Chapter 4 – The Great Rescue

Evening started to settle in the Denali Mountains, and a severe blizzard was brewing up. The dragons struggled to see what was ahead of them while Tails checked the controls of his plane so that he could be able to land safely.

"Man, the weather has gotten even worse since we left this place," said Sonic.

"The weather's the least of our problems, Sonic," said Tails. "Eggman has already been alerted and is sure that we're here to rescue Bowser, so he must have reinforced the hideout with more robots."

Tails was right. As the group approached the mountains, they could see that there were more robots patrolling around, and they were heavily armed with weapons, ready to open fire on any potential intruders. The group could tell that rescuing Bowser from being roboticised was not going to be easy.

"I don't like the looks of it," said Draco worryingly. "So many robots, and we're going to have to find a way to slip past them."

"Although Eggman is definitely aware about us infiltrating his lab through the air ducts, he doesn't really know how Torden and I managed to sneak inside," said Sonic. "But we're going to need more robots so that all of us can sneak in together."

"You mean you disguised yourself as a robot?" asked Axl.

"That's right," said Sonic. "And there are seven of us, so we'll need to find and incapacitate seven robots so we can get inside them and enter Eggman's lab."

"What a clever and devious plan!" laughed Lonnie.

"Hang on, Axl and Lonnie," said Tails. "I'm ready to land the plane."

With that, Tails set the Tornado Z diagonally downward, and Sonic, Axl and Lonnie held tight as the strong cold wind blew against. Draco, Torden and Charonus followed them, and soon they landed at a clearing not far from Eggman's laboratory. Fortunately, they were not spotted by the robots, but Tails figured that he would need to cover the plane so they would not be discovered that easily.

"Right," said Sonic. "Time that we find ourselves some robots."

"Before we do that, I would appreciate that you guys help me out concealing the Tornado," said Tails.

So Sonic, Draco, Torden, Charonus, Axl, and Lonnie pitched in and spread out the tarp that Tails brought along, and then they covered the plane with no effort and in record time. Now they were all set to proceed with ambushing some of Eggman's robots. Tails' ears cocked when he heard some footsteps that grew louder with each other.

"I think I am detecting a patrol of seven robots!" he exclaimed.

"Just exactly what we need," said Sonic. "We're going to have to coax them to our location by using some bait."

"And how are we going to do that?" asked Lonnie.

"Somehow, one or maybe two of us are going to have to step forward get the robots to make chase," said Sonic. "Charonus and Axl, do you think you can be able to take that risk?"

"Of course, we will!" said Axl. "Those robots don't scare us!"

While the group assumed their hiding positions, Axl and Charonus silently crept their way through the snow, waiting for the right moment to catch the attention of the Egg Pawn patrol. Soon, the robots were within range, and they stopped with their backs turned. This was the signal for Axl and Charonus. They jumped in front of them and assumed fighting poses so as to provoke the robots.

"Intruders!" bleeped the Egg Knight. "Don't let those two get away!"

The robot patrol chased after Charonus and Axl, who led the way to where the rest of their friends were waiting. As soon as the robots were at the right place, Sonic waved his hand to let the team know ambush their targets. Draco, Charonus and Tails, along with Sonic jumped out of their hiding places and circled around the robots. Charonus and Axl joined in too, and now the robot patrol was completely surrounded. The Egg Knight commanded the Egg Pawns to attack, but before they could, Sonic and his friends jumped over them and quickly brought them down to their knees.

"That was too easy," laughed Sonic. "Come on, dudes, let's get inside those pieces of junk. I'll take the yellow robot."

"Yeah, cause you're the one leading this rescue mission," said Lonnie as he climbed into one of the Egg Pawns.

"No time for talking, guys," said Torden, who was now inside his Egg Pawn. "We better stay focus so that we can get on with saving Bowser."

"Good idea, Torden," said Sonic. "Alright, everyone, let's go!"

Back inside the laboratory, the entrance doors opened as a patrol of seven robots waited outside. Once the doors were opened, they all went inside and made their way into the control room. Several Egg Pawns were guarding the interior of the control room, and when they noticed the patrol making their way in, they were rather confused.

"We did not know that you had business here," one of the Egg Pawns replied. "What is your clearance?"

At that moment, one patrol member opened fire, decimating the robots just before they could act. Quickly, they made their way in, and another patrol member proceeded to remove his top, exposing Draco.

"What were you thinking, Torden?" the Charizard asked indignantly. "If you go around zapping everyone, we're going to get caught and we'll never get Bowser out of here!"

"Sneaking around is not really my kind of thing, Draco," said Torden as he removed the top of his Egg Pawn. "All the same, I'm really digging the weapons these robots carry, and aside from my taekwondo, I love to gun down enemies."

"Stop bickering, you two," said Axl. "We've got work to do, so let's see where Bowser's location is."

"First things first, Axl," said Sonic. "The Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald need to be retrieved, so let's check out the computers to see where they are."

Tails typed away at the main computer, searching for the location of the Chaos Emeralds. To his delight, they were not sent to the Death Egg.

"Good news and bad news, friends," he began. "I'll start with the bad news first, the Master Emerald has already been shipped off into space."

"Oh, shoot," pouted Sonic. "We must be too late."

"I'm not finished yet, Sonic," said Tails. "The good news is that all seven Chaos Emeralds are still here, located in the cargo bay."

"Well, that takes a lot out our shoulders," said Torden.

"And I've found Bowser's location," continued Tails. "He's in the detention block, cell D-55, but you'll have to be quick as he's scheduled to be roboticised."

"In that case, Team A will go search for the Chaos Emeralds," said Sonic. "Team B, you'll go ahead and rescue Bowser."

"Okay, sounds good," smiled Draco.

"Now here's the plan," said Sonic, and he brought everyone together to whisper it. The team were enthusiastic about the idea, but Lonnie was not sure if he wanted to pose as a captive prisoner.

"Don't worry, buddy," assured Axl. "Just pretend that you're going wild when the robots come to take you. You have the laser blaster with you, but don't take it out yet until the right moment comes."

"Okay, I'll give it a try," sighed Lonnie.

"Meet you at the main entrance," said Sonic as he and his team put back on their disguises and headed out the door to the cargo bay. The other team made their way to the detention block at the other direction.

Bowser sat quietly in his cell as he thought deeply about his situation. He knew it was only a matter of time until he becomes converted into a robot, hence one of Eggman's minions, and he did not like the thought of that. Nevertheless, he was also feeling hopeful that Draco and his friends would show up and save him from his prison. This made him fall back into pensiveness again, and he was reflecting on his past.

So this is how Princess Peach felt whenever I kidnap her and lock her up in the room I made exclusively for her, he thought. I guess maybe trying to make her be my beloved that way was not the best method to win her affections after all. Ah, well, that can't be helped anyway as I know all too well who she truly desires. Gosh, being locked up like this has really opened my eyes…

Suddenly, there was a huge commotion coming from outside his cell. Bowser could hear the assortment of laser blasters firing and things exploding, and he could wonder what was going on. Eventually, the noise stopped, and then an Egg Pawn approached his cell and it pressed a few buttons opening the door. The Koopa deduced that his time has already come, until the Egg Pawn opened the top of his head.

"Hi Bowser!" said Draco. "I'm here to save you!"

"Draco!" exclaimed Bowser, feeling happy to see his beloved Charizard again. "How did you get here?"

"It's a really long story," replied Draco. "Come on! Let's get out here as fast as we can! Tails and Lonnie have disabled all the surveillance cameras so that we can easily escape with Sonic, Torden, Axl and Charonus, but it's only a matter of time until reinforcements arrive."

Bowser made his way out of his cell, and Draco followed him, but there was trouble ahead. The reinforcements have already arrived, and Tails and Lonnie were fending off against the wave of Egg Pawns that marched their way inside, forcing them into the cell block hallway.

"Looks like our only escape route has been blocked off," grumbled Lonnie.

"Now what are we gonna do?" asked Draco. "We can't hold off against them forever, because more and more of those robots will keep appearing!"

"So much for the rescue," said Bowser. "Guess we're all doomed to be roboticised."

Tails looked around the hallway, and then he noticed an air vent nearby. "No need to despair now!" he said. "I see an alternate way to escape! Let me handle this!"

Quickly, Tails blasted away the air vent. The entry was as big as the one the team originally used. He climbed in and beckoned his friends to follow him. One by one, they kept the Egg Pawns at bay before climbing into the air duct, and Bowser delivered a powerful Fire Breath that incinerated the throng of robots before joining his friends. Together, they hurried through the air duct to find the exit.

Author's Note: More Star Wars inspired fights and moments in this chapter! Now let's see if the gang can escape!