Freedom Fighters Stand
Part 3: Sonic and the Acorn
The third instalment of the saga, following Sonic on his mission to defeat Robotnik's forces at Iron City by gathering allies from the nearby Acorn Forest.
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Forest
"I feared so much for Sonic on this mission. I know he is very impatient and very proud and rarely, if ever, thinks things through. Most of all though, I feared for his safety, not from Robotnik's SWATbots; he has proved he is more than capable of demolishing an army of them by himself, but from the denizens of Acorn Forest; the original Royalty from Mobius' past, filled with anger and hatred for the current Hedgehog Royalty. My only hope was that there might be someone who would befriend my son and convince the others to join with Sonic to destroy Julian's fortress in Iron City." Queen Aleena
Sonic looked at his map from a number of different angles. He wasn't sure if he had gone the right way or not.
"Man, I hate to say this, but where is Sonia when I need her?" He asked rhetorically. "At least I won't have to admit that to her."
Sonic folded the map up and put it back in his backpack. Frustrated with not knowing exactly where he was, he decided to just continue on, after all, as sonic speed he was bound to find some clue as to where he was, or at least come across someone who could tell him where he had ended up. Sonic revved up and tore across the landscape at breathtaking speed, charging around rocky outcroppings and between trees until the trees started to become much denser than just a couple of minutes ago.
"I wonder..." Sonic said as he stopped and pulled his map out again.
Studying it for a few moments, he surmised that he must be in one of his intended targets, Acorn Forest. His next step would be to find someone to confirm this either way, so once again, Sonic put the map away and ran through the dense number of trees until...he was sent flying when he tripped over something. Or someone, judging by the cry of agony that followed the incident.
"Waargh!" Sonic shouted as he smacked into a tree.
"Who goes there? Show yourself!" A female voice called.
Sonic groaned as he got to his feet, his mind worked enough to recognise the voice was a fellow Mobian and not a SWATbot.
"Man, anyone get the number of that Dumpbot?" He said as he gingerly moved towards the voice, rubbing his side where he had smacked into the tree.
"DUMPBOT?!" A second female voiced screamed in pure rage.
Sonic froze when he saw the two females. One looked like some sort of squirrel or chipmunk, kind of a mix between the two, and the other was a rabbit.
"Oh, er, sorry miss, I didn't mean it like that." Sonic apologised, holding his hands up defensively.
"A hedgehog!" The squirrel/chipmunk seethed.
"Calm down, Sal." The rabbit said as she helped her friend up. "What's yo' name, sugah?"
"I'm Sonic; Sonic the Hedgehog. One of the leaders of the Freedom Fighters operating in Robotropolis." Sonic answered proudly as he pressed one of his thumbs onto his chest.
"Mah name's Bunnie Rabbot, an' this 'ere is Sally Acorn." Bunnie said as she extended her hand.
Sonic shook Bunnie's hand and then offered his hand to Sally in the same friendly gesture that Bunnie had shown him, but Sally swatted his hand away and glared at him.
"Hey! What's the big idea?" Sonic's eyes narrowed.
"Save it, rat. Your ancestors stole my ancestors' right to rule Mobius!" Sally spat angrily at Sonic.
"Firstly, I'm a hedgehog and secondly, what the heck are you talking about?" Sonic was confused.
"Sal, don't be so-"
"Shut it, Bunnie! He's one of the 'Royal Hedgehogs' and I'll be damned if I ever have anything to do with one of them." Sally raged as she turned away from Sonic and stomped off.
"Man, either I'm missing some mondo history or she's one stick short of a bundle." Sonic said to Bunnie.
"Ah know, sugah, it's a long story an' it would take an age to explain it to ya." Bunnie replied to Sonic.
"COME ON BUNNIE! LEAVE THAT RAT TO ROT AND GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!" Sally shouted.
"I'M A HEDGEHOG, NOT A RAT!" Sonic shouted back.
"Ah better be goin' nice to meet ya though, Sonic." Bunnie smiled at her new friend.
"Yeah, likewise Bunnie. By the way, this IS Acorn Forest right?" Sonic asked as Bunnie started to walk off in the direction that Sally had gone.
"Yeah, it is sugah."
"Which way is Iron City?"
"Over yonder." Bunnie pointed in the direction that Sonic had originally been running before tripping over Sally.
"Okay, thanks Bunnie, and I'll...uh, see you around I guess?" Sonic said in a raised voice.
"Possibly, sugah. Take care now." Bunnie called back.
Sonic watched as Bunnie disappeared amongst the trees.
"Right, so I know where I am and where I'm going. I better scope out the city and see just how many Sonic seconds it'll take me to destroy Robotnik's city." A smug smile grew uncontrollably on Sonic's face.
Sonic dashed off once again, dodging his way through the trees of Acorn Forest in the direction of Iron City. Sonic was looking so forward to doing this mission, he only hoped that Robotnik might turn up at some point to receive a long overdue butt kicking that Sonic had been saving just for him.
Robotnik found himself to be very restless, and it troubled him greatly, which just made it worse. With the three hedgehogs having split up and gone to three different parts of Mobius, he had begun to think more and more about the prophecy and how he might lose.
'Just be patient Julian. You bided your time and sent Queen Aleena into hiding for the best part two decades now, there is no reason why you can't finish off even just one of the hedgehogs now they've split up.'
Robotnik sat in his chair in the main control room and drummed his fingers together repeatedly. No matter how much he tried to convince himself that he could end the Resistance and rule Mobius, that nagging doubt never left.
'I must know where Sonic has gone. If I can stop, or just delay him, I might be able to pull this off.' Robotnik thought as he pressed one of the numerous switches to summon one of his SWATbots.
"Orders, sir." The SWATbot requested as it came up to its creator and stood at attention in front of Robotnik.
"I want the latest surveillance of Sonic's last known position." Robotnik ordered.
"Yes sir." The SWATbot moved to the computer and powered up the footage.
Robotnik watched the images of Sonic racing along before disappearing into a forest.
"Subject disappeared at co-ordinates ni-"
"Acorn Forest." Robotnik interrupted the SWATbot. "I know the place."
Robotnik paused for a few moments as he thought about where Sonic was most likely going.
"Iron City, one of my largest resource hubs on Mobius. If Sonic were to destroy the transport network, not to mention all the steel works, I could be ruined. However, I think I could get some...unusual help in defeating him. I must research more on this."
Robotnik stood up from his seat and walked off out of the command centre deep in thought about how he was going to stop his blue nemesis and defeat the Freedom Fighters once and for all.
An hour later, Doctor Robotnik stood at where he had travelled to in order to research the potential help that could be available to him.
"The Great Library of Mobius – a complete fountain of knowledge of this planet for many centuries past. I knew that not sacking this place would pay off some day and I intend to make that day today." Robotnik rubbed his hands together gleefully as he entered the enormous stone building.
The Great Library was one of the major architectural wonders that stood tall and proud on Mobius. It had been constructed nearly a millennium ago and remained the only structure worthy of the name 'Wonder of Mobius' because of its age, and the fact it had stood for all this time and never been destroyed, unlike other wonders that were now just pictures and descriptions in the texts contained within the library's vaults.
The Great Library was a mass of stone and marble to the naked eye, but Robotnik knew the real secret of the Great Library, having chanced on a copy of the building plans for the Library a few years before his takeover. The pillars that held the Library up were made of solid mobibendum which had then been covered in concrete to give the Library the strength to remain standing tall.
Robotnik walked over to the dormant looking computer and activated it. The screen was covered in a layer of dust – no-one had been here for years – so Robotnik wiped the screen to see what he was looking at.
INPUT COMMAND. The screen read.
History of the Mobian Crown. Robotnik typed.
The screen went dark for a while as Robotnik drummed his fingers on his chest as he waited, growing more impatient with each passing moment.
CLARIFICATION REQUEST: WHICH MONARCH?
Cross reference 'King' with 'Hedgehog I' and 'Acorn'
The screen darkened again as the program dealt with the command, which yielded a sigh from the doctor.
TEXT LOCATED: 'DEMISE OF KING ADAELUS ACORN AND THE RISE OF KING APOSTOLOS HEDGEHOG I'. IS THIS WHAT WAS REQUESTED?
Yes. Location of text requested.
LEVEL 3, WING 12, CASE 205, SHELF D, ROW 2. TEXT IS AVAILABLE IN BOTH WRITTEN FORM AND ELECTRONIC FORM. PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH HANDLING TEXT AND DO NOT DAMAGE ELECTRONIC DEVICE OR YOU WILL BE PROSECUTED FOR CRIMINAL DAMAGE AND BILLED FOR REPLACEMENTS.
ANY MORE REQUESTS?
No.
HAVE A NICE DAY, SESSION ENDED. PRINT OUT OF REQUEST LOCATION WILL BE PRINTED.
As the screen switched off, Robotnik rubbed his forehead and sighed.
"Maybe I should have requested that blasted system be overhauled before I took over. Always hated that thing, always slow and that stupid warning at the end..." Robotnik started to rant as he grabbed the print out of the location of what he was after.
It was night when Sonic had finished scoping out Iron City and had returned to Acorn Forest. He decided he might have better success if he based himself under the cover from the sheer mass of trees to mask his exact location. He also hoped that he might be able to convince the denizens of Acorn Forest to aid him in his task.
'Well, maybe Bunnie will help me but I'm not so sure about Sally. Perhaps if I show her how way past cool I am and explain what'll happen if old Buttnik gets his way then she might help.' Sonic thought to himself as he assembled as crude makeshift hut at super speed.
Sonic began to wonder about how he was going to destroy an entire city. Iron City stood like a bastion of power – virtually a citadel of dark metal oozing with SWATbot factories and huge pollution belching steelworks serviced by multiple rail networks. Guards were everywhere, protecting the large number of Iron Ore and other mineral trains that arrived regularly to drop off their valuable cargo to the works. Sonic knew destroying the rail networks would be a major boon in his task, but the closeness of a SWATbot factory to the works would mean that there would be no shortage of guards and repairs could be made in probably a few hours.
"Man, all this thinking is making my head hurt. I really could use a few chilli dogs right now." Sonic began to salivate at the thought of his favourite food.
As the wind blew hard amongst the trees, Sonic caught the smell of something sweet and pleasant...and chilli dogs!
Within a blink of an eye, Sonic was gone following the aroma until he followed it to its source.
"Chilli Dogs! My favourite!" Sonic drooled.
Sonic saw a plate of six of them and picked one up and was about to eat it when he heard a loud click and something cold and metallic press against the back of his head.
"Identify yourself in the name of King Max Acorn!" A deep, gruff voice demanded.
Sonic turned around, only to be smacked in the head by the butt of a laser rifle from a second creature which made him lose his balance and fall backwards to the ground.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Sonic snarled as he rubbed his head and looked at his assailants.
The pair of them were large, burly guards with both sporting a rifle. Sonic's thoughts about introducing them to a Sonic Spin were interrupted by the sounds of more rifles being drawn and the pounding of feet on the ground.
"This is your last chance, intruder, identify yourself!"
"I'm Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog and you guys are in for a world of hurt!" Sonic's eyes narrowed as he grabbed his medallion.
The medallion responded to the command of its master and the bright blue light exploded from it as it changed into Sonic's own laser guitar. The brightness of the light made some of the guards screw their eyes shut to prevent being blinded.
"Let's do it to it!"
"Not so fast, rat!" A very familiar female voice shouted.
Sonic turned his head to the direction of the voice to see a very irate Sally come out of the shadows.
"Hey again, Sal." Sonic greeted Sally, quickly eating the chilli dog he had picked up.
"Don't 'Hey again' me you traitorous worm! Guards, take this pathetic excuse of royalty into custody." Sally ordered the guards.
"No way Sal. This hedgehog is not going to be a prisoner while Robotnik is still at large...literally."
Sonic fired laser bolts up at the trees, shooting off multiple branches. As the branches fell, chaos ensued as guards started to take cover from the falling debris, those who tried to shoot Sonic couldn't keep up with his movements meaning their aim was generally way off target, until more falling branches fell on top of them.
"Blast this cursed idiot!" Sally seethed as she reached into an inside pocket of her jacket and withdrew a small device.
"Nicole, analyse the hedgehog's movements and charge up a high voltage charge to stun him." Sally commanded the device as she opened it.
"Analysing Sally...Hedgehog moves at impossible speed for a living creature, intercept location is hazardous and unadvised." Nicole replied. "High shock level might cause permanent damage to him, action not advised."
"Forget your warnings Nicole, just do it!" Sally spat angrily.
"...Yes Sally...Intercept location is south, south east of your location, fifty three yards away...Beginning voltage charge."
Sally ran to the location that Nicole had given her, partially concealing herself behind a tree but still able to see Sonic approaching. He was walking backwards shooting off a large number of laser bolts at the guards while using his stunning reaction time to dodge any return fire.
'Interesting that he doesn't shoot to kill. Perhaps he views killing the guards as unnecessary when he can out manoeuvre them.' Sally thought.
As Sonic reached the tree where Sally was, she held Nicole out.
"Now Nicole!"
"What the he-aargghh!" Sonic yelled in pain as the electrical energy discharged on him.
Bolts of electricity arced and frazzled over Sonic's body making limbs and muscles twitch as Sonic ended up falling to the ground unconscious.
"Hedgehog is unconscious...performing scan." Nicole stated.
As Nicole was about to start the scan, Sally closed Nicole and placed the computer device back in her jacket pocket.
"Not tonight, Nicole."
Sally placed her hands on hips and lorded over Sonic.
"Welcome to the forest, Sonic the Hedgehog."
To Be Continued...