In the underground portion of the village of Knothole, there was a village rec room that Collin had put together. It had a few games such as a ping-pong table, several dart boards, and a few other simple games. Sonic was hogging the ping-pong table at the moment while the other Freedom Fighters weren't looking amused. Antoine was holding the number 2 because there was a "Take a number" ticket dispenser next to the table. He sighed, having been there for a while. "I wish Sonic would stop playing ping-pong with himself and let ze rest of us have a turn at ze table."
"Indeed." Collin rolled his eyes, having gotten number 3. He had been hoping for a short game before going back to his work on the defenses of the above ground village portion, being fully satisfied with the underground's protection for the moment. "Fun is fun, Sonic, but enough is too much."
Sonic agreed as he beat himself in the game. "Exactly. It's time for action! Things have been a little too quiet for my taste without Good ol' Ivo to kick around!" Sonic suddenly threw a set of darts onto a picture of Robotnik that was on a dart board. "Wonder where ol' Robo-Butt's been keeping himself lately?"
"By the time you're done with the table, he might be back so I don't know." Collin snapped before walking out, handing his ticket to a surprised Bunnie as he went. 'He's right, this is too long. Uncle Julian, dare I ask, what are you up to?'
Somewhere far out in the ocean…
"There's our destination, dead ahead!" Robotnik grinned in his flying ship as they rocketed across the ocean. His ship looked like a pod of sorts. "Ready my personal transport and prepare to move out!" Within an hour, Robotnik was being carried on a chair by his swatbots with Junior and Crabmeat walking next to them. "Hahahahahahaha, Sonic the Hedgehog would never think to look for us on Skoal Island…" Robotnik chuckled evilly, "But Skoal island is exactly where we need to look! Once we've found what we're in search of we can engage the hated Hedgehog in a little Gorilla Warfare!"
"And precisely what is our hastily assembled safari in search of, sir?" Crabmeat asked, acknowledging that Robotnik was dressed in a green safari outfit instead of his usual red and gold uniform.
Robotnik chuckled again. "Isn't it obvious, Crabmeat? We're hunting game…" He pointed to the hole that Crabmeat stepped in as he got down. "BIG GAME!"
Junior's eyes widened in shock as he realized what they were standing in. "Holy Motherboards!"
"A giant footprint!" Crabmeat jumped as he realized he was standing in the toe print of it.
"What kind of monster could leave such fantastic footprints, pops?" Junior gulped, though he had no need.
"That's no monster, gentlemen. That's my boy!"
"Your boy!?" Junior felt confused and slightly betrayed while Crabmeat was just in shock.
"Yes, Junior, your older brother. It's a long story…" Robotnik started to reminisce. "Many years ago, before you 'bots had even been built, before Snively even was born, I was a bold, ambitious graduate student grappling with the challenges of the unknown! A handsome lad… brilliant, too… as my doctoral thesis would prove beyond any shadow of a doubt! I would create life! I only needed a spark… but sparks that big are hard to come by. Then I was struck by a burst of inspiration… that I should create robot minions such as yourselves to back up my brains with their brawn! Thanks to a convenient electrical storm that was passing through on its way to Hill Valley…" Robotnik smirked. "I got my wish." Then he sighed. "Unfortunately, my creation had decided to go off on his own… My eldest son's first steps into this brave new world were awkward ones. Perhaps you've seen the signs of his passing… (They're pretty hard to miss.)" He was referring of course to places like Big Foot Hills, Giant Gorge, Growlsbad Caverns, Great Ape Lakes, Simian Falls, Putrified Forests, and of course, Bonehedge. Robotnik sighed again as he thought about his lost bot. "I searched long and hard, high and low, hither and yon… but to no avail. Despite my best efforts, he had vanished into the stuff of which legends are made… living on only in my heart."
Junior's eyes were still wide. "You mean…"
"That's right, Junior… you should have seen the 'bot that got away!"
"But what makes you think my bro is here, Pops?"
"See for yourselves, gentlemen!" Robotnik pulled out a book labeled "Eye in the Sky Satellite Reconnaissance Photos" Robotnik grinned. "One picture is worth a thousand words… and I've got dozens!" Robotnik climbed back onto his chair to be carried by the Swatbots through the jungles. "Of course, there were other clues as to my creation's current location… climatic shifts…rising tides…" Suddenly the group noticed a very loud "GONG!" noise.
"Uh… loud noises, sir?" Crabmeat asked as loud as he could.
"That ringing in my ears…" Robotnik looked actually cheerful for once! "It can only mean one thing!"
"An earthquake, Pops?" Junior shouted over the sound as it got louder.
"No, my boy! A Family Reunion!" Suddenly the group was in the shadow of a large beast. "Look! There he is! We're together again after all these years! Say hello to my long-lost, first-born Robotic Son…" the ringing sound rang continuously as they gazed upon a great golden simian who had to be at least 100 feet tall! "KING GONG!" Robotnik beamed with pride. The golden ape glared at them with the red eyes that he "inherited" from his father. "Quick! Whip out the cameras! This is definitely a Kodak Moment!"
"I think my big bro is camera shy." Junior noticed the glare and tried to wave it off.
"Nonsense! He's probably just hungry!" Robotnik was taking pictures already with a camera.
Crabmeat was cowering behind Junior. "That's what we're afraid of!"
"Not to worry!" Robotnik blew on a whistle. "I came prepared!" Two Swatbots came with a large gurney carrying the largest bunch of bananas ever seen! They were even bigger than Robotnik! "After all, if he looks and thinks like an ape, he can't help but go bananas for bananas!" The large mechanical simian grabbed the bananas and ate hungrily with joy. "Save room for dessert, m' boy! There's a certain Hedgehog I'd like you to devour!" Robotnik chuckled evilly.
Part 2Two weeks after part 1…
Sally, Sonic, and Collin were packing everything up for a picnic. Collin was a bit reluctant after the last picnic fiasco, his chest still feeling sore after all, but he promised that he would show up to it later. Sonic and Sally headed out on their own to meet up with the others. "Hope Robotnik doesn't crash the party." Sonic muttered, his nerves were getting as fried as Collin's about the missing tyrant.
Sally however, was optimistic about the picnic. "Don't worry! He's been missing for weeks!" The thirteen year old princess was excited.
Her eleven year old boyfriend however, was not so optimistic. "I know, but whatever he's been up to lately, it can't be anything good!"
At the Robotnik Inc. Factory Store…
There was a large crate being placed into a building on the pier. The banging sounds from the crate were loud and violent. Robotnik called up to it with dark glee. "Patience, m' boy! Patience! Dinner's almost ready!" The robot was soon released in the factory, eating up all the bananas in site. Robotnik was proud while Junior was a little horrified, impressed, and a bit jealous. Robotnik never showed such pride in him. "Such a healthy appetite… it makes a father proud!" Junior looked a bit upset. Robotnik noticed. "Relax, Junior. King Gong was built to be the muscle, while you were built with a brain!" Junior nodded in acknowledgement, knowing it was as close to a compliment as he was going to get.
Crabmeat was nervous though. "It makes me nervous. The rate he's eating… he'll eat us out of factory and town!" The crab robot gulped. "I hope he doesn't like Cracked Crab!"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Robotnik rolled his eyes. "With the proper care and feeding, I'll have him eating out of your hand! After all, if my second cousin, Irving Pavlov could make a dog salivate at the sound of a bell, well then I can certainly get this mechanical monkey to jump through a few hoops! Trust me! He'll squash Sonic like a grape!"
Crabmeat gulped while Junior simply got a broom and started sweeping up the banana peels. "Speaking of fruit, m' lord… we're running out of bananas!"
"Then perhaps he'd best move on to the main course! Go, boy! Sic'im!" Robotnik held up a large glossy photo of Sonic that the hedgehog had sent him as a tease. "Make Daddy proud!" With a large roar and a smack through the brick wall, King Gong left to hunt down Sonic. Robotnik sighed as he looked at the hole. Junior had already started cleaning up the rubble with his broom while Crabmeat had fainted. "I lose more walls that way… Home improvement shop… here I come… again!"
Soon, in the great Forest…
The ground was shaking and food was sent flying as the Freedom Fighters tried to figure out what was going on. "W-w-what's happening?" Sonic managed.
Sally was also confused as Tails barely avoided having her fall on him. "I-i-is it an Earthquake?"
Antione was horrified as he spotted the cause of the disturbance. "ZAT EES NO EARTHQUAKE!" King Gong came out from behind the trees, and he looked hungry. "Za tees ze Beeggest robot ape I have evaire seen!" Antione's eyes widened.
Sally managed to look at the French coyote with confusion before returning to the golden ape in front of them. "Biggest? How many others have you seen?"
Everyone suddenly had to dive out of the way as the robotic ape almost stepped on them. Sonic pushed Sally and Tails out of the way, while Collin had arrived and managed to pull Antione out of the way. "Look out!" The Coyote cried. "He's putting hees foot down!"
Sonic's reaction was similar as he fell. "Shades of Doctor Scholls!"
Sally on the other hand was annoyed now that the ape had finished moving for the moment. "One side Heroes! I'll handle this!" She growled as she made her way to the bot with Collin looking up at it in confusion.
"Sally!" Sonic called with fear. "Collin!"
Collin didn't move. He didn't need to. Sally kicked the metal bot with the heel of her boot. "Just because you're an 800-ton gorilla doesn't mean you can go stomping around anywhere you want! You might've hurt someone!"
The gorilla scratched its head as it looked down at the confused overlander and the angry princess. Sonic, at this point, had scooped up Sally and was dragging Collin back a bit for safety. "Better back off, Sal! I don't like that look in his eyes!"
Collin had snapped out of it and got out of his cousin's grasp. "I'll agree." There were hearts in the bot's eyes now! "Sonic, look out!" Collin called as the hedgehog had just placed the princess down, only for King Gong to flick him away like a bug! Collin glared at the ape. "HEY! You stink at first impressions, King Gong!"
"You know this ape?" Sally asked with surprise.
"What, are you kidding?" Collin raised a brow. "He's older than me! He was made by Robotnik back when he was still getting his doctorate! I only know of him from stealing files and hacking databases. King Gong was the first fully functioning robot that Julian ever built, and considering that it's like twenty years old and still going, it obviously wasn't a bad bot to start with. He's just dense." Collin frowned before King Gong picked the two of them up. "HEY!"
"Put us down!"
Gong then hung Collin by his shirt onto a nearby tree and kept walking away with Sally. He grumbled as he tried to get down without tearing his shirt. "Why does every relative of mine think they can just leave me in the lurch?" By the time he got down, Sonic was back.
"Hey!" Sonic was surprised that only the boys were there. "Where did they go?"
Antione provided the answer. "Eet was zee strangest thing! Zee giant robot ape scooped up zee princess and went zataway!"
Tails grimaced as he looked at Sonic. "I think he's in love with her, Sonic!"
Sonic was a little annoyed. "Then why didn't you stop that armored ape?"
"What are you? Ze Cuckoo? Did you see ze size of him?" Antoine exclaimed.
Collin rolled his eyes. "Oh, why didn't I think of that? Let me just go back and smack him with my special anti-robot-gorilla spray." Collin didn't often use sarcasm, but when he did, Sonic winced.
Sonic sighed. "Then I guess we'd better get going…" Sonic grabbed Antoine and Collin. "And you both are coming along for the ride! We've got a plane to catch…" Sonic ran them to the hidden hanger bay that Collin kept where he had stored some planes that they had been working on. There were currently three planes there at the moment; Collin's, Sonic's, and Antione's. Sonic didn't much like flying in his plane, but he was a decent pilot… just not as good as Antione or Collin. It was one of the few things Antione could beat Sonic at.
"Here we come to save the day!" Tails sang as he helped Collin out with refitting water canisters to the bottom of two of the planes.
"These should help." Collin muttered.
"Weather we like it or not, there's a Gorilla in our mist." Sonic didn't like waiting, but he knew they were doing their best. Antione and Collin both got into their planes. Sonic and Tails rode on the wings of Antione's plane while Collin rode alone in his.
Speaking of big apes… back to Robotnik…!
Junior had just noticed something weird. "Hey, Pops? What's my bro doing, climbing to the top of the Trans-Mobius Trade Center?" He was using binoculars to keep an eye on things.
"WHAT?" He snatched the binoculars from his son, accidentally taking the bot's head off. Junior rolled his eyes as his body grabbed his head and put it back on. "Oh Nooooo!" Robotnik groaned as he spotted where King Gong was going. "He's headed for the mini-mall at the tippity top with that squealing squirrel!" He started to moving towards the vehicle bay. "We've got to stop him!"
Back with Princess Sally and King Gong…
The ape had finally stopped and opened up his hand to allow the princess to see better. She was unhappy at first though. "Well, I never… this is no way to treat a lady, Magilla!" She snapped. "What's the big idea?" The ape pointed out towards the ocean and the sunset nearby. Sally softened a little. "Oooh… you brought me all the way up here to see the sunset! That's sooo sweet of you… but I already have a boyfriend."
Back with the boys…
Collin and Antione were expert pilots, despite their youthful ages, and neither being legally old enough in a normal world to fly without an adult. "Bogey at twelve o'clock high!" called Collin on their radios.
"He's got Sally, Sonic!" Antoine rarely ever addressed the princess without her title.
"Let's move in for a closer look." Sonic urged. Antione tried, but the ape noticed them coming. "Uh-oh! I think he's spotted us!" King Gong tried to swat at them. "Then I guess it's time to spin into action!" Collin saw what his cousin was up to and flew into where he figured would be a good spot. "Bombs away!" Sonic tried to do a spin attack on the monkey, but it was too tough. Sonic realized he was in trouble. "Ooops! Maybe I shouldn't have leaped before I looked!" He gulped. "It's a lo-o-ong way down… HALLLLLP!" He called.
Collin swooped in under him at an impressive speed in his green bi-plane. "Don't I always tell you to look before you leap?" He scolded as Sonic landed with a plop on his wings.
"Heh, yeah, thanks, Cousin." Collin flew them over towards Antione and Tails. Sonic hopped over to the other plane.
"You okay, Sonic?" Tails asked with concern as he got up with Sonic to the top of the wings of Antione's plane.
"Yeah, but that thing's hide is too tough to tackle! Talk about steel-belted baboons!"
"But what about the princess?" Tails was worried till Sonic took his hand.
"That's where you come in, li'l buddy! It's time for a change in strategy." Tails nodded and Sonic threw him to give him a start.
Tails started speeding with his tails through the air. "We'll flip for her! Heads, he wins… Tails… he loses!" He flew in and snatched the princess right out of the golden gorilla's hand. "Going my way, Princess?" Tails flew her off to Collin's plane while Antione tossed Sonic the water rifle that was attached to the water tank on his plane.
"Way to go, Tails!" Sonic caught the rifle and started to aim, knowing this wasn't his best tool. Collin was a better marksman than he was. "Let's break out the super soakers, 'Twan! We've only got one hundred-gallon shot at this!"
Sonic shot, and managed to land the water where the ape was trying to hold the tower, causing it to slip off and fall to the ground. "Bull's-eye, mon ami! I believe we have geevin heem ze slip!" Antione chuckled as they made their way towards where Collin had settled his plane.
Meanwhile, Robotnik and Jr. were on their way as well in a drill car. "Hold on m'boy!" Robotnik called in vain. "Daddy's coming!"
"Pops, we might be too little… and too late!" With a large "Ker-r-ash!", King Gong was no more.
The Freedom Fighters all winced at the loud noises. "Oooh." Sally saw as her "date" landed on its head and broke into a bajillion pieces.
"Not pretty." Sonic stated as saw the mess.
"He lasted a good twenty years or so." Was all Collin could say. Then he spotted Robotnik crying oil for the broken creation. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me…"
"King-Gong he was made of lead, lost his grip and broke his head!" Robotnik sobbed in his version of singing. "My boy…*sob* He coulda been a contendah!"
'My Uncle, boo-freaking-hoo, he could have been a nice genius… he could have been a savior… now he's just a tyrannical idiot…' Collin shook his head and took the children back to Knothole. 'How many other things from the past will come after us I wonder…'
Sonic and Tails were already making jokes about the incident. "That gorilla sure fell for the princess in a big way." Tails chuckled.
Sonic grimaced. "I can see why. I sorta go ape over her myself." Sally just hugged Sonic more as they settled into Collin's plane. Antione and Tails went back in the other one.