Flying Battery is the second zone in Sonic & Knuckles, taking place on a massive flying airship. Sonic Mania adds new elements to the stage, particularly the outdoor segments, as well as incorporating some enemies and stage design from the second act of Sonic 2's Sky Chase.
Act 1[edit]
The path here is pretty straightforward. After riding a lift down into the air lift, run up to the left to reach a bar that can be hanged from. Travel across subsequent bars to continue; these can be found all throughout the stage. After descending lower and lower, you should eventually make it outside. Run across some mines to set them off and escape proximity. Some more bars lead to some lifts that should take you across to the other side of the area, eventually leading you back inside. After passing the first Star Post, take the lower path to find some capsules filled with rings. Further left of them is a Lightning Shield, which should prove helpful in this zone due to its magnetic quality. A powerful magnet on the ceiling will carry you up to a higher level, allowing you to continue forward.
Follow the path set by the magnets to find yourself once again on the outside of the ship. Run into a propeller to grab onto it, causing you to rotate around with it; hop off when facing the next propeller to continue. Make sure to climb up the pole a bit before jumping to avoid the spikes and mines on the ground, but not too high to avoid the propellers' blades. Once you reach the last propeller, you'll have to reverse course if you want an extra life; climb it a bit so that when you jump off, you end up hanging over the propeller's blade to the left. Climb even higher from here to make it over the blade back to the right, then hop off to a platform with a spring on the end. This spring will lead you back over the propellers and to a platform holding two Item Boxes: a Super Ring and an Extra Life. Now take the lower path down to the right to return to the ship's inside for a brief period before ending up back outside.
At the end of the path outside will be what appears at first glance to be a dead end. Some bombs will shoot out from panels in the foreground, though they can't hurt you just yet; the danger comes when they parachute back down to the ground. Lure them over to the corner, then dodge them to escape damage. They will hit the ground instead of you, creating a makeshift opening in the ship's surface. Use this opening to drop back down inside the ship and escape the bombs. If you've lost your Lightning Shield, you can Spin Dash into another here before proceeding back outside. Follow the same pattern to make it back inside. Shortly after re-entering the ship, instead of running around the netting, drop down the center. Run left to avoid falling with the crumbling platform, into a tunnel that leads to a giant ring. If you still have the Lightning Shield, you can exit to the right and follow the path to come across an Item Box containing an Extra Life. The path to the boss from here should be pretty straightforward.
Upon approaching Dr. Eggman, he'll hit a switch that will cause the ground to crumble from under your feet. A machine of his will then start wheeling itself across the top of the screen, occasionally emitting a burst of energy that causes a ruined Badnik from the pile of trash that makes up the ground to reform itself. This Badnik will then float across the screen; wait until it is positioned below the machine above in order to use it as a stepping stone to hit the machine, as it is too high to reach with a normal Spin Jump. This of course isn't a problem when playing a character with abilities more suited to a height disadvantage, such as Tails, or if Sonic still possesses the Lightning Shield, which allows him to perform a double jump.
After defeating the boss, Dr. Eggman will flee as always and the Signpost will descend down into the trash heap. The trash compactor will then start up, leading into the next act.
Act 2[edit]
Once the claw drops you, the second act will begin. Proceed forward, staying high up while following the path. Eventually, you'll end up outside through a window. Follow the path to the left and then float upon the platforms to the right to ascend. A floating bar will take you to a higher platform, but after making it to this platform, you can climb even higher by jumping upon the small platform that the bar hangs from. Along this upper path is a Fire Shield (avoid it if you still haven't collected all Chaos Emeralds and are playing as Sonic, as the Lightning Shield will be more useful here) and an Extra Life. Swing along the propellers to the right, hitting the Star Post along the way, to make it back inside. Follow the path upward, then drop down to the right when you get the chance to make it into a window to the left. After dropping down the netting, take a passage to the left and head through a window back outside. Continue to follow the path, hopping along a couple of platforms left behind by some destroyed Cluckers, to make it back inside.
Right by the Star Post is a switch that you can hit to create an opening that you can drop through, but before doing so, use the magnet on the ceiling with the combination of a Lightning Shield to reach a higher ledge. On this ledge is a window which leads outside and to a giant ring. From here, head through the window ahead and then to the right, not the left (which is where the stage will try to lead you). After swinging across some propellers outside, you should find yourself back inside and in the grasp of a claw. Jump up to the right before you can fall through the trash and continue forward to end up back outside.
Jump through the window to the right to float through the window to the left. This will unlock the achievement/trophy for this zone. From here, simply continue forward, as the obstacles in your path make the way to the boss a pretty straightforward one.
To defeat Eggman's massive spider mobile, you can't hit it directly. Dodge the projectiles he shoots at you and the platform will soon rise up to reveal spikes on one wall and a pole on the other. Grab onto the pole and use the momentum from swinging on it to bump into the massive bumper that makes up the spider's back. This will send Eggman into the spikes on the other wall, damaging his latest creation. Keep this pattern going, dodging whatever projectiles are shot your way and bumping the spider into spikes to defeat Eggman and free the animals of the zone.