over to Shadow, who placed his hand on Omega and grabbed Tails wrist.
"Chaos! Control!" And with a bright flash, he warped them away.

Blaze and Tikal battled Madness, landing blows to the robot but the effects were minimal and Tikal was sent flying. "Ow, that's gonna leave a mark." she said and stood up from the rubble she was slammed into.
Blaze was faring better, but her flames weren't doing much against Madness. "Whenever you're done sleeping over there." she said.
"Futile... your resistance is futile." Madness said, then backhands Blaze back into the club.
Using her magic, Tikal fired a barrage of crystal shards at Madness that only stuck in his armour. No good... she thought and ran in for a rush.

The effort was in vain as Madness warped behind Tikal, grabbed her, slammed her into the concrete and flung her into the club, landing on top of Knuckles. Luckily, Knuckles woke up from this. "Thanks, I think." he said and went outside. However, he ended up catching Blaze before he could leave the club and the two fell down.
"Useless inferior life forms." said Madness and he swats them both away.

In the back, Marine, Rouge, Tails and Shadow heard all of the commotion. "I never thought that Madness could heal itself." said Shadow.
"That's one nasty Metal Sonic." said Marine.
"Madness is worse than Metal Sonic." Tails noted.
"We better go and help out." said Rouge.
"Hold still." said Marine and relocated Rouge's dislocated wing. "Get going you two."
"Let's move." said Shadow.
"Agreed." said Rouge and she went with Shadow to assist.
Marine had her anchor ready. "Unless there's any way I can fix up Omega, I'm on defense." she said. "No one's takin' my crew."

Rouge and Shadow see Madness standing there. Rouge notices Blaze, Tikal and Knuckles out cold and is baffled. "I don't get it." she said. "Instead of going in for the kill, it's just waiting for us."
"More time to heal." said Shadow.
"Ultimate life form, you are not." said Madness. "Your destruction will come first, then I will destroy your friends, and finally capture target."
"Not on your mechanical life!" Rouge and Shadow yell.
"Destroy!" and Madness charged them.

Rouge and Shadow charge Madness, letting Rouge's feet take the first blow. Shadow landed a couple of swift kicks and Madness got in his share as well.

After a while, Rouge and Shadow alternate blows, but made sure the left side of the robot took more damage by the right side. It worked for a while, but Madness ended up adapting to everything and compensated for the waves. One of Rouge's attacks was going to land, but Madness grabbed her legs, dislocating one and breaking the other. She was then thrown away.

Shadow took this upon himself to finish this. "Enough, I'm through with you." he said.
"Then kill yourself." said Madness.
"Fuck off!"
"Does not compute."

"Then compute this." and the hedgehog began to glow a crimson red. Madness charged Shadow, ready for the killing blow. "Chaos.... Rift!"

Using his chaos energy, Shadow fired a black hole at Madness and it landed. One minute afterwards, the rift subsided and Madness stood. However, Madness stood before Shadow, fully repaired. No way!

Madness warped forward, then blasted Shadow with Chaos energy, neutralizing the black hedgehog to a point where he was paralyzed. "Ultimate life form... you are not." and Madness left Shadow in his frozen state.
Eggman... what have you wrought.... For the first time in his life, Shadow felt powerless as he saw Madness proceed towards the back.

Marine stood on guard as Tails managed to store Omega safe from harm. "Tails, this is a bad spot, but I guess there's nothing left." Marine said.
"Quite." and there stood Madness. "Surrender the fox immediately."
Tails curled up in fear. "You can kiss my furry arse!" yelled Marine.

"Fine, you shall perish in vain."
"Nobody's takin' my crew." and Marine rushed Madness.
The rush was in vain as Madness grabbed Marine, slammed her into the wall and tossed her in front of Tails.

Tails looked in horror at Marine's slumped body. "Oh Marine..." She then gripped her head in fear. Everyone is getting hurt and it's all my fault...I can't deal with this, I can't... Tails stood. "Enough! I surrender; just stop hurting my friends..." Tails said. "I'll do what you want, but leave my friends alone."

"Run Tails.... run." was all Marine managed to say before passing out.

This is for the best, no pain can be worse than watching my friends die... "Stop...just stop hurting them and I'll go with you." Tails repeated.

"Come, spare your friends and concede to your inevitable fate." said Madness. Tails lowered her head and stepped over Marine, walking towards Madness sadly.

Defeat had finally set in for Tails, something she felt would eventually happen. Though she didn't want to go, she felt that Sonic will always come for her. She felt that by giving her "white flag walk" that she would be able to rescue her friends.

But before Tails could come within "striking distance" from Madness, a hole was blown in the wall. What the... Tails wondered, but saw an energy blast knock Madness through the other wall and out into the alleyway. A blur went by Tails and charged Madness. What was that?
"Defend, defend." is what the fox heard then looked out to see Madness in battle with another robot. One that was familiar to her. Seeing this brought tears to her eyes. "G... merl...."

Tails couldn't believe her eyes, it was Gmerl. Madness battled Gmerl, but was soon finding this task difficult. Madness fired blasts of chaos energy at Gmerl, but they had no effect. "Does not compute." he said.
"Compute... compute..." Gmerl responded, then charged Madness.
Madness scanned Gmerl, only to find the robot was an unknown model. "Readjusting combat protocol." it said during the fight with Gmerl.
"Readjust... readjust." said Gmerl.

The battle went on and Madness was getting wiped, though Gmerl took his fair share of damage, Madness' damage was far greater. "Does not compute... unknown robot... unable to compensate." said Madness.
"No compensation.... disable threat... disable threat." said Gmerl.

Where has Gmerl been all this time? Tails wondered as she watches the fight from a safe distance.
"Engage Soul Body." said Gmerl as he charged Madness.
"You will be.... destroyed..." said Madness.

During this charge, Gmerl immersed itself in energy, but it was at this point where everything was revealed. The Soul Body attack, revealed Gmerl in his regular form, but it also revealed Vanilla in a black body suit with a circuit board pattern on it. Tails nearly fell over at what she just saw. You've gotta be kidding me.... she thought. It's Vanilla... in Gmerl?
Gmerl went in and did his series of blows, finishing up with an energy blast that totals Madness. Its parts fell to the ground, but were fried. Gmerl stood there, momentarily, then immersed himself in energy again, then returned back to one entity again. Tails' jaw dropped. Vanilla wears Gmerl as armour... Why didn't I think of that? She thought.

"Very good, G. Well done." Vanilla's voice came from Gmerl's body.
"Well done, well done." said Gmerl.
"Soul Release."
"Release... release."
Once again, Gmerl immersed itself in energy and removed himself from Vanilla's frame where the two stood side by side. "Fodder, simply fodder." said Gmerl. "Eggman's robots are always fodder."

Tails still couldn't believe what she saw, she stood there completely gobsmacked.
"Uuh...Vanilla?" She questioned.

Vanilla looked over to Tails. "Are you okay, Tails?" she asked.

Tails remained for a moment. Having adapted to this odd chain of events a little she finally replied. "Not...really. I don't feel well..." She said.

"Let's get you inside." As Vanilla approached Tails, the young fox closed her eyes and fell forward, luckily though, Vanilla was able to catch the unconscious fox.

Oh my...The stress of it all has finally sunk in... Vanilla thought. At this point, she head a bang from above and down came a parachute Pod which lands safely next to her. It opens up and a small lavender robot hovers out and turns to the pod. It was an orbed machine with eyes, ears and two arms, no legs and it hovered.
"Activating protocol." It said, the pod then closed and was lifted by the machine, which looked at Vanilla.

"We have injured and Tails needs medical attention." Vanilla explained.

"Roger, dodger." The little machine replied. "I have acquired many types of medical equipment for humanoid life forms; however my programming means that I can only repair machinery."

"Useless junk, I need no repairs." said Gmerl.
"Be nice, G." scolded Vanilla. "Well, I hope you have bandages and an X-ray machine, because there's a lot of work to be done."

"Built in my systems, ma'am." Lavender replied. She hovered over to Gmerl. "Hmmm...You could use a polish. Lavender then flew round Gmerl and into the club's back, dumping the box with a loud thud to the floor. The pod opened into a miniature medical centre, it had all that would be required for medical help. Lavender flew into the back room and located the damaged Omega. Pulling him out of storage and effortlessly carrying him into the main bar area and then carefully putting him down; she began work on his repairs.

"Come on, G. It's time to aid." said Vanilla as she carried Tails into the club.
"Aid... aid..." said Gmerl and followed Vanilla inside the club.

Lavender flew away from Omega and a wire rose from her head. "Ma'am, shall I send a radio message to Dr. Quack for professional assistance?" She questioned Vanilla.

"If you can, call him." Vanilla answered.

"Calling Dr Quack." And Lavender began ringing like a phone to signal the call was being made, she returned to Omega to work on his repairs whilst waiting for an answer.

Gmerl went over to Rouge and popped her dislocated leg back into place. Her screaming woke up everyone else. "You are loud." Gmerl said.

"What in the hell happened here?" asked Tikal.
"We got our asses kicked, that's what." answered Rouge.
Knuckles stood to his feet. "Well well, if it isn't our friendly gizoid. Where were you all this time?" he asked.
"Home." Gmerl answered.

"ODDLY SHAPED FLYING POD IS A NUISANCE." said Omega.
"Nuisance, nuisance." joked Gmerl.
Omega looks at Gmerl. "GIZOID, GIZOID, PREPARING TO..." and Omega suddenly shut down.

"Large big headed robot should not move whilst I am repairing. Temporarily shut down." Lavender looked at Gmerl. "Don't make me do the same to you." She lifted an arm which sparked twice with a laser in threat. "Because I will." Lavender then clicked, and she flew over to Vanilla and offered her left arm to her as if it was a receiver. "Call has been answered; take the receiver to speak to Dr Quack."

Vanilla does as ordered. "I would say good evening, Doctor, but it isn't one." she said.
"Vanilla, what's going on?" asked Dr. Quack.
"Tails is here at what's left of Club Rouge. One of Eggman's robots tried to take her, but thankfully failed."
"Is that all?"
"Tails is out cold from a fainting spell and her pulse isn't ideal. Alongside the-"
"I'm on my way."
"Be careful of the-" but the call disconnected before she could finish. "Debris..."
Omega finally stood up. "E123 OMEGA ONLINE." he said as his eyes went red. "INITIATING RECOVERY PROGRAM FOR REPAIRS. ESTIMATED TIME FOR FULL RECOVERY: T-MINUS 75 HOURS, 30 MINUTES."

"You earned every minute of your recovery, Omega." said Rouge.
"Not bad." Gmerl said. "Omega... relative to E102 Gamma... Friend."

"Considering he wants to destroy all Eggman robots, you'll have to make sure you can get Rouge or Shadow to convince him to spare you his wrath." Amy said to Gmerl.

"Nice to see you're awake, Amy." said Rouge.

"Likewise." Amy replied. "Everyone's alright, right? Everyone is here?"

"I have a broken leg, but I'm still alive." Rouge answered.
"Shadow seems to have bolted." Knuckles answered.
"Cream, Tails and Marine are all knocked out." said Marine.
"My dress is ruined and I have a migraine headache." said Tikal. "Probably from a concussion, but I can't die."
"The joys of being immortal." said Knuckles. "I think I have a few broken ribs."
"I can't feel my left arm." Blaze said.

"At least it's still connected to you, but you can use a chiropractor." said Rouge.

Lavender then morphs slightly, and her left eye changes to a scope of some sort and what appear to be eye sockets behind, clearly so she can be seen through. "Proceeding with X-Ray analyses." And she flies over to Rouge, giving her a total once over. "Minimal Damage to chest area. Arm's are in working order. Right Leg is broken, slight fractures. Advised medical attention, keep off of it until properly treated." Lavender flies over to Knuckles, giving him the scan. "Internal bruising, but no damaged bones."

"Is there a chiropractor in the house?" asked Blaze.

Lavender flies over to Amy and scans her. "No serious injury." She said. She flies over to Cream and scans. "Damages to the neck, advised a support to assist with healing. Caution of breaking."
"She flies around, giving everyone their little look over, before flying into the back rooms. After a short while she returns. "Caution! Caution! Marine has broken ribs; one is in a dangerous position of puncturing her lungs." She said. "Advised not to move without professional help."

"What I wouldn't give for a beer right about now." said Knuckles.
Tikal was checking the liquor locker. "All that's left are hard lemonades." she said.
"Grab one for me." said Rouge.
"Me too." said Vanilla as she checked Cream's torso for damages.
"I'll take one." said Blaze.
"Do you want one, Amy?" Tikal asked.

"No one is drinking that crap until after I'm done working my magic." and in comes Dr. Quack. "Let's check our mother to be."
"Marine first," said Blaze. "One of her broken ribs is about to puncture her lungs in addition to her being unconscious."
"Does anyone else have anything dangerously broken?"
"Cream may have a concussion and Tails is bruised up well, but nothing as serious as Marine." Vanilla answered. "The foetus also seems fine and Tails isn't bleeding out or internally."
"Then I better get to work on Marine." said Dr. Quack and opened up his suitcase.

Lavender flies over to Dr. Quack and everyone looks at her and sweat-drops, not because she flew over to him, but because she was suddenly wearing a nurse's hat. "Doctor, there is a miniature medical centre for your uses." She tells him.

"Wait...Mother to be? Who's that?" Amy asked.

Gmerl manages to place that Memory wiper on Amy's head and once again gets her brain erased. "That's a funny hat." said Gmerl.

Amy falls over again. Vanilla shook her head. Marine's hat really has saved the day once again. She thought.
"Did I miss something?" asked Dr. Quack as he was cutting Marine's top in half.
"I thought I heard something about a foetus." said Knuckles.
"No you didn't" said Tikal and placed her hand on Knuckles' head.

"What are you doing?" asked Dr. Quack.
"Just erasing Knuckles' memory up to the point of being scanned." answered Tikal.
"Let's keep Tails' pregnancy from Amy and Knuckles. We want her to tell everyone." Vanilla explained.
"Point taken." said Dr. Quack. "Marine has a torso for a raccoon."

"Oh?” Blaze questioned. "Is she gonna be okay?"

"I just have to operate." Dr. Quack answered. "Luckily for me, I already have Marine hooked up to a monitor." and he began to operate.

"Please be okay, Marine..." Blaze uttered.

"So, since Club Rouge needs to be remodelled, just where is Tails gonna stay?" asked Tikal.

"She's coming with me. No arguments." Shadow said, from the door.

"Unless you can get her to ARK, I don't think so." said Knuckles, free from his memory wipe.
"Blaze, how did you and Marine get here?" asked Vanilla.
"We came on the Ocean Tornado." Blaze answered.

"The ARK is just where I plan to take her." Shadow responded.

“ARK, all the way out in space, with no food, medical supplies, basic needs for a girl in Tails' condition or a way to get help if another attack happens? I'd rather Tails go to Blaze's home." said Vanilla.

Shadow growled at Vanilla. "I said no arguments!" He barked. Blaze took this chance to sucker punch Shadow. Then grab him and lift him by the cuff.
"I've had enough of your bullshit temper Shadow; cool the fuck off before I seriously lay into your ass, because this macho act of yours is really beginning to piss me off!"

Maybe he really does want to plow into Tails. Thought Knuckles.
"Well, does that mean I can't have my hard lemonade while I wait or a cast on my leg?" asked Rouge.
"Well, I wanna see this Ocean Tornado." said Tikal.

Shadow then growled and began to spark, his anger rising again. Pulling his arm back to punch Blaze to the other side of the room, he stops as a glimpse of Tails frame hits the corner of his eye. He cools down at the side and simply makes Blaze let him go.
"I have to go." He said, before turning to leave.

"Hardass... at least I'm useful." said Blaze.
"Don't mind Shadow, he's in love." Rouge joked.

Shadow turns a glare to Blaze. "Heh, you know what, at lease you have proven your worth." He said. He ignores Rouge altogether and walks to the door. After leaving, a certain voice speaks up.
"Seriously though, do you actually think Shadow does love Tails?" Amy asked, having woken.

"Probably so." Rouge answered.
"He does need some action, doesn't he?" asked Dr. Quack as he dealt with Marine's ribs.

"His problem is dropping Maria from his head." Knuckles said.

"Rouge, you really should sleep with Shadow." said Tikal.
"Make him a guest on your show and talk about it." said Rouge.
"Maybe Sonic, but not Shadow."

"I see where Shadow is coming from though. He cared for Maria and watched her die. If I saw my Sonic die, it'd lead me to Celibacy too." Amy said.

"Didn't we watch him die before?" asked Rouge.

"Who? Sonic?" Amy asked.

"When did that happen?" asked Blaze.
"Not sure... maybe it was just a nightmare." Rouge said.

"Or maybe a dream of when Shadow fell to earth, but the dream changed it to Sonic?" Amy suggested.

"Shadow really did fall to Earth."

"I know, but I'm suggesting that you dreamt it but....." And she sighs. "Never mind."

"My dream involved you and Sonic getting married, but he said no and you beat him to death at the altar." Rouge joked.
Dr. Quack laughed. "Knowing Amy, she'd probably do that too." he said.

"Hey! I am not that bad!" Amy protested in frustration.
"Yes you are." Said all others conscious simultaneously. Amy fell over.

Lavender flies to Vanilla. "Would you like my functions to give a closer inspection to Cream, ma'am?" She asked.

"Please." Vanilla answered.

"Please name a function."

"Internal scan."

"Processing." And Lavender morphs slightly to become a scan system, the top of her detaches from the bottom and lifts into the air. "Please take my head and you may use me to see what I can see.” And the Lower body begins to scan Cream, the top, taken by Vanilla, shows her the information and actual scans of Cream as she looks her daughter over.

After the Scan Lavender reconnects herself together. "As you can see, most of the bruising should heal in a matter of days, the only real concern is the damage to her neck." Lavender says to Vanilla. "She has minor chest bruising, but that shouldn't do much but cause a little heartburn from time to time, which can be treated."

"I'm sure she'll be sorted once the doctor gets to her." Vanilla said. Lavender flies over to Dr Quack.
"Anything I may assist with, Doctor?" She asked.

"Not for Marine at least." Dr. Quack replies. "I'm just finishing." And Dr. Quack finishes his 'magic' and patches Marine up.
"Roger, Dodger." Lavender says.

"So, what's going to happen now?" asked Tikal.
"Not sure. I guess it's back to the Ocean Tornado for me." Blaze answered.

"Oh?" Amy questioned.

"I'm gonna need to have a contractor deal with my club." said Rouge.

Knuckles stands. “Who's against Tails coming to Angel Island with me and Tikal?" He asked.

"I may have to stay with you for a while." Rouge answered.
"Island time with Knuckles... no biggy on my end." Vanilla said.

"If worse comes to worse, we can take her to the Hidden Palace." Tikal said.

"Good thinking." said Knuckles.
Dr. Quack went to examine Cream. "So, let's see what's up with your neck." he said.

"Scan's indicate no dislocation or cracks, however there is bruising surrounding the bone, which most certainly will cause effects of whiplash. The bone may be considerably fragile for a few days." Lavender says to Dr. Quack.

"No excess pressure on her spinal disks?" asked Dr. Quack.

"If avoidable." Lavender replies.

"I see."

"Suggesting a neck brace."

"Agreed."

Lavender then prints something on a small strip of paper from a slip in her front, which Quack takes.
"Those are the measurements required for optimum efficiency and comfort." Lavender said.

Dr. Quack read the measurements on the strip. Afterwards, Dr. Quack went to his suitcase and took out the materials needed. The doctor braced Cream's neck, then went to Rouge's aid, placing a splint on Rouge leg. After this, Dr. Quack attends to Tails.

"This is a lot of crap going down, but it's worth it." said Blaze.

"How so?" Tikal asked.

"Tails would do the same for us, so why not sacrifice for her? This is love, love that she will need to get over her rape and recovery. Every little bit counts."

"I would like a hard lemonade now." said Knuckles.
"No hard lemonades, hard drinks in general, or anything not a virgin drink." said Dr. Quack as he worked on Tails.

"What else is there?"
"Other than strong liquor, water and strawberry fizzy, nothing." Tikal said, looking through the intact drinks.

Lavender flew over to Gmerl and hovered around him a little, before spraying him with something and taking a brush and begins polishing him.

"That better not damage my alloy." said Gmerl.

"Negative." Lavender replied as she gave him a gentle scrub down. After she was done, he sparkled, good as new. "Would you like a fresh paint?" Lavender questions him.

"Black will do nicely... with a bit of rust gold."

So Lavender retreats to her large box, which had a few more compartments not just for the medical services. She took some equipment and changed her drill arm compartment, equipping said paints; she flies back over and carefully replaced his paints.

"Well, Tails seems fine, but has only passed out." said Dr. Quack.

"That's good." Tikal sighed in relief.

Lavender flies over to Dr. Quack. "According to my programming, due to the data levels on many of the injured present, I'd suggest taking them to rest in a medical centre, Marine, Cream and Rouge especially." She says.

"Noted." and Dr. Quack stood up. "Okay everyone; let's find some material to get Marine onto and get her lifted to the hospital. The same for Cream and Tails."
"Hey, what about me?" asked Rouge.
"I'll help you walk without putting pressure on that broken leg." said Tikal.

Lavender flies over to the medical centre of hers and presses a button on the bed, it detaches and using a strong fan-system, begins to hover in the air, much like Lavender, she equips herself to the far end of it and flies it to Marine's side, lowering it to ground level.

"If Shadow didn't walk off in a sulk, we could have used his Chaos Control." Knuckles moaned. "Anyway, I'll carry Tails."

"Let's find materials to carry Cream and Marine."

After scampering around, some of the girls find a piece of wooden debris and check it's sturdiness. After making it more comfortable with intact cushions, they take it over to Cream and carefully get her onto it, whilst Vanilla and Dr. Quack are careful with putting Marine on the hoverbed. Tikal goes to assist Rouge and Knuckles pulls Tails onto his back. Vanilla and Gmerl lift up the wooden lift with Cream on and all are set to go.

"Okay people, let's watch the debris and get everyone safe and sound." said Dr. Quack.

"Roger dodger!" Lavender says as she lifts off carefully, Marine sinking into the bed as she lifts up. She then carefully navigates out of the club as everyone follows. Once getting out of the club, they move around the debris outside.

It takes a little while, but they get everyone to the hospital and with help from nurses, into proper bedding. Vanilla approaches Dr Quack.
"Everyone is okay, right? There's nothing too concerning, is there?" She asked him.

"Probably Marine, but it's best to get the injured to the hospital for a more advanced look at things." answered Dr. Quack. "Not that I doubt the hoverbed medibot..."

"Tails is truly a technical genius to come up with that machine." Vanilla replied.

"Yeah, but I think it's because she never leaves the lab so much."

"In all fairness, we owe a lot to the little bot, so, despite the fact Tails spent a lot of concealed time on it, it's a good thing this time at least."

"I hope things get better for everyone. The last thing we need is our three young girls in the hospital for too long." said Tikal.

"Yeah, it nearly drove Tails AWOL last time." Amy replied.

"Okay everyone, let's give Cream, Tails and Marine a rest." said Dr. Quack. "They need to recover, so let's all leave them be." And so everyone, Lavender included, leaves the room. Lavender then retracts into a pod and clunks to the floor in standby.

Rouge was in the other room, leg up and watching TV. "Well, I better figure out how I will deal with my club." she said as she flipped channels.

Knuckles entered the room. "Hey, how're you holding up?" He asked.

"My leg is broken and my club is in ruins." Rouge answered. "So aside from having my pride hurt, I'm fine."

"At least you're still alive." Knuckles sighs. "I feel a little responsible, so I'll help you out in the rebuilding." He says to Rouge.

"At least Tails is alive. But I wonder where she's gonna go now."

"She'll come to Angel Island with me." Knuckles replied.

"Not much of a choice now. At least you're on guard in their room."

"Well, I'm gonna keep watch tonight. Get some rest. You'll need it for the contractors."

Meanwhile, Vanilla got a phone call on her mobile from the speed machine himself.
"Hey, Vanilla. What's going on with Rouge's place? I went to your house and no ones in and Rouge's is totalled. Where is everyone? Is everyone okay? No one was hurt were they? What happened?" Sonic asked, somewhat panicked.

"Eggman attacked Rouge's club with a robot." Vanilla explained. "Rouge has a broken leg, Marine's ribs broken, but away from puncturing her lungs, Tails and the rest took a few bumps and bruises and Cream's gonna be in a neck brace for a while, but no one died."

"Damn it!" And the phone went thud as it was clearly tossed aside. After a few moments of silence it was picked up again. "Of all times for me to be out of the picture, I guess I'll get blamed again for not being around. You're at the hospital right?"

"We are and you won't get the blame. I made sure that bot was totalled."

"Not the point, Vanilla. I wasn't there to help." Sonic replied.

"You act like everyone can't hold their own without you. People get banged up and bruised, but everyone gets up and tries again. You can't be there to save everyone, and your current state can't be helped."

"If that's the case, tell everyone to stop nailing into me about not being where I am needed." And Sonic disconnects.

Vanilla shook her head. Sonic still hasn't gotten over things yet. I guess he needs more time. Thought Vanilla.

After a little while, Vanilla hears weeping from the room where Marine, Tails and Cream are.

Vanilla goes into her room and sees the source of the weeping. "Nice to see you awake." she said. "Taking the time to vent?"

"Everyone keeps getting hurt because of me." Tails cried. "Look at these two, and it's my fault."

"This was Eggman's fault, not yours." Vanilla corrected. "People love you, Tails. And you should be happy to know that there are people who care about you. We're willing to die for you, just like you would die for us.

"Mutual love is important, so don't feel so bad."

"Everyone could have died today and it's because that robot wanted me. I don't like watching them get hurt." Tails spoke, trying to dry her face in vein.

"No one does, but it's a part of life. By the way, I just got off the phone with Sonic. He wanted you to know that he loves you and is currently working on something special."

"H-huh?" Tails questioned, looking over to Vanilla. "H-He is?"

"Of course, but he wants to keep it a surprise."

"Oh, I see...wow." Tails replied. Then cheered up slightly. "I wonder what it could be?"

"He didn't say, but it's probably something good. This is Sonic, you know."

"Yeah." Tails replied. It appeared another mood swing had cut in as she perked slightly. "Hey, Vanilla, would you adopt me? Cause you'd make an awesome mother since that whole Gmerl armour thing." She joked.

"You already are part of the family, just not my son anymore." and Vanilla rubbed Tails on the head. "Didn't I tell you things would turn out okay?"

Tails rubs her own stomach. "That's still to come though..." She said.

"You'll be fine, granted you rest up."

"I will. But I'm kinda excited now. You have me curious with Sonic's big surprise." Tails began to ponder and Vanilla could almost see the gears moving in her head.

"At least you feel better." and Vanilla kisses Tails on the cheek. "Now get some sleep, if not for anyone else, that baby of yours."

"I wonder how big I'm gonna get." Tails pondered.

"Wonder when the day comes."

"Yeah, okay." And Tails lies back and covers herself up, giving her face one more dry off, she gets comfortable. "Thanks, Vanilla."

"Sleep well, dear." and Vanilla left the room.

Amy see's Vanilla come out of the room.
"Everything okay?" She asked.

"Tails is excited, Cream and Marine are still asleep, but Rouge feels her pride was hurt." Vanilla answered.

"Excited?"

"About being alive after the attack. Motivational speeches are a requirement for being a mother."

"I see." Amy said.
"Well, some rest is all they need. We'll come back tomorrow, I think we all need a good sleep. Knuckles is watching over things tonight." Blaze said.
"No he's not, he's also resting. This time, it's my turn to watch over." Said a voice from the door. The girls turn to see the owner.
"Sonic! You're here!" Amy squealed.

Sonic shows up with his casual smirk. "Well, I needed some thinkin' time." he always had the proper wording when things were tight.

"Well, I'm too tired to glomp you right now Sonic. I know how much you must miss it, but I need to go and sleep." Amy yawned.

"Get going, I can see your chicken feet."

Amy nearly fell over. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"All that consciousness about beauty and you don't know about chicken feet?"

"Get in the room, Sonic." said Vanilla.

Sonic enters the room and sees Tails laying down in bed. He shakes his head as he sees her laying there. Tails has always been strong, she'll pull through this. He thought.