"CLUCK! IT'S THE HEDGEHOG!"

Rosy looked behind her and saw way more Badniks than she expected so soon. Motobugs, Buzz Bombers, and many more were staring her down from 30 feet away in an army seemingly commanded by a walking robot chicken with an irritating voice. Rosy aimed her crossbow and said:

"St-stay back! I've got a weapon!"

The chicken clucked:

"HUH. SONIC HAS A *CLUCK*-BOW NOW!"

Rosy was dumbfounded at the apparent fact that the chicken had mistaken an eight-year-old pink hedgehog for an eleven-year-old blue hedgehog. Sure, her quills were styled like him, but who would seriously mistake her for Sonic?

Even Robotnik sounded appalled by this, as his voice was heard coming from a speaker on the outside of his brain yelling:

"SCRATCH! THAT. IS. NOT. SONIC!"

Scratch then shouted:

"BADNIKS! GET SONIC BEFORE HE RUNS AWAY!"

"What the- LISTEN TO ME YOU DUMB CLUCK!"

As Robotnik continued to berate his cuckoo machine, the army of Badniks began to charge toward "Sonic", who broke into a mad dash away from the horde. As she ran, she aimed her crossbow at a Buzz Bomber closing in on her. She pulled the trigger, and with a loud SNAP one red crossbow bolt shot from the device and ripped through the center of said Buzz Bomber easily. The big insect then fell to the ground and broke into pieces instantly.

Unfortunately, as perfect a shot as that was, that was only one in probably 40 Badniks. And she only had seven bolts left. Rosy had to continue running with the horde of killers behind her. As she ran, she heard Scratch shout:

"STOP IN YOUR TRACKS, BLUE HEDGEHOG!"

Then Robotnik screamed:

"SHE'S NOT EVEN GOING FAST! YOU ARE A FREAKING IDIOT, SCRATCH!"

After running for a few more seconds, another Buzz Bomber managed to shoot an energy blast at Rosy. It hit the shield around her, causing it to not only disappear, but the force of the impact tripped her and she fell to the grass. As she tried to scramble to her feet, a Motobug came zooming towards her. She quickly toggled the next bolt and aimed at the menace. She fired again and the bolt shot towards the Badnik. Unlike the Buzz Bomber before, her aim was not as precise, so the bolt flew straight into its right eye, but did not go completely through it. It DID throw it off and it steered out of control, landing on it's left side.

Scratch clucked again:

"SURRENDER, HEDGEHOG!"

Robotnik said:

"For the third time, THAT IS NOT SONIC!"

"WELL, WHERE ELSE COULD HE BE?"

Suddenly, a young voice called out from behind the Badnik army:

"Hey!"

All the Badniks whipped around to see the source of the voice. As they did so, a gap opened and Rosy could see as well. When she saw who it was, her eyes widened.

It was him.

Sonic the Hedgehog himself had arrived on Little Planet. He had a strange pair of green glasses resting on the top of his head and a wide smirk on his face. Rosy couldn't help but think: he was "the one who would be there for her".

Scratch then asked the blue boy:

"DO YOU MIND? WE'RE TRYING TO KILL SONIC OVER THERE!"

Robotnik screamed:

"WHAT THE F-"

Before Sonic could hear his full outburst, Rosy had toggled and fired her third crossbow bolt straight through Scratch's neck, cutting off the transmission. Scratch then fell over to the right onto the ground, rolling out of the soon-to-be battle zone. Sonic then asked the horde in front of him:

"Can we make a deal, guys? How about we leave the young lady alone and settle this like civilized people?"

Of course, being Badniks, they ignored his question and charged toward him. The Buzz Bombers armed their turrets straight at the blue hedgehog, and the Motobugs drove towards him.

"Worth a shot."

Sonic then took off faster than the speed of sound, hurling straight into a Buzz Bomber that just opened fire on him. Without being hit once, Sonic grabbed the bee by the neck and flipped through the air, throwing it straight into another. They both smashed to bits instantly. Sonic landed on his feet as two Motobugs charged at him from opposite sides. Without taking a stop, Sonic zoomed toward the Motobug in front of him, curled up into a ball, and popped the tire with his spiny quills. The bug slowly came to a stop and its face planted into the grass. The other Motobug came in at such a high speed it drove off the first like a ramp. It flew through the air straight towards Rosy. She quickly aimed her fourth crossbow bolt and fired. The bolt was precise, ripping through the Badnik and splitting it in half. The two halves then flew past Rosy and landed on the ground.

Keeping up his mechanical massacre, Sonic spotted the Motobug on its side with the crossbow bolt in its right eye. He grabbed the machine by the bolt and spun vertically for a second, hurling it towards a huge crowd of Badniks, taking out about 5/8 of them. Sonic then curled down on the ground, began somersaults in midplace and hurled himself towards the other 3/8 of Badniks, taking them out with ease.

Rosy was in awe; being able to see the blue blur in action was something she never thought she'd be able to see in person. All she had heard about Sonic before was word of mouth. Said blue hedgehog got up after the spin dash and walked up to Rosy. He was concerned that some eight-year-old girl had wound up on the currently in peril Little Planet.

Sonic spoke:

"You alright?"

Rosy replied:

"Yeah."

"You DO realize coming here during Robotnik's takeover was not really a great move?"

"Yes."

Suddenly, the pair of hedgehogs heard:

"*CLUCK* STAND DOWN HEDGEHOG!"

Scratch, despite having a crossbow bolt through his neck, was somehow still operating. He clearly had no more Badniks to command, yet he was still on his feet confronting Sonic and Rosy.

Shortly after this threat, however, a massive white light suddenly appeared behind Scratch. The light morphed into what appeared to be a 20 foot tall mech. Then, the white suddenly transitioned into a checker pattern of seafoam green and candy red, shining brightly on our duo. Finally, the lights died down and the shape became physical. It was a bipedal mech, made up of the Robo-Matic with large legs connected to the bottom, as well as two arms on its sides with star-pattern springs as hands. It was colored bright red with spikes on its feet. And, of course, because the Robo-Matic was the base, Robotnik himself was in the cockpit.

Scratch turned around to see the Doctor's machine several feet behind him. He squawked:

"RO*CLUCK*NIK! LET'S GET THE-"

In the middle of the sentence, Robotnik's machine shot out its left arm towards the chicken. It landed right in front of Scratch, and the spring sprung forward and nailed him in the stomach, launching him high into the air. Scratch screamed annoyingly as he soared away from the confrontation. As he eventually landed in a pond lots of feet away, the arm retracted back to where it shot from.

Robotnik spoke:

"Excuse that nuisance. It appears you've uncovered my new base, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Sonic responded:

"YOUR new base?"

"Yes. At least, it WILL be. This giant barrier around the planet, once I give the go-ahead, will roboticize it into the next step in conquering Mobius! To add icing on the cake, it's reverse gravitational force will keep pesky rodents like you trapped on the planet, so you won't get up to my Winged Fortress! You'll just have to remain here and die while I become the ultimate intergalactic warlord!"

As Robotnik laughed, Sonic just rolled his eyes.

"Oh no. I'm so scared of an old man piloting THAT piece of crap."

Robotnik's laughter was cut off.

"HEY! This beast is stronger than it looks! I'll show you! I WILL SHO-"

Sonic somersaulted in place and then hurled himself straight towards the mech while Robotnik was ranting. He slammed right into the front of the Robo-Matic, leaving a massive gash in it. He flew backwards and landed on the ground. The robot stumbled backward with electricity spurting out of the open gash. Robotnik gritted his teeth in frustration.

"HOW DARE YOU CUT ME OFF HEDGEHOG!"

"No. I didn't cut you off!"

Sonic then repeated his spin dash straight into the robot's right leg, chopping it off. He still flew forward onto the ground. He landed, whipped himself around, and then spindashed again into the mech's left leg, also chopping it off. He then landed back on the other side. His blue streak was in the shape of a "V" after this.

"I think I DID cut off your robot's legs, though."

As the legless Robo-Matic hit the grass, Robotnik growled loudly. He pressed buttons on the Robo-Matic's control panel and it began floating on its own again. As it took flight, Robotnik shouted:

"YOU BLUE BRAT! Enjoy your victories while they last... because my machines WILL finally destroy you by the end of this!"

Robotnik then saw the pink hedgehog in the green shirt and orange skirt. He just stared at her for a few seconds, and smiled.

"..Or at least ONE of them will..."

Robotnik then hit another button on his Robo-Matic. It was suddenly engulfed in the same white light as before. The light then changed into the same seafoam and candy checkered pattern before completely vanishing.

After taking a small breath after the encounter, Sonic then began to process Robotnik's words on the "Reverse Gravitational Force" on the shell. As he was pondering this, the pink hedgehog slowly walked up to him.

"Sonic?"

"Hold on a second."

Sonic then looked around quickly to find any hill high enough to try and jump upwards. Luckily, there was one that seemed to fit that bill. It appeared that if he ran toward it fast enough, he could launch off it like a ramp to try and reach the small opening he and the pink hedgehog came through, if he could find it at all. He then took off, running a great distance away from the hill. He then ran back at full force, zooming straight off the hill. He flew up into the air straight towards the ceiling above him. However, the closer he got to the ceiling, the slower he flew upward. Eventually, he stop going up, and then fell many feet down to the ground. Thankfully, he was able to land on his feet.

Robotnik had REALLY outdone himself this time. With that force on the barrier, he would have a extremely hard time getting off the planet to get to his Winged Fortress, where the controls for this barrier probably were. As much he hated to admit it, that was a smart move.

"Damn you, Robotnik..."

Sonic turned back to the pink hedgehog, who he clearly couldn't just ignore. As the following conversation ensued, Sonic couldn't help but notice she had shaped her quills like his. She clearly must've been some sort of fan. However, her quill style also looked... familiar...

"Look... uh.."

"Rosy."

"..Rosy, you REALLY shouldn't have come here. Why would you travel here anyway?"

"Well... my tarot cards said I would meet somebody here."

Sonic groaned and slapped his hand onto his face.

"Did your cards say that 'here' was incredibly dangerous and that you would probably die or get captured and roboticized?!"

"I... don't think so..."

Indeed, Rosy could not remember the prediction stating anything about the state of Little Planet. It only mentioned she would meet someone there. She felt she should've stayed down at Never Lake. And judging by Sonic's expressions, she could tell he felt that too.

"Great... Just, great."

Sonic just sighed and continued:

"Look, Robotnik's shell has us trapped here. I'm not gonna be able to get you off the planet until I find a way to take down that shell. Until then... keep that crossbow by your side, because that horde of Badniks probably won't be the last."

Rosy looked down at the crossbow, which had four bolts left. She then looked back at Sonic and asked:

"So... should I just stay here while you go fight Robotnik's army, or..."

Sonic answered:

"I think you should come with me to the next zone. I don't think it's a good idea to stay in one place. I know I said keep that crossbow by your side, but I'm sure it has a limited amount of bolts."

Sonic then held out his right hand and said:

"Take it, and hold on tight. REALLY tight."

Rosy nervously walked up to her blue idol and took his hand. She gripped it as hard as she could. Then, Sonic took off at his signature high speed, pulling Rosy with him. Upon takeoff, Rosy felt her body jerk upward a few feet from the ground as a gigantic amount of wind suddenly started blowing against her. The force seemed to be trying to pull her away from Sonic, but she held on as they sped on towards the next area.

As they left, however, a certain brainless robot chicken crawled out of the pond he landed in. You'd think after landing in water, Scratch would completely short out and stop working. However, mainly due to him being constructed out some of Robotnik's strongest materials (which he regrets using to this very day), he managed to remain functional after landing in the water. However, at the rate he landed, several of his components were damaged. As he crawled back onto land, he began to malfunction severely.

"SONI*CLUCK* WIL*CLUCK* StAnD DOwnn..."

Scratch stumbled around the tropical area, searching for the hedgehog. His vision was really shorting out, so it was impossible to make out details. Also, whenever he spoke, his jaw no longer matched what he was saying. It would just move up and down randomly, even with nothing being said by him.

As he stumbled, he eventually saw a figure. Said figure appeared to resemble a hedgehog. Scratch managed to blurt:

"HedgHOOG! SARUNDER NOw!"

The figure walked towards the malfunctioning Scratch. I repeat: WALKED. Walked in a robotic fashion. It was almost like it was one of Robotnik's machines. But... it was the hedgehog, right?

When the figure reached his target, it grabbed Scratch by his brain. It then proceeded to crush it, with little to no problems. Scratch's system severely distorted as his head was squashed by the figure's surprising strength. Then, it hand pulled on the head, effortlessly ripping it off. Scratch's head was completely separated from his body. His vision was even more warped than before, but he barely saw a headless figure where his body would be fall to the ground. His system was now starting to go out, with him unable to feel his head hit the grass after being dropped by the figure. As his vision completely went out, the last thing he heard was Robotnik speaking to the figure through its speakers:

"Good work, Metal. That chicken had no more use in my empire and needed to go. Now, follow those hedgehogs. Don't focus on Sonic for now; get the girl!"

Rosy felt the massive amount of wind die down very quickly once Sonic stopped running. Somehow she had managed to hold on to both her hero's hand and the crossbow for probably a half minute of running at super high speed with a ridiculous wind trying to pull her away. She also felt her feet land back on the ground. Upon stop, Sonic let go of her hand and turned to her.

"You alright?"

Rosy, feeling a post-adrenaline-rush feeling, took a huge breath and replied:

"C-Could you carry me next time?"

As Rosy tried to catch her breath, both her and Sonic looked around the area where they stopped. It was vastly different from the previous one: the place was a neon-looking city with cyan buildings and trees all over the place on a magenta ground. Lots of flashing green lights were visible on the buildings, some were even arranged in strange symbols.

Sonic turned back to Rosy and insisted:

"C'mon. Let's keep walking around. And, like I said, keep that crossbow on standby."

Sonic and Rosy walked further into the city. There were no visible sidewalks, or roadways, or even any vehicles (because as far as Mobians know, Little Planet is uninhabited). The buildings seemed empty as well, without anything that would've been made by other Mobians (chairs, desks, etc.), just a series of empty rooms. However, the things that seemed the most interesting were these poles that the duo would find occasionally. They would have signs on the top that would say either "Past" or "Future". They were also rotatable horizontally, as Sonic discovered when he examined a "Past" pole.

During this exploration, Rosy tried to talk with Sonic:

"Hey... remember I said that I followed a prediction that I would meet somebody here?"

"Yeah. And you probably just signed a death warrant by following it. To be fair, though, I might've too by coming here."

Rosy tried to ignore Sonic's "delightful comments".

"Well... the cards never said who it was I would meet. I have a strong feeling that you were the person the cards were referring to. Not that I'm complaining, quite the opposite. I've always wanted to meet you in person. I never thou-"

Rosy was suddenly cut off mid-sentence by what felt like a metallic arm wrapping around her neck and causing her to drop her crossbow. It had a tight grip too, for any effort she made to pull it back was futile. Sonic turned, confused why Rosy didn't finish her sentence, and saw...

..another Sonic.

A robot resembling him near perfectly. It wasn't just a simplified replica of his basic shape, it looked almost exactly like him. The quills, the gloves, the shoes, everything. It's sockets were pitch black with two red, sinister eyes staring him down. It had Rosy in its right arm and clearly had no plans to let her go.

"*GAG* SONIC!"

Sonic ran towards the faker.

"LET HER GO, NOT-ME!"

"SONIC! HELP!"

As Sonic heard her cries for help and as he got closer and closer, suddenly...

[[[["MAURICE! UGH!"

"SONIA!"

The Roboticizer slowly but surely drained Sonia's life away as her body began to morph into a dull, lifeless shell. Maurice and Manic, held back by the SWATBOTS, no matter how hard they struggled, could only watch in horror as their sister had the life in her destroyed and replaced with machinery. As the last of her flesh vaporized into metal, Maurice cried:

"NO! NO! SONIA! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooo..."]]]]

Sonic was suddenly thrown back into the present when the Metal Sonic suddenly smacked him in the face with its left arm. To Sonic's surprise, that one smash actually managed to deal a painful blow to his skull. It also didn't help that he didn't have any rings. He was launched away from the faker and hit the ground with a THUD.

As he slowly got to his feet, he saw the faker along with Rosy glow the same white, then seafoam and candy checkered pattern Robotnik's other machine did earlier. He heard Rosy scream one more time:

"SONIC!"

The two of them then vanished, leaving Sonic alone on Little Planet in severe pain.