Sonic and the Freedom Fighters
Chapter 2: Just Like Old Times

Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit fan-based work of fiction. All characters portrayed in this story, unless specified otherwise, belong to SEGA.

A few moments after Sonic and Sally's reunion, the remainder of the Freedom Fighters had stepped into the transporter and were now in Tails' house. Tails and Bunnie were currently hugging each other, happy to see each other again after 3 years.

"I missed you guys so much!" Tails said.

"Same here, sugah." Bunnie replied. "Ah was so worried about yah ever since ya'll left to go with Sonic."

"Sorry, Bunnie." He said sadly.

"Don't worry your li'l head about it." Bunnie said. "Ah'm just glad to see you're okay."

Meanwhile, Sonic was currently speaking with his old "friend", Antoine D'Coolette. The coyote didn't have the highest opinion of Sonic, primarily because he saw Sonic as a rival for Sally's affection.

"Eet has been a while, Soneek." Antoine said.

"Sure has, Ant. You've changed a lot, haven't you?" Sonic said, noticing his change in wardrobe. In the past, he wore a blue and red jacket with gold shoulder pads, but now he has changed it in favour of a pair of white sashes worn on his chest in an X formation.

"Oui. In order to protect ze princess in your absence, of course I had to change."

Meanwhile, Sally was leaning back against one of the walls, lost in thought. She was wondering why Sonic had been away for three years. She came to the conclusion that the only way to find out was to ask him herself. Hesitantly, she walked up to Sonic and tapped his shoulder.

"Sonic?" She asked nervously. "Could we talk in private?"

"Sure thing, Sal." Sonic replied. as he took Sally's hand and lead her towards the door. Sally followed, a little unsure of what he was doing.

-Eggman's Base-

Unbeknownst to the Freedom Fighters, Eggman was currently spying on them from his base, using one of his Buzz Bomber robots as a spy camera. Accompanying him were a red robot with a spherical design, and a yellow robot with a cube-based body, named Orbot and Cubot respectively.

"Whatcha doin', Boss?" Cubot asked.

"I'm spying on Sonic to see when he'll let his guard down." Eggman replied. "When he does, I'll attack him without mercy."

"Wait, so you lost to Sonic moments ago on purpose?" Orbot asked, curious.

"Of course I lost to Sonic of purpose, you twit!" Eggman shouted. "Did you really think I would come up with a plan as pathetically predictable as that?"

"Yo, Boss!" Cubot said, gaining the doctor's attention. "Who's the girl with Sonic?"

"Girl?" Eggman asked as he turned his attention back to the monitor. He saw Sonic walking out the door of his friend's house while Sally's hand. He leaned towards the monitor to get a closer look. He could recognise her from somewhere, but he couldn't remember where.

"Where have I seen her before?" Eggman muttered to himself. As he watched, Sonic picked Sally up bridal-style and raced away somewhere.

"What the- Now where's he off to?!" He shouted in irritation. He had just spent the last few moments spying on Sonic, waiting for an opportunity to strike, and now that he had rushed off to goodness-knows-where, he had basically been wasting his time. Sighing in frustration, he commanded his Buzz Bomber to move to a new viewing angle to spy on Tails.

"Never mind. I'll just capture his little friend while he-" He stopped himself as he noticed a familiar half-roboticized rabbit alongside Tails.

"Wait a minute!" He said as he zoomed the camera in on Bunnie. "I recognise that girl! She was one of those insolent Freedom Fighter pests that defeated me three years ago!"

"Freedom Fighters?" Orbot asked.

"Long story." Eggman stated. "Anyways, this is my chance. Now I finally have the opportunity to destroy those rats after breaking my hold on Mobotropolis." He got up out of his seat and walked away, stopping only to take one last look at the monitor.

"Enjoy your last few moments, Freedom Fighters. When I'm done with you, you're going to wish you never even heard of me." He said as he walked off to prepare himself for battle.

-Lookout Cliff-

Elsewhere, Sonic and Sally were sitting down on a cliff overlooking the ocean. The two sat next to each other as they watched the sun set.

"This brings back memories." Sonic said as he sighed contently.

"Yeah." She whispered. "It's been years since we did this." She happily reminisced about the times she and Sonic would sit down by the Lake of Rings nearby Knothole to watch the sun go down. With the Freedom Fighters' ongoing battle with Robotnik back then, it felt undeniably good to take their minds off it for a while and relax.

"So, if you're here, who's looking after Knothole?" Sonic asked.

"My brother." She replied. "He came out of hiding along with my mother shortly after we defeated Robotnik. He's working hard alongside my dad to restore Mobotropolis."

Sonic merely hummed in response. The two were then silent for a while. It was then that Sally remembered why she wanted a private talk with Sonic in the first place.

"Sonic?" She started, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever find out what Robotnik was planning?"

"Actually, yes. He escaped to South Island to make it his new fortress."

"Really? How did that go?" She asked, curious.

"Well," he started. "After Eggman disappeared after we beat him-"

"Wait, Eggman?" She interrupted.

"Robotnik's new nickname. He liked it so much he hasn't called himself "Robotnik" in about two years."

Sally chuckled in response. "Go on." She urged after her laughter died down.

"So as I was saying, after I left to look for him, I asked around a few towns and cities asking if anyone saw him. In one of them, I overheard that the animals on South Island had been turned into robots."

{Flashback}

3 years ago - South Island

After finding out that Robotnik was causing trouble at South Island, Sonic got on the first boat there to find and stop him. When he got to the island, he found that it was crawling with Badniks! There was no doubt about it; Robotnik was here!

"Sonic the Hedgehog!" He heard someone say from above. He looked up and saw an egg-shaped hovercraft. Inside the hovercraft was a bald man with a large moustache, wearing a red jacket, a yellow cape, white gloves, black pants and boots, and blue glasses.

"Robotnik!" Sonic shouted, recognising his old enemy.

"Glad to see you remember me, but you're far too late!" He gloated. "I've already captured the inhabitants of this island and turned them all into robots! Now this entire island belongs to me!" He then started to laugh triumphantly.

"And that's not all." He added. "This island is home to six legendary artefacts known as the Chaos Emeralds. Once I find them all, the entire world will be at my mercy!" Sonic glared at the mad doctor as he ranted.

"You won't be able to stop me this time, Sonic!" He said as he flew away while laughing maniacally. Sonic turned his attention to the Moto Bugs that were approaching. He got ready to rush through them, determined to stop Robotnik no matter what.

{End Flashback}

"And, long story short, I found the Chaos Emeralds, beat Eggman and returned South Island back to normal."

"I see..." Sally whispered, before silence befell the pair again.

Sally was pleased to know Eggman hadn't regained any power like back in Mobotropolis, and was more than relieved to hear that Sonic was able to take care of himself. But something was still gnawing at her: why didn't Sonic come back after he defeated Robotnik? Hesitantly, she inhaled deeply before asking the burning question.

"Why didn't you come back?"

The question caught Sonic completely off-guard. "What?"

"Why didn't you come back afterwards?" She asked sadly. "You defeated Robotnik and restored South Island, so why didn't you return to Knothole? D-did you..." She choked back a sob as a tear trailed down her cheek. She looked down, unable to look Sonic in the eye. "Did you not care about us anymore? About... me?"

"Sal..." Sonic didn't know what to say. His own girlfriend thought that he didn't care about her or the rest of the Freedom Fighters. And it hurt him. Gently, he put his hand on her cheek and turned her head to face him. "Of course I cared about you." He said in a serious tone. "Of course I wanted to come back."

"So why didn't you?" She asked.

He sighed as he recalled the events that followed. "Well, after I beat him at South Island, I planned on coming back straight away, but I ran into Tails on the way back. Then, I found out that he had taken over West Side Island and found a seventh Chaos Emerald, and built a powerful space station called the Death Egg. So me and Tails went there to stop him, found the seven Chaos Emeralds and destroyed the Death Egg."

"Okay." Sally replied, a little surprised.

"But he wouldn't stop! Before I could even turn my back, he had gone and set up his fortress somewhere else."

He told Sally about all of Eggman's plots over the years: his capture of Little Planet, tricking Knuckles into fighting him, his attempt to control the water god Chaos, everything up until today.

"I lost count of the amount of times I wanted to come back to Knothole, but with Eggman still around, I knew that I couldn't. I had to stop him from taking over the world. That's why I've been away for so long."

"I... see." Sally responded, resting her head on Sonic's shoulder.

Another moment of silence passed before the Blue Blur heard someone crying. He turned his head to find that Sally was crying into his shoulder. "Sal, what's wrong?" He asked.

"All these years, I thought you had forgotten about us." She said shamefully as she cried, her face still buried in her hero's shoulder. "But every day you wished you could come back. I'm so sorry I doubted you."

"Sal, it's okay." Sonic said as he adjusted his position to face her and wrapped his arms around her, stroking her back in a comforting manner as she continued to cry on his shoulder.

After a few minutes, Sally's sobs had died down and she lifted herself off of Sonic's shoulder. The two looked into each other's eyes as Sonic wiped the remaining tears from Sally's face.

"Sonic, I'm so sorry." She cried.

"Don't be. " He said gently. "We're together again. We can finally pick up from where we left off."

"You're right. Thank you, Sonic." She whispered as she hugged him. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Sal." He replied.

Suddenly, the pair heard a faint ringing noise, causing them to break their embrace. Sonic pulled out a yellow handheld device with a large screen in the middle and pressed a button on the side of it, causing Tails' worried face to show up on the video screen.

"Sonic! Come quick! Eggman's attacking us!"

"On my way!" Sonic replied as he put the device away and got to his feet. He looked at Sally expectantly as she stood up. "Ready?" He asked.

"One second." She said as she pulled two blue ring-like bracelets out of her pockets and attached them around her wrists.

"What are those?" Sonic asked, intrigued.

"You'll find out soon." She said teasingly. Sonic shrugged, scooped Sally up in his arms and raced as fast as he could to Tails' house.

-Tails' House-

Back at Tails' house, the rest of the Freedom Fighters were fighting off a wave of Badniks. Tails was using a red arm cannon to fire energy blasts at the oncoming robots, while Rotor used his brute strength to smash the robots to pieces. Meanwhile, Antoine was defending himself from the approaching Moto Bugs, slicing any robots who came near him. Unfortunately, with his attention focused on the Moto Bugs in front of him, he was completely oblivious to the Buzz Bombers approaching him from behind.

"Is zat all you have got?" Antoine taunted.

"Antoine, behind you!" Tails shouted, noticing the Buzz Bombers. Antoine turned around and saw the robots approaching, but before he could react, the robots were destroyed by a powerful energy blast. When the debris settled, Bunnie flew down and landed behind Antoine, her robotic arm in its energy cannon form. Antoine returned his attention to the incoming Moto Bugs.

"Merci, Bunnie" He said, without facing Bunnie.

"Don't "mercy" me yet!" She replied. "Just y'all focus on trashin' these Badniks."

At that moment, Sonic had arrived at the house with Sally and, seeing the robots surrounding their friends, jumped into the air and used his Homing Attack on some of the Buzz Bombers before landing on a Moto Bug, smashing it in the process.

"Didn't start the party already, did you?" Sonic said jokingly, setting Sally down gently.

"Sonic!" Tails cheered.

"Hello again, Sonic!" Eggman said, floating down in his Egg Mobile.

"Eggman!" Sonic shouted.

"Wait... Robotnik?" Sally said, astonished by how different the mad genius looked.

"Oh ho ho. Nobody calls me that anymore, my dear." Eggman said. He then moved right in front of Sally to get a better look at her, and suddenly realised who she was.

"I remember you. You're the leader of these rodents, aren't you?"

Before she could answer, Eggman moved his hovercraft back into the air, chuckling sinisterly.

"This is better than I thought. Now I have the perfect way to defeat you, Sonic; crushing your precious princess RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EYES!" He shouted before breaking into uproarious laughter. When his laugh died down, he snapped his fingers and the robots suddenly started approaching Sally. Antoine rushed in front of her and held his sword out in front of him.

"Do not be worrying, Princess. I will protect you." Antoine said. Sally stepped out if front of Antoine, much to his surprise.

"I can handle a fight, Antoine." Sally sighed.

"Let's just put that to the test, shall we?" Eggman taunted as he snapped his fingers again. "Robots, GET HER!"

The robots started approaching her, but she showed no signs of fear or hesitation. She went into a fighting stance, with her right hand held back. The bracelets on her hands started to glow, but no-one seemed to notice. When one of the Badniks suddenly charged at her, she swung her right hand down on the unsuspecting robot, her bracelet generating a light blue energy blade that sliced the robot in half. Sonic's jaw dropped in surprise.

"So that's what those are." He mused.

Wasting no time, Sally activated the energy blade on her left bracelet and rushed toward the incoming Moto Bugs. Using her blades, she cleared the first horde of robots with little difficulty, her movements powerful yet graceful. She turned her attention to the rest of the Badniks that were advancing towards her, but before she could even lift a finger, Sonic ploughed through all the robots with his Spin Dash technique. Stopping in front of the wrecked remains, he turned round to face Sally, and she looked at him with her hand on her hip and a look that said "I had that under control".

"Hey, can't let you hog all the fun, Sal." He teased, causing the princess to roll her eyes and smile. Eggman, after watching his blue nemesis destroy the remainder of his Badniks, growled in anger and humiliation , looking over his shoulder at the Freedom Fighters.

"This isn't over, Freedom Fighters!" Eggman called out as he began to leave. "Mark my words, I will destroy you!" And with that, the mad doctor flew back to his base while the Freedom Fighters all high-fived each other. When Eggman disappeared from sight, Sally began to yawn.

"I don't know about you guys, but I need to lie down. I've had a long day." She said.

"If you're going to rest, there's a spare bedroom you can use." Tails said. Sally nodded in understanding before turning back to face Sonic.

"See you later." She said as she kissed his cheek before walking into the house, leaving Sonic with a very noticeable blush across his muzzle.

"Uh, Sonic?" Tails said, getting the hedgehog's attention.

"Yeah, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"You do know you'll have to introduce her to Amy at some point, right?"

Sonic's jaw practically hit the ground. His face carried an expression somewhere between shock and absolute horror.

"Aw, crud." He muttered.