Chapter 2: Freedom Fighters
Rotor and Tails led Sonic through the forest. The path they took was long and winding, presumably to remove the possibility of being followed. The Great Forest. It was still lush with plant life and the trees were healthy. The sun shown through the leaves, leaving patchy rays of light on the ground. He could hear birds happily chirping without a care in the world. This place, for whatever reason, was left untouched by Robotnik's empire. It was a nice change from the post-apocalyptic look of everywhere else he'd been.
Finally, they came to a stop in front of the stump of an oak tree. Sonic was about to say something a bit snarky, but was cut off when Tails kicked it in several places, and the top of the stump opened up, revealing a hidden entrance. Rotor went down first, followed by Tails. Looking down the stump, Sonic found that it led to some kind of slide. He gave a shrug, and jumped in.
The slide brought him down into a cavern that seemed to be mostly made out of limestone. Rotor and Tails were waiting for him at the mouth of the cave. He followed them out, and almost immediately saw where they were leading him. A village, hidden deep within the forest. He half expected it to just be a bunch of fanatics, or at least a small group of disorganized rebels. This wasn't the case at all. It was a fairly large village, consisting of tree houses, huts, and small public buildings. By the look of it, the village seemed to be rather tightly knit. It appeared easily navigable and the tree houses had bridges connecting them.
In the center of the village was a huge tree. Part of the base had been semi-hollowed out, and even with this it looked like the tree could still stand up to a hurricane. A rather large tree house was built into it. The main headquarters, Sonic figured. This also seemed to be his destination. Rotor and Tails brought him to the base of the tree, where there is a platform. Rotor gave a signal with his hand, and the platform was hoisted up buy a pulley system, powered by an electric generator. As they went up, Sonic couldn't help but give an impressed whistle.
"Man, this is somethin' else. I would've never guessed it be so... big," said Sonic.
"It's made up of some of the people who managed to escape from Mobotropolis when the coup happened," explained Rotor.
"And ever since that day, we've been building. Though I don't really remember much. I was only a year old when it happened," Tails added. The kid was only thirteen and he was basically fighting a war.
The reached the top, and entered the main structure of the HQ. When he stepped inside, the woodsy feel of the village was left behind. Inside was an array of computers, radar screens, and other such equipment. It certainly looked like a proper headquarters.
They were 'greeted' by a coyote wearing a kind of French uniform. "Who is zis?" he said with a heavy French accent.
"We found outside the forest..." Rotor started.
"And you brought heem here? You fu'els! You have no idea who he is! He could be a spy!" the Coyote fumed.
"He saved us from a bunch of SWATbots! He took 'em down like they were toys," Tails declared. Though this didn't seem to put him more at ease.
"'Ow do you know zat was not a part of his plan?" he questioned.
"That'll be all, Antoine. I'll speak with him, alone," said a voice from behind them. Sonic turned and laid eyes on a female squirrel. Brown fur, auburn hair, and blue eyes. Unmistakable blue eyes.
"I'll bee keepeeng an eye on you, 'edeghog," Antoine threatened. With that, the three left Sonic alone with the squirrel. She shut the door, ensuring that they had privacy. Shooting him an apprehensive look, she addressed him.
"Who are you?" She asked.
There is a brief pause. Sonic had just met her, yet he was absolutely positive he knew who she was. The eyes gave her away immediately. Part of him wanted to tell her his real name, but settled for giving his new moniker.
"Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Sounds made up."
"Yeah, I know."
"What did you hope to gain in coming here?"
"Well, I figured I'd help free the planet from the megalomaniac despot in charge."
"Give one good reason I should even trust you."
"I remember what it was like before the coup. Peaceful, friendly, no war. But now, this Robotnik guy ruined all of that. I want to help take back our world."
"Then why didn't you join us 12 years ago? A group of us fled into the forest to escape Robotnik and his robots. I was only five when I came here. You could have done the same."
He hadn't thought of that. He should have known she would ask something like that. He had to think of an excuse fast.
"I'm not from Mobotropolis. I had no idea that this place even existed," Sonic explained. That last part was truthful. Not being from Mobotropolis though was a lie.
"I see. Alright, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. But before I can allow you to officially join the Freedom Fighters, you're going to have to prove yourself trustworthy," she stated.
"Fair enough."
"Well, I should introduce myself then. My name is Sally Alicia Acorn. I'm the one in charge of the Freedom Fighters."
A voice came from outside, one with a Southern Belle accent, asking to come in. Sally gave the okay, and a female rabbit stepped in. She had pale yellow fur, a white muzzle, green eyes, and wore a brown leather jacket and a cowboy hat. However, those features weren't the first thing Sonic noticed about her. No, what he noticed first thoroughly disturbed him. Her left arm, legs, and part of her waist were machines. He managed to keep his mouth shut about this as the rabbit addressed Sally.
"Looks like there's a bunch of SWATbots on patrol on west side of the forest," she said.
"Just keep an eye on them for now, Bunnie. We don't want to get Robotnik too suspicious of the forest and give him reason to raze it to the ground."
"Got it." Bunnie notices Sonic looking at her, but just gave a smile and said, "Hey, Sugah. You new?"
"Well, um..."
"He's on trial status," Sally said.
"Well, ah hope he's up ta snuff. He's kinda cute."
"Heh, sometimes you can be a bit too trusting."
"Someone has ta be the lighthearted one around heah. See y'all 'round."
Even after she left, Sonic still stared. Sally snapped him out of it.
"It's not polite to stare," she said.
"Sorry. What happened to her?"
"She was roboticized, partially anyway. We were able to get to her before the process could be completed."
"You mean, Robotnik tried to turn her into a..."
"Unfortunately, this isn't all that uncommon. Hundreds of Mobians were roboticized after the coup, maybe thousands."
"Robotnik," Sonic spat. Now he knew he had to bring Robotnik down. He could have stopped all of this. He could have stopped Robotnik before he could start the coup. Instead, he somehow got blasted into the future, which he still didn't understand. But that really didn't really matter now. He was there, so he might as well do what he can.
As the first test of his loyalty, Sonic was put on look out duty. Not a particularly good way to channel his talents, but he needed to get the others to trust him before they would actually let him join the Freedom Fighters. Joining him was the two tailed fox Miles Prower, affectionately called Tails by his friends. Sonic was certain they had Tails join him to make sure he didn't try anything. Though the princess had her doubts, the young fox was certainly eager to have Sonic join.
So far, there hadn't been any activity. Sonic was never one to stand still for too long. He could run faster than the speed of sound, and he easily became stir crazy if he stayed in one place for too long. In shorthand, he was bored. Though, it couldn't be helped. He decided to strike up a conversation with Tails.
"So, two tails huh? You get picked on a lot for that?"
"Yeah. It was kinda hard for a while with all the bullying, but I showed them."
"You fought back?"
"No, I learned how to fly."
"Say what? No way."
"Serious. Here, watch."
Tails stood up and began rotating his twin tails in opposite directions. In his disbelief, Sonic watched as the young fox rose into the air, his tails spinning like helicopter blades. After he saw Sonic's surprised look, Tails touched back down.
"Woah. You Freedom Fighters are full of surprises. So, why haven't you guys made more progress with Robotnik?" asked Sonic.
"Well, you've pretty much met all the Freedom Fighters there are," answered tails.
"You mean, it's just the five of you? There's a bunch of people in the village, and you're the only ones fighting?"
"You don't understand. We go on missions inside Robotropolis itself. It's too dangerous for a big group to do these kinds of jobs. So, we keep our group small to make sure that people don't get harmed."
"I get it. I know your leader has doubts about letting me join, but I know that helping you fight Robotnik is the right thing. If I get in, I promise, I'll help you bring that psychopath down."
"I know. But first, you've got be on your best behavior so that Aunt Sally let's join for real."
"Yeah... Wait, Aunt Sally? Are you two related?"
"Not really. She took care of me after the coup, so I like to call her Aunt."
"So, she's like family." Then, Sonic thought of something that hadn't occurred to him before then. What happened to his own family? He'd have to wait to get the answer to that question. Sonic and tails saw something coming toward the forest. It seemed be a robot that was designed for deforestation.
"Oh no! It looks like Robotnik's caught on that we're here in the forest!" Tails exclaimed. With that thought in his mind, he grabbed his radio and contacted Freedom HQ. "This is Tails, Robotnik's sent this giant tree cutter robot!
On the other end, Sally replies, "If we let that thing cut the forest down, Knothole will be exposed! I'm sending in Bunnie to help you bring it down. But Sonic is to remain at his post. Understand?"
"... Yes Aunt Sally. Sorry, Sonic. Orders are orders." Leaving Sonic there, the fox flew off towards the Deforestator, with Bunnie rocketing after him. Sonic was understandably frustrated. He knew he could help destroy the robot, but all he could do was watch.
Bunnie managed to get there before Tails. She engaged the demonic machine, giving a mighty punch to it's midsection with her robotic arm. The robot, however, wasn't deterred by this at all. It kept advancing toward the forest. Tails landed on it's head, attempting to hot wire it's circuits. In response, the Deforestator unleashed a metallic tentacle that ensnares the fox. Bunnie tried to free him, just to get caught herself. The metal monstrosity wasn't through yet. It started a massive saw on one of its arms and began to move Bunnie and Tails towards it.
Sonic could have called Freedom HQ to inform them of the situation, but realized that they would never make it in time to save them. But he could. Sonic leaped down from his position and took off, full tilt, towards the robot.
Bunnie and Tails were inches away from the saw blade. But before it could finish them off, it detected a loud noise approaching it: a sonic boom. It tried lock onto the source, Sonic was already circling the robot, creating a whirlwind around it. The wind generated was strong enough to cause the robot to drop Tails and Bunnie. Bunnie agilely landed on her feet, while Tails once again took flight.
"That thing's unstoppable!" yelled Tails.
"Nothing's unstoppable. We just have to find it's weak spot." Sonic began to rapidly attack the robot's armor with his spin move. Striking several points on its body, Sonic soon found a weak point in the armor. "Bunnie, pull off the armor on it's lower back!"
"You got it, Sugah!" Flying behind the Deforestator and tore at the weakened armor, exposing wires and circuits. "What now?"
"Tails, you think you can hot wire 'im?"
"You bet I can!" Tails flew up to the exposed inner workings of the Deforestator and started pulling and re arranging wires. Meanwhile, Sonic and Bunnie provided cover for the fox as he worked. Sonic managed to slice off one of the mech's tentacles, and Bunnie was able to disable one of it's legs. Suddenly, the Deforestator began slicing itself in half with its own saws. The clattered wreck crashed to the ground, completely destroyed.
"Yeah! We did it!" cheered Tails.
"We sure did. But, you know, Sugah Hog, y'all are probably gonna get and eah full from Sally girl." she said.
"I'll worry about that. Let's just get back to HQ before Robotnik sends more of his bolt brains after us."
"You were given an order to stay put, and you got involved anyway!" yelled Sally. "You disobeyed a direct order and went headlong into a dangerous situation!"
"I know, I should have called for back up, but Bunnie and Tails..." Sonic started.
"Thank you."
"Huh?"
"You risked your own life, and your candidacy to join the Freedom Fighters, to save two people you hardly know. If that's not an act of selflessness, I don't know what is. So, I hereby induct you into the ranks of the Freedom Fighters."
"That's great! You won't regret this. I promise."
"I certainly hope not."
The overlord watches the data recovered from the Deforestator's memory core. He saw the blue hedgehog responsible for its destruction. His beautiful creation, brought down so easily after the rodent came onto the scene. A diminutive man came in. He was mostly bald, with only a few hairs on his head, and wore a green variant of Robotnik's own outfit.
"What is it, Snively?" the doctor questioned, seemingly annoyed.
"Sir, it would seem that this hedgehog was spotted in Furville at 1300 hours. It would seem he doesn't posses a citizen chip, nor is he in any of our data bases. It is as if he just appeared out of nowhere."
"You can spare me the details, Snively. I know who he is." Robotnik leaned in toward the screen. He knew of only one creature that could move like that. Even though he looked different, Robotnik would never forget that look of utter defiance. "Hello... Bernard Maurice Hedgehog."