Sonic the Hedgehog narrowly avoided being singed by the chaos energy blast. It was symptomatic of his life as of late that being pursued by a marauding squad of killer-robots, all of them desperately pursuing the hedgehog for the precious jewel he cradled in his hands, was not the worst thing to happen to him in the past few months. Indeed, it could almost have been yesterday that he was entangled within the gooey innards of Chaos, destroying the monster from within with a final surge of Super Sonic power. But though one evil creature had fallen, another was still on the warpath; Doctor Robotnik – or Eggman, as he was jokingly referred to by Sonic and his friends – still sought to conquer the planet, its people and consume its natural resources to further his empire.
But the azure-blue hedgehog had vowed to stop Robotnik's mad pursuit of power, whatever the cost might be; he had been battling for years, never giving up, countering each of the scientist's schemes with his sharp wits, agility and speed. True, he bore some scars of their encounters – after colliding with innumerable sharp-edged obstacles, fought Robotnik's death machines in dozens of Zones, as well as all the travelling through caves, waters and other varied locations, the hedgehog was bound to be a little wounded – gashes in his thin arms and long legs, a cut above his left eye that had not quite healed properly and even his long quills were drooping slightly, indicating that he was tired and a little sore from his experiences. His emerald-green eyes still blazed fiercely, though. Sonic was not quite ready to give up, no matter how hurt he might be.
The Chaos Emeralds had scattered themselves around the planet – as they always did – after Sonic had user their power in his quest to defeat Chaos. This one – the sparkling cyan jewel almost matching Sonic's fur – had found itself sequestered in Robotnik's hidden fortress beneath the Scrap Brain Zone. Sonic had taken it upon himself to liberate it, before the mad scientist could use it to power one of his awesome instruments of destruction. Hence, the rampaging horde of killer mechanisms on his spiny tail. Several more blasts of laser fire – each of the robots was powered by the lifeforce of a living animal, connected up like a battery to the interfaces within the metallic creatures – strayed narrowly wide of the speedy blue hedgehog.
The Scrap Brain was a twisted, distorted maze of high-tech corridors and death-traps; buzz-saws, their teeth sharpened to points that could slice through just about anything unfortunate enough to make contact, split through the air with a terrifying howl; pig-robots, which unleashed bombs whenever Sonic strayed too close to them, oink-ed in electric delight; worse than that, the platforms which connected the various sections of Zone had a habit of collapsing when the slightest weight was put upon on them. Spiked orbs unleashed electric energy at random intervals; technically, they were not traps of any sort, but Robotnik's laziness in properly insulating the Brain's various power points meant they were just as deadly. In the distance, the blackened city – blackened by soot and chemicals – was choking on smog and pollution produced by the Scrap Brain's dozens of factories.
The night sky was a filthy, soot-black colour, flecked with the occasional pocket of red. A thick layer of dust blotted out the shining yellow sun over this city for days at a time; it clung to the buildings, staining them a dirty ash colour. It choked the citizens; at least, it choked those who could not afford the expensive respirator-equipment peddled either by Robotnik himself or the street-hoodlums who killed others for the devices. The sulphurous and nitrous compounds leaking out of the factories had ensured every drop of rain that fell – those scant few globules that deigned to leak out of the burnt-black clouds – was highly-acidic, destroying the tiny crops, eroding the buildings and burning away the flesh of those who dared to walk in the harsh precipitate. Every city, across the scarred face of Mobius, looked exactly like this one.
Factories that constructed the killer-robots that were presently engaged in trying to murder the hedgehog. They were a new type of robot, the E-Series, as Doctor Robotnik called them. They were shaped like broad humanoids, with wide green eyes, two spindly arms and two thin legs. Each of them were painted in a different colour, denoting rank. The E-Series was built around a Flicky bird: a special type of creature that existed in only one place on the planet, near a river that was a natural source of chaos energy. Thanks to the fact generations of Flickies drank this water, they were a wellspring of unleashed chaotic potential. Robotnik had quickly exploited this, upon discovering the Flickies, for his own sinister purposes. The cannons of the E-Series were imbued with chaos energy, which made them ten times as dangerous as a regular badnik; even worse, these robots could fly, meaning they had a secondary advantage over the hedgehog.
They were whisper quiet, too: close-up, you could hear the internal hum of their workings – the network of power cables and relays, drawing more chaos energy out of the tiny Flicky body and flooding it through the robot's exo-skeleton – but from a distance, they were as silent as a nothing. Even the jets which propelled them through the air were a muted roar, though Sonic could hear them thanks to his super-sensitive ears. It was his only way of guaging their position, as craning his head to get a look at them would be suicide: forward was the only option, away from the twisted nightmare of the Scrap Brain, away from the blasts of chaos energy. It was difficult, though: they were matching Sonic almost pace for pace, with a speed that, quite frankly, amazed and scared the hedgehog. Nothing should be able to match his velocity, but they were doing a remarkably good job of it.
The E-Series' advantage of flight would soon be negated, however. Sonic was making for the treeline that marked the beginning of the Jungle Zone: with some sadness, the hedgehog noticed that some of Robotnik's robots were carving up the trees – for use as fuel, possibly, or simply because the mad doctor hated nature – and then transporting the mulch into the factories of the Scrap Brain. Once inside the Jungle, however, the tall trees, twisting vines and waterfalls would give Sonic the upperhand. Providing he could make it in one piece, of course. On a normal day, the hedgehog would have trashed the menial construction robots that were hacking down the ancient trunks of the oak trees, but he still had half-a-dozen, far more dangerous, mechanicals hunting him down.
The exotic, sweet-scented air of the Jungle hit his nostrils, a welcoming scent to the hedgehog. Sonic was aware of the E-Series robots pulling back slightly as he disappeared into the tree-laden area. The trunks extended high into the air, and their branches and leaves bled into each other, covering the entire Jungle with a roof of leaves, branches and flowers; they would not be able to hear him either, what with all the noises of animals and the rush of the currents of water; neither would they be able to detect him with motion sensors, since there was so much life already moving around him. Their only option would be to come follow him directly, but then, they would be on his turf. Quite literally. The slippery platforms, covered in long grass, were more suited to Sonic's agility than multiple-tons of metal careening into them.
Sonic paused, just for a moment, to enjoy the view. The robots were lagging far behind him, still trying to decide if the best course of action was to pursue him or try another day. The Jungle contained the ruins of a race of an ancient Mobian tribe and many of their buildings still today, even if they were crumbling slightly; surrounded by the trees, exotic flowers, varied animals and rapid waters, were enormous stone pillars, carved with pictographs – Sonic assumed them to be representations of the ancient Mobians – of long-dreadlocked creatures. The air around the pillars was thick with the smell of must and history, as if the aura of the dead tribe was still clining to their monuments. It contrasted sharply with the honey-scent drifting through from the rest of the environment. Sonic hopped carefully from pillar to pillar, hoping to be out of the Jungle before the E-Series robots caught up with him.
The trunks of the trees a deep, healthy brown colour; their broad, spiny leaves were vibrant, vivacious green, with sharp stipules growing out of them. Large hunks of fruit dangled from their branches. The sugary scent of the overripe berries assaulted the hedgehog's nostrils, making him curse his passion for sweet things; he longed to climb the trees, grab two or three of the giant fruits – they were hefty, a yellow-orange colour, covered in a network of greenish bumps and they had a tangy citrus flavour to them – but the oncoming robots meant that Sonic would have to delay any plans to stop and have a snack for quite some time. The hedgehog sighed, his eyes darting from the columns and pillars, to the other scattered ruins, and wondered how long it would be before Robotnik tore the rest of the Jungle down. Unless he and his friends could stop the mad dictator, nothing of Mobius' natural habitat would survive.
A distant roar caused Sonic to both turn around and almost lose his footing; at the best of times, the hedgehog hated the water, but when that water was host to a fast-moving current that swept everything along at a speed that Sonic was envious of, coupled with the fact that the hidden depths were filled with things that liked to clutch at the legs of unwary swimmers, and the side-note that hungry piranha-like fish with viciously sharp teeth that could rend flesh easily lived there, he was even less-inclined than normal to try using the river as an escape route. The blue-white jets of the robots' rocket packs were becoming visible. Only two flames were approaching, however. Good. It either meant the others had turned back, gone for reinforcements, or were merely waiting – hoping – the hedgehog and his prize would be turned around.
There were still a dozen or so more pillars to before the hazardous jump across to the far away platform; from there, it was merely a brisk run to the edge of the Jungle and the beginning of Central City. The hedgehog was in a quandary as to whether or not he should face the robots now, or wait until he was safely on the platform. Here, they had the advantage, as they would be able to fly around him and shoot him; but, if Sonic could get a few good hits on them, they would be consigned to the currents below. Deciding to risk it, Sonic looked out for the arriving robots: they were only a meter or so away now, their laser-cannons primed and ready for action. Another second or so and they would be firing.
As soon as the first shots rang out, Sonic dextrously leapt into the air, curling into a tight little ball and charged towards his opponents; his quills were long and razor sharp, capable of slashing through just about anything. He bounced off the black-armoured robot and barely managed to orient himself in time to land on a nearby pillar; he wobbled awkwardly, thrusting his arms out to balance himself. The second robot, plated in red, took advantage of the hedgehog's precarious position to unleash a barrage of fire at him. Still shaky on his feet, Sonic only just managed to dive away from the lethal blasts, grabbing at a jutting piece of rock on the neighbouring pillar. Another blast struck the rock just above his gloved hand, scorching his fingers. The hedgehog refused to let go, though, even when the rock began to loose itself from the pillar.
The two robots moved into position, both ready to fire on Sonic and send him spinning into the cold depths below. Sonic looked down, gulping loudly at the black vortex rippling below him. He could already imagine the army of piranhas chomping on his flesh. Fine stony powder flitted out of the hole from which the rock the hedgehog was holding on to was trying to escape from. The E-Series mechanoids were happy to wait for Sonic to plummet. They could collect the Emerald when his corpse washed up on the shore. Of course, Sonic thought in a moment of panicked-inspiration, give them the bloody Emerald! Just before his grip on the pillar gave way, Sonic wrapped his legs around the stone structure and then threw the dazzling azure jewel into the air.
Now, the robots were torn: focus on the hedgehog or retrieve their Master's prize? After some hesitation, they decided to chase the Emerald; it was already beginning to spiral down towards the water, spinning end over end. It was merely a case of stretching a hand and ... so intent on their mission of capturing the jewel, the robots had neglected Sonic. He had managed to shimmy up the pillar, launch himself into the air and catch the Emerald. No wonder the hedgehog had never been caught before, with speed and reflexes like that. Instead of aiming for another pillar, though, Sonic grabbed hold of the black robot's laser-cannon and turned it on at the other. It exploded hotly, showering the hedgehog with debris that dug deeply into his skin, causing him to yelp sharply in pain. One down.
The black E-Series had no idea what to do: it could not fire at Sonic, since the hedgehog was still hanging from his laser-cannon; it could not attack him with his other weaponry, lest he cause irreperable damage to his own body. The thick canopy of trees made transmitting a message to the other robots in its squadron impossible. It was very much alone with the accursed hedgehog. It took the only option available to it: thrashing its cannon wildly in all directions, firing it, hoping the vibrations would shake Sonic loose. At first, it looked as though it was about to work, but then, the hedgehog simply executed a balletic flip and landed neatly on one of the pillars. He was off, hopping between them again, before the robot could orient itself and start firing at the blurry blue target.
After a few minutes, Sonic reached the other platform – it was slippery, as he had expected, from the spill-off from the gigantic waterfall – and waited for the black robot to reach him. The hedgehog decided to get the battle over with now, rather than trying to lose it in Central City; besides, there were thousands of innocent people there who might get hurt by the out of control mechanoid. It raised its cannon and prepared to fire another searing blast of energy; Sonic ducked underneath the green-blue bolt, rolled towards his target and tried to kick at its legs. All he got for his trouble was a sore foot, which he just about managed not to howl in pain about. The robot swivelled on its axis, fired again, but Sonic was already moving off.
If it had been capable of feeling anything, the black robot would have been enraged and / or annoyed with the hedgehog. He should have been destroyed by now, but his quick feet and even quicker wits kept him constantly on the move, searching for any opening or weakness to use against his enemies. Sonic was nothing but a blue blur, nothing to lock on to or target, as he would quite simply not keep still for long enough. Random firing was not good enough. Sonic finally charged at the E-Series, running as fast he could, before curling up into a ball and using the full impact of his speed – as well as his sharp quills – to drill a deep hole in the robot's armour. It was just wide enough for Sonic to see the purple-feathered creature nestled inside. The robot's power source: a tiny Flicky child connected to the mechanoid's carapace with an elaborate assortment of wires and cables.
Sonic let out a deep sigh at seeing the creature. It was so small and fragile-looking; its eyes were closed, the feathers on its wings underdeveloped and pale. Poor thing. It had probably not even learned to fly before Robotnik had carelessly hooked it up into the E-Series' shell. Damn that man, Sonic thought bitterly. He did not care what lives he destroyed, as long as it brought him one step closer to victory. Sonic approached the downed robot carefully, hoping that, with the Flicky incapacitated, it would not fire at him. As delicately as he could, he snapped all the wires that were plugged into the animal's body and mind. Doing so would kill it, of course, but Sonic reasoned it was preferable to die as a living thing, rather than live forever as a dead metal shell. At least, that was what he told himself every time he murdered one of Robotnik's creations.
After burying the creature in the soft loamy soil of the Jungle, Sonic sat back against a rock, took a cooling drink from the river and then rested. It had been a trying day, physically and mentally, and he was in no mood to face the long and lonely journey to Central City; apart from that, there was always the possibility that the other robots were out there, waiting for him to appear. He hoped that, if they did not hear from their leader soon, they would simply head back to Scrap Brain. In any case, the hedgehog felt justified in napping for an hour or so. It was pleasantly warm, with just enough of a breeze from the river to make sure things did not get too sticky, so Sonic curled up on the sweet-smelling grass and closed his emerald-green eyes, and tried not to think about the plot of disturbed soil where the Flicky lay.