Sonic and Tails raced through the Squall Orchard area of Windy Hill Zone. They got the name for the Zone and area from wooden signs that appeared to be left there by the Hexis. Through large open wheat fields, fenced-in barnyards, and empty towns, the grass remained green and the sun continued to rise on a new morning. It was strange that nobody was around, but maybe it was for the best. The Lost Hex was so disconnected from Erius that the locals might have freaked out upon seeing Sonic and Tails.
On the outskirts of the worn-down remnants of a town, Sonic saw a large primitive windmill. Running all the way up, he hopped from windmill to windmill, until gravity flipped on its head and he fell upwards into another piece of land. Everything had been turned upside-down as he continued to run the way the Deadly Seven went.
"This is so strange…" Tails gasped. "I find it hard to believe only seven people built all this. If they didn't, who did?" He looked to the windmills, the totem poles, the hundreds of obviously man-made structures. "If there were more people here, then I wonder where they all went." Sonic's eyes landed on a decaying patch of land in the distance. There was a kind of factory built from the husk of what looked to once be a normal albeit giant barn. It was spewing out smog into the clean blue sky. Badniks surrounded the farm, some keeping watch and others tending to the soulless farm.
"Well, I think I know exactly who built that," Sonic growled, rushing off towards the barn.
…
A telephone rang, attached to the wall of the factory barn. Zazz the Hexi walked through the filthy metal halls, glaring at the farm animals trapped inside cages as their resources were stripped away from them. Many were soon to be slaughtered. Their pained oinks and moos and baas collided with the constant rumbling of the many contraptions covering every inch of the barn.
Zazz finally reached the phone, and picked it up. "H'lo," she mumbled.
"Is that it? Is that all you can muster after ignoring my calls for hours?" Robotnik's voice shouted through the phone. Zazz scowled. "You really are the crazy one if you think that's proper etiquette for the Robotnik Empire. Get yourself ready, my drones have spotted the hedgehog heading towards your station."
"I'm not part of your empire. And don't call me crazy," Zazz hissed. She then put her hand over her mouth.
"What did you say?!" Robotnik asked. A warning note of that same mystic melody played through the phone, and Zazz was stunned momentarily. "Get back in line, or I will make you do so! The hedgehog was always an environmentalist fool since an early age. He'll tear that meat plant down just to free the animals. I don't want to lose a perfectly good factory, and if you don't want to be buried in the rubble, I'd suggest you plan a counter attack!"
"Yes, boss," Zazz sighed. "Thank you, boss." Robotnik hung up, and Zazz walked off into the attic of the barn.
Sonic and Tails continued to run through the colorless dead field, the sky blocked out by the smog. Suddenly, they saw a large orb blast up from the roof of the barn. It then shot straight for them! It came into view as a kind of terrifying, scowling moon robot. Sonic ducked for cover, pulling Tails down to the ground with him as the Moon Mech flew overhead. They both got up to face the Moon Mech, and whoever was piloting it. It was Zazz!
"Hey!" Sonic shouted. "What's your deal?" Sonic bashed into the Moon Mech in spinball form. Zazz grinned, and then she broke out into an insane laugh. Sonic and Tails stood there, shocked. She controlled the Moon Mech to shoot a large star at Sonic, which he dodged before it could slice him in half.
"The boss wants you out of the way, and that means I have no choice but to tear you apart myself!" Zazz screamed, this crazed look in her darting eyes. They looked almost scared. Sonic was completely confused, but there was no time for that. Zazz was in the process of blasting them with a whole meteor shower. "I'll be making you see stars in MORE ways than one!"
Sonic ran circles around the Moon Mech, as the stars drove themselves into the dirt. Sonic then pulled one out of the ground and threw it back at the Moon Mech like a frisbee. It created a large gash in the mech. He almost heard Zazz whispering incoherently to herself as she continued to shoot stars at him.
"What's she talking to herself about?" Sonic asked Tails.
"No clue," Tails replied. He flew up to Zazz to try and knock her off of her Moon Mech, but he was spotted and grabbed. Zazz forced Tails into the Moon Mech's mouth. Sonic heard Tails cry out for help inside. The hedgehog stopped running around, and went on the attack.
Sonic unleashed a barrage of Homing Attacks into the Moon Mech. Just as he thought it was done, the damaged bot regurgitated Tails out of its mouth on a bunch of stars. Tails fell to the ground, having suffered great injury. Sonic, furious, shot himself as a spinball into Zazz, who was knocked off from the floating orb.
Zazz landed on the ground, tumbling through the dead grass. Sonic approached, the grass crunching underneath his feet. The Moon Mech cowered, and seeing this, Zazz raised her hand towards it. A purple aura covered her hand, and the Moon Mech suddenly had its eyes go from red to purple. It shot another few stars at Sonic, all of which hit. He was knocked forward. While he tried to get up, he could see Zazz was now approaching him.
"That's right, you little pest," Zazz growled, grinning widely with her hair covering her eyes. "You're going home in a BOX! I'll skin you alive, see if you bleed blue!" She was talking so fast and through so many fits of laughter that Sonic had trouble understanding her. He tried to get up, but he only then realized how many beatings he had taken since that morning. He was utterly defeated. Sonic looked up at her, trying to get up. He fell back down. And in that one moment, upon seeing what she had done, something seemed to change in Zazz's expression. Instantly, her grin fell for a demeanor of devastated mortification. Her mouth was agape, and Sonic recognized that not a thing had changed in her stare. It was still horrified.
Zazz stepped back, unsure of what to do. "I'm sorry," she squeaked through a whisper. She hopped onto her Moon Mech and flew away. Tails rushed over to Sonic, helping him up. Sonic got to his feet. Neither of them talked, because they were in such pain after the battle that they couldn't muster a sentence between both of them. Even if they weren't so injured, they would be at a loss for words due to that sudden change in Zazz. They were just glad they were alive.
Sonic looked to Tails, perplexed. Tails nodded, looking just as confused. They had defeated enemies, they had killed enemies. They had lost to some enemies and been saved by others at the last second. But never in their entire lives had they seen a fight end like that one did. "Weird," Sonic rasped, watching as Zazz and her Moon Mech disappeared into the distance.