It took them quite a bit for them to reach Metropolis. It was little to no problem getting there due to Sonic's speed, with Tails and Bunnie proving more than capable of keeping pace with him.

Tails eventually helped get Sonic to a higher vantage point, with Bunnie landing left to them. Sonic placed a hand over his head while whistling at the sight of the bustling city. Many of the buildings around them came across as futuristic and pristine, with skyscrapers about, see-through walkways, and orb shaped sentries.

"Sheesh. They weren't kiddin' about this place." Sonic hummed while looking from side to side. "Making our way through a place like this ain't gonna be easy, is it?"

"Ain't it lucky that we don't have to fight through the entire thang? Because that would take a wee bit too much time." Bunnie also whistled while tilting her hat slightly. "Tails, mind givin' us a direction?"

"Lemme see." Tails adjusted his red scarf while checking the Miles Electric in his hands. "As expected, there are so many facilities here producing Badniks, there's no use in trying to destroy them all ourselves."

"I gotcha, so a majority of them come from here. Makes sense, now that I'm seeing some of it for myself. Busy city." Sonic scratched his quills briefly. "Good thing we don't gotta worry about smashing through all of em', right? Only take out one of the bigger badder bosses and get that component we need."

"That's right." Tails nodded. "If we manage that much, we can count the mission as a success."

"Then we skedaddle quick as." Bunnie finished, lightly stretching her arms with a sigh. "Am ah glad you've got that gadget of yours to help map this out, cause otherwise we'd be lookin' forever."

"I'd like to see just how many if them I can take apart, but we already promised Sal to be more careful than that. An in and out job this started as, and that's how we're gonna complete it. Hopefully." Sonic lightly cracked his fingers over his head. "Of course I fully expect things to go off the rails at any given moment despite our best efforts. Gonna have to match the pace when that happens."

"Our luck won't be that good, will it?" Tails deadpanned.

"Listen well, my young vulpine bro: Going into things and expecting everything to railroad out of control will at least mentally prepare you for it so you're ready to act quickly, which is also an opportunity for cool stuff to happen. On the other side, things going completely right without any setbacks will feel like a genuine and pleasant surprise, cause things actually go the way you expect them to." Sonic smirked. "Sal could go to take on that mindset more, cause then you'll feel like you can take on anything no matter what happens!"

"Sally-girl simply doesn't have the temperament for that like you do, Sugah Hog."

"Worth a suggestion, at least."

Tails hummed as his namesakes began spinning. "Alright, this mission isn't going to complete itself. Let's get moving, guys!"

With a collective nod of agreement, the trio made their way deeper into the city, heading into the direction that the Miles Electric was pointing them towards, the direction which would could have both their target and their 'prize' for defeating said target.

"Still, all of the technology here seems pretty advanced. Amazing, even!" Tails wondered while flying ahead of the other two for a time. "I bet there's quite a few things here that could be very innovative for the world at large!" He then thought over that and folded his arms with a slight frown. "And they're keeping it all to themselves here..."

"Don't you just hate it when the bad guys have some of the best toys around? Feels unfair, doesn't it?" Sonic shrugged. "Course, their living arrangements could be better. I mean this place looks cool and all, but it sure isn't Knothole." He then pointed. "'Sides, bet you could invent things that blow nearly all of this outta the water!"

"I wouldn't really take it that far. I'm just curious is all. And we don't even have much time to look at it for observation purposes." Tails rubbed his chin. "If only the opportunities were better..."

"Now now, boys. Focus has gotta stay sharp." Bunnie gently brought them back to focus.

"Right, right " Tails nodded as he gazed at the Miles Electric, before pointing onwards. "There! The shield generator we need is within the facility straight ahead!"

The three of them briefly came to a stop, with Tails still having a pointer finger out as they looked towards their target. The Miles Electric directed them the same way, so it's definitely correct. Still, while they are able to just make it to their objective, they still had to get inside and get what they need.

"Here we are. The Command Tower. It's a big Badnik facility alright. And it's one with the shield generator that we need." Tails confirmed as the Miles Electric beeped some more. "These are all over Metropolis, too."

"So I can take a guess that a majority of the Badniks that be messing up the Acorn Archipelago, and Westside Island as a whole, come from Metropolis, since there's so many of these plants here in one place." Sonic lightly scratched his quills with a frown. "There's way too many of these facilities in one place to try busting them up one at a time."

"And even then, rebuilding might not be too hard for them either." Tails sighed. It's really no wonder that Sally wanted them to be extra careful in Metropolis. A majority of the city is a near perpetual enemy spawning site, and it uses this status to terrorize the other areas. Trying to destroy one at a time, regardless of revisits, would be an exercise of futility. "If only there was some way to shut down all of these factories at once, in Metropolis..." Preferably without hurting any potential innocents within the facilities. That would also be a problem to consider.

There has to be an answer...

"Now now, Darlin'. That's a problem to approach later. And that's fine, because we aren't equipped enough to handle it right this moment." Bunnie lightly patted Tails' back. "Focus on what ya can actually do right in the here and now, with what we do have."

"Right...right. Okay." Tails nodded calmly, narrowing his eyes. "We have a Boss to take down, and to take the shield generator. They're going to try and crowd us once we get our hands on it. Whether we sneak our way in or not, fighting our way out is inevitable. The very second that shield generator leaves it's place, they will notice it immediately. Even if we successfully sneak in undetected, sneaking back out with just as much success with it on hand is going to be more trouble than it's worth."

"This mean we're going full throttle?" Sonic clenched his fist with a grin.

"Guess so. You and Bunnie can draw a majority of the enemies attention on you, since you're both powerhouses. And while they're occupied by you-aka being beaten down by you-i'll fly up to the floor with the shield generator and prep it for extraction." He lifted his Miles Electric once more. "I'll be able to call for a certain pickup with this. I'll just need some time."

"You sure you're gonna be alright on yer own?" Bunnie questioned worriedly.

"Yeah, bud. You said it yourself, this might get rough. Sure you wanna be in an area all by yourself?" Sonic also questioned. Tails looked him in the eye with a stern stare.

"I'll be fine, Sonic."

Sonic looked his sworn brother in the eyes, before smiling. "Alright then. If you say you can, then you can. And you look determined to prove that, so I'll leave top floor to you." He held up his fist. "Let's do it-"

"-to it!" Tails nodded as they bumped fists. Sonic stepped back, while Bunnie stepped forward, kneeling slightly and giving Tails a kiss on his forehead. He blinked softly in a bit of a blush, as Bunnie also ruffled the fur on his head.

"We're trustin' ya. Be careful, sugar." Bunnie briefly smiled, before she turned to Sonic while tilting her hat. "Ready, Sugah Hog?"

"Bionic rabbits first, ma'am." Sonic gestured forward with a smile. Bunnie rolled her eyes, before smiling and jumping forward into the fray. Sonic also speeds into said fray, leaving Tails the last one to depart. He briefly looked upwards, towards where the Miles Electric was pinpointing the shield generator. He took a deep breath.

"Okay. Okay. Here I go. Here I go!" He narrowed his eyes and immediately took flight.

The ground around Bunnie cracked from her feet harshly landing on it, and she looked up to see that she immediately had the enemy's attention. Which was all well and good, as it means quite a few of them were taking their eyes and sensors off of Tails. Sonic sped right next to Bunnie, lightly tapping his foot while rubbing his chin.

"Alrighty then, fellas! Who'd like a firsthand demonstration on how destructive a bionic rabbit can be?"

"Free of charge!" Bunnie cheerfully added, before she held out her hand, glowing lines appearing around her arm. Energy gathered in her hand, and she fired off a concussive blast that split their opposition up quite nicely from the resulting explosion. Sonic jumped up and launched himself towards the soaring Badniks, piercing right through them through several streaks of a homing attack.

He soon dashed forwards, the doors busted down from the force, skidding to a stop and smiling at the opposition all around him. He didn't give them much time to react to him, running as a streak of blue, ramming straight through them and sending them flying all over.

He skids to a stop as he sees more of them incoming. "These look like Egg Fighters. They're slightly tougher than the usual bots." He jumped up as one of them slashed their blade down where he was, wrecking the ground slightly. "For example, chainsaw swords!"

"The crazy things they be comin' up with these days." Bunnie huffed as she roughly grabbed one of the blades, which chipped in her hands before stopping completely. Smiling, she took the wrecked blade for herself and slashed it vertically downwards on the Egg Fighter, slicing it in half. "Ya think Antoine would like a sword like this?"

"Chainsaw sword? Pfft, no way. Dude sticks to the classics as closest as he possibly and practically can." Sonic jumped over and kicked another that tried to smash at him. "Though if he wants an upgrade, I'm sure Tails and Rotor can fix something up for him if he asks! Suggestion? Laser sword."

"Ah'll make sure he at least thinks about it-!"

Both of them heard the sound of clicking, and turned to the sight of dozens of Egg Fighters, except they had cannons for hands. And all of them were aimed right for them. And charging up quite quickly.

"...Oh sweet cheese and crackers." Bunnie muttered with widened eyes.

"I don't suppose they'll order us to 'put your hands in the air!' first, will they?" Sonic smiled weakly.

"They don't need to!" Bunnie declared, holding up a hand right as they began blasting away. A barrier manifested around both herself and Sonic as the blasts harmlessly bounced off of it. "Ya think this will cause enough of a commotion for the head honcho here to show their mug?!"

"They'll show! I'm sure of it!"

Tails meanwhile managed to fly her away around the enemies for the most part, going through and seeking the shield generator. He was getting closer, just a little more.

Egg Fighters got in his way, several of them being Shooters that didn't hesitate to fire away at him. Narrowing his eyes, he spin dashes swiftly enough to trip up on carrying a shield, and grabs it for himself. He holds it forward so he can defend against the blasts. Closing in, he rammed the shield right into them, then spun his namesakes to disrupt their aim, causing them to blast their allies instead. Keeping the shield in front of him, he protected against another blast barrage, before going on to throw the shield towards the remaining Egg Shooter, seeing it pierce right through and end up quickly destroyed.

Seeing more of them up ahead prepared to fire at him rapidly. He landed on the ground and charged up a spindash, before launching himself forward and piercing through the shooters, swerving around the ones with shields and piercing through the back of them, grabbing another shield and pushing onwards to defend against the next volley of blasts aimed his way. Managing to avoid some with ease and defending against others with his taken shield, he got past the bots in due time, before skidding to a stop and finding what he was looking for.

"Yes! It's over here!" Tails nodded strongly while making his way forward. He rubbed his chin while getting a gauge at the...eccentric, appearance of the shield generator.

Even shield generators have to look like his face-woah!

His thoughts were interrupted as he dodged backwards out of the way of a heavy impact. His namesakes spin rapidly while he got a look at his newest opposition. The generator was guarded, as he figured it would be. And considering he could see only three guards that weren't robots this time, he could only figured that they were a bit above the opposition he just faced a moment ago.

Okay, let's see now. We have a Grizzly, a Rabbit, and a Wolf. It'll probably be rough to take them all on, but it's not like they'll just let me leave.

"What do we have here, dearies? Someone is sneaking and scampering about?" Someone appeared on the screen, donning a wicked smile. She wears a witch's hat, cape, and has a right claw instead of a similar left hand. She also has a long tail, pointed ears, and a and one could just make out a horn under her hat. She also has medium-long white hair, going past her shoulders. "Well now, we can't have that, can we?"

Wendy Witchcart. Tails narrowed his eyes while landing on the ground.

"You ought to know exactly who I am and what I'm about, yet still you pull this stunt? You're a brave little fox cub, I'll give you that! But I have a pretty good thing going here, and you're causing an unneeded ruckus!"

Tails shrugged slightly. "Some foxes are known to be pretty mischievous."

"They're also known to make rather nifty rugs! Bearenger, Carrotia, Falke Wulf! My beloved Witchcarters! Be dearies and deal with our vulpine intruder!" The screen soon cuts off, leaving Tails alone with the trio set to deal with him.

"You've been left at our mercy! Hee hee! Too bad for yoo hoo hoo!" Falke Wulf grinned as several orbs of energy hovered over his head, before he shot all of them towards Tails. He flew out of the way, barely managing to avoid the explosions.

Okay, they have magic abilities of their own. I'll have to be careful-

His thoughts were cut as he hurriedly stopped in place, as Carrotia landed right in front of him. He raised his fists in preparation for an attack, but was instead baffled when she leaned forward and cupped his cheeks with a big and bright smile.

"D'awwww! A wittle foxy woxy! Such a cutie-patootie!"

"...W-Wha?" Tails blinked as a slight blush spread across his cheeks, focus temporarily scrambled.

"Do we have to destroy him? Making him go boom? Too cruel!" It didn't help that she pulled him for a hug and happily nuzzled her cheek against his. "He looks too cuddly-wuddly to destroy! Is it not enough to just stop him and keep him? I'll take good care of him, promise!"

Tails was...quite unprepared to deal with this kind of attack. What was even the proper response fo-

"RRRRRAGH!"

Tails forcefully pushed himself away from Carrotia as Bearenger smashed his powered fists in-between them, Carrotia skidding across with an annoyed pout.

"You ain't keeping the brat, Carrotia! He broke in here, so he's gonna get broken!" The grizzly denied angrily.

"Can't keep the cutie-patootie. Oh phooey." Carrotia sighed while standing up straight. "Sorry, foxy woxy. As cute as you are, I have do do my job." Carrotia raised her hand and blew him a kiss. Except the blown kiss was also an energy attack, one which Tails swiftly dodged out the way of. Only to be caught briefly unguarded as he was faced with what seemed to be a glowing carrot.

The sudden explosion going off right in front of him was the only warning he could receive. Carrotia watched on with a cool yet distance gaze.

"Boom-Boom."

Tails crashed against the wall, smoking riding off his body. He coughed slightly as he held his chest, looking up to see the Witchcarters closing in. Bearenger loudly cracked his knuckles.

"I'm gonna strangle you with your own tails, kid!" He roared out menacingly.

"That's quite, ugh...a grisly threat, coming from a grizzly..." Tails grunts while trying to get the world to stop spinning. "Geez, you even smell perpetually angry. I don't suppose a shower would wash off that smell and your anger, would it?"

Sonic was right, though. Sometimes joking around despite the immense danger you're in does distract you from your own growing sense of fear. And at the moment, Tails was feeling quite a hefty amount of it.

Either way, this sense of defiance was definitely something Sonic and Sally rubbed off on him.

Back with the blue hedgehog in question. He and Bunnie we're still pinned down by the Egg Shooters, seeing as they were barely letting up from their assault. Bunnie managed to keep her barrier up to protect them both, but knew she couldn't keep it going forever.

"We're kinda sitting ducks at the moment, Bunnie! I'm open to any ideas!"

"I've got one!" Bunnie narrowed her eyes as she kept one hand outwards to keep the barrier up, while holding up her other hand. "Hop on, Sugah Hog!"

"Oh, I getcha!" Sonic hopped onto her hand and curled up into a ball.

Once she found a proper opening, she jumped back and launched Sonic with a powerful throw. With her added force, Sonic ends up bouncing all over the room, and would smash right through the enemy bots before they could react to him. Piercing right through the Egg Shooters before they had a chance to continue their assault, blue streaks of light striking right through their centers and causing them to explode seconds afterwards. Bouncing all over the room akin to a rubber ball moving at high speed, none of them were able to lock onto him again.

Once all the current bots were smashed apart, Sonic stopped on a dime, right next to Bunnie. Both of them smiled at each other and bumped fists with each other.

"Alright, that's a whole chunk of them down and out." Sonic looked around, checking the room in case more of them enter. "Though I know that wasn't all of them, no way. My guess, a big boss must have finally caught onto us being here."

"All too true."

Sonic briefly froze in place, before just as swiftly regaining his composure and folding his arms. With that, both he and Bunnie turned towards the source of the voice. The screen came to life, revealing someone on the other end. Both Bunnie briefly tensed up, arm glowing lines tracing down her arm for a moment, only to calmly sigh and settle down without discarding her glare. Both of the could recognize those black and red eyes any day.

"Julian Robotnik." Bunnie muttered.

"You sure took your time, huh Ju-Ju?" Sonic raised his hands with a shrug. "And here I thought I was gonna fall asleep waiting for someone important to show up." Despite still somewhat joking around, Bunnie could immediately tell Sonic's current mood from his tone.

All of the lightheadedness in it has temporarily ceased to exist.

"Insufferable as always, Hedgehog. So, you thought it wise to come all the way out here, attempting some kind of theft? Are you that desperate, scampering about like pests?"

"Pests tend to be annoying. If we're annoying you, I can be a pest all day."

"Charming." Julian lightly rested a fist on his cheek. "I suppose your precious 'leader' sent you two to upend operations here?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

Julian shook his head with a sigh. "And yet, she sends you two, her best knights, right to their deaths. Your Princess have quite a poor taste in 'friends' and leadership."

"You don't have any taste at all." Sonic smirked. "Not in friends, not in food, not in fashion sense. The only claim you have for certain in being better than Sal at is being butt-ugly, Robuttnik."

"Such immaturity."

"I mean, I'd have gone with Baldy McNosehair, but I feel like that one would dry up faster than I can run." Sonic smirked even more. "He's not exactly winning any good looks awards either, but at least Eggman's head is the somewhat more common cueball, and not a conehead."

They both heard a loud slam of a fist impacting something, and Sonic could tell he got under his skin. Julian glared darkly at them from behind his screen.

"Do. Not. Compare. Me. To IVO!"

"Ah think ya went and touched a nerve, Sugah-Hog."

"Did I, now?" Sonic lightly picked his ear. "I didn't notice. Or care."

Julian's glare darkened. "I'm not interested in suffering your mockery. Time to silence it."

Suddenly, something busted down the walls next to them, causing the duo to jump away from it. They could see a large Mecha slowly hovering above the air, lowering towards them. Bunnie and Sonic tensed up while preparing to do battle with it. Julian watched on coldly.

"Egg Diablon. Quite a marvel, isn't it?" Julian declared as both he and the mech focused squarely on Sonic. "With it, I'm about to crush a speed devil."

Sonic whistled while having a hand over his eyes. "Well well, that one looks a lot tougher than the others." He grinned while getting into racing position. "Suits us just fine!" So long as this mech was busy with them, Tails could continue to operate unhindered by it. Sounds good to them.

It was good of this tough mech to show up. Because now they had to vent the quickly rising, sheer amount of rage building up within them at the sight of this man.

It was due to one thing.

While it's true that the tyrannical warlock Naugus was the one in temporary control of the Acorn Kingdom, control the Freedom Fighters swore they would tear away from him, their righteous fury towards him paled in comparison to the man before them, even if only by holographic visage, Julian Robotnik. For he was the one most proactive in it's people's suffering and trapping them with oppressive despair. As such, it's also a very good thing that Sally wasn't here.

She would have been...drastically less calm about seeing his face.

"You know, it really is disappointing that your princess isn't here with you right now." Julian remarked with a bored look. "It would have been far more efficient if she was, for I could break her will to live right here and now, and thus her resolve to resist my rule, and be done with this farce. She couldn't just submit to her new masters like the obedient, tamed animal that she's supposed to be. No, she had to hold onto her insignificant pride. Sooner enough she'll learn that pride comes before the fall."

Especially if she heard something like that.

Julian was very fortunate he wasn't personally there to suffer the indignation within them that he stirred.

"Yer darn lucky you're not here yourself, Robotnik." Bunnie snarled.

"Cause now you've got a front row demonstration of what's gonna happen when we do eventually take you down!" Sonic declared strongly.

And thus, the battle began in earnest.

Sally was quietly leading her group onwards, briefly pushing through a few bushes in her way. With that, she stepped forward for a better view of the visage before her. Antoine and Rotor followed close behind on each side of her, feeling a similar kind of nostalgia washing over them for a moment.

"Emerald Hill." Sally hummed.

"Where we went on one of our first missions all together as a group of tykes." Rotor nodded with folded arms.

"Lady Longclaw was watching over us the entire time, of course." Antoine rubbed his chin with a smile. "Wanted to make sure that Sonic didn't run off too far from the group."

"He found running those loop de loops too tempting to resist." Sally rolled her eyes. "Okay, focus. NICOLE, do you have a reading on that engine part we need?"

"I can still detect the signature clearly, Sally. The component we need is surely here." NICOLE responded. "Enemy activity is moderate in the area, but not to an overwhelming. Still, I recommend caution."

"Understood. Let's go, boys."

The group soon moves out, with Sally keeping NICOLE out in case something comes up. And given their luck, much to Antoine's chargin, the chances of things going unexpectedly during expeditions like this was extraordinarily high. Well, at least Sally expected it. Sally never expects anything to run completely smoothly no matter how much she tries or plans for it, even if sometimes her heart truly hopes for it. A genuinely smooth operation tends to be a pleasant surprise.

Though unlike Sonic being able to near-seamlessly go with the flow even with the unexpected happening, all it does is fill her with stress. And a stressful mind tends to lead to even worse leadership decisions, so she more often than not tries to quell it sooner rather than later

"It's odd, though. The engine we need is giving off this kind of signal. Being able to track and lock onto it, I can somewhat get. What I'm confused about was how easy it was." Sally folded her arms. "I would have thought that the enemy would take better precautions to hide something that can prove to be quite an advantage to them."

"Unless it's not an enemy that has it." Rotor put forth a thought. "For all we know, they don't exactly have it yet, and are instead trying to find it like we are."

"Heh, then it would do us well for us to find it first, if that is the case." Antoine scoffed while keeping his attention forward. "For your sake I sincerely hope this project of yours comes to fruition. I'd have for all of us to go through all this effort and have it not near anything of note."

"Don't worry. This won't all be a wasted effort, I assure you. Me and Tails are putting our heads together for this, and we want it to be the best it can be." Rotor folded his arms. "After that, the only concern we would have is actually powering that engine. Though gathering Power Rings won't be too much of a hassle. It's why I've also put together a Lake of Rings radar."

"You made a radar that locates Lakes of Rings?" Sally turned to him, slightly surprised.

"Can't be too careful. Like every vehicle, we'll need to occasionally refuel this one. And I want us to be able to find the closest Lake of Rings we can for exactly that purpose. Best to know where and when to do refueling before we even begin to reach empty." Rotor explained with a smile. "Once we actually finish with it, I'll have Sonic help us gather about seven containers filled with Rings. That should be a pretty good start. Each one on its own will have enough power to energize the entire thing." Rotor's eyes twinkled. "And l do mean the whole thing. When we're done, it'll be amazing."

"You seem to have really thought this through together." Sally raised an amused eyebrow. "Both of you must really be that excited about this project."

"Just a teeny bit." Rotor's eyes twinkled with pumped fists. "Just wait until I get to the weapon systems. Tails left most of that part to me!"

"He seems quite excited about the weaponry." NICOLE noted.

"I'll try not to be worried about it." Sally chuckled while scratching her cheek.

"I'll have enough worry for all of us." Antoine deadpanned.

Progressing further, NICOLE beeped several times, gaining Sally's attention. "Enemy activity up ahead."

Sally crouched slightly, preparing to use her Ring Blades. "As expected. Let's try and-"

"They're being engaged by another party."

"...Heh?"

The gang slowly peered behind a wall in order to see what NICOLE was referring to.

And thus, they weren't quite sure what they were seeing.

"You jerks...you stupid, stupid jerks. I've already tried asking nicely, then you chose to wear out my patience. Now I'm telling you. Either point me to where you're holding my friend..."

PIKO!

The group was treated to the sight of an Egg Hammer being sent crashing into the ground. And found themselves quite perplexed, as it was sent flying by something much smaller than it. It was young, it was pink, it was spirited.

"Or I'll bash every single one of you into pieces until I come across someone who WILL!"

And it was angry.

Let it be known that a relatively cute, pink, and young hedgehog near-casually overpowering the huge and tough Egg Hammers was not something the group was expecting to see today. And yet here they were witnessing it for themselves, as said pink Hedgehog parried a massive hammer swing from one of them, before jumping up and bashing her hammer right into their chests, sending them flying away a few feet before landing on their backs.

"You think you're funny, huh?! Trying to beat me in a hammer battle?! FAT CHANCE!"

PIKO! PIKO! PIKO!

Yeah, whatever they did to her, she was heated about it.

"Princess, should...should we step in?" Antoine lightly raised a hand while still watching the rather surprising spectacle.

"I, uh, think she can handle herself..." Rotor muttered with a slightly nervous laugh.

"Agreed, but why take the chance?" Sally narrowed her eyes as she slowly proceeded onwards, waiting for her opportunity.

"I'll smash every single bad bot in Emerald Hill if I have to!" The newcomer roared while swinging her hammer, once again easily knocking over the mechanical hammer-wielding giants with a forceful grunt. "You're making a BIG mistake trying to keep my friend from me! Because once I'm done here, I'm gonna find who's overall responsible for this, and give them a piece of my mind!"

"Until then, keep watching your back!" Sally called out as she sliced the handle of an Egg Hammer's weapon before it could swing it at the girl from behind, rendering it helpless as the mallet dropped to the ground.

"Oh, thanks!" The pink hedgehog shows her gratitude by leaping up high and bashing the bot right stop it's head, smashing it flat. She landed gracefully on the ground as it slowly fell on its back with a loud THUD. "I didn't think anyone was going to have my back this soon, but I'll take it!" Getting a better look at her, the pink hedgehog wore a red and white dress, a green short sleeved jacket over it, with red and white boots, a red hairband, white gloves, and gold bracelets.

And of course Sally didn't forget that she was carrying around a massive red and yellow mallet on her shoulder as if it weighed nothing at all.

"You seem quite skilled at dealing out some immense force." Sally remarked as her Ring Blades came to life. "How about I balance that out on my side with some finesse?"

"Well, I certainly won't complain about getting a little help!" She swung her hammer again, with Sally jumping off of the mallet itself to land on its head and pierce both of her blades across it's head, before jumping over it and letting it fall to the ground. The pink hedgehog stood, amazed. "W-Woah. You're pretty good at this!"

"You're not too bad yourself!" After a moment, with Egg Hammers still happening across them, Sally and her new ally stood back to back while glaring at their opposition. Still, it would help for them to exchange greetings. "Sally Acorn."

"Wait, say what?! Sally Acorn?! As in Princess Sally Acorn?! Wow, who'd think I'd actually run into someone like you out here!" Captured by shock, Amy was only left feeling quite surprised, before she overturned it with a smile while still glaring at her enemies. She briefly held her hand behind her for a brief shake, which Sally good-natured took without taking her eyes off her target. "Amy Rose. Nice to meet you, Princess!"

"Likewise! And please, just call me Sally. We're both fighters on the same battlefield."

Both of them briefly switched places and jumped at their targets, with Sally slicing right through a hammer swing that sent it's mallet flying, while Amy outright parried the hammer blow headed her away, causing it to stumble. It didn't take much for them to respectively slice right through it's head and smash the top of it, respectively. They both landed on their feet as the bulky bots collapsed behind them, with Amy in particular taking time to pat down her dress, and Sally pushing her hair away from her face.

"...I don't think we were necessary for this one." Antoine uneasily came to the conclusion.

"Hey, saves us the energy. That's a positive, isn't it?" Rotor optimistically patted his back.

Sally and Amy both checked for any more enemies around them, as the Egg Hammers have all but been defeated. Though for the briefest of moments, they did see a Buzz Bomber behind each of them, aiming a charged laser.

"Behind you!"

They simultaneously warned each other, with resulted in both of them turning and attacking the sky. Both with Sally slicing with her Ring Blades, a wave of energy that reached the hornet-esqe bot and sliced it clean in half. Whereas Amy took something off of her back, which turned out to be a crossbow, and fired off a shot, piercing through the other one's head. Both bots fell to the ground destroyed, leading to the ladies signing at the close call.

"Whew."

They both sighed, sheathing their weapons as they turned to each other. "A crossbow, too?" Sally asked.

"When I need it." Amy cutely stuck out her tongue with a V-sign.

"Not only are you strong with a hammer, but you're a good shot with a crossbow? Wow, you're dangerous."

"Why thank you." Amy proudly held her dress while playfully doing a curtsy.

Sally chuckled for a bit while folding her arms. "So, Amy. About your friend."

"Oh my gosh, right!" Amy briefly shook her head with a focused flare. "These Badnik jerks got the drop on us, and they went and kidnapped her right under my nose! I gotta get her back as soon as possible!" Amy soon shook her head in frustration. "All that being said, I have to get back to base first and recollect some supplies and myself." She turned to Sally. "You're probably baby with your own mission, surely. But do you think you could come with me and lend me a hand?"

Sally hummed as she mulled her options. She most definitely wanted to help, but she wondered how she'd be able to coincide this new objective. Then again, maybe they would be able to help each other. Nicole was likely able to find whenever they needed, but not without a clue, some data. Plus, it would do to have someone give them a rundown in what they were dealing with, from someone who currently knows the land better through walking it.

"Lead the way, Amy."

Amy did just that, with the surrounding area having been cleared of enemies for the time being. Though Sally already had a feeling that it wouldn't be that easy for very long. Though per Amy's quiet suggestion, NICOLE made sure to check every seven minutes to scan the area and make sure they weren't being followed, for that would lead to disaster. She didn't question it, given the urgency in Amy's eyes.

Before long, Amy lead them to a somewhat calm and relaxing spot. Sally blinked as NICOLE beeped and confirmed something.

"I couldn't detect anything unusual around this area."

"That's the idea." Amy also confirmed. She went to a certain tree and pulled on the branch. Antoine and Rotor were soon somewhat baffled that an entrance suddenly came into view. Quietly gesturing for the others to be quiet just in case, Amy lead them further inside the entrance, and soon enough, they entered what appeared to be a base of sorts. "I'm back! And I've brought some company! We totally kicked major robot butt together!"

"You mean you two did..." Antoine waved off. "Phah! No matter! They would have been felled immediately if I had drawn my sword!"

"Uhuh..." Rotor rolled his eyes.

As they got deeper, the one Amy called for suddenly swiveled in his chair, smiling. "Oh! Amy, you managed to get back! Thank goodness!" Greeting them, as a rather lanky man, with a long strip of ginger hair behind his head, resembling his similarly shaped moustache. He also wore green overalls, a pink shirt, and pink and green slippers. Some of it hung off of him a bit, but it was still a decent fit. "Pardon me. If I knew we'd be having more company, I'd have put on better clothes!"

"No worries. Anyways, I'm not staying long. I just need to stock up on some supplies and do a quick check because-"

"Tekno was captured." Amy shuddered briefly at the quick and to the point analysis of the cause of her rushing. "Say no more, I'll locate her right away. Shouldn't take me long." The man turned to the group of newer arrivals. "Princess Sally! I see you've grown up healthily. I'm relieved to see you doing well."

Sally blinked. "I'm, grateful? Who are you?"

The man nodded while briefly adjusting his glasses. "Pardon me again. My name is Dr. Ovi Kintobor." He tilted his head with a smile. "Though small children who tend to come by, call me Mr. Tinkerer."

"Kintobor...?!" The gang's she's widened in realization, with the only other person not pausing in shock was Amy herself.

"I'm sure a dozen questions just hatched in your heads just now, and I'm even more sure more will afterwards. But for now, I'm afraid that most of them will have to wait." Ovi turned to a nearby screen. "I'll have to locate Tekno quickly. And knowing her, she'll already have the means for us to-ah, there she is!" He pointed with a smile. "As expected, she wouldn't allow something like this to happen without a way to track her."

"I'm going out there." Amy growled as she eventually began storming off, patting her hammer in her hand. "If they so much as touch one feather on her head-"

"HOLD ON!" Sally eventually shouted, startling everyone in the room. "I know you're in a hurry to save your friend, and I've no intention on impeding you." She turned to Ovi. "But this is a seriously major discovery, and I don't think I have it in me to just hurriedly move along without addressing at least a few things regarding it."

Ovi looked at the young girl for a while, before he sighed and stood up from his chair. "That's fair." He pressed a button nearby, and a holographic image of Naugus and-

Sally's facial expression briefly resembled one like thunder for the brief moment of seeing the image of the one standing next to him. Nearly every muscle in her tensed with fury, her vision briefly turned completely red, eyes shrunken to pinpricks, the sheer volatile acidity of her glare threatened to somehow incinerate the hologram where it stood, and she swore she nearly, reflectively activated her Ring Blades in response to the-

"Sally. He's not here." Nicole manifested just slightly out of her console, as she gently, calmly, placed a hand on her shoulder. Sally glared at the image a moment more, before she closed her eyes and sighed. Everything in her relaxed, but the moment was there, and she felt slightly ashamed for nearly slipping into the kind of anger that wouldn't help anyone at the moment. She briefly fixed up her hair, which began shifting out of control through her just quickly rising indignation.

"I apologize. Please, continue."

"I know you've been fighting against Naugus, and...Julian." The disappointment, and regret, in Ovi's voice wasn't hard to miss. "I won't hold you up with details regarding the latter, as you've already been a...personal witness to his malevolence. Julian is... unfortunately beyond my help. Cold and calculated, cruel and uncaring. He's embraced what it means to be a Robotnik...down to their worst aspects." Ovi began pacing with a sad frown. "A complete opposite to being warm and compassionate, embracing their gifted intellect and using it to improve others' lives...a Kintobor."

"Eggman doesn't exactly follow those qualifications of the latter either, does he?" Rotor folded his arms.

Ovi unfortunately had to agree, shaking his head with a sigh. "At the very least, Ivo wasn't as inherently callous to everyone who wasn't himself. He has an inner circle, along with very few outside of it, that he genuinely cares for. Not everyone was connected for the most benevolent of reasons, but blackened hearts are still hearts. As much as it pains me to say it, I'm unsure if Julian even has one anymore."

"I wouldn't be surprised." Sally muttered under her breath.

"Over the years, many within their have discarded the inherent kindness and a desire to help those around them, that comes with the name 'Kintobor', and instead relinquished it for using their gifted intelligence to make the world bend to their whims. 'Robotnik'. The damage that Robotniks tended to do, which tend to build up over the years...it wasn't something that could be immediately undone." What he left unsaid that it wasn't something he could undo, either. Not by himself, at the very least.

The last time he tried, he...

...

"...I don't want to take up too much of your time. Tekno needs you." Ovi shook his head as he headed over to one of the containers he carried, opening it to reveal something peculiar. He turned back to Sally and Nicole, handing the latter a ring. Not just any Ring.

A Red Star Ring.

"This was a gift from...a comrade. He said that someone he was familiar with would eventually need to use this when the moment was critical. It was also the only one he could make with the data and resources he had at the time. If you're going to absorb the energy from this Ring, be sure to make it count. And my comrade...he looked a lot like you." Nicole's eyes widened, having a sudden quiet understanding of who this person probably was, especially if Ovi was handing this Ring to her. He shook his head. "Before you ask...no, I unfortunately don't know where he is. Only that he's alive, and just like myself, is hiding away from the world, from prying eyes that don't mean well."

"Under...understood." Nicole silently nodded after taking a moment to think over the immense implications. Sally supportively placed a hand on her shoulder, returning the favor.

"Ah, there we go." Ovi nodded as he had briefly taken Amy's crossbow, did a quick fix, and handed it back. "Good as new. Be sure not to push yourself too far. Make sure Tekno makes it back safely."

"You got it!" Amy nodded strongly. "Alright, I'm off for sure, now we've got a location! I have to get there fast, before a certain someone shows up and makes a mess I things!" Amy soon rushes out with a dash. "Feel free to catch up when you can!"

"This is quite an impressive lab. Do you think I could have a proper tour of it? I-If you'll allow it." Rotor lightly rubbed the back of his neck.

"No trouble at all! When you're done, you're welcome to have a look around!" Ovi waved as Rotor and Antoine soon took off as well. And before Sally could follow suit, she briefly turned to him, as he seemed to have one more thing to say. "You lead quite a band of friends."

"...Are you really alright with us fighting against your family?" Sally asked carefully, yet seriously.

"Someone being family isn't a justification for ignoring their malevolent actions and the suffering they bring. I am disappointed and regretful...but not blind." Ovi lowered his head. "Do whatever you and your friends must do, Princess Sally Acorn. You'll find no ill will from me."

After another lingering look, and some prompting from a silent Nicole, Sally turned around and left along with the others, leaving Ovi Kintobor alone.

...Well, almost alone.

"...Dad? Who was that?" Ovi slowly turned around, to see his trusty helper slowly blinking her eyes, having just barely come out of resting. Which simply wouldn't do.

"Amy brought some friends over, and they're heading back out to save another. A busy hedgehog, she always is." Ovi briefly laughed, and his helper got the silent feeling that she had missed quite a conversation. Alas, she didn't have much time to dwell, for he gently patted the top of her head. "It's really nothing to worry about too much. Please, go back and rest. You've had a rough day."

"Oh. Okay." His trusty helper turned and moved back to her room, still somewhat worried. "I wonder if I repaired the...oh sawdust, I have to remember to fix that too..."

"Always the hard worker." Ovi chuckled, before turning over towards his computer.

He's been working on a certain something for quite a while, longer than he thought he would. And the further he thought about it, the more that he found that he might lack the resolve to pull it off. He had no chance of doing so by himself. No chance at all. But maybe, just maybe...

He may have been a bit selfish with what his next thoughts regarding this project were...but to be perfectly honest, he can't see himself seeing it through. The risks he's been taking... eventually the consequences were going to catch up to him. And if they did, he might not survive it. As such, he needed to prepare for someone else to take up his stead.

"People. Hopes. Dreams. Miracles. Freedom. So long as these things exist and threaten their power, evil will always either try to destroy these concepts, or twist use them for their own malevolent purposes...even if that evil is from my own family." Ovi muttered briefly, before he clenched his fist, resolve returning to him, as he began typing. "Even so. Soon enough, our world, one of which is so lacking of these concepts despite our best efforts, will need them more than ever before."

It was settled. He made a promise. If the Freedom Fighters did manage to free the Acorn Kingdom, and by extension the Acorn Archipelago and Westside Island, and something happened to him before that happens, then he knew exactly who to entrust this to.

Glowing letters appeared as a hologram, and he looked up towards them, the light reflecting off his glasses.

Project: Restoration.

For a bit of reference, in terms of who's who, and characterization:

Dr. Julian Robotnik-Sonic Satam

Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik-Games/Post-Reboot Archie

Dr. Ovi Kintobor/Mr. Tinkerer-Sonic The Comic/IDW comics

Julian's sheer malevolence surpasses Ivo's, Ivo's the top dog of the world in terms of villainy, and Ovi's the good natured man with Mr. Tinkerer mixed in who just wants to do good but lacks the power to do enough for it to matter.

Several more certain Robotniks and Kintobors will appear, but it's these three that drastically shape how Mobius interprets and sees their families intentions, creations, how people interact with the world...I'll try to portray just how immense their impact is, and how much their influence, for better or worse, has a very large staying effect.

For now? Here in the present?

As much as Julian recognizes Sonic as the greater physical threat due to his sheer power and thus hates him for it, he hates Sally far more for being able to direct it his way in the first place. And Sally's sheer indignation towards him, thus returning the sentiment...is quite something.

There's a truly personal grudge match going on, and both Julian and Sally are determined to win it.