G.U.N Kitty Chapter 16C

Part 3 of 4: The fight for survival.

Eggman meanwhile spoke up again, saying to Kitty, "Anyway, before I have Metal Sonic here finish off this wretched hedgehog, I want to personally thank you for being stupid enough to fight with Rouge instead of trying to stop me. Who knows? Had you actually given this warthog a hand instead, you two might have been able to defeat my secret weapon."

To hear Eggman praise her made the feline agent feel lower than dirt inside, as a compliment from your worst enemy was certainly nothing to boast about.

"But enough talk." Eggman stated loudly. "It's time I ended this pathetic battle of ours once and for all!"

Eggman then gave the command for Metal Sonic to attack.

But before it could, Kitty finally pulled out her RPG-7, saying with a threat, "I'll blast that robot of yours dares to take another step!" Kitty during this time had subtly loaded her RPG-7 with a warhead during Eggman's monologue.

Eggman though just laughed at her threat, retorting, "Pathetic, furball. Don't you realize my machine is too fast to be hit by such a weapon?"

Kitty however didn't lose her resolve, as she replied, "You better not underestimate me again, Doctor. If I could take out your big machines on the Egg Carrier, then I can certainly take out this metal replica of Sonic."

But again, Eggman laughed at her words, countering, "Ha! That's where you're wrong, Agent Katswell! This machine here isn't like those other metal scraps you faced." He then added with glee in his voice, "It's much worse than them."

Before Kitty could answer back, Eggman told her firmly, "Rest assured, you will not be getting the jump on me this time."

"We shall see about that." Kitty shot back.

"So, still feisty even now, eh?" Eggman commented. "Well, that's fine with me!"

Eggman then decided to have Metal Sonic take her out first instead, as he wanted to shut her up once and for all.

Kitty though was ready for this, thinking with a firm look in her eye, Good; he's falling right into my trap, just like I thought he would.

Moments later, Metal Sonic charged after Kitty with fury to attack.

Kitty soon did likewise, but only as a front of to keep her true strategy from being revealed. However, once she was within 5 feet of Sonic's metal impersonator, she quickly pulled a grenade from her pocket.

Metal Sonic during this time unwisely tried to attack Kitty, attempting to hit her with her own martial arts moves it had copied earlier, none other than a flying kick aimed at her head.

Kitty though was ready for it, as she quickly heaved the grenade at its metal head, where she then leaped into the air a split second later.

The feline's agent aim was right on the money, as her grenade hit Metal Sonic directly between its eyes. Metal Sonic was immediately stunned by the attack, as its CPU vision began to briefly short in and out due to the damage caused by the grenade explosion.

Eggman's robot however would not be stunned for very long, as it soon shook off the effects and went to attack again.

But Kitty instantly took advantage of its temporarily lapse, as she had summersaulted into the air, grabbing another magnet bomb from her pocket, where she then stuck it onto the back its metal head in one precise swoop.

After she landed on her feet, Metal Sonic quickly turned around and attempted to attack.

That move though would be completely negated, as the magnetic bomb exploded exactly one second later, stunning Metal Sonic further.

Kitty again took advantage of this, as she quickly grabbed Topaz's M32 MGL and fired a grenade at its head yet again, trying to wreck its CPU vision further.

Again, Kitty's aim was right on target, knocking the blue spiky robot onto the ground flat on its back, where it again began to spark a bit inside.

Deciding to put it out of its misery, Kitty quickly ran up to the stunned robot and attempted to fire another grenade, this time directly at its inner chest.

But Metal Sonic wasn't about to let that happen.

A split second before Kitty could fire; Metal Sonic smacked the weapon out of her hand with one quick swoop, knocking it over twenty feet away to the left.

Kitty looked on deeply baffled, as she couldn't believe how fast it had responded.

Metal Sonic then stood up and began to charge up a spin dash aimed directly at her.

Kitty meanwhile attempted to grab her RPG-7 again and try to fend it off.

Thankfully though, it wouldn't be necessary, as Sonic finally came to her aid, knocking Metal Sonic backwards on the ground with his own spin dash attack.

Even Kitty was surprised to see Sonic back on his feet so soon again.

Sonic then told her, still showing signs of fatigue, "Quick, get Cream out of here. I'll cover you two in the meantime."

"But you can't possibly fight him in your weakened state." Kitty argued.

"Don't worry about me." Sonic reiterated. "Just go!"

With Metal Sonic quickly getting back on his feet, Kitty did as he asked.

Once she ran towards Cream, Kitty picked up the young rabbit in her arms and carried her out of harm's way.

"Where are you taking me?" Cream asked her with fright.

"I'm getting you out of the line of fire so you won't get hurt." Kitty replied.

"But what about Mr. Sonic?" Cream inquired, still looking at her deeply terrified.

"He'll be fine for now." Kitty replied, trying to reassure calm her down. Although, she couldn't help but think a few seconds later, I hope…

While this was going on, Metal Sonic unwisely decided to try to hit Agent Katswell with a spin dash while she ran towards the other room

Sonic however took advantage of Eggman's robot's folly, as he instead spin dashed it to the ground a split second before it could attack its target, slamming the blue spiky robot directly from the back of its metal head.

Metal Sonic though quickly got back on its feet, as Sonic then said to it while pointing a finger at Eggman's robot, "You're going to have to get through me first if you want them, metal faker!"

Not surprisingly, Metal Sonic gave Sonic his wish, as it quickly charged up a spin dash aimed at the blue hedgehog.

A split second later, Sonic too charged up a spin dash and prepared to attack.

Once they were charged up, both of them spin dashed towards their opponent, determined to knock the other back.

However, that would prove easy said than done, as both hedgehogs ricocheted off each other like Ping-Pong balls over and over.

While this was going on, Kitty finally moved Cream to safety, as she gently placed the young rabbit onto the ground behind the hole in the seriously damaged wall in other room.

"Stay low and keep out of sight." Kitty told her.

Cream nodded her head in agreement, as the feline agent added a couple of seconds later, "Don't make any noise unless it's an emergency, ok?"

"Sure thing, Miss Kitty." Cream replied softly.

Kitty then ran back towards the room where Sonic was currently in while Cream watched her while peeking from behind one of the broken parts of the wall, thinking with deep concern on her face, this is looking very bad. I sure hope she can help Mr. Sonic before things get any worse.

Back in the other room, Sonic and Metal Sonic's spin dash duel continued, as neither could force their opponent into submission. The two of them again and again bounced off each other, desperately trying to knock the other backwards.

This soon went on for over forty five seconds, which soon began to tire Sonic out.

Even Kitty sadly was helpless to do anything after she was back in the room due them spin dashing each other so quickly.

Finally, the two of them now went to out-spin dash the other once and for all, as they soon locked spikes and tried to get the other to flinch in order to gain the advantage.

Seeing this, Kitty soon retrieved her M32 again and aimed it at them, as she was very tempted to fire a grenade at Metal Sonic in order to damage it further.

But with Sonic being too close to it, the feline agent quickly thought better of this move, now waiting anxiously for one of them break off of it and attack soon after.

Twenty seconds later, the interlocked spin dash finally broke free, but not in the way Kitty had hoped. Metal Sonic unfortunately had worn the blue hedgehog down, as he could no longer keep this up due to being exhausted.

Metal Sonic sadly took full advantage of this, as he instantly rammed Sonic into the wall behind him, using its spin dash to hit the blue hedgehog as hard it could.

"Sonic!" Kitty looked on horrified after they crashed into the wall with fury. Even Cream gasped in disbelief while watching.

Eggman's reaction though was completely the opposite, as he soon loudly chuckled over the PA system, "Yes! My secret weapon's got that meddling rodent down for the count now!"

Sonic unfortunately could barely stand now, as Metal Sonic's attack only intensified his pain and fatigue. To make matters worse, part of his chest wound had slight opened up a bit, as blood began to seep through it.

Eggman then ordered with glee in his voice, "Cut him in two, Metal Sonic! It's time to end this futile battle once and for all!"

Kitty though wasn't about to let Eggman's machine do that, as she shouted while running towards it, "NO!"

"Your cries will do you no good now, furball." Eggman retorted. "Sonic is finished and there's nothing you can do to help him."

Kitty then aimed the M32 at Metal Sonic and said countering, "Don't you dare count me out, Doctor!"

But Eggman again laughed at her, firing back, "If you're foolish enough to try and shoot one of those weapons at Metal Sonic, he'll just evade it with ease. In fact, you may end up hitting this infernal rodent in the process."

Kitty unfortunately knew this was true, but with no other options, she had to take a risk.

"Your robot may be fast." Kitty stated, "But it isn't witty enough to outsmart me!"

"Want to bet?" Eggman challenged.

"Just try me!" Kitty countered, again pointing the weapon at Metal Sonic.

Eggman by this was completely amused by her big words, replying, "All right, bigmouth… go on, shoot… I dare you in fact!"

Kitty knew this move would be extremely risky on her part, but she couldn't back out of it now.

I will make Eggman pay for daring to underestimate me.

Moments later, Kitty prepared to aim and shoot.

Metal Sonic during this time looked directly at the feline agent intently, as it was now preparing to evade.

While this was going on, Sonic by now was starting to get his 2nd wind again, as he was preparing to take advantage of Eggman's robot clearly not paying any attention to him.

Kitty meanwhile hesitated to the pull the trigger, as she couldn't help but wonder if she would be the one who would inadvertently kill Sonic.

Nevertheless, she thought with determination in her eyes, I must do this… It's the only way to defeat Metal Sonic.

A split second before she attempted to fire, Sonic tried to get her attention, but very discreetly in order to keep Eggman from finding out.

Kitty soon saw moving his eyes to the left again and again. This move at first deeply confused her, as she thought, what's he trying to tell me?

"Are you going to fire or not?" Eggman demanded, finally out of patience. "If you're too much of a coward, then I'll save you the time and just have my robot kill Sonic for you."

Kitty though finally understood what Sonic was trying to tell her, as she thought, Oh, I get it now.

A big grin on her face soon came on her face, even puzzling Eggman.

Moments later, Kitty fired a grenade towards the left side of Metal Sonic.

As expected, Metal Sonic moved to the right to avoid it. But that move would soon heavily backfire.

Once Metal Sonic started to move to the left, Sonic mustered as much strength as he had left and attempted to spin dash it in the same direction.

Thanks to his high agility and quick thinking, Sonic's subtle strategy paid off, as he was able to spin dash Metal Sonic from behind just enough that is temporarily stunned the spiky blue robot.

The grenade meanwhile exploded once it hit the wall, but didn't do any harm to Sonic since he had spin dashed enough to the right to be out of its range.

Metal Sonic though unfortunately made another bad decision, as it soon turned toward Sonic to try and attempted to use Rouge's screw kick on the blue hedgehog, who now was gasping for air after using just about everything left in him to spin dash his foe.

Kitty however was ready to counter the second it attempted this.

Quickly grabbed her RPG-7, Kitty aimed it at Metal Sonic and fired.

Metal Sonic during this time flew high into the air and was in the process of attempting the screw kick.

Unfortunately for Eggman's robot though, it would not happen. Kitty's RPG hit Metal Sonic directly on the back of its head a split second before executing the screw kick, resulting in an intense explosion upon impact.

Eggman by this time looked on in horror, shouting, "No way, I can't believe this!"

But it was indeed true. Kitty's RPG attack had been so strong; Metal Sonic was shorting in and out fervently from the excessive damage to its metal body.

Kitty even thought the machine was within seconds of blowing up, making her run towards Sonic and shout at him, "Run for cover! That thing could self-destruct any second now!"

Sonic again forced himself to get up and try to get out of harm's way, as he and Kitty ran behind the wall where Cream was and dove behind it.

Strangely, Metal Sonic did not short out and blow up. Instead, it continued to spark again and again, where it eventually then fizzed out, falling to the ground dead.

Kitty and Sonic soon peeked past the wall and saw the aftermath.

"Is… it dead?" Cream asked.

"It looks it." Kitty replied, still very suspicious.

Eggman meanwhile was now beside himself. To see his robot laying on the ground with no life in it made his blood boil with rage.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" He shouted, banging his dash again and again violently. "It can't be!"

Eggman had banged his dash so much, that his equipment began to spark from the earlier damage.

"How could they beat my secret weapon?" Eggman demanded, still incensed. "It's not possible! IT'S JUST NOT POSSIBLE!"

Eggman though knew what had happened, now breathing in a hissing like manner.

"That wretched feline… I underestimated her again." Eggman commented softly, still in a fit of rage. "I should have seen this coming. Whenever I think I've got her cornered, she always rises to the occasion."

Seconds later, he stood up from his chair and declared loudly, "Well, she won't be interfering with my plans any longer! I'm going to personally skin that cat alive if it's the last thing I do!"

Eggman then grabbed a weapon from his control room, which strangely was none other than a spear gun. "I'm going to violently impale that vile G.U.N agent, and make a rug with from her fur once I gut her through and through! She'll learn once and for all, that I am not to be toyed with!"

And with that statement, Eggman soon headed out of his control room and down the stairs.

While this was going on, Kitty soon noticed Sonic's wounded slightly reopened and asked, "You all right, Sonic?"

"Don't worry about me." Sonic replied, trying to act tough. "I'll be ok in a bit."

Cream however knew better, as she walked towards Sonic and said while walking up to him, "Here, allow me to use my dress to press against the wound in order to stop the bleeding."

Sonic, to say the least, couldn't help but feel very awkward about this idea, especially since she was only 6.

"Uh, that's ok, Cream." Sonic replied. "I appreciate the thought though."

Cream though wouldn't take no for an answer, as she had Sonic sit down on the floor, where she then knelt on the ground, grabbed the lower part of her garment and pressed it against his chest wound.

Sonic was now blushing very heavily inside while she did this, saying, "Cream, please stop doing that. This feels very, very wrong to me."

"There's nothing wrong about it, Mr. Sonic." Cream answered softly, looking at him with a warm smile. "I used my dress to help stop Amy's wound from bleeding, so why can't I do the same for you?"

Kitty by this time couldn't help but feel touched by Cream's thoughtfulness, as she told him, "It's ok, Sonic. Cream's just trying to help you. Go ahead and let her do it."

Sonic though still felt very uneasy about the whole idea, but decided to let her help him with his wound anyway.

As she continued to press her garment against it, Cream commented to Sonic, "I wish I knew why your face is so red. Is the blood flowing towards your head now?"

Kitty soon began to giggle to herself, replying to the young rabbit, "You'll understand one day, sweetie. It's a kind of a complex matter to explain."

While Cream looked at the feline agent puzzled, Sonic soon spoke up and said awkwardly, trying not to sound ungrateful for her help, "Uh, thanks for caring enough to tend to my wound. I do appreciate you going out of your way to do this."

Cream then smiled at him again and replied, "You're welcome, Mr. Sonic. It's the least I can do for rescuing me."

Twenty five seconds later, Cream stated to Sonic after pulling her outfit away from it to look at his wound, "I think it's stopped now."

Kitty soon noticed this too, as she said to the young rabbit, "Great job, honey. You were a big help."

Cream then giggled at her words and soon hugged Sonic tightly, saying, "See, aren't you glad you let me help you now?"

Sonic again was blushing at her affection, but replied hesitantly, "Yea… I guess you were right."

After she let go of him, Kitty said, "Anyway, we better get a move on. No telling what Eggman has up his sleeve now."

Sonic nodded his head after standing up, replying, "Indeed, let's get that maniac!"

Moments later, as Eggman was now only ten steps away from being within range of hitting his target, it then hit Kitty, as she slapped her forehead, saying, "Wait a minute.. What about Cream though? We can't just go after Eggman without someone guarding her."

Sonic quickly put his hands at the edges of his waist, replying, "Doh, man, you're right! Eggman would most definitely use Cream against us if we brought her along."

After a brief pause, he asked, "So what do we then?"

Eggman by this time was in finally position to strike, as Kitty answered after he softly opened the door in front of him, "I think we have no choice but to get her to safety first. Since we fought so hard to rescue her, it would be folly to risk her getting caught again or even hurt for that matter, just to go after that mad man."

Sonic hated to admit it, but knew she was right. He then said with a sigh, "Very well then. Let's get Cream out of here."

The three of them then turned towards the door with the stairs leading down and began to walk towards it.

Eggman, meanwhile, had his spear gun firmly in his hand and was now aiming it at her while creeping behind the door, thinking, that's right, furball. Keep walking. Once you get close to those stairs, I'm going to gut you up really good!

Kitty was now within five feet of Eggman's targeted area, as the mad doctor had his finger on the trigger, ready to shoot.

Moments later, all of them heard a loud sparkling sound

"Huh?" Kitty turned around and looked at Metal Sonic, soon thinking, did that robot just… Nah, it can't be. It fizzled out over a minute ago.

Kitty again turned her head and was in the process of walking away.

But again, she couldn't even take two steps before she heard the same sparkling sound again, this time much louder and more fervently.

Sonic now turned around and commented with disgust, "You gotta be kidding me!"

Even Eggman finally let down his guard temporarily and noticed this, making him think, Is Metal Sonic… actually trying to restart itself?

Eggman's words would turn out to be right, as Metal Sonic soon began to spark to the point that it actually stood up.

"What the…?"

Metal Sonic's red eyes again glowed bright red, with electricity soon surging through its body a second time.

This now put everyone on alert, as they all realized Metal Sonic was back, now looking even more powerful than before.

"Impossible!" Kitty declared with shock. "How could that thing still be functioning after all the damage we did to it?"

Eggman though instantly figured it out, as he said to himself with a grin on his face, "Metal Sonic has activated his backup generator from within. Perfect…"

As it turned out, Eggman had installed one as a precaution, but was unable to activate it from his control panel due to the electrical damage he had done to his system earlier.

Eggman then ordered his robot after stepping into the room, "Finish them off, my special project!"

Metal Sonic however did not follow his instructions. Instead, he turned towards the mad doctor and glared at him intently.

"Don't just stand there, you bucket of bolts. Get them already!" Eggman shouted again after a brief pause.

But Metal Sonic again did not obey him. Instead, he charged towards Eggman, now completely freaking him out.

"What do you think you're doing?" Eggman demanded in shock.

Seeing his own robot attempting to attack him at full speed instantly made Eggman retreat in fear, slamming the door behind him and running up the stairs

Even Kitty and Sonic couldn't believe what they were seeing either, as Metal Sonic during that time was trying to break down the door and go after him.

"What's happened to that tin can?" Sonic inquired with concern. "Is he actually trying to kill his own creator?"

"Metal Sonic has gone berserk!" Eggman shouted inadvertently over his PA system while he was inside his control room a few seconds later. "Initiating emergency lockdown!"

Due to accidently bumping his microphone, he had carelessly turned it on while trying to activate the lockdown.

But Eggman's system would not respond at all. Because of the extensive damage he done to it before, it would not activate.

"What's wrong with this stupid thing?" Eggman demanded, trying to hit the button again and again. "Why won't it activate?"

Meanwhile downstairs, Kitty shouted to the others in a bit of panic, who also had heard Eggman's announcement, "We gotta move, now, now!"

Sonic and Cream didn't object to this at all, as they started to run for the door leading downstairs.

Eggman soon happened to notice them trying to flee, making him look on baffled, saying, "How did they figure out what I was trying to do? I didn't even…"

Instantly, it hit him, as he now saw the microphone button was lit.

"No! No! No! Are you telling me I actually gave away my plan that carelessly?" Eggman shouted.

Instantly, he growled with fury, shouting again, "Why does everything have to go wrong at the worst possible times?"

Ironically though, Eggman soon found out that wouldn't be entirely true.

Metal Sonic soon glanced over during his attempt to break down the door and saw them trying to bolt.

Since his robotic systems had officially gone berserk, it abruptly changed targets, as it now chased after them instead.

Eggman soon saw this himself, looking on baffled, commenting softly with a slight chuckle, "Well, what do you know? Metal Sonic's actually targeting them now. I guess my luck isn't so bad after all."

He then added with a frown on his face a few moments later, "If I could only initiate that infernal lockdown program now, they'd have nowhere to run!"

Nevertheless, Eggman was determined to get this program working by any means necessary, as he was wanted them cornered with no way to escape.

While this was going on, the three of them finally began to run down the stairs, with Kitty saying, "Hurry, we've got to get out of this base out as soon as possible."

"Can do, Kitty." Sonic replied, leading the way. "Let's juice and cut it loose!"

Once they were halfway down the first flight of stairs, Kitty then commented out of the blue, "I sure Eggman's robot doesn't try and come after us. We're in a very vulnerable spot at the moment."

"Relax." Sonic told her. "That metal faker of mine is too busy dealing with Eggbelly to notice us now."

Sonic's words sadly would end up hollow. Seconds later, they all heard the whirring sound of Metal Sonic from behind.

"No! It can't be!" Kitty shouted, turning her head around.

But indeed, it was.

Cream, who was bringing up the rear, trying as hard as she could to keep up with them, soon saw Metal Sonic coming towards her. This in turn made her freeze in her tracks and look on with deep fright on her face.

Kitty though ran back towards Cream and picked her up in her arms, where she then leaped into the air over Metal Sonic a split second before he could hit either one of them.

Sonic on the other hand wasn't about to back down or evade, even in his still weakened condition.

"So, back for more, eh, metal head?" Sonic challenged. "Well, that's fine with me!"

As Sonic went to charge a spin dash, Kitty shouted at him while extending her right hand, "Sonic, stop! You're not strong enough to fight it!"

But Sonic wasn't about to heed her words, as he continued to charge up and prepare to strike. Metal Sonic soon did likewise, as it was now targeting the blue hedgehog.

A split second later, the two of them went to attack each other, with each executing their spin dash at the exact same time. Like before, the two of them ricocheted off each other two times, trying to knock their foe backwards.

But again, it was a stalemate. Kitty even had to take some evasive measures when Metal Sonic came close to hitting her and Cream after bouncing off of Sonic.

Ironically, Kitty's warning of him being not being strong enough to beat Metal Sonic was starting to come true. After two times of bouncing off of the blue spiky robot, Sonic soon began to feel the fatigue and pain from earlier coming back in full force.

Ah man, maybe I should have listened to Kitty. Sonic thought with a frown after landing. That thing is a lot stronger than before.

However, due to his ego, Sonic wasn't one to admit defeat or back down. He would again try to out-spin dash Eggman's secret weapon.

Thankfully though, Sonic wouldn't have to keep this up.

When Metal Sonic attempted to spin dash him again, it was abruptly blinded sided from behind, slamming the blue spiky robot into the wall nearby.

It wasn't done by Kitty, but by something that all of them had thought was out of the picture.

"Emerl?" Kitty looked on completely dumbfounded, as she herself saw this robot severely damaged after moving Cream to safety.

Even Eggman couldn't believe what was seeing while watching from his control panel. "WHAT? That robot is still functioning? Impossible!"

Indeed it was. In spite of the fact it was heavily damaged and sparking like crazy, Emerl had willed itself to press on and carry out Rouge's orders.

Moments later, Emerl grabbed Metal Sonic by its metal neck and prepared to finish it off.

Kitty then took advantage of this, saying to Sonic, "Let's go. Emerl's interference should buy us enough time to escape!"

Sonic at first was tempted to help Emerl out, but decided to comply, replying while nodding his head, "Let's race, ace!"

And with that statement, they bolted.

Cream on the other hand shouted to the gray robot from a distance while in Kitty's arms, "Defeat Eggman's robot for us, Emerl! I believe in you!"

Kitty even now was surprised by how Cream's attitude towards this robot had changed.

Cream then commented to the feline agent while they ran, "I knew Emerl deep down was a good robot. Eggman just made him go bad when he took me hostage."

"I hope you're right about that." Kitty replied softly.

While this was going on, Metal Sonic finally broke free of Emerl's grasp before it could hit it again and prepared to fight back.

Eggman by now had lost all his patience, as he shouted to Metal Sonic, "Destroy that meddling two timing menace!"

Metal Sonic would indeed do this, but not because of Eggman's orders, but because it had a vendetta to pay back Emerl for its sneak attack.

Back downstairs, Kitty commented to Sonic after reaching the next floor, "I sure wish we had some backup now. I wonder why Knuckles and Amy haven't returned yet to give us a hand since helping Topaz and the President off the island."

"Even Rouge appeared to have bailed on us." Sonic commented with a frown. "What is up with that?"

Kitty by now looked guilty after he mentioned her, making him ask the feline agent, "Speaking of which, how come you didn't come help me out where I was until after Eggman's robot blasted me into the room where Cream was being kept prisoner?"

Kitty again looked away, answering with hesitance, "Err, long story… Suffisive to say, I made a bad decision during that time and really regret it now."

Sonic didn't know what she meant by that, but replied, "Well, no point in blaming anyone now. Right now, we still have a chance to win this battle and stick it to Eggman, and that's good enough for me."

Kitty couldn't agree more with this, but nonetheless couldn't help but wonder she might have ended up jeopardizing their mission.

While this was going on, Knuckles finally broke through of Eggman's trap and was now free.

He then took a deep breath, as breaking down the last door had been very, very strenuous.

Moments later, the sirens from outside the bass finally blared where he currently was, making him wonder what just happened.

Did Kitty and Sonic take care of Eggman?

He then thought to himself, but if they defeated him, why are the sirens around the base blaring loudly?

Instantly, the red echidna figured out. They must have rescued Cream and are attempting to get her out of the base, but Eggman is trying to prevent them from leaving!

After he exited the door, he said after grabbing onto the wall with his fists, "I must get up there right away! Who knows what tricks that vile scientist has up his sleeve for them?

Knuckles then began to climb up the walls as fast as he could.

Meanwhile, on the island floor, Amy too heard the sirens, making her look on deeply concerned as well.

"Oh no, my Sonikku must be in serious trouble…"

As it turned out, Amy spent her whole time trying to find a way inside, but was completely unsuccessful in all her attempts.

"I've got to find a way to get up there!" Amy declared with anger. "But how?"

Moments later, she would ironically finally find her ticket in, by overhearing a conversation from about twenty feet away from behind one of the corners of the base.

Decoe and Becoe soon stood up from their hiding place in the bushes, as Decoe commented, "Hoo boy, looks like the hedgehog's caused serious trouble for Doctor Eggman."

"If only he would have let us use the secret entrance near the bottom of the base," Becoe replied with disgust. "Then we might have been able to help him tame that wild rodent."

Secret entrance, eh? Amy now grinned big, as she knew what to do to get inside.

"Where's that pink hedgehog by the way?" Decoe inquired with a frown. "I haven't seen her for over five minutes now."

"Do you think she finally gave it up and got a ride back to the ship?" Becoe pondered.

"Not possible." Decoe answered with a frown. "We would have seen her near the ocean shore if that was the case."

"Good point." Becoe replied. "We better find out where she is just in case she finds another way inside the base."

"I'm right here, bots." Amy declared, now walking towards them.

Both of Eggman's at first were completely startled, as she had snuck up on the both of them with relative ease.

"Ah! It's the pink brat!" Becoe stated with fear.

"Keep your cool, bolt brain." Decoe said, scolding him. "She's not that scary."

"Want to bet?" Amy retorted, now holding her Piko Hammer tightly in her arms.

"Ok, I take that back." Decoe said, looking on worried.

"All right boys, here's how we're going to do this…" Amy told them firmly. "You two are going to take me on in a little duel."

"What, are you crazy?" Decoe shot back.

"If you beat me, I'll turn myself in and you can hand me over to Dr. Eggman." Amy said.

"What's the catch?" Becoe demanded.

"If I win however, you have to turn yourselves over to G.U.N." Amy replied.

"You're crazy, fan girl." Becoe stated. "We don't stand a chance against you while you lug that huge hammer."

"Then I'll level the playing field and fight without it." Amy explained, tossing it aside. "Do we have a deal?"

After hearing that, Decoe and Becoe looked at each other and talked it over.

"Should we really trust her on this?" Becoe inquired, whispering "This could be a trap."

"You could be right…" Decoe replied. "But if this is legit and we beat her, Dr. Eggman will have to forgive us for our previous mistakes and let us back inside."

Becoe still was very hesitant, but decided to give it a go.

"Ok, we'll agree to your terms on one more condition." Becoe said, now looking at the pink hedgehog.

"What's that?" Amy inquired.

"That we get your hammer as a souvenir if we win and get to do what we please with it." Becoe explained firmly.

"Deal." Amy had answered this without a split second of hesitation.

"Ok then, let's get her!" Decoe stated to his robot brother. "With you helping me, and the brat fighting without her hammer, we should overpower her with ease in no time."

"Couldn't agree more." Becoe added. "She's a sitting duck now."

You metal morons couldn't possibly be more wrong in this case. Amy thought with a grin on her face.

Back on the main navy G.U.N ship, Commander Towers as well soon heard the sirens, making him very nervous inside now.

"I don't like the looks of this at all." The G.U.N Commander commented with a crown. "I better ready the attack right away."

He then walked towards the inner hull where the main network computer was and found the President there.

"Mr. President, can I help you with something?" Commander Towers asked.

"I'm just waiting for my phone to finish charging is all." He replied. "After that, I'll be on my way."

"Ah yes, of course. We'll have a G.U.N chopper escort you back to the city as soon as you're ready to leave, sir." The Commander told him.

Moments later, the President commented with arched eyebrows, "You know, I can't help but notice my phone is making weird sounds lately while I've been standing here."

"All phones make sounds when charging though, sir." The G.U.N Commander replied.

"Yes, but these are not any I've heard before." The President said. "If I didn't know better, I'd say it sounds like it's trying to install or download a program."

"Why would you say that?" Commander Towers inquired puzzled.

"Well, Eggman confiscated my phone and then gave it back to me three hours later while I was tied up." The President told him. "I still find it completely bizarre and bit strange."

At this point, Commander Towers said with a frown, "Maybe we should take a look at the phone then. If Eggman had his hands on it, there's no telling what he did to it."

"That's what Agent Katswell said to me as well." The President commented. "She even suggested I get rid of it."

"Well, while I'm sure she had good intentions, though I think she's being a bit too overdramatic there." The G.U.N Commander said firmly. "I'm sure it's just a small problem we can fix with a little tweak."

Commander Towers then opened the phone and examined it.

However, what he found out completely dumbfounded him.

"What did you see?" the President inquired.

"It looks like.. It's receiving incoming pictures sent to your inbox." The G.U.N Commander replied with arched eyebrows.

The President took a look at his phone as well, as he saw this was indeed the case.

"Well, I'll be… you're right." The President said. "They must be the new pictures my wife was going to send to my phone for me to upload to my computer later on."

Commander Towers at first bought that explanation, but then something made his eyebrows furrow.

"Something the matter, Commander?" The President asked.

"Well, it's just that… I couldn't help but notice these pictures were sent to your phone six hours ago." Commander Towers replied.

"Is that a problem?"

"I'm not sure, Mr. President. You were tied up during that time, so why would your wife be sending you pictures when she didn't even know you would be returning safely until just recently?"

The President was now in deep thought, as he put his hand under his chin to think this over.

"I don't know, but I just find this very, very suspicious." Commander Towers stated.

"Well, I'll ask the wife about it right away then." The President stated. "If she tells me she didn't send them, I'll instantly get rid of these pictures."

"Good thinking, sir."

The Commander then cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, I need to tend to the recent matter at hand."

"What's going on?" The President inquired.

The sirens at Eggman's island have blared." Commander Towers explained. "That tells me Eggman is on full alert and may attack at any time."

"I see…"

"Anyway, if you'll excuse me, Mr. President I'll need to muster the remaining Air Forces in order to deal with this threat right away."

The President then interrupted him, saying, "Hold on a minute.. Isn't Agent Katswell and her friends still in the base?"

Commander Towers looked away, but replied, "Yes, I believe they are…"

"Then why would send an air strike before getting her out of there?" The President demanded.

"Because, sir… If we delay it any longer, Eggman will more than likely send his missiles after us and blow us to kingdom come." The G.U.N Commander explained. "I already have given them over fifteen minutes. Giving them anymore time is too risky."

"What?"

"I'm afraid I have no choice but to execute the strike with them in the base in order to secure our safety." Commander Towers told him. "I'm sorry."

"You will do no such thing!" The President ordered. "They saved my life and helped me escape from the base. That was no small task on their part might I add."

"But, sir…"

"NO!" The President then looked him in the eye and said, "I'm warning you, Commander. If you dare try and send that strike, I will have you immediately fired and court marshaled."

"Don't you care at all about your life or those on this ship?" Commander Towers protested.

"I do, but I also care about those in the base, trying to take out Eggman now." The President answered firmly. "They deserve some more time before we launch any kind of counter strike."

"It's too risky!" The Commander argued.

"I don't care." The President replied with a frown. "They are brave warriors to courageously take on such a mad scientist in order to restore peace to our world. I say they've earned at least an extra ten minutes."

"That's too long." Commander Towers protested again.

"My decision is final." The President told him. "You will give them another ten minutes before even contemplating an air strike. Do I make myself clear?"

The G.U.N Commander at this point was very disgusted inside, but in order to save his hide, he replied softly with a nod, "loud and clear Mr. President."

"Good." The President then walked out and said before leaving the room, "Anyway, keep an eye on my phone in the meantime and let me know when it's done. I've got to make a quick call to the wife now."

"Understood, sir."

And with that, the President left the room.

Once he was gone, Commander Towers soon displayed a look on anger on his face and thought, just my luck! The President did indeed side with them over me.

He then thought a few seconds later, it's not that I want to blast them inside of Eggman's base, but I don't see what option I have left since I know that mad man could wipe us out at any second now if I don't do something to save us all.

Meanwhile, Tails during this time too heard the sirens.

He had been working near the back of the damaged jet engine when they went off, making him look up a bit startled.

He knew it could only mean one thing.

Kitty and Sonic must have been broken through and Eggman's trying all he can to stop them from escaping. That must mean she's ok then.

Moments later, he thought to himself, But, if she's ok, why couldn't I reach her before? It doesn't make any sense.

Nevertheless, he decided to ask her about it later, especially since the task of fixing his X-Tornado had a higher priority at the moment.

Tails then looked at his jet and added, I sure wish these repairs weren't taking so long to complete.

Deep down inside, he seriously regretted being careless from before when he tried to blast down the door.

Nonetheless, he thought a third time with a firm expression on his face; I've got to get these repairs done ASAP. No telling what Eggman has in store for them.

Back inside the base, Kitty and Sonic ran as fast down the stair they could in order to build a big enough of a cushion so Metal Sonic would lose track of them.

Kitty during this time had decided to carry Cream in her arms the whole way down, as the feline agent knew she wasn't fast enough to keep up with them.

Eggman meanwhile finally gave up trying to hit the button to lockdown the base, realizing there was a serious electrical problem to it. So, he got out his tool kit and decided to repair the control panel on the spot.

I better fix this thing right away or these meddlesome furballs will escape the building! And I cannot allow that to happen!

While he worked on it, he kept an eye on how his robot, Metal Sonic, was doing against Emerl.

Surprisingly, Eggman discovered that Emerl, even in his heavily damage state, fought valiantly against his secret weapon, using its learned abilities to fend off Metal Sonic.

This went on for over a minute, soon making the mad doctor growl heavily in frustration.

"That meddlesome Emerl! I never would have thought he would become a double edged sword to me."

Finally, one minute and thirty five seconds into their battle, Metal Sonic was able to put it away.

When the gray robot attempted to use another of Kitty's martial arts kick on it, Metal Sonic countered it to perfection, tripping it up, where it then spin dash Emerl again and again.

After five consecutive spin dashes, Metal Sonic finished off Emerl for good, using Rouge's screw kick to graphically cut the gray robot in two after landing in it mid-section.

Emerl by this point no more fight in him, as he soon sparked fervently and then fizzled out.

Eggman, who happened to watch the finishing blow was more annoyed than satisfied. "Pathetic robot. I should have known something like this would happen thanks to me being stupid enough to trust Rouge."

With Emerl now officially out of the picture, Metal Sonic soon blasted off, again targeting Sonic and his friends.

By this time, Kitty and Sonic were only two floors from reaching the room where they fought the E-18.

Unfortunately though, both of them soon were becoming very fatigued by all the constant running.

Halfway down the next staircase, Sonic said after coming to a stop, "Let's stop and catch our breath for a sec."

Kitty was surprised that he was the first to suggest this, as she too was wanting to a breather herself.

As they both began to take deep breaths, Kitty commented, "I really hate having to stop now. Who knows how long Emerl can hold that robot up?"

"I'm sure he'll be able to hold that metal faker of mine enough for us to flee." Sonic replied, taking another deep breath. He then added with a bit of hesitation on his face, "I hope…"

Cream, who was now on the ground, said to them to try and boost their morale, "Don't lose faith, everyone. I'm sure Emerl will do all he can to help us escape."

"I hope you're right about that." Kitty said, taking another deep breath herself. "I really do…"

Twenty five seconds later, the two of them finally got enough of a wind, where they soon began to run down the stairs once again.

Cream, like before, was again being carried by Kitty. This move of the feline agent's unfortunately was tiring her out faster due to carrying more weight.

Nevertheless, Kitty pressed forward with everything she had, as she wasn't about to give up.

As for Metal Sonic, it soon made up a lot of ground on them during that rest period, now less than three floors behind and closing fast.

With a bit of a second wind, Kitty and Sonic continued to run towards their destination.

It was now a race against the clock, as they not only had to get out of there before Eggman's robot caught up to them, but before Eggman could lock the place down as well to block their escape.

Now only one flight of stairs away from that room with the E-18, Kitty and Sonic soon went through the door and ran down that flight of stairs.

"We're almost halfway out." Sonic stated to the feline agent while running. "Keep the pace up."

"I'm trying to." Kitty replied, while gasping for air "Man, I never realized how exhausting it is to run down this many flights of stairs consecutively."

"I know, but we should hopefully be out of here without any more difficulties." The blue hedgehog told her.

Sonic sadly couldn't be more mistaken.

With less than a fourth of stairs to run down towards the next room, both of them heard a whirring sound from above.

"Oh no… please don't tell me…"

"Relax, Kitty." Sonic said. "We'll use the hole to jump out in the next room if necessary."

"Are you crazy?" Kitty shot back. "You know we can't do that with Cream here! She could get really hurt from a fall that high up."

Sonic sadly didn't think of this, making him groan with disgust. "Doh, man! Now what?"

Moments later, they finally reached the room, as they still saw the E-18 remains.

Sonic, not wanting to give up on his idea just yet, decided to peek out of the hole to see high they were.

Unfortunately, Kitty was right. They were still over twelve stories up.

Sonic then said after sighing with disgust, "Great. Now what do we do?"

Kitty soon heard the whirring of Metal Sonic getting louder from above, replying, "We'll worry about that later. Right now, we need to keep moving before that robot finds us."

"Right. Let's go."

However, they were soon halted in their tracks, as they were greeted by an unexpected ally, who now climbed inside the hole.

"Knuckles?"

"Hey guys." He greeted.

"What happened out there?" Kitty inquired. "How come you took so long to return?"

"Ah, that rotten Eggman threw a curveball in our paths." The red echidna explained, shaking his head. "He cut your hook shot rope and then trapped me inside the room near the open door of the base when I tried to get back to you."

"I should have suspected as much." Kitty replied, frowning.

"Wait a second, where's Amy?" Sonic asked, now speaking up. "How come she isn't with you?

Knuckles again shook his head, replying, "I don't know to be perfectly honest. Since she had no way to get back up here, she could still be on the island or back on the G.U.N ship for all I know."

"That's not good." Kitty commented. "Who knows what trouble she could get herself into now?"

"Well, there's no point in worrying about it." Sonic said. "All we can do now is get out of the base and hopefully give her a hand if she's still around."

"Right." Kitty replied. "Let's go."

The three of them soon began to head towards the stairs. However, the red echidna soon stopped after taking five steps, looking towards the door where they previously entered.

"What's wrong, Knuckles?" Kitty inquired with concern.

Knuckles though didn't answer her, as he thought with a frown while putting crossing his arms together; something's coming toward us, and very quickly.

"C'mon, Rad Red." Sonic said. "Get a move on already!"

But again, Knuckles didn't move.

"What's your problem, man?" Sonic demanded after another brief pause. "Don't you realize we need to get out of this building as soon as possible?"

"Sonic, cool your jets." Kitty told him. "I'll handle this."

She then walked towards Knuckles, asking softly, "Why are you still standing there? Is something wrong?"

Knuckles didn't turn to look at her, but instead replied a bit gruffly a couple of seconds later, "Stand back, Kitty."

This response of his completely baffled the feline agent, but didn't respond to it at first.

Several seconds later, the whirring sounds were now becoming very loud indeed, making the blue hedgehog shout, "Would you two get a move already? We need to go, NOW!"

Kitty then tried to coax Knuckles to move by grabbing him by the left shoulder.

Knuckles however completely shocked her, as he abruptly pushed the feline agent back with his right fist, where she fell down on her rear.

Sonic was a bit horrified by this himself.

But before he could say one word in response, Knuckles charged towards the door, preparing to strike.

Not even three seconds after this, Metal Sonic finally came blasting in at full speed.

Knuckles though was ready for it, as he had winded his right fist by this time and then swung forward, hitting the blue spiky robot directly between the eyes.

His attack was so strong, it knocked Eggman's robot back onto the stairs, where it bounced onto them, tumbling halfway up them.

Kitty and Sonic looked on dumbfounded, as they couldn't believe how Knuckles figured out how close it was.

"Just as I thought." Knuckles commented with a frown. "It was one of Eggman's machines coming for us down the stairs."

Kitty by this time got back on her feet, saying with a speechless expression on her face, "Knuckles, you…"

"Quick, take Cream and run." Knuckles told her firmly. "I'll hold off this robot for you guys in the meantime."

"No, it's too risky." Kitty protested. "That thing's too strong for you to defeat by yourself."

Knuckles though gave her another firm facial expression, replying, "There's no time to debate about this. You need to get out of here before Eggman seals the doors."

"But what about you?"

Knuckles then gave her a confident expression, answering, "Trust me on this."

Kitty was about to protest further, when Sonic grabbed her by the right shoulder, saying, "Let's go, Kitty. We've got no time to lose"

Kitty thought of resisting him, but then saw Metal Sonic soon standing up on its feet again, shaking off the damaging effects of Knuckles' punch.

Realizing she had no choice now, Kitty quickly picked Cream up in her arms again, saying to the red echidna with a look of deep concern on her face before she took off, "Be careful, Knuckles."

Knuckles gave her a nod in response, as she and Sonic finally headed down the next flight of stairs.

Two seconds later however, Metal Sonic attempted to attack again. Knuckles though saw this and went to strike back, again charging towards it.

Kitty and Sonic meanwhile headed down the next flight of stairs, trying to use Knuckles' interference to their advantage.

As they ran down the stairs, Sonic commented, "I gotta give that echidna credit. He was pretty selfless to put his life on the line for our sakes."

"Yea, and that's what I'm really worried about…" Kitty replied, still having a look of deep concern on her face. "That robot of Eggman's could really hurt him."

Sonic soon saw this look on her face while they ran, making him say awkwardly, "Uh, I know this probably isn't a good time to bring this up, but I couldn't help but notice lately that you seem very partial to Rad Red."

Kitty almost did a double take, even blushing a bit inside, as Sonic added, "Just wondering, do you like that guy alot?"

Kitty then gave him a scolding look, replying, "Sonic, how can you even ask such a question? We're in the middle of trying to escape Eggman's base!"

"I know, I know, not a good time." Sonic said. "Still, you got me very curious inside."

Kitty though didn't answer him, as she continued to press on ahead.

Sonic at this point decided to drop it, as he realized it a moot point now.

Back up top, Knuckles and Metal Sonic continued to duel.

Metal Sonic then attempted to spin dash him once it entered the room. Knuckles though easily evaded it, jumping over its attack.

Moments later, Metal Sonic turned itself around after missing its target and tried again.

Knuckles again however evaded it, jumping into the air a second time. When it tried a third time with the same attack, Knuckles finally struck back, as he used his fists to slam Metal Sonic to the ground with a super punch.

His timing was right on target, as Metal Sonic was abruptly halted in its tracks on contact.

Metal Sonic though quickly got back on its feet and went all out on the red echidna, now using all of Kitty's martial arts moves to try and level him.

But again, Knuckles outwitted Eggman's robot, evading all of its attacks and then hitting it directly underneath its chin with a powerful uppercut once he found an opening.

Knuckles' attack sent Metal Sonic flying to the ground again, this time flat on its back.

Deciding to put an end to this battle, Knuckles went for the kill, as he charged towards the blue spiky robot, now attempting to hit it as he could with a shovel claw punch to its metal head.

That decision though would turn out to backfire, as Metal Sonic wasn't even close to being down for the count.

A split second before he could attack, Metal Sonic countered it to perfection, using Knuckles' own attack against him, sending the red echidna backwards to the ground, where he too was now flat on his fact

This move completely startled him, as he was surprised to see this robot learning his own signature attack this soon.

Moments later, Metal Sonic got back on his feet and now attempted to do the same to Knuckles as he tried previously to it.

Like Metal Sonic, Knuckles was able to keep from getting hit. But unlike it, Knuckles didn't have time to react to punch it in the face.

Instead, all he could do was backflip out of harm's way a split second before it attacked.

Once he landed on the ground, Knuckles commented with a firm expression on his face, "You're not bad, robot, but you're still not going to overpower me."

Metal Sonic instantly responded to his statement with none other than charging towards its prey. Knuckles soon did likewise, winding his right fist back, ready to strike.

While this was going on, the President waited in line for the phone, as he unfortunately had to wait now since several of the G.U.N soldiers were calling their families to them him know they were ok.

The President though didn't make an issue of it, as he realized his call could wait for a few minutes since he figured it wasn't a big deal.

Tails on the other hand, did make a big deal out of his call, as he soon tried to reach Kitty again after the repairs on the X-Tornado were now ¾ of the way complete.

"Kitty, this is Tails. Do you read me?"

This time, he got through, as Kitty answered, "I'm here. What's up, Tails?"

Tails breathed a deep sigh of relief after reaching her, saying, "There you are. I've been trying to get a hold of you for about three minutes now."

"Sorry about that." Kitty replied sheepishly. "I had an altercation a while ago I rather not talk about now."

"I see…" Tails then asked after a brief pause, "How's it going in there? Did you rescue Cream yet?"

"Yea, she's with us now." Kitty replied.

"That's good…" Tails stated, taking a deep breath. "So, what's going on in there anyway?"

"Eggman's activated the emergency lockdown program." Kitty explained. "Although, we have yet to run into any rooms barred by a locked door. Maybe it's not working correctly… I don't know…"

Tails now gave this a lot of thought, as Kitty added, "Listen, Tails, I don't have a lot of time to talk here. We're basically trying to get out of this base as fast as we can, especially with a berserk robot chasing us down."

Tails' facial expression quickly changed to one of deep concern, with him soon replying, "I had no idea. Is it really that bad in there?"

"I'm afraid so." Kitty replied. "Thankfully, Emerl and Knuckles have run interference for us in the meantime, but how much longer he can keep that metal monstrosity busy is anyone's guess."

"Wait a second… Emerl helped you guys? How is that possible?" Tails inquired.

"Long story." Kitty answered. "Let's just say someone was able to take control of it behind Eggman's back."

"Who was it?" Tails asked.

"I'll tell you later." Kitty told him. "I rather not say it now."

"Was it Rouge?" Tails inquired.

Kitty was now silent on the other line, as she didn't want to say.

"It was, wasn't it?"

Kitty soon let out a sigh, replying, "It's not an important issue now. What is important is that we need you to help us get off the island."

"Oh… right…"

"Is the X-Tornado ready to go?" Kitty asked.

"Well, not exactly…" Tails answered with hesitance.

"What does that mean?" Kitty inquired firmly.

"It means the jet might be repaired enough to fly now," Tails explained. "But for how long and whether or not it can handle the stress of full power if needed… I don't know."

Hearing this put Kitty in deep thought, as she soon told him, "It doesn't matter if the jet can handle full speed or not. Bottom line is, if it can handle a trip to the ship and back, then try and give it a go."

"Ok then, I'll give it my best shot." Tails replied.

"Good. See you soon then." Kitty said.

"Stay safe until I arrive, all right?" Tails told her.

Since the two tailed fox had said this last line with about the same amount of passion in his voice like before, Kitty eventually answered with hesitation and awkwardness, "Uh… sure thing. Talk to you later."

And with that, she cut off the transmission.

Sonic though, a split second later, asked, "Was that T2 calling?"

"Yea, just filling in him on what's going on." Kitty explained.

"Oh, ok." Sonic then asked, "Will he have the X-Tornado nearby when we exit the base?"

"He isn't sure yet, but he's going to try." Kitty replied.

"That doesn't sound too good…" Sonic commented with a frown.

"Let's not lose our composure here." Kitty told him. "Like you said, we still have a shot at completing the task we set out to do."

"Right. Let's keep making tracks." Sonic stated with vigor.

Back on the ship, Tails soon gave the X-Tornado's right jet engine another thorough inspection to see if it was capable of flying.

After looking it over for about thirty seconds, he concluded it was fixed enough for a short run. So, he borrowed a lab top from one of the G.U.N technicians nearby and prepared to do a diagnosis in the air while flying.

The G.U.N technician however wasn't happy with this, saying to him with a frown, "Hey, fox boy, give me back my lab top!"

"I just need to use it for a sec." Tails explained. "I'll bring this right back when I'm done with it."

"Oh, no you won't." the technician replied. "Knowing your kind, you'll probably damage it or worse."

Commander Towers though then came onto the scene and declared firmly, "That's enough already."

All of the technicians then turned around sheepishly, as the Commander added, "Let him use the lab top. If it'll help him fix his jet, then so much the better."

"But he might break it." The technician argued. "Or worse, get his filthy fox fur in the keys."

The G.U.N Commander quickly turned on him after he had said that, replying with anger, "I am not going to stand for your selfishness any longer! We are in this together, and I suggest you start acting like it if you know what's good for you. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir…" the technician answered, looking at the ground awkwardly.

Commander Towers then looked at Tails and nodded his head, telling him, "Go ahead, young fox. Run that diagnostic on the X-Tornado, but make sure you bring that lab top right back when you're done with it, ok?"

"Will do, sir." Tails replied, saluting him.

With the Commander backing him up, Tails did just that, as he started up the jet and took off, where he soon hooked up the lab top to the X-Tornado and did a full analysis on it.