FSE

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To the raptor, the doctor in red definitely had a rather egg-like shape of pointed head and oval body, his long thin legs contained within a tight black pair of pants with resplendently-sleek shoes. Tiny bifocals glinted upon his long pink nose, vulture-like in length, his walrus moustache bristling the length of his face as he squinted towards the three newcomers, boastful yet blustering in his voice. "Hmm?! Who are you!?! I don't recognise your model!" "I bet ya don't you JERK! You forgot about us!" "What?! Identify yourself!" "Scratch and Grounder, registration seven-oh-one and seven-oh-two!" James looked at Scratch with an incredulous stare at such a numerical memory all of a sudden, the man before them rubbing his chin with ponderment as he stared harder. "...Scratch...Grounder...ohhh yes...it has been a long time hasn't it you two? I almost thought you got lost out there somewhere and forgot how to get back, what with having the memory span of a cockroach the two of you! What are you doing all the way up here, and what's that lizard thing behind you?!" "My name's FG," said the lizard thing, "and I've been wanting to meet you for a long time, Doctor Robotnik." "Really? And why is that precisely?" "Because I hear that you're a master of machinery, am I right?" "Why yes...so my reputation precedes me!" "Oh it does. And I'd like to ask for your uh...assistance in helping me build something." "Hmph, well, unless you are willing to offer me an entire fortune I am not available for contracts." "Oh...I wasn't planning on paying you."

The raptor swung out his scissors, glinting with starlight from the bay windows as he pointed them towards Dr. Robotnik. "I was planning on sparing you...IF you help give me what I want." "...are you...are you THREATENING me?! ME?! The great Doctor Robotnik?! Do you have any idea how much power I have!?" He sweeped his arm as if hurling an invisible cloak towards the great view of the planet below. "This...is MY space station, the very throne that I built where I can view the very world that I was destined to control! And you think you can just waltz in here, ordering me to build YOU something, while swinging your stupid little garden shears about?! DID YOU!?" "Yes. I did, because I have two very pissed-off robots here who are quite willing to take you apart limb by limb unless you do." Scratch and Grounder as if on cue branded their wings and drills together, wielding them like swords ready to slice anything that moved. Grounder was putting on his best look of manic glee as his drills fired up. Scratch however was locked between thrill and anger, shouting: "We're here to get some answers from you, fat boy!" "Watch your beak chicken, or else I'll take you apart!" "Try it, you don't own me anymore, not after you threw us to the scrap heap like we were just worthless TRASH!" "What?! What scrap heap!? I don't care what buffoonery you two got into just because I wasn't there to hold your hand like babies, this is mutiny! If you're too stupid to comprehend that then none of you are worth my time!" "YOU ABANDONED US, YOU FAT JERK!" "THAT'S IT! I am tired of your useless antics, get out of my sight, NOW!" "NO! CUMMERE EGGMAN, I'M GONNA BREAK YER FACE!" Before Scratch could even reach halfway to him, Robotnik simply turned away from them and began to tap in some extra commands onto the computer, the rooster undeterred as he ran screaming: "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU YOU FAT SACK OF BOLTS, I'M GONNA WRING YER NECK!" "SCRATCH LOOK OUT!" Grounder heard something grinding high above, and charged forwards as fast as his treads could carry him, right before a large crushing metal barrier came straight down on top of them. The two had just barely dodged, seeing Robotnik had locked himself behind an entirely new steel wall, the rooster pounding at it furiously before it began to push forwards. As the wall forced itself upon them, pushing them towards the back of the giant hall, they soon heard something start to approach from behind them. Right on the other side of the back wall which began to separate like a giant door. The scraping gears and grinding from within was immeasurably loud, amplified moreso by the very structure of the Death Egg which reverberated all around them. As the wall opened up further to reveal a galactic corridor, resplendent with windows of the earth and stars on both sides of them, the sound of large stomping feet came towards them at the far end of the well-lit hallway, shaking the floor underneath. Robotnik's voice echoed over a tannoy towards them, loud enough they could even hear his moustache. " YOU HAVE OUTSTAYED YOUR WELCOME! AS A RESULT, I THINK IT'S TIME FOR MY PERSONAL ASSISTANT TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH! COCONUTS, DEAL WITH THESE PESTS!" "Gladly, DOCTOR Robotnik!"

A familiar whiny voice came from above, standing upon a shining circular platform that lowered itself from the ceiling. A small robotic monkey stood staring down at them, his body grey with reddish paint upon his head and strangely pale-looking arms. A monkey that FG immediately recognised more with alacrity than with surprise, unlike his two friends who squawked: "COCONUTS?!" "Welcome BACK bozos!" jeered the monkey. "You sure took an awful long time draggin' yerselves back here!" "Wha-...Coconuts what are ya doin'?!" asked Scratch. "Why'd Robotnik call you his personal assistant?!" "CUZ THAT'S WHAT I AM, NUMBNUTS! Thanks to you, both of yous, fer not bein' here at all! How'dya enjoy yer scrap vacation hmmm?!" "That wuzn't a vacation!" said Grounder. "It wuz boring! And miserable! And stupid! And BORING!" "Awwww I thought it'd work for both of yous! After all, I was the one that sent you there!" "WHAT?!" roared both. "YOU!?" "Dat's right, I was the one who sent yous away, but now you come crawlin' back like the junkheads you are, cuz-" "Seriously?!" said FG outraged. "The monkey with the fake moustache, that's your fucking mastermind?! The fuck is this bullshit!?" "Wait what?!" said Scratch. "Whaddaya mean the monkey with the fake moustache?!" "OH MY GOD YOU FUCKING IDIOTS!" He grabbed both of their heads and made them look towards Coconuts. "OKAY, look, remember way back at the Hill Top Zone before we went into the desert, that one guy who stopped us going UP the way? THAT WAS HIM, HE JUST WORE A FAKE MOUSTACHE ON HIM, EVEN I KNEW IT WAS A FAKE!" "WHAT?! Well why didntcha say anything?!" "Cuz I didn't know who he was, I thought he was just some weirdo!" "HEY I'm not a weirdo!" shouted the monkey. "SHUT UP!" roared FG. "You've been leading us around in a fucking circle, it all makes sense now! Robotnik didn't seem to understand that he left these two in the scrap heap, as if he didn't know about it! Yet you're the one with the huge-ass chip on your shoulder about them! So all those assholes we met, all the ones that told us not to come, telling us their orders from above, that was from YOU!?" "YES IT WAS NOW SHUDDUP! STOP-" "The sawbladed tyrannosaur, the tank triceratops, the scorpions, the antlion, that FUCKING DOLL-" "Wait, doll?!" "Yeah! That stupid thing chasing us since the Metropolis Zone, which we BURNED out in the sky like fucking paper!" "Wha-buh-WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? I don't know nuthin' about no dolls! I don't play with dolls, you callin' me a GIRL!?" "I...wait, but, the thing in the ruins and-" "SHUDDUP! JUST...SHUDDUP YOU'RE RUINING MY AWESOME MONOLOGUE YOU STUPID LIZARD, YOU RUINED EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING!" "What?!" "YEAH! These bozos were gonna be dealt with forever, in about a month or so even! I was gonna wait for 'em to finally power down, an' lie in the scrap heap permanently! But YOU! YOU had the nerve to take them outtas there like they were sumthin' useful, AND NOW I HAVE TO GET ANGRY WIT' YOUS!" "Why'd ya do it?!" asked Grounder fretfully. "Whut did we ever do to you?!" "You took my JOB! I was Robotnik's favourite until you two came along, I was his personal cleaner I was getting all the cushy living! He was making me like his pet monkey and I was enjoying it until you TOOK IT FROM ME!" "Wait," said FG, "you sent them out of the way just so you could...be Robotnik's janitor?!" "YES! I-mean-NO SHUDDUP! Not just a janitor, but an ASSISTANT! I had it all coming to me! I was gonna get the cushiest job I was destined to have until YOU losers came along and STOLE IT from me! NOW!" He pressed a button firmly upon a small remote control as he grinned wickedly, slowly lifted up back into the ceiling. "Let's see how good the three of yous can last against my own personal pet project..." The sounds of grinding and clanking came from above their heads, as the ceiling itself began to slide open both ways like a large elevator door. Something huge and dark obstructed their view, before it slammed down onto the reinforced space station hallway. A giant steel-grey robot, shaped like a gorilla over 30 feet tall with huge hands and sturdy knees that ended in ape-like feet. Instead of a head however, was a single well-protected glass dome where Coconuts now was, his arms and legs fitted into specialised glowing blue sockets that controlled each limb according to his own. His grin of psychotic glee could easily be felt from down below him, as he roared through the robot's voice-activated tannoy: " WELCOME TO YER DOOM, LOSERS! NOW DIE!"

The larger robot lunged forwards with a primal lurch, swinging both arms out before smashing its fists hard onto the unbreakable floor as James, Scratch and Grounder all dodged as best as they could. Splitting into two groups, they began their defence with a mutual understanding of one objective only. Reach the pilot and break his fucking head in. Scratch started the assault first with a blast from his Mean Bean Machine shooter, shooting out a thick blast of oil aiming straight towards the head. But Coconuts was a little smarter than that, blocking the shot with a steel palm before swiping hard at the rooster, who dodged back as fast as he could despite stumbling over himself. " YOU ALWAYS WERE A LI'L CLUMSY SCRATCH!" mocked the chimp-bot. " MAYBE YOU SHOULDA TAKEN BALLET!" "I'M NOT A GIRL!" squawked Scratch. "I'M A CHICKEN-BOT!" "GUYS CAN DO BALLET TOO!" said FG. "AND IT TAKES A LOTTA FUCKING WORK TO DO IT!" " WHAT ARE YOU, THE BALLET POLICE?! WHY DONTCHA DANCE FER ME THEN!?" The giant robot mecha opened its chest to reveal five large gun barrels that suddenly began firing towards FG, the raptor dodging hard to one side before putting up an entire shield of tetra blocks before him. The thick shots pinged off hard against the impenetrable blocks, guarding him well despite the number of holes within it that he would always never be able to fill. As the barrage stopped, it was soon replaced by another weapon altogether, a giant rocket launcher pulling out of the machine's shoulder, pointing towards FG once again. " HOW YA LIKE MY EGG MANDRILL, FREAK!? EAT THIS!" As it fired off straight towards him, he fired off a whole storm of tetra blocks to create one solid wall, his shield now being a weapon as the sudden impact exploded the rocket in mid-air between them. The monkey was not impressed, with James simply saying: "Looks like your mandrill's blown a little prematurely."

That set off his rage once more, as Coconuts began to swing his mecha's limbs with a flurry of violent blows, haymakers and hammerfists with a surprising amount of agility. Despite the robot being large enough to hit its head on the ceiling with a single jump, it was able to spin with its legs out rather agilely, looming large fists as well as feet that balled up like fists in turn, forcing both raptor and badniks to dodge as fast as they possibly could. James had no problems ducking and dodging away, knowing that his shield ability would not be able to handle such penetrable force by the sheer weight of thick crushing blows. But Scratch and Grounder had their own problems, mainly involving the rooster trying to help the drillbot keep away from the huge fists, the slower treadwheels panicking on which way to go as fist after fist after foot came crashing down on both sides. "NO NO LEFT!" "GUUH!" "DOHOHO!" "EEEK!" "STOPPIT!" " HAHAHAHAHAAAA, HOW D'YA LIKE THIS OLD PALS!? YA HAVING FUN YET?!" "NO," panicked Grounder, "WE'RE NOT HAVING FUN, NOT FUN AT ALL!" " THAT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION YOU BOLTHEAD, SHEESH! READY TO SAY GOODBYE YET?!" "I'M NOT EVEN READY FER THIS!" screeched Scratch nervously. " GOOD!" A firing of a rocket sent the chicken running off towards the window, clucking with panic as he almost forgot about his shooter. He turned just as he reached the large glass-like window, the stars shining down behind him as he shot straight at Coconuts' cockpit. The thick oily blob slowly pushed through the air, as it flew over the rocket that went heading for Scratch who, in a moment of foolhardy tactics, took the blast hard to his chest as he slammed back against the window with a charred front. Luckily they were reinforced to the point of unbreakable. James came running to his aid, as did Grounder until Scratch signalled that he was okay and pointed towards the now-blinded Egg Mandrill, a thick black puddle covering the cockpit. " AGH DARNIT! STUPID...OIL!" "Boost me up guys!" said FG. "I'll break his face in!" "You got it!" Both badniks quickly grabbed the raptor and spun themselves around until they hurled him together like a sledgehammer to the stars, a spinning brown comet that came crashing down hard upon the robot's head. His scissors, burning high with thickening flames summoned to them, pierced slightly through the reinforced glass, the monkey within shrieking out with surprise before bringing up his mecha's giant hands. " GAAAH! HEY, GET OFFA ME YOU BUG! GET! OFF!" "NO CHANCE MONKEYBOY!"

He hung on hard with his scissors stabbing into the cockpit, wedging themselves in as he swung himself round in a half-circle to avoid the swiping of one hand, then the other that tried to come from behind. Like a fly buzzing around the monkey's head, he kept spinning around and around with claws tightly wrapped around the scissors, firmly planted in with the tips cracking through. Eventually one fist swung too close to FG's head, and he swiftly pulled out before backflipping onto the floor, pushing off of the cockpit dome hard with scissors fully out. The giant Egg Mandrill came charging towards them with a lumbering gait, pounding the floor with steel hand-shaped feet as it swung with such force at the three of them, that it almost unbalanced itself. But the pilot managed to correct it and have it plant a giant hand underneath itself, spinning like a ginormous breakdancer as its legs swung out with insane speed. Grounder got the unluckiest hit, knocked hard enough towards the wall that one of his treadwheels fell off, popping out of its place to clatter hard on the floor. Groaning from the hit, he found himself temporarily crippled and unable to move out of the way, spinning uselessly lopsided around one way in a circle, as Coconuts' mech came closer towards him. " AWWWW POOR MOLEY! LOOKS LIKE YOU GOT GROUNDED! YOU GONNA CRY NOW BOLTHEAD?!" "Yer just a bully yanno that?!" mocked Grounder feebly. "A big stupid BULLY!" " WELL IF I'M THE BULLY THEN THAT MAKES YOU THE WIMP!" Readying a huge slam of both fists, the monkey grinned at seeing the small green tankbot cower in his colossal shadow. But a sudden blast of wind from unknown directions whirred itself before him, grasping Grounder and swiftly pulling him away. Coconuts found himself crushing only the floor, not even making a dent in its perfect engineering as he turned to see Scratch holding Grounder, fiercely clinging to him with drills around the rooster's waist as he somehow managed to glide straight across the hallway, his wings spread fully with the power of wind below them, even while carrying the Mean Bean Shooter. " H-HUH!? HOW DID YOU-" "IT'S CALLED FLYIN' YOU STUPID MONKEY!" roared Scratch. "EVER HEARD OF IT?!" " SO YOU LEARNED TO USE THOSE WINGS FINALLY!? SHAME YER WASTIN' 'EM ON CARRYIN' THAT DEADWEIGHT OF A DRILLHEAD WITH YA!" "HE GOT A LOT MORE IN HIS HEAD THAN YOU DO!" "Awww thanks buddy!" said Grounder proudly. " WHO CARES!? YOU HAD A CHANCE SCRATCH, YOU ALWAYS WERE THAT LIIIIITTLE BIT BRIGHTER THAN THAT MORON YOU STILL HANG WITH! WHY DO YOUS STICK WITH HIM ANYWAY HUH!? HE MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT YERSELF, HAVIN' A REJECT FER A FRIEND!?" "HE'S NOT A REJECT! HE'S MY BROTHER!"

At the moment he said this, his wings suddenly flew upwards, boosted by a whirlwind summoned by an unseen raptor from behind the giant mecha. He was glad that their enemy was too focused on his former colleagues to even think about him, allowing FG to control the wind beneath Scratch's wings unabated from a long distance. In his mind, he was picturing a fragile pot upon a small table, cautiously levitating with but a breeze from his fingertips. Even if said pot was now a mechanical chickenbot, the principle was still the same as he controlled his nano-power with stronger focus than before. Lifting both Scratch and Grounder up into the air, he kept his eyes focused on the two of them rising up above the Egg Mandrill, the rooster crowing with wings aflutter as he blasted a shot of oil at the cockpit. Blinding Coconuts briefly as some of the oil spurted through the crack made previously, the monkey became vulnerable as he sputtered and wiped some of the black fluid off from his eyes. By the time he cleared his vision, it was too late. The shrieking vengeance that came down upon him in the form of a large drillbot with one missing tread and the rooster that was carrying him, felt just as terrible as the sight of it. The wind had stopped beneath Scratch's wings, as they both fell straight on top of the giant mech like badly-painted bricks. The cockpit was suddenly shattered by the sheer weight of both, cracking open like a badly-boiled egg exposing the pilot within. He panicked and bashed both of them away with his bare fists, before realising he still had control of the mech before swinging the huge metal fists once more. Both badniks were grappling hard onto the ruined glass, the giant mechanical mandrill twisting its body back and forth, desperately trying to shake them off. The monkey within the cockpit was squawking with rage, swearing through the tannoy: " GET OFF! GET OFFA ME YOU STUPID BOLTHEADS I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOUS 'TIL YER NUTHIN' BUT SCRAP!" "YER ALREADY SCRAP!" roared the chicken. "MAYBE IT'S TIME YOU TOOK A VACATION, DOWN IN THE BOILER! GROUNDER, DO IT!" "OPEN WIIIIDE!" With a gleam with joy at being suddenly useful, Grounder readied his drill as he pulled back an arm before slamming it straight into Coconuts' head, screaming steel grinding against the high-speed rotary tool. The monkey's head soon caved open, his shrieks cut off as a hole burst inwards from the top of his head, his flashing siren light now cracked and shattered off from the drilling. In a flight of frenzy, he leaped up from the pilot's seat and punched Grounder square in the jaw, knocking his head back before kicking Scratch from the cockpit. Grounder soon followed after, being temporarily stunned by his head being punched back as he fell slowly from the mecha's head. But his drill went spearing into the metal chest, scarring it hard with an ear-piercing shriek that would most certainly have broken the windows if they were of inferior quality. The monkey pilot was feeling an intense amount of pain, his vision and mental functions now crippled by the caved-in hole in his head, showing off a half-blinking set of wires and diodes that controlled all of his body. Except for his right arm and leg, thanks to Grounder's drill.

He turned towards the three of them, his robot stumbling and also showing the same disabilities as him, the right leg scraping across the hallway fiercely. The raptor was a little bruised but the badniks were in a much worse state of repair. Scratch's front was covered in burns with one huge dent pushed in, while Grounder was missing a treadwheel still. Just when the battle was about to resume, an explosion came from somewhere else in the Death Egg. Sirens began screaming, red pulsated blindly from all directions, their eyes and ears suddenly overloading. "WH-WH-WHAT'S GOING ON!?" cried Scratch. "I DON'T KNOW" said FG, "BUT SIRENS AND FLASHING RED LIGHTS ARE NEVER GOOD!" "REALLY!?" shouted Grounder. "WHAT IF SOMEONE'S COOKIES ARE DONE BAKING?!" "WHY WOULD SOMEONE BE MAKING COOKIES ON A FUCKING SPACE STATION!?" "I DUNNO, PEOPLE GOTTA EAT!" Coconuts however was scrambling for his intercom and desperately tried to communicate through to his master. Whatever he was hearing was not heard by the intruders, but they got enough of a clue from the monkey's rising panic. " DOCTOR ROBOTNIK, COME IN! COME IN DOCTOR ROBOTNIK, ARE YA THERE!? WHAT'S GOING ON!? ...WHAT!? HE DESTROYED WHAT!? B-B-BUT THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE, HOW DID-...WAIT, NO, DON'T LEAVE ME, DON'T LEAVE ME DOCTOR ROBOTNIK PLEASE! WAIT FOR MEEE!" The monkey ran off in his giant mech as fast as possible, his crippled state slowing him down plenty as he limped through one corridor. The space station started exploding further, shuddering blasts coming up from all around them as the view outside started to tilt slowly upon its side. It wasn't just exploding. It was falling towards the earth. "WE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!" said FG. "YOU GUYS KNOW WHERE THE EXIT IS?!" "NO!" said both panickedly. "DAMMIT! ...ALRIGHT, FOLLOW THAT MONKEY!" "BUT GROUNDER'S MISSING A WHEEL," roared Scratch, "HE CAN'T GET OUTTA HERE FAST ENOUGH!" James hurriedly looked around for Grounder's treadwheel, which while damaged was still useable as he carried it back to the drilltank and fitted it back on with Scratch's help. It wasn't going to last long without repairs, but hopefully long enough. Several scraps of metal had fallen off of the Egg Mandrill during the fight, one of which was large enough to become a sled. He tied a pair of loose cables from the battle debris around Grounder, while connecting the cables to the thick metal after looping it into the rivet holes. He never had to lead a sled before, but Grounder clearly knew enough to say: "MUSH, MUSH!" "HOW 'BOUT SHUSH OR I'LL BEAT YER HEAD IN!" squawked the rooster. "OKAY! SHUSH, SHUSH!" Scratch simply facepalmed, his friend no worse for wear despite his somewhat-crumpled tread. Scratch however took a while to realise that FG was up to something, grabbing his Mean Bean shooter again as he asked: "WHAT ARE YA DOING?!" "I'M MAKING A SLED SO YOU CAN PULL IT! REMEMBER WHEN GROUNDER PULLED YOU ALONG BACK ON THE HIGHWAY?!" "YEAH!?" "CAN YOU CONNECT YOURSELVES TOGETHER SO WE CAN RACE OFF OUTTA HERE?!" "WHY DON'T YOU JUST SKATE OUTTA HERE?!" "I USED UP TOO MUCH POWER SHOOTING FIRE AND MAKING YOU FLY WITH WIND, IF I USE UP TOO MUCH THEN IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND YOU HAVE TO CARRY MY UNCONSCIOUS ASS OUT OF HERE!" "...FIIIINE WHATEVER, BUT I DUNNO HOW MUCH POWER WE GOT EITHER! GROUNDER, LET'S JACK UP!" "AWWW NOT AGAIN!"

The two badniks swiftly connected each other again by their jumper cables, with Scratch making James help at least in connecting them both up as Grounder fired up his engine. With raptor on the metal plate sled, and Scratch wrapping his wings around his friend's waist, they stormed off down the hallway where Coconuts had escaped, hoping that in the midst of chaos they would find their way out. The moment they started running, everything came tumbling down around them. The sirens screamed eternal, the red flashing always as they tore from room to room, dodging falling debris of both wires and metal, the very insides of the space station now tearing itself apart. Screeching sounds of steel being torn under its own weight, echoing throughout the hallways over the infernal alarms. No sign of Coconuts was apparent, but the huge robot-shaped holes through walls gave them a pretty good idea. As the two badniks with raptor in tow began to feel the gentle tilt of the space station, they found the straight halls now turning into slopes, either by just collapsing fully under the decaying structure or just simply tilting too far with the rest of the place. Grounder's wheels were holding up, but they would give in eventually and all of them knew it, the telltale sight of the damaged wheel rumbling underneath the drillbot's body as it wavered uneasily against him. Suddenly, a flash of blue in the midst of the red world around them. "HEY, YOU GUYS MADE IT!" Sonic was now running right alongside them, keeping pace perfectly with his feet blurring underneath him, the two badniks looking rather surprised to the point of almost stopping. "WOAH THERE, DON'T STOP NOW, THIS AIN'T A RACE YOU WANNA LOSE!" "WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON!?" asked FG. "WHY'S THIS PLACE SUDDENLY GOING OVERLOAD!?" "REMEMBER HOW I TOLD YA THAT EGGMAN'S A BAD LOSER?! YEAH, HE KINDA EXPLODED ON ME WHEN I WHUPPED HIS BUTT TWICE!" "HOW WE GONNA GET OUT OF HERE?!" "FOLLOW ME, I KNOW A WAY OUT, JUST TRY TO KEEP UP!" "OKAY BUT NOT TOO FAST, MY FRIEND'S WHEEL'S BUSTED UP!" "SURE, LET'S CALL THIS A LITTLE JOG AROUND THE PLACE!" With a slight increase in speed, Sonic tore off ahead in front of them, leading them by his blurring trail through the hallways and corridors twisting and crumbling all around them. Windows began to crack and shatter from behind, sucking everything out into space as falling girders and support ceilings crushed unfortunate workers that tried to run with them. The floor underneath them struggled to be the last to fall.

But the hedgehog was fearless, running briskly ahead of them as he scoped out his pathway through, hopping over railings and structural beams, some of which James either ducked under or tore through with Grounder's strength. The drilltank could only take so much damage however, and with each new obstacle that he had to try to drill through in mid-charge, his treads turned weaker in their integrity. "YOU GUYS OKAY BACK THERE?!" asked Sonic loudly. "WE'RE TRYING!" roared Scratch. "I DON'T WANNA DIE IN SPACE!" "YOU WON'T, YER A ROBOT AREN'T YOU!?" "YEAH!" "WELL THAT'S THE LEAST OF YER PROBLEMS! THERE'S THE EXIT!" Straight ahead was an airlock opening itself up towards the earth. The sight of them about to jump off into space made the three following the hedgehog panic. "I THOUGHT THERE WAS AN ESCAPE POD!" said FG. "NOT A FUCKING AIRLOCK!" "ONLY ONE WAY OFFA THIS PLACE WITHOUT A ROCKET!" said Sonic. "JUST STICK CLOSE, I'LL GET YOU GUYS BACK HOME!" "HOW YOU GONNA DO THAT WHEN WE-...HOLY SHIT!" He looked behind him to see a firey rage come burning up from the inside of the station, a living inferno that came boiling out of the hallway, heading straight towards them. The tight-clustered corridor only made it burn faster, as Sonic raced faster ahead of them by instinct to escape the roaring fires. Unfortunately, the three other escapees found their problems turn worse, when Grounder's wheel finally gave in from an extra push before finally dislodging itself free from its owner. "NOOO MY FEET!" "GROUNDER NO!" Skidding hard to a complete stop, the molebot turned fully before rolling over powerfully, hurling through the air like a car crash just waiting to happen. James and Scratch found themselves tumbling too, falling through the corridor and crashing down into a lower level from a weakened floor ahead of them. They didn't even reach the airlock, and neither did the fire reach them as Sonic burst out into space, flying solo. Underneath the Death Egg were three small specks amongst the charring debris that would fall to earth, as James, Scratch and Grounder found themselves falling through space while standing upon a sturdy metal floor. Looking around themselves, the remnants of one room still remained as nothing but scraped girders, cracked windows and fused technological tables of dubious experimentation. Half of the airducts were cut up badly, yet the floor remained intact enough for them to stand on.

Somehow they were still able to breathe despite being in space, as well as gravity somehow affecting them. Various machines stood all around them, like setpieces on a chessboard haphazardly arranged all around James. He turned to his wounded friends, seeing Scratch try to disconnect the jumper cables from Grounder, hunched over with a worried look on his face. "Hoh no...n-not now..." "Wh-what's wrong?" asked FG. "NOTHING!" He slammed Grounder's back quickly before stuffing his cables back into himself. "Just...uh...GEE we're in space fer real aren't we!?" "What...how are we...I-how am I even breathing?" "I dunno!" replied Scratch. "I dunno anythin' about science or power levels even!" "Maybe it's that thing over there!" Grounder pointed over to where one of many small machines in the room lied huddled away in a corner, with a sign beside it saying "Gravity Equaliser and Mobile Life Support". It was shaped like a faberge egg of silver blue, and was resonating surprisingly well, perhaps the only thing now working from the space station that made the three of them smile at each other. Despite the fact the floor they were on was now hurtling towards the planet below, as they took their moment of peace to try and think of how to survive this. The rushing of wind from all around them in the small atmosphere of the room was one of the most terrifying sounds James had ever experienced. The howling descent from beyond the stars. "How good are you robots at landing?" said James cautiously. "Uhhhh...is this part of the test?" asked Grounder. "OH COME ON," cried Scratch, "WE'RE PAST THAT JOKE NOW! We're gonna crash straight into the earth like meteors unless you think of something!" "Meteors?! OH NO, but they-" "Guys calm down!" said FG nervously. "We just...just have to...wh-where's Sonic?! Where did he go?!" "I dunno! I thought he went ahead of us!" "But he...hey...hey look! OVER THERE!" Pointing towards the Death Egg's remnants, a small yellow star shined out from the burning station, before it went roaring down towards the planet far far away from them. It didn't look like any comet they had ever seen, the way it managed to change direction all of a sudden and hone in on one point. "What IS that?!" asked Grounder. "I dunno any meteors that can do that!" "Or yellow ones even," replied Scratch. "...so uh, how we gonna handle this?" "There must be some equipment here we can use," said FG, "lots of stuff is still in this room, maybe something can hold us down or keep us from flying off anywhere. ...god...didn't even think of this." "Huh?" "All that time we were up in that space station and I didn't even ask myself how the hell we were gonna get out of there. ...dammit." He sat down on the floor shaking fearfully, nerves welling up in him at the sudden prospect of what was yet to come. "Just...god dammit I'm such an idiot." "...heh...hhhehehehe...that makes three of us." Scratch put an arm around FG reassuringly, trying to shake him free from his onset of worries and fear of not escaping such a death-defying situation. Normally he would have been freaking out, going crazy with the fact that he was hurtling towards the earth through the emptiness of space, soon to burn up within the atmosphere like a comet crashing into the sea. But after everything he'd been through, the shock had gone off long ago to leave only anxiety to beat in his heart. The naive optimism of his friends however made him wonder.

"...why are you not scared?" "Uh, HELLO, we're robots, we can survive this!" "You sure about that?" "I'm DOUBLE sure! But you won't survive out here meatbag, so let's find you a place to hide an-...wait...SOMETHING'S COMING!" The rooster pointed up at a large looming shadow that looked briefly familiar as it crashlanded hard onto their small sanctum, hard enough to almost upset the entire balance and make them fall off. They were glad to see that the mobile life support was bolted down firmly, despite the fact that their unwelcome guest was clearly desiring to end theirs. The giant Egg Mandrill, still crippled down its left side, was burning with fury as well as from the deep blackened scars across its entire body. Coconuts remained in the pilot seat, his head cracked and bleeding with oil dripping over one eye. " YOU MORONS! YOU WORTHLESS STUPID MORONS! NOW I GOT NOTHING LEFT! NOTHIIIING!" "Oh COME THE FUCK ON!" roared FG. "YOU GOT WORSE FUCKING PROBLEMS THAN US NOW!" " YOU COULDN'T LEAVE ME ALONE COULD YOU!? YOU HAD TO COME BACK, JUST RUIN MY WHOLE LIFE JUST LIKE YA DID BEFORE! YANNO HOW LONG IT TAKES UNTIL WE HIT THE ATMOSPHERE?! SIX MINUTES, BECAUSE I COUNTED! YANNO HOW, CUZ I'M SMARTER THAN YOU!" "WHO CARES!?" cried Scratch. "WE'RE GONNA HIT THE DIRT IF WE DON'T DO SOMETHING! YER GONNA GET CRUSHED TOO UNLESS YA HELP US!" " NO, IF I'M GOING DOWN I'M TAKING YOUS ALL WITH ME! DOCTOR ROBOTNIK'S GONE, HE LEFT ME BECAUSE OF YOU!" "FUCK ROBOTNIK!" said FG. "IF HE GAVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU, HE WOULDN'T HAVE RUN OFF LIKE THE COWARDLY BITCH HE WAS!" " SHUT UP! SHUT UP YOU STUPID LIZARD I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU ALL! YOU TOOK ROBOTNIK AWAY FROM MEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Even in the midst of space upon the falling remnants of a half-intact laboratory room, the robot monkey was incensed with murder in his eyes as the three survivors readied their weapons. Scratch held up his Mean Bean Machine, noticing there was little ammo left in it and trying not to panic. Grounder was half-crippled but kept his drills up steadily. James wielded his scissors and readied his nano-fire, saying: "Six minutes you said, right monkey boy? ...alright then, let's give you an early retirement shall we?! LET'S DO THIS!" Charging towards the robot, the raptor leapt up onto the crippled left side to readily try and stab into the head, but Coconuts was well-aware of his weakness and swung his right arm hard to swat him back down onto the floor. Scratch charged forwards and blindsided the ape with oil to stop him from crushing James, the robot stumbling back slightly with its pilot's movements from trying to clear his eyes.

With Grounder literally grounded on a single wheeltread, both raptor and rooster were the only ones able to fight the Egg Mandrill, which limped towards them to try and stomp them with either right foot or hand. James kept trying to attack, his burning scissors digging into the deeper wounds of the giant mech that it wasn't able to do before, thrusting repeatedly inside the deeper wiring. But Coconuts swatted him from his chest hard with a brushing slap, trying to squash him despite his speed in backflipping off of him and trying again. Scratch kept covering fire with more precise shots, trying not to waste what was left of the oil until Coconuts got smart in avoiding it. After one blast got him in the face, which resulted in James climbing up hard once again to scar half of his face with a burning strike, the monkey turned his mech around hard to defend himself. With the lame side of his body facing towards them. he used it as a shield from the annoying projectiles. It was this tactic that ended up in wasting the last drop of oil from the shooter, with Scratch panicking: "SH-SHOOT, I'M OUT!" "WHAT-GRRKH!" The mech managed to catch James within its right hand during a brief moment of distraction, crushing the raptor hard in its steel fingers with Coconuts glaring at him maniacally. With his arms tightly clinched to his sides, he struggled against the grip until a solid block of metal went hurling towards the monkey's face, cracking a little more of his skull open. In a fit of rage, he threw FG hard towards the two badniks, knocking all three of them down to the point of almost falling off the room's edge. Beyond the tiny atmosphere of this small room, lied nothing but death and infinity. Scratch almost scrabbled his way off of the ledge, until James grabbed him hard by the wing and pulled him back up with Grounder helping in turn from his position. Coconuts slowly lurched his way forwards, roaring as his mecha's limbs scraped across the floor while the stars kept rising all around them in a storm of fire and metal, from the space station high above. " WHEN I...GET OVER THERE...I'M GONNA...RIP YOUS IN HALF!" James tried charging at him, but the ape was far too focused in fury to even try and let him get close, tricking him with a feinting swing before bitchslapping him hard towards his friends once again. The force of the huge metal hand ended up rolling him across the floor, hurting his leg hard as the raptor grunted in hobbling out of harm's way. Scratch and Grounder were slowly shrinking back towards the edge, the rooster whimpering: "Wh-wh-whadda we do, whadda we do?!" "Shoot him!" "I can't, I ran outta ammo!"

The monkey in the machine however readied himself on a daring move, lifting itself up as hard as it could in a single jump as it slammed down hard onto the floor, which tilted suddenly towards the giant machine. Both raptor and badniks started falling down, sliding down the slope towards the Egg Mandrill, Coconuts laughing hard as he readied himself for a wind-up punch. James grabbed onto both Scratch and Grounder who in turn would help each other out of the way of the oncoming fist that was the size of a steel crate. The three managed to dodgeroll away from the fist, as it slammed hard onto the floor with enough strength to rotate back to its original level, with James, Scratch and Grounder now pulling themselves away from the giant robot again. They were shaking with nerves, now too uncertain of trying anything else in case the monkey tried such tricks again. On a platform as small as this, he could easily rip the whole place apart and render them incapable of fighting back, once he realised. "...I can't get close to him like this," said James, "and I don't wanna use my nano stuff in case he tries anything." "...w-w-wait! WAIT, what about that thing we did?!" "Huh?!" "That thing, the thing you did on that tank guy back on the highway!" "...alright, get behind me." As the Egg Mandrill grinded its way closer to them, screeching steel crushing along the hard floor that forever fell down to earth, Scratch readied his wings as FG began to summon his power. His head was already hurting, but he had no other options for now as he brought forth the most powerful gale he could ever conceive in this moment. Their arms synchronised with each other as they cried out in unison: "_SONIIIIIIIIIIIIIC BOOM! _" With a flash of wings, they blasted a furious shockwave of the sound barrier through the tiny atmosphere of the room which snapped like a twig, the blast of air around them searing through one of the robot's legs to slice it from its body. An explosion of wire and steel came right before their very eyes, sparking out as Coconuts screamed with violent fury. His machine started to fall, crumbling to the ground and unable to move other than by crawling with its right hand. With his agility severely disabled, he was now easy prey for the raptor who, even in his wounded state, was still deadly with his blades as he came stumbling forth towards the monkey. Coconuts panicked, hopping over FG's head as soon as he tried to swing before running hard behind him. But he had forgotten that his own body had been crippled rather than just the mecha's alone, his left leg failing beneath him as he shrieked in pain. He found himself falling right in front of Grounder, who grinned eagerly down at him as he pleaded shakily: "W-w-wait WAIT! L-lissen, I know yous two aren't bad guys or nuthin', h-heck, yer the worst at bein' bad I know! M-m-maybe we can...make...s-s-sum kinda deal?! We could all be assistants, the three of us! H-huh?!" "...yanno whut I think?" said Grounder. "Wh-wh-what?" "I think yer head looks kinda like a baseball." "...h-hehe, heheheheh, th-tha-tha-that's funny there ol' buddy ol' pal, I-" "HERE COMES THE PITCH!"

Grounder hurled the monkey up into the air with his powerful upwards swing, cracking his chin hard as if he'd been struck by a baseball bat. Scratch caught on and excitably jumped up and down over at right field. "OOH OOH I'M OPEN I'M OPEN!" Putting both arms together, the drilltank slammed him hard towards the rooster, Coconuts soon seeing Scratch's sadistic grin followed by him putting one long chicken leg, and bracing himself, a screaming monkey coming head on towards him. "IT'S AN OPEN GOAL! AAAAAAAAAAND!" With one final kick, Scratch slammed his metal foot so furiously hard into Coconuts' head that he went flying upwards beyond their small atmosphere, his head coming apart in one solid crack that ran through his entire skull. The monkey went hurling off into space, a strangled scream flying off into the night sky beyond as he floated beyond their reach. Lost forever as Grounder roared: "TOUCHDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWN!" "YEAH!" Both badniks high-fived each other as FG slowly came walking up towards them, hobbling still on his injured knee as he chuckled lightly. "Hhhahahaha...you...you guys are...idiots, you know that?" "Nope," said Scratch satisfactory, "and I don't care cuz I just kicked a monkey in the face! ...hooooo...kinda winded out now from all that butt-kicking huh?!" "Hah...nice...ugh...f-fuck my head...we still got another problem though." They turned towards the large looming planet that came closer and closer with each second. They had no idea how long the fight had taken, as the realisation of no escape from what would a planetary collision soon dawned on them. James was almost tearful, both from mortal fear and from the splitting headache that turned stronger inside of him, barely keeping his eyes open, struggling as he said: "We...we gotta...get somewhere safe...s-something around here must be...good for...for...surviving." "Ya think we can even survive THIS?!" squawked Scratch. "I mean, I never fallen THIS high before, but I've fallen pretty hard a lotta times, and it hurts! But, most of the time I just gotta pop a leg back on or something, I dunno what's gonna happen here!" "You're robots, I'm not, I'm going to die unless I find something to keep me safe! Now PLEASE...help me." "Huh?" "Please...I need your help. I've helped you guys before, I got you out of that scrap yard, now please just...help me...I don't...I can't die here." James went on his knees from exhaustion, struggling not to break down into tears of the fearful prospect now coming before them, the battlelust having worn off quite quickly concerning their situation. "I can't...I promised him...I can't even get back home now that place is all blown up around us, all I wanted was to get back home. Please...help me."

Scratch and Grounder looked at each other, a look of guilt coming over their faces before eventually Scratch went over to FG, looking around for something they could use. Of the various lab equipment that somehow remained bolted down, one of them seemed perfect for what they needed. "Hey lookit this!" A space capsule laid out in a corner, a perfect white container somewhat resembling an isolation tank with its smooth oblong features. It opened eagerly, and was still clamped down from the bottom sections by the safety locks underneath, back from when the space station went supernova. It was surprisingly perfect, as James opened up with the help of Scratch before climbing inside weakly. He noticed that it only had room for one. "How do you...know if this thing won't open and I won't...fly out or break into a million pieces?" "You kidding?!" said the chicken. "Doctor Robotnik's the best doctor around, he can make anything sturdy!" "But...you hate Robotnik." "I do! But he made me, and my buddy there. And neither of us have broken down yet or anything!" "How do you know this...thing'll work?" "Cuz I remember this thing, me an' Grounder used to turn it into a boat an' ride down the stairs with it! This thing can go right down into a freaking lava furnace and not even lose its paint job!" "And it tastes icy too!" added Grounder. "You stay in this thing and you'll be alllllright! You can even lock it from the inside too! I could lock Grounder in there and even he can open it!" "Yeah, told you I could!" "But...what about you guys?" asked FG. "You're gonna make it, right? There's not enough room and...only one of this thing is here, I-i dunno if there's anything else that-" "Don't you worry 'bout us, we're the best badniks around! Ain't nobody gonna hurt us, we'll just put some wires down and strap ourselves in real good! We're not going anywhere!" "Alright...see you when we hit the ground guys...I hope." He gently closed himself into the pod and locked it on the inside, waiting for the inevitable as he saw nothing but pitch black darkness. Scratch walked back over to his crippled friend, still unable to move from his wheelbound position. Grounder looked rather confused with wonder, staring towards the great blue planet that came further towards them as Scratch began gathering up cables from all over the ruined lab to tie themselves down in one place As the drillbot watched his friend finish knotting fuses and cables beneath their feet, he asked curiously: "...Scratch, buddy?" "Yeah?" "...whut's that big blue thing?" "...home, pal." He put an arm around Grounder once finished and held him closely. "We're going home." For the long trip down, James would wonder why Scratch had suddenly managed to remain calm and composed in such a disastrous situation. He tried to drift off to sleep, the sounds of searing space turning dull in his mind as he felt his eyes close by pure exhaustion. But the rooster had one greater worry that took over everything else in his thoughts. He looked down towards Grounder's back, remembering what he had seen when he disconnected the cables. Something that put a mortal fear into him. He couldn't remember what came first. The blackout upon seeing the verdant isle, or the giant explosion upon seeing the ocean waves.