"Take a swing, big guy!" Sonic spoke out to the bulldog, lunging forward with T-Pup and the Chaotix behind him. "Let's see if you can handle five against one!"
Sonic sped his legs forward with an azure flash, alternating between left and right. Blackjack rushed towards Sonic, ready to swing at him. Sonic was still fast and became able to dodge his strike. Then, Vector punched Blackjack in the chest, skidding him back a little bit. It wasn't that far, but Sonic was quick enough to unleash a spin attack onto Blackjack's face.
"Come on, Blackjack!" Ebony cried out, angrily shaking his fist in the air. "Wipe the street with their punk asses!"
That made Blackjack seethe with determination. Fear spiked through Sonic as he got launched through an alley behind him. He skids almost twenty feet from where he had landed. When Sonic finally slowed down from the bulldog's force, he got surrounded by the muck of the alley. The dumpsters stayed piled high, and there were puddles of substances here and there.
"Is it the maid's day off?" Sonic gagged a bit. "What a mess."
"Sonic, you and your pup are sticking with me," Vector grunted, his face baring clenched teeth as he eyed his teammates. "Espio! You and Charmy will try to buy us some time!"
"Roger that, Vector!" Charmy smiled in return as he whipped out his slingshot, followed by Espio nodding wordlessly.
Blackjack struck his fist through the ground, causing some goons to fall over, but Sonic and Vector jumped onward before closing their attack onto Blackjack. The bulldog quickly punched the sky, using the force to knock Sonic and Vector back.
However, the green crocodile took Sonic by the hand and sent him back towards Blackjack, who braced for impact. Sonic landed a bunch of spin attacks all over Blackjack as he felt the power of Sonic's assault and then got sent flying into a wall. Sonic stood there with a smirk on his face, looking at Blackjack, who got up with some of his clothes ruffled and breathing heavily.
"Sheesh, this big guy took my attacks head-on, and he's still standing back up!" Sonic sweated, settling back to his fighting stance.
Vector looked, "We'll have to try and tire him out as best as we can."
"Alright! Now we're talking!" Sonic grinned.
On the other side, fewer goons charged forward with more on the way, and Espio took out some shuriken stars and tossed them all at the crooks, each becoming dispatched or gashed. Charmy then slingshots a couple of pebbles to hit several thugs' weapons out of their hands. Espio quickly dodged another goon's attack before kicking him down.
The next goon came running forward with a crowbar and soon heard another shout of anger. Espio saw from behind another goon lunging in with a machete and swiped it at the ninja chameleon. Espio quickly jumped into the air, doing a body flip while keeping his hands folded in front of his face. Espio combines a tornado effect that creates a cyclonic swirl of air filled with translucent leaves surrounding him with a ninja maneuver that activates his innate ability to camouflage himself, thereby turning him invisible.
The thugs looked around for signs of Espio but couldn't spot him. Then one guy felt a punch to his gut and a kick to another guy's head a second later. More crooks received themselves an array of punches and kicks, as Espio had given up on precision and focused on brute force.
At once, Sonic and Vector began delivering blows in different spots that would cause such annoyance to Blackjack. He could feel Sonic spin attacking his face, Vector striving to grapple him down, Espio buying his allies some time by knocking out nearby goons, and Charmy shooting pebbles at Blackjack's head with his slingshot relentlessly. All it took was T-Pup biting the bulldog's leg to have him roughly toss Sonic and Vector aside.
Then, Blackjack pinched his other hand together and flicked T-Pup off as though he were a fly, sending him sailing across the street. Luckily, Sonic caught T-Pup before he crashed through a building. Blackjack set his sights on the young bee that buzzed in the air, stepping forth to unleash a thunderclap that blew Charmy away from him. Much of this caught Espio's attention, causing him to spring after his friend.
"WHOA!" Charmy shrieked out until getting grabbed fast by Espio.
"Stay close, Charmy," The ninja chameleon stated, landing on top of a nearby light post. "We can't fight our way through without Ebony's men chasing after us."
"Havin' some trouble, fellas?" Ebony called out with a bucktooth smirk. "My boy, Blackjack, doesn't take kindly to those who'd wanna come swimmin' in my pond and expectin' me to lay low. Better give yourselves up, so you can either die easier or die harder! And I guarantee you, Sonic. When I say harder, I MEAN HARDER!"
Vector just gritted his teeth at Blackjack, then peeked at Sonic. "You got any bright ideas against a big dude like him?"
"Well, I don't know whatever mental discipline this guy's gone through," Sonic said as he gazes up above to spot Snively's Hover Unit. "But Smugly still has the Chaos Emerald with him in his high chair. I have an idea on keeping the goons here busy. You guys with me on this?"
With Espio and Charmy putting their trust in their leader's choice, Vector let out a snort to express full cooperation, "It's not like we got anything else better to think about right now. We got your back, Sonic."
"Right!" Espio and Charmy nodded in unison.
Sonic then whispers his plan to Vector, which the green crocodile soon smirks in response, followed by grabbing hold of Sonic while he handles T-Pup in his hands. Neither Snively nor Ebony could perceive what the group was about to do until Vector shot Sonic's ball form straight at Blackjack. With his plan into action, Sonic spun right into Blackjack's two hands.
The bulldog seized him while still revving and getting pushed back by Sonic's force. Blackjack's teeth gritted in anger before letting out a deep yell, launching the blue ball behind his back. The hedgehog soon reverts to his regular form, carrying T-Pup while rising his way towards the building where Snively's Hover Unit remains.
"Okay, you called it, Sonic!" Ebony finally realized where the blue hero was heading, gesturing to his gunmen. "Light it up, boys! We're goin' to make this hedgehog's death long, slow, and painful!"
Glancing down, Sonic noticed that he needed to be careful getting on top of this see-saw platform. Landing onto it, the weight from Sonic launched the spike ball into the air, staying up there for a few seconds, and then fell back down to the original placement, which sent Sonic flying into the air. He soared closer to land against the hood of the Hover Unit, frightening Snively on his chair.
"Hey-O, pizza delivery for a Mister Smugly! Will you be paying a Chaos Emerald or a greeting to my foot while it kicks your butt?" Sonic mocked enthusiastically, allowing T-Pup to sneak out of his grasp.
"It's Dr. Snively, you pest!" Snively corrected indignantly.
"Slimely?" The hedgehog asked jestingly.
"Snively!"
"Scaly?"
"SNIVELY!"
"George?"
"GRAAGH!" Snively shouted in extreme distress as he pulled on his hair. "I'LL MAKE YOU WISH YOU'D NEVER MOCK ME AGAIN, STREET RAT!"
"Ouch, ooh! Such an insult!" Sonic pretends to be offended, giving T-Pup time to sneak inside the Hover Unit. "I get better ones a lot more than from whiny, little complainers like you."
Before Snively could send a taser shock through Sonic, gunshots were soon fired by Ebony's goons as Sonic managed to dodge a few, hitting the Hover Unit's windshield. While Snively shrieked in a girly tone, T-Pup infiltrated through the hovercraft's doorway. And once the canine robot was inside, he made his way behind Snively's seat.
"HOLD YOUR FIRE, YOU FOOLS! DO NOT SHOOT WHERE I AM!" Snively screeched, waving both arms around frantically and unaware of T-Pup's presence. "I SAID DO NOT SHOOT-! OOF!"
When Snively tried to speak further, his words cut off as T-Pup planted the short human's face against the control panel. The canine robot yipped once he succeeded in snatching the orange gemstone in his mouth and then smashing through the broken windshield into Sonic's arms.
Snively struggled to look back up, and he yelled, "NO! You're not getting your dirty mitts on that Emerald!"
"Attaboy!" Sonic smiled at T-Pup's achievement, peering at Snively's upset face next to annoyingly flicking his long nose. "Sorry, but I gotta bounce! Let me know when you come up with something creative to call me, Snotly."
"Grr, get back here, you troublesome-!" Snively exclaimed in anger while swiping, with Sonic jumping off with T-Pup and a two-finger salute. "Egg-Robos! Get them!"
With that direct order, a couple of Egg-Robos flew after Sonic when he landed by four see-saws, this time on the ground, but the spike balls weren't in them like the previous one. Instead, they lay balanced on both sides, which seemed somewhat odd to Sonic for some reason. At the last moment, before one of the Egg-Robos could shoot, a robotic foot came crushing into the Badnik's head.
"YEE-HAW!"
Sonic heard a southern belle voice cry out, having his eyes lit up when he recognized that accent somewhere else. He couldn't believe it, almost smiling at the sight of Bunnie arriving here.
"Wha-?!" Snively became surprised to see this. "HOW DARE YOU!"
"There you go, Sugar-Hog!" Bunnie smiled.
"I owe you one, Bunnie," Sonic gave a thumbs-up while handling T-Pup.
"Time for some major butt-whoopin' for you clod-hoppers!" Bunnie declared, sprinting forward to clobber some Badniks.
The southern belle extends her robotized arm out like a lasso, pulling an Egg-Robo in, then kicks it down with one leg. She then lassos another one in and swings the Egg-Robo around, slamming it on the ground several times. After that, she tossed the last Egg-Robo into the air, jumping up to grab the Badnik by the appendages.
"Look out below!" Bunnie shouted out, permitting herself and the Egg-Robo to drop straight down to the roads, performing an upside-down pile-driver.
Unimaginable impact exploded after hitting the streets from above. It causes Ebony's goons to block their eyes and prevent any grime of such sorts. With a stunned silence as Bunnie gracefully gets up from the rubble, being able to take the fall damage with relative ease.
"The first round might not get you!" Ebony shouted out towards Sonic but soon had his gun pointed at Bunnie. "But maybe the second will get you next, lass-!"
Suddenly, an arrow shot through and took out Ebony's gun, earning a cry out of the mobster as Sally, alongside Antoine and Rotor, revealed themselves looking ready to fight.
"How about none, buster?" Sally spoke up, handling her bow as she reloaded another arrow.
"You're dead!" Foxxie came to support Ebony's arm, motioning Blackjack with an irritated glare. "Take 'em out!"
Blackjack dashed forward, kicking away dust from behind to send himself in for a punch barrage. However, placed in front of Sally and Antoine, Rotor manages to grapple onto both of the bulldog's hands to hold him off.
"Not this time, pal!" Rotor grunted.
But Blackjack could only growl as he soon began to power over the walrus, pressing him down with his own hands to flat on the ground. Blackjack was about ready to lay a beating on Rotor under Foxxie's order. Sneakily enough, a ninja chameleon's invisible form slithered around Blackjack's legs before tying them together with some rope.
Charmy soon took his slingshot and hurled pebbles in Blackjack's face, making him growl out of pain before getting struck by Vector's right hook. And where Blackjack would have gained his stance only to lose balance, roughly landing onto the ground, utterly defeated.
Vector turned his attention to Sally, who was seemingly satisfied with his aid. "Thought you needed an extra hand, princess."
"Who are you?" Sally asked.
"Name's Vector and I'm the brains behind the Chaotix Detective Agency." The green crocodile introduced himself. "We knew that you were pals with Sonic, so we might as well give you a little service against Ebony's errand-boys."
"That's for sure!" Charmy beamed.
"Thank you for doing that," The princess smiled, ushering Antoine to help Rotor back up. "And please, call me Sally."
"No problemo. The Chaotix are always around to help those in need." Vector smirked, pointing a thumb at the unconscious Blackjack. "Besides, we finally got this big guy flaked out, thanks to your walrus friend."
"Oh! Hehe, thanks." Rotor blushed, regaining his balance.
"Grrr, dagnabbit! I don't know how you got here so quickly, princess." Ebony swiftly gripped his gun once more. "But I'm willin' to lay odds you don't walk away from this!"
"Aren't you being a tad radical?" Sally frowned as she prepped her bow with an arrow.
"Radical?!" Ebony raises to shoot at Sally. "I'll show you radical, sweetcheeks-!"
Just in time before Ebony shoots, Espio, currently invisible, knocks the gun away. "Then allow me to demonstrate!"
"Aren't you out of your element, horn-head?" Ebony steps back from Espio.
While the mobster is still shocked, Bunnie comes in and delivers a blow straight to Ebony's face. "Oh yeah? Well, at least none of us would hang out with cotton balls like you!"
Foxxie was able to catch her darling leader, carrying him to flee the scene. "Let's beat a hasty retreat, boys!"
Taking note of each goon scrambling away, Vector glanced at Sally once again. "Hate to cut our meeting short, but my boys and I still got a job to do. Sonic still has our card, so look us up if you ever need a helping hand, princess."
"Thank you again," Sally replied.
"Let's get rolling, Chaotix! We ain't losing them yet!" Vector charged off.
"Coming, Vector." Charmy buzzed after the green crocodile.
"I appreciate your help, miss, but I must go. Arigato." Espio bowed at Bunnie in acknowledgment, leaving afterward.
"See you next time, Sugar," Bunnie exchanged a smirk, making her way towards Sally. "We got to know if Sugar-Hog's all right! I saw him in trouble with Snively!"
Meanwhile, Snively pressed a button, and the bottom of the Hover Unit expanded, turned, switched, and changed. It looked the same but a little more sleek and aerodynamic.
"It's time to die!" Snively shouted and flew above Sonic, who already shooed T-Pup away to find Bunnie.
A spike ball fell out from the Hover Unit. Sonic moved out of the way to see the hazard fall onto the ground with a loud clang.
"Missed me, idiot!" Sonic shouted up to him.
"Hahaha! Look again, foolish pest!" Snively said, pointing down near the scene.
The spike ball flashed from a gray metal color to red and yellow repeatedly, the flashes becoming quicker. Sonic's eyes widened as he tried to step back, but it was too late. The spike-bomb erupted, sending Sonic back from where he'd been. It was a much stronger explosion than the Bomb-Bots earlier, and it had a much more powerful impact.
Sonic hit the ground a couple of times before stopping completely. He had some marks on his body from the blast and hitting the ground; it had been a while since somebody had caused him damage. Snively proceeded to launch another one his way. And this time, not aiming for Sonic, but right next to him instead.
The blue hero didn't have time to get up, so this time he was caught in a closer explosion that took a heavier toll on him. Now, he was scuffed and banged up considerably more and had two small trails of blood coming from his mouth.
"Ugh," Sonic slowly got to his feet to continue the battle against Snively.
All of a sudden, he had an idea. Sonic ran over to one of the see-saws and hopped onto one of the sides, putting the other one higher.
"Hey!" He yelled. Snively looked down to see Sonic holding up his middle finger to anger him. "You're not that tough! Why don't you try to hit me now?"
"You little…!" Snively unleashed another spike-bomb from the bottom of the Hover Unit.
Once he saw it appear, Sonic jumped to the other end of the see-saw to lower that side. As predicted from his prior knowledge, the spike-bomb launched Sonic into the air, right next to Snively's Hover Unit.
"Eat this!" Sonic swung his leg into the pod to leave a dent on it.
A couple of sparks sputtered out, but it was no sign of getting destroyed. Falling back to the platform, Sonic was surprised to see another spike-bomb fall out moments after he did so. On a very close call, one of the spikes cuts Sonic's arm, leaving out a stream of blood.
"Agh!" Sonic shouted, closing his eyes, biting his lip, and grabbing the area on his arm.
"SONIC!" Sally cried out of concern, her teammates covering their eyes.
Sonic glowered at the grinning Snively through one open eye and thought of a way to finish this fight. He smiled once he thought of one, which didn't take long.
Running over to another see-saw, Sonic shouted, "Why don't you try that again and see what happens!"
Snively smirked. "Don't mind if I do!" He deposited another spike-bomb, and Sonic moved a bit.
The spike-bomb fell from the Hover Unit, landing on the opposite side of the see-saw Sonic stood on. The blue hedgehog promptly got launched into the starry sky above.
"Hah! That was easier than I'd expected," Snively commented.
The short human started flying away with his Hover Unit when Sonic fell back down. Sonic slammed into the see-saw, and doing that caused the spike-bomb to launch back up while flashing red and yellow. To Sonic's delight, the bomb exploded right underneath the cannon on the Hover Unit, destroying said cannon and seriously damaging the hovercraft itself. Sally's group cheered for them from the streets.
"Don't think you expected that, did you? That's the sound of justice becoming served." Sonic said, immediately back on his feet. "Think I've outsmarted you here!"
Snively smashed the control console. "Argh! Not again!" He pointed at Sonic with a bony finger. "I HATE you!"
"The feeling's mutual, ugly," Sonic shot back at him.
The next thing that happened, in cartoon logic, was the streets shaking with the birds flying away thanks to a big, livid yell.
"WHAT IN TYRANNY IS GOING ON HERE?!"
That scream spread to all of South Island and even for most in Mobius, still in cartoon logic. After hearing so, everyone checked around to see where in the world the yell started. Of course, that noise perturbed some activities. And here are some incidents: a man fell from the stairs with a cake, kids from some extracurricular classes like one of the manual arts, hurt themselves with something like scissors. Even the head of state of the United Federation made a mistake on a paper with the scream, causing him to swear.
Coming back to Starlight Highway, Snively nearly recoiled at the sight of his uncle's Egg-O-Matic. Dr. Robotnik was breathing fast and furious, without a joke. His face was very red, and his shaking became clear to see.
"Speaking of ugly, here comes the fashion disaster," Sonic observed with a slight smirk.
"O-Oh, D-Dr. Robotnik!" Snively backed away very nervously at his uncle's outcry just seconds ago. "I-I was able to track down and find a Chaos Emerald around here, but then-!"
"Snively!" Dr. Robotnik was boiling in rage, zooming his hovercraft in front of his shivering nephew. "I thought I told you to stay inside the laboratory and guard Miles! And now, you're trying to kill the hedgehog when he's supposed to be MINE to destroy alone!"
"But there's no problem with that, sir! I made sure that brat has become heavily guarded by our Swat-Bots." Snively then angrily points at the battered hedgehog. "And this little maniac has the sixth Chaos Emerald that I've found here. We need to stop him-!"
But Dr. Robotnik waved it off. "Forget about it, Snively."
"EXCUSE ME?!" Snively shifted back to his uncle in confusion. "Dr. Robotnik, we can't just pass on this-!"
"You've already lost to him, and you know it! Your hovercraft isn't capable of sustaining any more infliction like this, or else you'd risk crashing. Plus, I have four Chaos Emeralds, and Sonic only has two! The numerical advantage is mine!" Dr. Robotnik leaned in to flick Snively's nose with cruelty. "But you should've known Miles is just as smart as you are if not more to steal our Chaos Emerald back at Scrap Brain, Snively!"
"That's absurd! And it seems to me, for our security, that I have...!" Snively went to reach into his lab coat's pocket, only to gulp and go pale when he found nothing inside. "I-I-I have...uh!"
"You have what?" Dr. Robotnik showed an angry sneer, eye twitching.
"I have...no, uh...!"
"What?! Speak up, man!"
"I HAVE NO KEY! THERE, I SAID IT! I LOST THE KEY, ALRIGHT?" Snively blurts out, causing the doctor to reel back a bit.
But then Dr. Robotnik's glasses became frighteningly shiny. "You blithering idiot! We're about to dig up something worth happiness in my rule. Nothing was supposed to go wrong there! And you lost your key to SOME TWO-TAILED MUTANT!"
Shivering like an animal in the rain, Snively nods with fear at this as Dr. Robotnik sets his sights on the blue hedgehog below him. Sonic was there glaring at the doctor, battered and bleeding from his wounds. But Sonic kept himself strong where a new word needs to become created at this level.
"Bah! There's nowhere else for you to go on this island, is there?" Dr. Robotnik asked.
"Well, besides your base." Sonic crossed his arms. "Nothing's going to stop me from taking you down for good, Butt-Nik."
"I don't suppose you've ever been there, eh? Ho ho ho..." Dr. Robotnik merely grinned while holding back some of his ire towards both Snively and Sonic. "I'll see you there, rodent."
With that said, both Dr. Robotnik and Snively flew off back to Scrap Brain, posthaste.
"Eh?" Sonic pondered this before perking up. "A home-field advantage, huh? I guess this journey won't be much longer."
Then, Sonic turns to the view of the Chaotix pursuing after Ebony's goons with Foxxie carrying away her unconscious leader, followed by the bulldog bodyguard, which took masses to haul him in retreat. Sonic smiled in compliance, knowing that a job doesn't get done until it's certainly finished. Sonic will probably see those three detectives another day. Sally and her group climbed up the alleyway ladder with T-Pup in tow to gather around Sonic. The only exception was an annoyed Antoine, who became too busy huffing with crossed arms.
Sally came to the battered hedgehog first to check on him. "You could have gotten more hurt, or WORSE!" She shouted as she shook Sonic violently.
"OUCH! OUCH! OUCH!" He hissed, nearly whining from his wounds.
"Oh, my gosh! I'm sorry," Sally felt embarrassed yet concerned for Sonic's safety. "Are you okay?"
"I'm okay, I get it, but it's okay!" Sonic blinked his dizziness away, holding up his hands in defense. "Calm down, Sal. It wasn't on purpose. Well, it's a bit much to explain what I did, but why did you guys come here?"
"We wanted to see if you're okay," Rotor stated with a smile, followed by a solemn glance. "Sonic, we couldn't just let you leave like this. We're supposed to be your friends. You saved our lives, and you showed us the person you can be. We all saw what's behind that image others see you for, so please, just let me help you. Let US help you."
"Hey guys, look. You don't have to act like this." Sonic said to them.
"It's not that, Sonic! We've all suffered heavy losses of our own, and things clearly won't be the same for any of us. That's why we always want to help each other adjust." Sally's eyes focused on Sonic, nearly yelling. "You never had any intention of bringing my kingdom to ruins! Or separating me from my family! That was all because of Robotnik."
"She's right, Sugar-Hog! And you scared the bejeebers out of us when you were gettin' pounded by those tickers!" Bunnie chimed in with a regarding manner.
"But at least you totaled Snively's hovercraft." Rotor acclaimed. "It's too bad those Chaotix guys couldn't stick around to say goodbye."
"Well, those dudes had a job to do that would bring criminals like Ebony to justice. I think they'll be okay." Sonic's eyes then seemed troubled at his newfound friends as the next question just dawned on him. "So you guys were worried about me? Why aren't you guys mad at me? I mean, come on, you all know what I've done to make all this happen."
"Of course we were, Sugar-Hog," Bunnie said, gently putting a hand on the blue hedgehog's shoulder. "It's okay, now. We're not mad at you. Heck, you didn't have to put such a heavy burden on yourself like that. We're so sorry, Sonic."
Sonic sighed as Bunnie embraced him. He wanted to tell them that they didn't need to apologize, that he wanted to protect them and everyone else because helping people was all he wanted to do. But all that came out of him were more barely coherent apologies. Apart from that, Sally was already too busy wrapping bandages across certain wounds that Sonic endured, despite him flinching in pain once more.
Slightly rubbing at the bandages, Sonic could only frown at himself. "Guys, I was going to come back eventually."
"It's all right, Sonic," Rotor smiled, petting T-Pup beside him. "You're not leaving again. Besides, it wasn't going to be the same when you left with the little guy here."
"It has been..." Antoine says flatly, and this earned a glare from Sally and Bunnie.
"Antoine, you're not helping!" Rotor spat with an annoyed tone, making the coyote yelp.
"I-I did not say anything," Antoine rambled timorously. "I was hoping that was the last of those awful doctors."
"I wouldn't say so, Antoine." Sally points to where Dr. Robotnik and Snively were heading, which made everyone except for Sonic gasp.
A massive, dirty manufacturing system on South Island got seen from afar. Especially a blimp that stayed hidden in the smog clouds created by Dr. Robotnik.
Scrap Brain.
In the background, it featured a variety of buildings in various hues, with smokestacks occasionally spewing more pollution into the red-colored sky. Many luminous green walls with technological equipment got shown in the structures. And the floorings became resurfaced with gray metal and warning signs. Polluted ruins constructed of white and light green stone stayed located beneath the factories. Some of the sections looked polished in particular, especially adorned with dead vegetation and pinkish water.
"That's got to be where Robotnik puts those critters into those Badniks of his." Sonic scowled, holding out only two of the Chaos Emeralds. "And seeing I've got two Emeralds now, Butt-Nik's still got the four remaining ones in there with Tails."
"Oh, great..." Antoine gulped.
Ignoring Antoine's words, Sally gently cupped Sonic's face in her hand. "I can't ask you to fight for my kingdom if I won't fight for it myself. We're coming with you!"
"If you'll let us," Bunnie added with a smile. "After all, we Freedom Fighters need to stick together. Remember?"
"Yeah, but I already started the fight, though," Sonic rolled his eyes, questioning. "Why would you guys still want to help me now that I've told you everything?"
"Sonic," Sally looks at him softly. "You've proven yourself a lot more for being a part of our team. While I hate how you keep hurting yourself for others' safety, but you still did it because you genuinely care. It shows you've thought about the consequences of what occurred and still put a lot of faith in yourself to prevail every time, right?"
"Right..." Sonic let out, having those words sink into him.
"Exactly," Bunnie comes over beside him. "What happened back then wasn't your fault, and even if it was, you wanted to get back in there and whoop Robotnik's tushie just like we do."
"Robotnik has given us a reason to act, so we're doing this now. We're going to help you. And Nicole can help, too!" Sally said, gesturing to her handheld computer.
"I am programmed to assist in every operation," Nicole states.
With T-Pup yipping in agreement, Sonic felt like he could come back from his share of mishaps and start anew with the Freedom Fighters. Being the extrovert that he is, Sonic knew he felt too headstrong for doing things alone. Although Antoine felt like a pain in the neck to the speedy hero, the coyote seemed quiet after everyone else was happy that Sonic returned and all got consoled.
"Then it looks like my part-time position's shifted to a full-time one," Sonic explained passionately, holding out his hand for a team hand-stack. "There's no time to lose! Let's get in there, save Tails, and put Robotnik out of business once and for all!"
"You said it, Sonic!" Sally smiled.
"I'm with you, Sugar-Hog!" Bunnie beamed.
"Lead the way, Sonic!" Rotor grinned, followed by T-Pup's yipping.
"Ooh..." Antoine eventually complies. "Since you are all going...!"
"LET'S DO IT TO IT!" Sonic smirked, ready for their final stop towards Scrap Brain.
Lurking around within the dark halls of Scrap Brain, the young fox himself advanced across a few stops to hide from any Swat-Bots or Badniks coming onward. Some places were generally relaxing, without much to dodge or worry his head over. Here, there were so many death traps everywhere he looked.
The laboratory showed tons of spikes, some in ball form on chains. Weights were falling abruptly out of nowhere and hammering down on the steel ground, fire bursting up from ripped pipes, circular saw blades coming out of the floor and ceiling in some parts, conveyor belts, and a ton of steel with bright lights everywhere.
"I wonder how anybody could ever get around here?" Tails pondered as he examined around the place. "I gotta find where Snively hid that Chaos Emerald."
Additionally, with all of these environmental death traps, the fox cub knew that this giant, grimy industrial factory was just as Badnik heavy as Robotropolis, with tons of previous Badniks alongside some newer ones he helped design. Continuing throughout many areas, Tails jumped onto spinning wheels, avoided Swat-Bots from finding him, leaped over gaps, and dodged spike balls along with cutters.
Steam shot up in some of the pipes, making abrupt and loud hissing sounds. With no further hesitation, Tails pulled away and ran off, sounding against the hard metal floor. As the young fox ran into another hallway, a saw blade came from above the ceiling and almost sliced Tails in half.
Surprised, he darted back just in time. "Man, that was a bit too close…!" Tails thought, waiting for the blade to fold itself back up.
Once it did, Tails took no chance to wait and blasted off, only to look back and see another blade come out of the floor and start chasing him. In the distance, a Cater-Killer was making its way towards Tails, which made him sharp. Tails had gotten close enough to spin his namesakes, flying up high and letting the saw blade go right through the middle of all the segments of the Cater-Killer, freeing the critter.
A Buzz-Bomber shot at Tails from up high and hit him in the shoulder. When the fox cub yelped, the bee-based Badnik shoots again, barely grazing the side of his leg, but it didn't hurt him much. Happy to see a spring, Tails leaped onto it, hoping to get close to the Buzz-Bomber and smash it. The force sent him a bit too high, as he flew around like a helicopter, but this still gave him an advantage over the Buzz-Bomber. In one fluid motion, putting his fists together, he collided them with the bee-based Badnik and reduced it to metal scraps and bolts.
Tails then came to a different hallway to see an orb-like structure on a metal stand connected to the ground. Curious enough, Tails tiptoed over while trying to remain cautious.
That was a mistake on his part.
The orb lit up a bright blue and shot out electricity around it, catching Tails in its wave along with the shock collar.
"Ahhhhgg!" Tails yelped as he got electrocuted.
When the shock was over, he fell back on the ground. The electric shock wasn't too intense, but definitely, enough to harm Tails like how Snively did before. Slowly getting up and trying to remain stable, Tails kicked the orb off the metal stand it was on, leaving only the metal bracket to shoot an occasional electric shock upward instead of outward.
Tails could see that things were starting easy until it gradually got hard. It seemed that Scrap Brain had the same difficulty from beginning to end with all of the traps and obstacles it had. Dr. Robotnik had truly put all of his efforts into this place to make sure people like Sonic were gone and gone for good. Either that or the doctor had something wrong in his head, designing this place.
The next hallway was one big conveyor belt, moving in the opposite direction that Tails needed to go. With this discrepancy, Tails had to run as fast as he could to proceed. Up ahead, a giant metal weight with a black and yellow pattern around the top and bottom fell on the conveyor belt. It didn't move since it got bolted to the ceiling, which caused a ton of hot sparks to fly all over the place.
Following the display, Tails slowed to a steady pace that matched the belt's speed, basically making himself stay in place. So he saw this happen twice more, studying the pattern and how long it stayed suspended and released.
On the third drop, Tails sped up to be in front of the weight, and as soon as he saw it rise in the slightest, he launched full speed ahead to avoid it falling on top of him.
Tails emerged from the hallway to find a ton more structures, but this time all of them were outside and not scrunched into a narrow hallway. A mass-produced, pig-based Badnik called the Ball-Hog, threw a yellow ball at Tails.
It bounced down a slope and stopped at the fox cub's shoe.
With both eyebrows raised in surprise, Tails muttered, "Uh, oh-!"
The young fox was cut off with the ball exploding and sending him back a few feet. "Argh! What's with Robotnik making things explode!"
Tails got back on his feet, waiting for the Ball-Hog to send another one his way. Once it reached the perfect angle of its bouncing pattern, Tails narrowed his eyes and kicked it right back at the pig-based Badnik. That one exploded on time and destroyed the Ball-Hog.
Flying past the rubble, Tails thought to himself. "I won't forgive Robotnik for making me destroy what I thought was supposed to be good and friendly."
The young fox's gaze got drawn to another conveyor belt, but this one had been hung in mid-air and was far too thin to walk on. Instead, it was circulating through eight platforms. The bottom ones of the belt were whirling around, but the ones on top were stable and appeared safe to walk on.
Tails observed what was ahead of this conveyer belt while waiting for the right moment to leap. There were two platforms, similar to the ones on the belt, although separated and unconnected. They surged for a few seconds before becoming stable for another moment.
So, filled with optimism, Tails hopped onto the first stable platform on the belt and rode the entire length until it came to an end. The fox cub jumped back onto one of the platforms behind him because the lone platforms were still whirling.
Fortunately, they stopped spinning, and Tails jumped off the conveyor, onto one of the solitary platforms, onto the other, and off onto the ledge near the final platform as swiftly as he could.
Tails saw a small tower in front of him; it had a small opening at the front. He was just barely able to squeeze into the gap and saw darkness all around him. A few moments later, a bright white light shined on and off throughout the small opening, and Tails felt himself being propelled through wide pipes and turning all around.
"WHOA!" Tails exclaimed.
He closed his eyes as he was going through, and eventually, he was standing once again. He walked out of an identical tower into an indoor factory.
"I guess this must've warped me." Tails said, looking back at the tower. "These look like they could be useful."
Tails twisted his namesakes and started to hover through the factory, seeing much of the same obstacles and traps as he did previously. Tails noticed a platform high up in this building but not a spring anywhere around. Instead, there was a spinning metal cog with a lengthy metal bracket linked to the wall. He jumped onto it and noticed that it gripped his shoes so that when it spun around, he was hanging upside down perfectly.
"Ugh," Tails' face nearly turned a shade of green. "I don't think I can take much more of this."
With this in mind, Tails had an idea on how to launch himself up to the platform. The boy started spinning his namesakes, faster and faster, and with this, he made the cog spin faster and faster until he stopped, looped around the cog, and jumped off of it, up high in the factory. With perfect height, he landed softly on the metal floor, smiling in victory over what he had just done.
Continuing to proceed, Tails didn't notice that he walked over a red part of the floor. "I could've wished Sonic would see me do that-!"
Upon stepping on it, the red hatch opened into a hole below as Tails unwillingly fell inside. The pit showed another one of those orbs that have electricity in them.
"OH, NO!" He tried to escape it, but the hatch didn't open yet, getting tased again by the electricity generator.
"Aggghhh!" Tails cried out while being electrocuted.
During this, Tails managed to kick off the orb, cutting the electric line and freeing himself. The boy picked the sphere up and threw it at the hatch a few times until it broke open, jumping out. While running into a hallway, a giant metallic weight fell a few inches behind Tails. The force of the collision pushed him forward, stumbling on the ground.
When Tails slowly looked up, he was astonished by the sight of a wooden boardwalk-like room that leads to a podium. On the small platform is the purple Chaos Emerald in a glass safe. Tails hopped towards the locked gemstone, using the skeleton key he kept to crack open the compartment and take the Chaos Emerald out of the glass safe.
As the Chaos Emerald glowed purple on his hands, and from every step taken to get here, worry flooded Tails' mind if Dr. Robotnik comes back to catch him here. Just the thought made him exhausted and desiring enough to find Sonic as quickly as he could. But it was only a matter of time until a mere footstep came to him from behind.
Tails spun his head to find what looked like Sonic's shadow. "I-Is that you, Sonic-?"
"Mobian life form detected."
His careful words soon got cut off as the shadowy figure revealed itself as a robotized being that retains a resemblance to the original organic self.
It was Sir Charles.
He still resembles a hedgehog while possessing his mustache, but his body remains entirely mechanical. Sir Charles had dark yellow plating on the tip of his feet, around his ankles, hands, sections of his arms, and his muzzle, as well as a light periwinkle metal frame where his fur would be. His brows and mustache have turned a pale tan, and his eyes have changed: his irises are red, and his sclera is always black as if he were a mindless worker.
"Oh, no!" Tails gasped, gripping onto the Chaos Emerald. "Wait, don't come any closer!"
"Return the Chaos Emerald to Dr. Robotnik." Sir Charles droned, forcefully latching his hands onto the Chaos Emerald.
"No, stop!" Tails tried to pry it away from the robotized hedgehog's clawed hands, oblivious of the gemstone's radiance around them. "You can't give it to him! I won't let Robotnik win because of what he did to everyone! Please remember! LET IT GO!"
"R-R-Return the...! Aaargh!" Sir Charles clenched his eyes shut as the Chaos Emerald's energy swarmed within his thoughts, reliving the pain and suffering back then.
"Kintobor, this is madness! Release everyone immediately!"
"NEVER! I am in control now, you fool! I, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, am taking over Mobius, with or without that imbecilic king's permission!"
"I will not stand down to this mutiny! You are nothing but scum!"
"I relish the thought, Chuck, and now you will be joining your people in what you've created!"
As he rode the wave of agony, Sir Charles tried to push himself up. He tried to stand, but his body refused to obey. The robotized hedgehog reached out his hand, which now became useable, and found a wall to steady himself on. He tried moving in several different directions, finding that each of them sent a jolt of pain down to his feet.
Then he felt an odd change inside of his body. The pain lowered to a dull twinge now. Whatever caused his misery had subsided quickly. It was only after the ache started leaving until his senses came back to him. The first thing to catch his attention was the trembling two-tailed fox in front of him.
"…S-Sonic, is that you, Sonny-?" Sir Charles soon comes to his functions, looking baffled. "Wait, you're not my nephew. Who are you?"
"No, I'm not," Tails shook his head in wonder, examining the Chaos Emerald. "But I must've jogged your memory somehow with the Emerald. I'm Miles Prower. But, I prefer Tails. I've been trying to escape with the Chaos Emerald so that I could find where Sonic is next."
"I see," Sir Charles seemed busy inspecting the fox cub's twin-tails, causing Tails to appear shy about it. "Sorry about me. It's just a rare sight to find foxes with another tail of their own."
"I'm used to it, sir," Tails glances down at his namesakes, apparently bleak. "I've had these since the day I was born. So, I'm looking after myself for the time being."
"How old are you, kid?" Sir Charles asked.
"I'm four," Tails answered, stunning the robotized hedgehog.
"Ah, well, my name is Professor Charles the Hedgehog. But you can call me Uncle Chuck." Sir Charles traced off after checking out his robotized appearance, sad yet determined. "At least I'm still able to keep some of me inside, thanks to that gem's power. I need to find Sonic as well. He's my nephew. Have you seen where he went off to, Tails?"
"The last time I saw him, he was coming here from Starlight Highway on one of Dr. Robotnik's monitors." Tails answered, honestly excited about aiding a family member of his idol. "I still can't believe I'm meeting Sonic's uncle of all people!"
"Heh, I'm luckier enough to have you help me here and now. Though, I'm not sure how long until my free will lasts." Sir Charles inspects his metal appendages. "But I am assured the Chaos Emerald will keep me engaged by the time we find Sonic and stop Robotnik from hoisting out that energy crystal he's mining. Removing that active crystal will deteriorate South Island's ecosystem. We must stop him before he destroys everything!"
As Tails soon nods in support of Sir Charles' idea, the robotized hedgehog shockingly notices the metallic collar around the fox cub's neck. "What in Mobius has that madman done to you?"
"W-Wait!" Tails stuttered his hands up in defense, moving far from Sir Charles. "Don't touch it! I tried it before, and it tased me to the point where I might collapse."
Cautious as he was, Sir Charles still kept a firm look. "That could be true, Tails, but maybe…just maybe, it has a different effect when robots can touch you with that collar on, correct?"
"Y-Yeah, maybe," Tails mumbled in fear.
"Hmm...I got it!" Sir Charles snaps his fingers and then kneels around with metallic yet sharp quills facing Tails. "Here's what I want you to do, so listen carefully, kid. Use the keen side of my robotized quills like a buzzsaw and slice through the shock collar's outline as quickly as you can."
"Are you...?" Tails breathed heavily, trying not to touch his neck. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Listen, Tails, I trust you." Sir Charles is only saying this to reassure him, but he doesn't believe his own words. "GO!"
Gulping a bit, the fox cub gently moves his shock collar against the robotized hedgehog's quills, thankfully not tasing Tails from contact. They both close their eyes as Tails lowers himself with enough speed to split apart the torturous neckpiece, ultimately releasing as the broken parts fall on the floor. The two of them gasped, Sir Charles' of relief, and Tails' of delight.
"It worked!" Tails started crying now, laughing as he hugged Sir Charles tightly. "Thank you so much!"
"You're welcome, kiddo," Sir Charles closed his eyes with a smile, returning the hug. "Now, come on, we got to get going before Robotnik returns-!"
Speakers all around crackled to life, causing the two of them to jolt in surprise.
"Attention! Sonic has entered Scrap Brain. I repeat, Sonic has entered Scrap Brain! Your top priority is now to destroy him!" The doctor's voice blared.
"Oh, no! We have to hurry!" Tails exclaimed, glancing at the robotized hedgehog.
"Alrighty, let's go!" Sir Charles lets go of the fox cub, allowing them to proceed down a dark corridor fast.
TO BE CONTINUED...