Chapter 2: Rise of Robotnik - Part 2:

Sonic and his companion, Princess Sally, had just reached the palace courtyard when Sally stopped and informed Sonic that she couldn't be seen just yet. She had to wait for her father, mother, and brother to accompany her.

"So what do ya want to do?" asked Sonic.

"There's a door in back that leads to the kitchen. I slipped out when the guards weren't looking."

"Alright, lead the way."

With that, Sally led Sonic by the arm around the perimeter of the castle walls and Sonic realized that the colossal building looked much bigger from the exterior than it did from the inside. Usually, he went no further than the ballroom or the dining room, but he supposed there must be several hundred rooms devoted solely to the family jewels and the Royal servants. It was nearly 6:00 by the time Sonic and Sally reached the rear entrance with two guards standing to attention when they saw Sally with her escort.

One, a tall fox with an eye-patch, widened his good eye when he recognized Sally. "Your Highness! Where were you? And who's this?"

"I was in the gardens and this is Sonic, my special guest, Amadeus. Now let us pass, please," responded Sally.

"Of course, Your Highness. Your mother has been looking everywhere for you. May I remind you about the custom..."

"I am well aware, Commander, but he found me by accident. Perhaps if you had more guards patrolling the grounds..."

Amadeus cut her off quickly, but without trying to offend her. "Of course, my apologies, princess. I will issue more men immediately."

"After you open the door?"

"Of course," said Amadeus, bowing respectfully before unlocking the bolt to the back door. Pushing it open for the princess and her guest, Amadeus stepped back and told his subordinate to fetch more guards via hand signals. The other guard, a dopey looking panda nodded and trotted off.

"Thank you, Commander."

"Anything else, Your Highness?"

"No. Resume your duty."

Amadeus bowed once more and closed the door behind Sonic and Sally. "Nice," commented Sonic, "Are you used to bossing guys around?"

Sally glanced at Sonic. "I have a little authority, but it's not like I throw it around. That would be my brother, Elias. He's going to inherit the throne and I'll be married to some noble or prince in another kingdom."

"Does it have to be a noble or prince?"

"Royal Blood cannot marry lower than her station. Why? Are you jealous?" she asked, with a slightly teasing grin.

"What? No," retorted Sonic, trying desperately to not blush noticably.

"I think maybe you are," responded Sally. "But it's out of our hands. If you were nobility, than perhaps you ask for my hand and I might accept."

"Might?" echoed Sonic.

Sally just winked and led Sonic past the stoves and sweaty cooks who were too busy to notice the princess or her friend in the kitchens. Along corridors, passages, and stairs, Sally led Sonic. The blue hedgehog wondered how Sally could navigate these labyrinthine halls. He gave up trying to keep all the twists and turns straight and knew all too well that without Sally's guidance he would've been lost. At length, however, Sally and Sonic nearly ran into the Queen, Alicia Acorn, who had been coming down a set of winding stairs whilst the other two were ascending.

"There you are, darling. Come, the ceremony is about to begin," exclaimed Alicia, briefly embracing her daughter. "Oh, my baby is growing up so fast! Your father is going to be so proud!"

"Ugh, Mom! Don't embarrass me!"

Sally squirmed away from her mother and stepped back beside Sonic, who at this point was feeling pretty ignored. "Who's this?" asked Alicia, looking Sonic over as if noticing him for the first time.

"Mother," began Sally, "this is my friend, Sonic. He's Charles's nephew."

"Oh," said Alicia. "I thought I recognized you; you're Bernadette and Jules's boy."

Sally made a slicing motion with her hand out of Sonic's line-of-sight and Alicia realized her mistake. "Er, I'm sure you don't want to think about that, dear," the Queen corrected herself, "Today is a celebration after all."

"It's alright, Your Majesty," he said with a brief bow. "I've had time to adjust."

"Such a sweet boy," said Alicia, "You don't mind accompanying the princess and myself to the ballroom, do you?"

"It would be my honor and pleasure."

"Elias is waiting for us and your father will join us soon," the Queen informed her daughter. "Remember your lessons. Balance and keeping your chin is crucial, my dear."

"Yes, Mother," replied Sally with a tone that implied she had heard this same reminder millions of times before. Sonic just remained silent, but he kept his eyes on Sally, who was looking back at him with a small smile. Together, the trio headed for the landing just left of the ballroom, out of view.
* * *

Back at the Hedgehog residence, Albert the Owl was settling into a recliner set in front of the small t.v. set he kept in his quarters. He had a fresh cup of tea and had his shoes removed. Getting comfortable, he settled back and flipped on the telly, figuring he could at least see the princess when she appeared on the balcony to the general public, after the noble houses and diplomats, of course. Taking a sip of the steamy liquid, Albert sighed contently.
* * *

Elsewhere, in the local police department, the SWATbots were going haywire. It started subtly. First, they just stopped moving and one officer, an intrepid canine resembling a German Sheppard, tapped the sides of the towering machine with his nightstick. "Huh," he said, removing his cap and scratching his head in puzzlement. "Are they all like this?"

"Patrols have reported that their SWATbots have become unresponsive," answered a dispatch officer.

"Weird," murmured the other. "Do you think it's some kind of malfunction?"

"Maybe," replied the dispatch officer. "Should I contact the Royal Family and ask for Counselor Kintobor?"

"Nah," decided the first officer, "There's an Unveiling today. Try to contact stations in the nearby regions, see if their units are doing the same."

"Yes, lieutenant," acknowledged the second as she dialed the Oceanopolis Department.
*

In fact, across the entire kingdom, every droid and automaton had become unresponsive and shut down. This left many confused and worried. Things were even worse in the hospitals with bots in the midst of surgery. Doctors and nurses rushed to and fro, trying to keep patients alive while attempting to reboot the bots's systems. One individual, a young duck in his mid-twenties and fresh out of med school, attempted to take charge of the situation. "Get those machines back online! I want Dr. Kintobor on the phone!" he ordered a pair of nurses who stood gossiping about what may be happening.

"Doctor, there's an Unveiling today," one of the nurses told him. "We might not be able to-"

"Then get his secretary, or whoever you can. People are dying!" he spat, tending to one patient who's life support machine had failed. When the elderly mouse stopped breathing and his heart monitor flat-lined, Horatio closed his eyes in sadness and frustration. What the hell was going on?

The second nurse, another young, lovely duck lady, began to trot down to the nurse's station to use its many phones (many of which were in use or ringing wildly).
* * *

When the party of three arrived at the meeting place, they found another chipmunk already waiting with a bored expression plastered on his face. Standing up straight when his mother approached, Elias gave a slight, elegant bow. "Just in time, Mother. The noble houses are growing weary of this waiting." Indicating his expensive looking wristwatch, he informed them that the ball would begin in less than five minutes.

"Where is your father?"

Elias shrugged and immediately regretted the uncouth gesture when his mother shot him an austere look. "In the Council Room, I'd imagine."

The Queen furrowed her brow briefly with concern. "He'd better arrive soon."

"I'm sure he will, Mother. Erm, who's this?" asked Elias, suddenly taking notice of Sonic. In return, the blue hedgehog sighed. He was getting tired of hearing people demand who he was. It's not as if this was his first ball, although he admitted he didn't usually interact with much of anyone.

"This is Sonic, Elias. He's our special guest tonight."

"But isn't that against-"

The crown prince was silenced by a sharp tweak of the ear. "Hush."

Rubbing his sore ear, Elias cast a small glare at Sonic, taking care to not let his mother see.

Another few moments passed before a neatly dressed servant, a black-and-white cat, approached the Queen and spoke quietly to her. "It is time, Your Majesty."

Taking one last look back towards the hall that lead to the Council Chamber, Alicia sighed and nodded. "Very well, Piers."

Bowing respectfully, the cat backed away and Alicia turned to Sally. "All ready, my princess?" she asked, crouching to smooth out her daughter's dress, straighten Elias's jacket, and glance at Sonic.

"As I ever will, Mother."

Alicia smiled. "That's my girl. Let us go then." With that, the four lined up and headed down together with Sally and Sonic linking arms and Alicia placing her hand on her son's shoulder just behind them. Sonic took one last breath and stepped with Sally into the spotlight.
* * *

"What is the meaning of this?!" demanded King Maximillian. While Sonic had been accompanying Sally, her mother, and her brother, Dr. Kintobor had risen from his seat and strode into the center of the Council floor. Refusing to return to his place, the professor had coolly informed his superior that the city was being overrun as they spoke. As he spoke, a group of six SWATbots abandoned their posts outside the Council Room doors and flanked the Overlander on all sides, except the very front.

"You see, Your Majesty, by letting my robots infiltrate every major pillar of your kingdom, you have put yourself in a very... precarious situation." Pulling out his small remote control, he waggled it tauntingly at the monarch. "I programmed each of those machines personally. Of course, I added a secret mode, activated only when I pushed this button. This device, when activated, sends tiny radio signals to each corner of your pathetic kingdom. When that happens, each and every machine created by Kintobor Labs becomes a killing machine. Cold, unfeeling, they obey only one master: me. In a matter of minutes, your entire military and law enforcement agency will be shut down. After that, they will round up the hostages and escort them to wonderfully new creation of mine: the Roboticizer."

The Overlander's menacing tone and his expression of loathing and ambition, gave many of those assembled cause to believe his words. His face turning ashen, the King licked his lips nervously and spoke with a faltering voice. "What did you do?"

"I'm taking over," responded Kintobor.

Charles stood and faced the oversized human. "Not while I have the breath left to fight!"

"That can be rectified," replied Dr. Kintobor with a grin that could only be desribed as evil and bloodthirsty. Turning his gaze slightly to the SWATbot on his right flank, the human spoke softly. "Kill him."

Without hesitation, a single shot was fired and Charles fell to the floor, blood gushing from the bullet-hole ripped in his abdomen. Crying out, Rosemary dashed over to the fallen hedgehog's side and lifted his head.

"Back away, sister," ordered Kintobor, "Or you're next."

Reluctantly letting the elderly hedgehog rest on the floor once more, Rosemary quivered visibly with a mix of rage and fear. "You won't get away with this, Ivo."

"Oh, but I already have. As I stated earlier, I control your army and your police force, as well as your schools and hospitals. Any resistance will be dealt with harshly. You don't want the blood of innocents on your hands do you? Your son's in the fourth grade now, isn't he?"

"You wouldn't..." said Rosemary.

"Test me."

Striding over to the King, Robotnik lifted the squirrel king out of his throne and threw him to the floor. Sent sprawling, the king looked back at the human, the look of shock and betrayal clear on his face.

"I am your ruler now, Max old boy. Call me, Emperor Robotnik." Folding his hands smugly over his rotund stomach, the new dictator smiled down at his former liege.

"Robotnik..." said the king, unwilling to believe it.

"That's right. Kintobor is really Robotnik backwards. You woodland creatures truly are stupid. Even my nephew got that."

It made sense now. Robotnik had been a criminal in the United Federation. Charged with crimes against humanity for his inhumane experiments and the creation of some kind of ungodly machine. A machine that could turn flesh into metal and bend one's will to the creator's. "I would keep you all as political prisoners," drawled Robotnik, "but I simply can't be bothered. 'Bot's, execute these savages."

As soon as the orders were given, several shots were fired in rapid succession, accompanied by screams and the sound of bodies hitting the floor.


Author's Note: Ooh, that was dark wasn't it? This is the second part of the opening arc. There will be two more after this before we get into the main story. And sorry about that lag in update, I got caught up writing the next chapter for my other fanfic and this one takes a little pre-planning to write correctly. Not to mention, this one is effectively half the length of the first. Anyways, chapter 3 will be up sometime in the near future, until then, read & review!