-Chapter 188-

Mean Machines

Robotropolis

When Team Dark arrived at Robotropolis, they were surprised to find everything strangely quiet.

"Query, where is everyone?" Omega questioned.

"Did Eggman clear the house?" Hope questioned.

"My guess, he's moved to a different base for whatever he's working on," Rouge mused.

"Stay on your toes," Shadow cautioned.

Everyone began moving through the base, waiting for robots to try and jump out at them. They heard whirring up ahead. Pressing her back against the wall, Hope drew the Omochao Gun. With her free hand, she counted down from three before they jumped out, weapons at the ready.

"Hands up!" she screamed. "Don't move!"

The tension immediately bled out when they were greeted with the sight of Metal Sonic mopping the floor. Metal looked up.

"Hello, Hope," he greeted casually. "Sorry, but the doctor took Agatha and the rest. I have not been informed of where."

A moment of silence passed before Hope holstered the gun. Metal looked at the rest of Team Dark, specifically Shadow and Omega, and merely vented as if scoffing before going back to mopping.

"You two must be overjoyed to see me like this," he muttered bitterly. "Dr. Robotnik's former right hand man, reduced to a weak, pathetic janitor."

"We're here to find out what Robotnik is planning, not pity you, Metal Sonic," Omega said matter-of-factly.

"Though personally, I think you deserve far worse after what you did," Shadow retorted.

"Like you have room to talk," Metal shot back. "What I did was horrible, but did I plot mass genocide and the destruction of Mobius, much less attempt it?"

Shadow's eyes flared for a minute before Hope grabbed his shoulder.

"Easy, Shadow," she insisted. "Don't let him bait you."

"What can you tell us about what's going on?" Rouge asked.

"Nothing," Metal replied. "I have no information to offer you from my current position. I am not yet trusted with such information."

Rouge looked at him. "But there is one thing you're trusted with. A Chaos Emerald. Your little power source."

"That's the signal Tails picked up," Hope realized.

Shadow grinned. "Omega, rip it out of him. And no need to be gentle."

Omega had only taken one step forward before Metal raised a finger. He opened his access panel, casually removing the blue Chaos Emerald and holding it out.

"Just take it," he sighed.

Omega took it as everyone stared.

"Just like that?" Hope asked.

"With my reserve power, I can seek out a Power Gem to continue functioning," Metal replied. "And at the moment, I can't even activate my rockets without permission. And since there's no one to request permission from at the moment…"

"You're as useless as the 6-S," Rouge concluded.

"Now that's not fair, Rouge," Hope chimed in. "He's able to function normally, while I wouldn't trust those goons to watch paint dry 'cause they'd find some way to turn it radioactive."

"Okay, I'll give you that," Rouge conceded.

Despite Hope's attempts, the words still stung Metal's battered pride.

"I'll be off now," he grumbled. "Try not to make a mess as you hack the Eggnet."

And with that, he was off. Team Dark watched him go.

"...Now I almost feel sorry for him." Omega admitted.

"Don't be," Shadow insisted.

"Alright, while we're here, might as well do that Eggnet hunt," Hope decided.

"Find out where the good doctor is," Rouge insisted.

"As well as his plans for the Gizoid," Omega added.

"Right," Shadow nodded. "Promise to Cream or not, we can't afford to take chances. We need all the information we can get."

Hope headed to the computer, plugging Omochao in and getting to work.

Station Square

Meanwhile, at Thorndyke Industries, several workers were at the assembly line, interspersing their work with a popular topic of casual conversation.

"I can hardly believe how big Sonic's gotten," one of them remarked. "Seems like just yesterday he was a kid who helped the Sheriff out every once in a while."

"I know, right?" another asked. "My kid's closet is full of Honey's Sonic Boom line."

"My daughter joined the track team at her school," a third chimed in. "She's really giving it her all. I'm so proud of her."

"That's not even getting into the merch lines," the first worker replied.

One of them, a short bald man with a thick red beard, perked up.

"So many people worship him," he muttered. "What's next? A whole musical about him, with a chorus line of dancing Sonics? Or a hip-hop Christmas album?"

"Think that's pushing it," the second said.

"No need to get salty, Sean," the first pointed out. "I don't know why you're so against Sonic."

"I'm not 'against' him, Bob," Sean clarified. "I just don't act like a teenager seeing her favorite boy band in concert every time I see him."

"We're not that bad, are we?" the second worker asked.

Before the conversation can continue, a whistle blows.

"Lunch time," said the third one.

They filed out, Sean lingering behind. Once he was alone, he reached to the top of his head, pulling off a bald cap to reveal six thin strands of hair.

"I shouldn't have to lower myself to such manual labor," Snively Kintobor growled, "but soon, both Sonic and my uncle will pay. They'll rue the day they crossed me."

Station Square

Walking down the main street of their home turf, Chris and Keith were searching for their elusive Chaos Emerald. Kat had branched off to continue her search elsewhere, giving the boys a chance to talk privately.

"C'mon cuz, it's not that hard," Keith insisted.

"Easy for you to say…" Chris sighed.

"You just gotta go for it. It's the best way to get what you want."

"Not in this case."

As they talked, Kat came running up, holding the red Chaos Emerald in her hand.

"Found it!" she declared, sliding it into the pocket of her jacket. "Turns out, it ended up at Honey's, and she'd been holding onto it for us."

"Nice," Keith noted. "With that done, maybe you can help me motivate Chris enough to finally ask Helen out for real."

"Keith!" Chris objected, turning beet-red.

"Wait, you're still not dating?" Kat questioned. "It's been like, what, a year already? Freakin' ask her out already."

Chris sighed. "This is exactly what we were just talking about, Kat. Keith's advice to 'just go for it' worked with you, but Helen is... how do I put it…"

"Kat's polar opposite?" Keith offered.

"That's... a hundred percent valid," Kat admitted. "And you're worried that a rash action will put her off and ruin your chances."

"And I'm telling him that Helen is head over heels for him," Keith added. "And even she enjoys a leap of faith here and there. Provided it's not off a cliff."

"That was one time, and there was a lake under me!" Kat defended.

"Either way, you get my meaning."

Chris just stared at the two, sighing and shaking his head.

"You're both no help," he muttered.

"Well, why don't we start with something small then," Kat suggested. "Helen's still working off that cold she caught the other day, right?"

"I think so, yeah," Keith nodded.

Kat smirked.

"Y'know, whenever I was sick, Jade would come to my house and bring me some soup," she offered. "I was always so grateful when she did. it was such a kind and thoughtful gesture."

"Alright, alright," Chris gave in. "You don't need to drive it through my head like a railroad spike, Kat."

"C'mon," Keith said, taking his two friends by the arm and steering them towards the Thorndyke residence. "Let's get Ella to make some chicken noodle soup."

-X-

Sometime later, the kids were at Helen's doorstep, Chris holding a thermos in one hand. A few minutes passed before Helen's mother opened the door.

"Oh!" she let out. "Hello, kids."

"Hi, Mrs. B," Chris greeted. "We brought a little something for Helen. It's homemade chicken soup."

"Oh, that's so sweet," Mrs. Birnbaum paused. "That's Ella's soup, yes?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Helen's told me about your mother's... affinity for cooking."

"We're trying to make her feel better, not worse," Keith pointed out.

"Yes, of course. Please, come in." The kids stepped inside as Mrs. Birnbaum smiled. "As it happens, Helen's got another visitor already. Cream and her new robot friend."

"Emerl?" Kat questioned. "Huh, guess he really does follow her everywhere."

They were escorted to Helen's room, the walls painted pink with posters from Chao in Space and Sonic Man decorating them, along with mounds of plushies all over. Laying in bed was Helen, coughing slightly as she grabbed a tissue and blew her nose. Cream was sitting off to the side with Emerl, both turning and waving as the kids approached.

"Hey, Helen," Chris greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Not so good," Helen replied. "I forgot my blanket a few too many times and caught a chill. Hopefully, the worst of it will pass soon."

"Hopefully," Keith remarked.

"Well, we brought something that should help out," Chris held up the thermos. "Ella's homemade soup."

Helen smiled. "Oh, that's so sweet. Thanks, guys."

"Actually, it was all Chris' idea," Keith said quickly.

"Yeah," Kat agreed. "We're just tagging along."

"Chris, you shouldn't have," Helen let out.

Chris played it cool. "But I did anyway."

Behind his back, Kat and Keith exchanged a quiet high five. As they poured Helen a bowl of the soup, they brought her up to speed on the latest Freedom Fighter business.

"So, Emerl's a super-robot from the old days of Mobius?" she asked.

"Yep," Chris confirmed, "and after she played the Mystic Melody, he ended up forming a Link with Cream."

"He's my friend," Cream added. "Right, Emerl?"

"Yes," Emerl confirmed.

She smiled and hugged the robot tightly.

"The cool thing about him is he copies your moves just by watching you," Kat added. "And can perform them perfectly."

"Wow…" Helen let out. "And Eggman just dumped him in the ocean?"

"Yeah, he did," Keith remarked. "Eggman really dropped the ball, getting rid of this little guy. He had no idea what he gave away."

In Orbit

Somewhere orbiting near the moon, the good doctor was hard at work on his master plan.

"If this doesn't get that damn robot to Link with its real master, I'll shave my mustache," he muttered.

"You're really gonna take Emerl away from Cream?" Cubot asked. "That's cold, Doc."

"I didn't fetch the Gizoid from the ARK just so it could play den mother to that bunny.

It's meant for much more than that."

"I managed to remotely reactivate Emerl's internal GPS," Eggatha reported. "Apparently he's in Station Square at the moment, in the Birnbaum residence."

"Agatha, sweetie, I have no idea what that means," Robotnik pointed out.

"Oh, he's at Helen's house," Eggatha translated. "She's the girl in the wheelchair."

"Ah," Robotnik nodded before pressing a button on his glove controller, calling in the S.S.S.S.S. Squad. "Your current mission, should you choose to accept it, is to spy on the Gizoid and track his progress under the Freedom Fighters. Don't let him out of your sight. If you don't accept it, well... let's just say I'll be getting out my Badnik smelting pot tonight."

"Hang on," Decoe piped up. "The bot's with the rabbit, right?"

"And the rabbit's at the wheelchair girl's house," Bocoe remarked.

"Then that means the other kids are probably there too."

"And that means…" they both said in dawning horror.

"KAT!" Cubot shrieked, retracting into cube form.

Eggatha sighed, scooping up the cube.

"Seriously, are they ever gonna get over that?" she asked. "They get pounded to scrap all the time."

"Either you go watch over the Gizoid, or this!" Robotnik threatened.

He pressed a button on his glove, a panel on the wall popping open to reveal a giant smelting pot full of molten steel. A Swatbot was sinking into it, giving a thumbs up, which was the last thing to go down (1). That sent Bocoe and Decoe running, the others following as Robotnik sighed.

"Why is it that evil geniuses are always surrounded by fools?"

"As I recall, you built those imbeciles," Amino pointed out, narrowly avoiding a wrench thrown at his head.

Station Square

Meanwhile, in an abandoned Robotnik facility, Snively looked over several computer chips.

"For months I've had to fritter away my genius, slaving away at Nelson Thorndyke's little sweatshop," he grumbled. "But it's all come down to this moment."

He tapped away at a computer, grinning from ear to ear.

"Soon, I'll do what my pathetic Uncle continually failed to accomplish. Kill Sonic the Hedgehog."

He hit a big red button.

-X-

At the Birnbaum residence, unbeknownst to the kids, the closet door opened, a vacuum cleaner moving on its own accord. It moved over to the TV, attaching a wire to it, which began to spread through several appliances in the house. As this went on, Emerl began to detect the change, tugging on Cream's dress.

"Warning," he said. "Danger."

"Hmm?" Cream let out.

At that moment, they heard a scream from the kitchen. Chris and Keith ran out, jaws dropping at the sight of a hand mixer sporting glowing red eyes and flying around, dive-bombing Helen's mother.

"What the flying-?!" Keith exclaimed.

Kat instantly grabbed her bat off her back, readying it before swinging hard at the mixer. She shattered it on impact, the pieces falling to the ground.

"Okay, what the heck just happened?!" Chris demanded.

"I don't know!" Mrs. Birnbaum remarked. "One minute, I'm doing dishes, the next my own hand mixer is trying to Kamikaze me!"

"...Guys?" Keith piped up. "It's not just a hand mixer…"

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

Just then, several other kitchen appliances began to float in the air, each one sporting the same glowing red eyes as the hand mixer. In the living room, they could hear the TV, as well as the vacuum rising up.

"Oh come on!" Kat exclaimed.

A waffle iron lunged forward, snapping at them like a dog. Kat raised her bat in defense mere seconds before it could clamp down on her face.

"Chris, get back upstairs!" she ordered.

Chris dashed up the steps as the refrigerator doors burst open, launching its contents at the group before lumbering after them. In Helen's room, she and Cream had their arms around each other in fear, Emerl standing in front of them as numerous appliances swooped around. Cheese chirped, intercepting a flying iPod before it could hurt the girls.

"Red alert!" Emerl declared. "Malfunctioning appliances! Beginning defensive procedures!"

He knelt down in a manner similar to Sonic, tucking into a Spin Dash before bouncing off each one.

"Did... Did he just perform a Spin Dash?" Helen questioned.

"Way to go!" Cream cheered.

Chris grabbed Helen's wheelchair, carefully helping her into it. He made sure to grab her blanket, using it to cover her legs.

"C'mon," he insisted. "We need to get out of here."

They hurried down the steps, finding Keith looking over the demolished electronics.

"Guys…" he began, "all of these appliances are Thorndyke Industries products."

"My dad's company?" Chris exclaimed. "That doesn't make any sense! Dad does a very rigorous and thorough inspection of any products before they ever leave the factory!"

"Well clearly, his inspection team needs to be fired," Kat spat, kicking a shattered blender.

"Guys, this is bad," Helen perked. "Mr. Thorndyke's company holds seventy percent of the city's tech market, right?"

"Uh-oh…" Chris let out.

He already had his com out, dialing up Freedom HQ.

"Hey Chris," Sonic greeted. "Find the Emerald ye-?"

"My dad's appliances are trying to kill everyone!" Chris screamed.

"...Say what?"

"It's true! Every electronic gadget in Helen's house just came to life and attacked us!"

"We're on our way! Just hang tight!"

Robotropolis

Hope had searched the system again and again, but every search hit a dead end.

"Seriously? Nothing?" she questioned.

"All systems have been locked down, and all servers wiped," Omochao chimed in.

"Almost like he knew we'd come here," Rouge mused.

"He's covering his bases for once," Hope mused. "Whatever he plans for Emerl and the Phis, it's gotta be huge."

"Whatever," Shadow shrugged. "We came here for the Emerald and we found it."

He pulled out his communicator, calling Sonic. "Hey Faker, we found the Emerald, but the entire place is dead."

"Wait, seriously?" Sonic asked. "Never mind, not important. If you got what you came for, get to Station Square, and prepare yourself. This is a weird one."

Shadow looked confused for a moment, then just pulled a Warp Ring from his pocket. One by one, the entire team jumped through, vanishing from sight.

Station Square

Team Sonic and Team Dark met up with the kids at the Thorndyke Mansion. They gathered around the large dining table where they could talk, Chuck Thorndyke joining them.

"We've gotten similar stories to yours all over the city," Sally reported. "Electronics going haywire, all from Thorndyke Industries."

"Think it's Eggman?" Tails questioned.

"After that Tails Doll stunt, I wouldn't put it past him," Sonic remarked.

"Nelson's going nuts because of this," Chuck reported. "He's trying to find the source as we speak."

"Whoever leads his inspection team needs to be sacked," Knuckles grumbled.

"Nelson questioned him over it. A newer employee named Sean Kennedy."

"And?" Sonic asked.

"He got nothing. Sean swore up and down he has no idea what happened."

"Maybe we should talk to him," Knuckles decided.

Sonic nodded. "We don't have any other leads at the moment."

At Thorndyke Industries, Nelson had just gotten done questioning "Sean".

"Are we done here?" the annoyed worker asked. "I have a line to get back to."

"Yes, of course," Nelson nodded. "Just keep an eye out."

Sean got up to leave. He opened the door, only to be cut off by Sonic.

"You Sean Kennedy? We'd like to talk to you," Sonic squinted, looking him up and down. "Hey... don't I know you from somewhere?"

"I highly doubt that," Sean said simply. "I spend most of my day bent over an assembly line."

Team Dark then walked in, and Hope locked eyes with Sean.

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me," Hope sighed.

"Hope, you know this man?" Shadow asked.

"Unfortunately. Shadow, meet my cousin Snively."

"Agatha's brother?" Shadow raised an eyebrow. "The one who the doctor kicked out?"

Sean managed to hide his irritation at that.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. You've confused me for someone else."

"Cut the bullshit, Snively," Hope spat. "You may have fooled Mr. Thorndyke with that fake beard, but not me."

"Little girl, my name is Sean Kennedy. And I have a lot of work to get back to-"

Hope grabbed the beard.

"Is that so?" she asked before yanking hard.

"Ow!" Sean yelped. "Hey, what the-?"

"What, did you glue this thing on?" Hope demanded.

"This is an actual beard attached to my actual face! Now let go!"

Hope did, then her eyes narrowed. "The beard may be real, but no way you'd shave off what few hairs you still have."

"I suffer from male pattern baldness. I shave my head to look less silly."

"Oh, really? Think fast!"

Before he could react, Hope grabbed his scalp, snatching off the bald cap to reveal Snively's telltale hairs. Everyone gasped.

"AHA!" Hope declared. "Caught you red-handed!"

"You little brat!" Snively roared.

"Snively!" Sonic exclaimed. "So this is where you've been after Eggman kicked you to the curb!"

"I had to pay the bills somehow," Snively remarked. "Not all of us have empires to kowtow to them."

He clenched his fists, glaring at Nelson. "A genius of my caliber, forced to perform such a degrading, soul-crushing job tightening nuts and bolts for a fat cat in a fancy suit like Nelson Thorndyke... Can you fathom my humiliation?"

"Hey, could be worse," Sonic said. "You could've gotten a job slinging patties at Meh Burger."

"What did you do, Snively?" Hope demanded. "What did you do to make all the appliances go nuts?"

"I'd be more than happy to not tell you." Snively shot back.

Hope grabbed him by the collar, slamming him against the wall.

"I'm not playing with you, Snively!" she shouted. "You either talk, or we wax that beard of yours!" He was unfazed. "And shave your head!"

That was enough to get Snively to cave.

"Alright. But we need to go to my lab."

"You guys handle that," Sonic told Shadow and his team. "I'll head back to town and see what I can do to help out."

Hope passed him off to Shadow, Team Dark escorting him out as Sonic turned to Nelson, who sighed.

"He looked like a different person with that beard."

"Hey, even I was fooled for a bit," Sonic pointed out. "But I guess family recognizes family, no matter how scummy they are."

Snively led them to his lab in what appeared to be an old, debunk sewage plant, opening the door. Shadow shoved him in, a hand on his gun.

"Start talking," he ordered. "What did you do to those appliances?"

"I installed a simple nanochip of my own design," Snively replied. "With the press of a button, the chips released a computer virus that animated Thorndyke's products and placed them under my complete control."

"What exactly was your plan, Snively?" Hope demanded. "Create an army of killer blenders and vacuum cleaners?"

"This logic is flawed," Omega insisted.

"My cousin is flawed," Hope retorted.

"My plan was simple: making my own power play. To succeed where our uncle has failed time and time again... and destroy Sonic."

"How?" Rouge questioned. "By waiting until he took a bath and dropping a killer toaster in the water with him?"

"No, waiting until he was in the thick of the madness to do this!"

Snively flipped a switch. Something sparked to life, and as they watched, several appliances began flying through the air, linking and combining together.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that the nanochips enable the appliances to combine and conquer?" Snively asked casually. "Must have slipped my mind."

They began to form a massive, technological goliath, the appliances disassembling to make it one seamless black and green robot. Its face had those same menacing red eyes, and it let out a loud roar.

"Now, you can either stop me, or stop it," Snively added. "Your choice."

Hope gave him a dirty look at that.

"Fine," she conceded. "But next time I see you, I'm taking the other five."

"The other five wha-?"

Before he could pull away, Hope grabbed one of his hairs and plucked it right out, getting a pained yelp.

"No, no, no, NO!" Snively screamed.

Hope tossed the hair over her shoulder before climbing onto Shadow's back. "Let's go."

"I'll get you for this, Hope!" Snively roared.

"Hey, you'd look less silly bald. Or better yet, get a toupée."

And with that, they were gone.

Back out on the streets, it was pure pandemonium. Snively's hacked appliances were chasing crowds and destroying cars. Team Sonic and the kids were doing what they could to manage the situation, smashing up several appliances outside of a hardware store. At that moment, they heard the sound of whirring engines, followed by blades buzzing.

"That… doesn't sound good," Keith let out nervously.

At that moment, the windows smashed open to reveal numerous power tools having come to life. Weed-whackers, lawnmowers, chainsaws, the works. Cream immediately grabbed Helen's wheelchair.

"RUN AWAY!" she screamed.

Everyone began running, Kat trying to cover their escape with her bat. However, she was vastly outnumbered.

"Now I know how endangered redwoods feel!" Sonic exclaimed.

Unbeknownst to the group, the 6-S were watching from a nearby rooftop.

"Curious," Orbot mused. "It would seem that something has caused all of the appliances and electronics in the city to begin manifesting a mind of their own."

"Yeah, and they're going crazy too!" Cubot added.

"Is this one of our plans?" Coconuts questioned.

"Of course not," Robotnik chimed in over the com. "I wouldn't come up with something this silly. This is all Snively's doing."

"What should we do, boss?" Decoe asked.

"I say we get some popcorn and watch the show," Scratch decided. "I mean, no way all of them survive this. Someone is getting hacked to pieces."

"If nothing else, Snively's half-baked little scheme will provide more power-ups for the Gizoid," Robotnik decided.

"Hey look!" Grounder chimed in. "One of the weedhackers is closing in on the rabbit!"

They looked, seeing a flying chainsaw pursuing Cream and Helen. They didn't get too far before they hit a rock in the road, sending Helen tumbling out of her wheelchair and Cream on top of her. The possessed power tool revved its engine and the two girls clung to one another in fear. Kat cried out in fear, trying to reach them before she was cut off by a trio of weed hackers. However, before the chainsaw could so much as touch the girls, Bocoe and Decoe launched themselves off the roof, smashing it into the pavement.

"Trying to hurt a little girl in a wheelchair…" Bocoe shook his head. "Shameful!"

"You're a disgrace to machine-kind!" Decoe added.

The two then righted Helen's wheelchair, getting her situated in it. Kat came over, and both bots flinched, expecting to get pummeled.

"Thanks, you two," she said simply before grabbing the chair and taking off. They blinked, looking at one another.

"Hey... she didn't smash our heads in," Decoe realized.

"And she thanked us…" Bocoe added.

"Quit standing there and move it!" Scratch snapped. "The power tools are still nuts!"

The two hurried off at that. As this went on, Kat regrouped with Sonic and the others. Seeing Helen's scraped knees, Chris was by her side instantly.

"Are you okay?" he asked quickly.

"I'm fine," Helen assured him. "I fell out of my chair, but two robots helped me."

"Bocoe and Decoe," Kat informed them. "My guess is that the Doc's keeping tabs on us with the SSSSSSquad."

"And he's not too keen on seeing a paraplegic kid get chainsawed." Tails remarked.

"Eggman does have some morals, at least," Keith muttered.

"Not important right now," Sonic cut in. "We need to put these electronics down for good. I'm open to suggestions."

"Get them wet, duh," Knuckles pointed out. "I mean, they're electronics. Throw water into the mix and they're dead."

"The simplest solution is usually the best one," Tails mused. "I'll alert the fire department."

It was at that moment they heard a thunderous footstep. Everyone froze.

"What was that?" Amy asked nervously as another footstep sounded.

"Whatever it is, it's big." Sally remarked.

It was then that they saw the giant mech stomp in, glaring down at the city. Their jaws dropped.

"Oh, you've…" Sonic began.

"Gotta be…" Keith included.

"Freaking…" Chris added.

"KIDDING ME!" Kat concluded.

"Kids... get out of here," Knuckles ordered. "Now!"

For once, not even Kat argued. They all bolted.

"What the hell is that thing?!" Amy demanded.

On cue, the Dark Rider sped in, Shadow and Hope on board. Rouge and Omega were right behind them.

"Damn it!" Shadow cursed. "We're too late!"

Hope got off the bike, explaining the situation.

"Snively created this thing from all the various appliances!" she said. "It's designed to kill you, Sonic!"

"And no doubt the Freedom Fighters with him." Sally realized.

"Well, he's already hit me with everything but the kitchen sink. Why not a giant battle bot?" Sonic immediately ducked as a kitchen sink flew at him, shattering against the wall. "I stand corrected."

"What's the plan?" Knuckles demanded.

"We need water," Tails said. "A lot of it."

The massive robot roared, then tried to smash the Freedom Fighters. They darted away, Sonic hurrying toward a fire hydrant.

"Knux! I need you to crack this thing open!"

Knuckles came over, ripping the hydrant out of the ground. Sonic immediately ran around it, forming a Blue Tornado that swept the water up and at the mech. He shot it at the robot, who roared as sparks rained off it. However, it didn't seem to be enough. More electronics were crawling along the ground towards the behemoth, increasing its size and durability.

"Oh, boy…" Sonic let out.

The water soon trickled out, much to Sonic's horror.

"No, no, NO!"

"Any more bright ideas?" Knuckles demanded.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking!" Sonic snapped.

That was when they heard the roar of several fire engines. Multiple fire trucks pulled up, Kat and the boys riding along. Helen was even sitting on one, a fire cap on her head.

"We got the fire department!" she declared.

The trucks surrounded the massive robot as the hoses were unfurled. They all took aim before blasting the robot full force. This time when the robot roared, there seemed to be more pain in it. As if sensing the opening, Emerl jumped off one of the engines. curling into a Spin Dash. He plowed right into its mouth, bouncing around and tearing it up from the inside. Eventually, the mech hoisted the white flag and collapsed into a pile of soggy, smashed up appliances. Emerl landed on top of the appliances, mimicking Sonic's signature pose.

"Not bad," Sonic complimented. "Not bad at all."

-X-

Much later, all of the appliances were being gathered up.

"My dad's already planning a press conference to explain what Snively did," Chris informed them. "Guess I won't be seeing him for a week… or three."

"That's rough, buddy," Keith said.

"I'm sure things will work out," Helen assured. "And you can always come hang out with me if you get lonely."

"You sure?" Chris asked.

"Of course," Helen promised. "What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't support my boyfriend?"

A dead silence followed as Chris' brain tried to comprehend what he just heard.

"Well, isn't it obvious?" Helen went on. "I like you, you like me. One of us had to take the plunge sooner or latter, and nearly getting impaled by a flying chainsaw is-"

She was cut off when Chris suddenly pulled her into a hug, kissing her right on the lips. Her eyes widened before returning it, the others cheering like a sitcom studio audience.

"Guess Helen was the one who took the plunge," Keith mused.

"Girl knows what she wants," Kat remarked.

Eventually, they parted, faces red.

"Sorry it took so long," Chris told Helen. "Better late than never, huh?"

"Just… don't talk," Helen insisted. "You're ruining the moment."

They shared another kiss.

Author's Note:

(1): Yep. Terminator 2 reference.

And now we know where Snively's been all this time. Also, Helen and Chris are finally a couple! Woot!

Sorry for the wait. I was working on other stories and kinda lost my mojo for a while. But it's back now.

Please R&R. Until next time!