Sonic and the Freedom Fighters
Chapter 3: Catching Up Part 1

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

-Emerald Town-

It had been a week since the Freedom Fighters had reunited with Sonic and Tails. Since then, they had caught up on most of the events that happened after Sonic left; Sonic explaining his extended absence to the rest of the Freedom Fighters, and Sally explaining more about how her family were helping to restore Mobotropolis. They had also built a new base of operations, which also doubled as a home-away-from-home for the Freedom Fighters.

Sonic was currently in the middle of his morning run around Emerald Town. He eventually came to a sudden stop when he saw a familiar young female rabbit. The hedgehog immediately recognised the girl as Cream, one of Sonic and Tails' closest friends. The young rabbit noticed Sonic and waved to him, smiling happily.

"Hi, Mr Sonic." Cream greeted happily.

"Oh, hi, Cream." He replied. "You here by yourself? Your mom doesn't usually let you go anywhere on your own."

"No, I'm waiting for Amy." She replied. "She dropped her..."

"Wait. Amy's here?" He asked nervously.

"SONIC!" Shouted a voice that was all too familiar to the blue hedgehog. Sonic barely had time to even blink when he was suddenly pulled into a nearly bone-breaking hug from behind by Amy Rose.

"Oh Sonic, I missed you so much!" Amy cried.

"Amy! Please let go!" Sonic choked. Amy realised that she was hurting him and immediately let go.

"Sorry. Where have you been for the past week? I was worried that something happened to you." She said.

"No, I was just... catching up with some old friends." Sonic said, rubbing his chest.

"What? Well, why didn't you say so? Could I meet them?"

Sonic's heart nearly stopped at those words. "That, uh... that might not be such a good idea." He said nervously.

"Oh, come on. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine." Amy said as she started walking away with Cream following her. Sonic started to get nervous.

"This is not gonna go well." Sonic muttered to himself.

-Tails' House-

Sonic walked back to Tails' house with Amy and Cream in tow. It would have been much quicker by running, since Amy could easily keep up with him, but since Cream was with them, they had to walk at a pace that the young rabbit could keep up with. The trio didn't have far to walk however, and they were at the house. A few metres away from the house, however, was a building that was unfamiliar to the two girls, but Sonic new exactly what it was; the new Freedom Fighter HQ.

It was a tall cylindrical brick building with two floors and a metal dome-shaped roof. Above the door was a sign with the letters "FF" written on it in blue. The building looked nearly identical to the one back in Knothole, except this one was bigger.

"Weird." Amy remarked. "I don't remember this building being here."

"Well, remember those 'old friends' I told you about?" Sonic replied. "They needed a place to stay, so we've been breakin' our backs building this thing."

"Wait, you built this? In one week?" Amy asked, amazed.

"Well, not by myself, but yeah. Come on. They should be inside." He said, trying not to sound nervous at the last part. Once Amy nodded, he opened the door and the two entered the building. "Hey guys." He greeted as he came in. Rotor was moving a box of mechanical parts to another room in the building, while Bunnie and Antoine were talking to each other. Bunnie immediately turned her head round to face Sonic upon hearing his voice.

"Hey Sonic. Who's the new girl?" Bunnie asked.

"Guys, this is Amy. Amy, these are my friends. Rotor, Antoine and Bunnie."

"Howdy." Bunnie greeted. Antoine said nothing, but bowed respectfully.

"What... what happened to your arm and legs?" Amy asked, noticing the rabbit's cybernetic limbs.

"Robotnik stuck me in one o' his Roboticizers, but Sonic saved me from goin' all robot."

"Oh..." She whispered sympathetically. She knew how she must have felt, considering she was trapped in one in the past.

"So, uh... Sally's not here?" Sonic asked awkwardly.

"No. Haven't seen her since this mornin'" Bunnie replied.

"Who's Sally?" Amy asked suddenly.

"She's the leader of the Freedom Fighters. She's also..." Bunnie stopped herself when she noticed Sonic shaking his head frantically behind Amy's back. Luckily for Sonic, she caught on that he didn't want Amy to know about his and Sally's relationship. "She's an ol' friend o' Sonic's." Sonic inwardly sighed in relief.

"Right. Well, we gotta go. See ya!" He said rather hastily as he grabbed Amy's wrist and pulled her through the door. As they came out of the building, however, Sonic literally walked right into Sally, causing both to bash their heads together and stumble backwards from the collision.

"Ah! Sorry, Sal." Sonic said, rubbing his forehead.

"It's okay. I'm fine." She said.

The two came out of their embarrassed stupor by the sound of Amy clearing her throat. "And this is...?" She asked, curious.

'Crud.' Sonic thought to himself. He was hoping to tell Sally about Amy so she wouldn't let her relationship with Sonic slip out. He had no choice now but to introduce her and hope for the best. "Amy, this is Sally. She's the princess of Mobotropolis, leader and tactician of the Freedom Fighters, and-"

"Wait! Did you just say princess?" Amy shouted, cutting Sonic off.

"Err... I did, yes." Amy turned back to Sally and curtseyed politely.

"Y-Your Highness, it's an honour to meet you." She blurted. Sally couldn't help but giggle. Amy was acting the exact same way Sonic did when he first found out that she was a princess.

"There's really no need for that." Sally said. As she got up, Amy noticed a grey metal object hanging from Sally's side.

"What's that?" Amy asked,

Sally took the object off the clip on her belt and opened it, revealing it to be a small handheld computer. "This is Nicole."

"You... named your own computer?"

"Nicole's an artificial intelligence." Sally responded, receiving a quizzical look from the pink hedgehog. "Don't ask. It's a long story."

"Um, Miss Amy?" Cream called out, catching the attention of the three. Sally walked towards her and knelt down to her eye level.

"Hello. What's your name?" Sally asked the young rabbit.

"This is Cream. She's a close friend of mine." Amy answered for her, before turning to the young girl. "What's wrong?"

"I have to go now. My mom will worry if I don't go back home soon."

"I'll go with you, Cream." Amy said before turning back to Sally. "It was nice meeting you."

"Likewise." Sally replied. She then watched Amy leave with Cream. When she left, Sally turned around and glared at Sonic. "Care to explain what that was all about?"

"Well, she's the girl I rescued back on Little Planet. Since then she's had the biggest crush on me." Sonic sighed.

"I see. And just when were you planning on telling her that you already have a girlfriend?" She asked, almost accusingly.

"I did!" He replied defensively. "Loads of times. She doesn't believe me."

"How not?"

"Well, she once tried to make me jealous by pretending she started seeing someone else, but I saw right through it. So when I told her about you, she thought I was getting back at her."

"Okay." She said, believing him. She could tell when he was lying, since he was really bad at it. "Still, I think we need to tell her."

"That might not be a good idea."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, basically, if Amy found out I was already going out with someone else, she would go ballistic." Sally was confused as to what me meant, but felt it best to take his word for it.

"Right. Well, thanks for the heads-up." She said before walking away, leaving the blue hedgehog rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, that could have gone a lot worse." He muttered.

Later that day...
-Emerald Town-

Sally and Bunnie were currently walking through the streets of Emerald Town. They weren't heading anywhere in particular, they just decided to go for a walk. Bunnie wanted to see how big Emerald Town actually was, while Sally needed to clear her mind. She had recently been introduced to Sonic's biggest fan, Amy Rose. The girl had more admiration for the blue hero than even Tails.

"Somethin' on your mind, Sally-girl?"

"Just thinking about something that happened earlier today."

"Ya mean Sonic introducin' ya to Amy?"

"Yes. He told me not to tell Amy about... us, in case she went 'ballistic'."

"Oh yeah. Tails was tellin' me 'bout that. He told me she once clobbered a massive robot by herself for hurtin' Sonic."

"By herself?" She asked.

"Well, so I've been told." She replied before chuckling. "Wouldn't like ta get on her bad side."

"Right..." She muttered. "Well, I was thinking. Maybe we could ask her to..."

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of someone calling out to them. "Sally! Bunnie!" The two looked behind them to see Amy Rose running up to them.

"Speak of the devil..." Sally whispered sheepishly as Amy caught up to them.

"Hi Sal- I mean, good afternoon, Princess Sally." Amy said awkwardly, almost forgetting that she was talking to a princess.

"Just Sally is fine." Sally responded. "I don't take my title that seriously, to be honest. So, Amy. How long have you and Sonic known each other?" She asked.

"About three years." Amy responded. "Why?"

"Just asking. You two seem really close." She replied. The confused look from Amy encouraged her to try and change the subject. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how did you and Sonic meet?"

"Well, it was about three years ago when we first met. I was just visiting Little Planet when suddenly the whole planet turned to metal. I was trying to find out what had happened, and that's when I met him. From the first time we met I knew that we were destined to be together. Of course, he was in such a rush that I barely had any time to say hello. I managed to catch up to him at another part of Little Planet, then when my back was turned, I was kidnapped by a robot called Metal Sonic!"

"Metal Sonic?" Sally asked.

"Yeah. It's a robot that Dr Eggman built to destroy Sonic." Amy said almost dismissively. "Anyways, Metal Sonic took me to this scary fortress called the Metallic Madness Zone, where Dr Eggman kept me prisoner. But luckily Sonic defeated him, saved me, and restored Little Planet to its former glory. And ever since that day, I promised I would follow him no matter where he went, so that I could always be with my hero."

"Okay..." Sally muttered, a little perturbed by Amy's gushing over Sonic.

"So, what about you?" Amy asked as she turned round.

"Pardon?" Sally asked.

"How did you and Sonic meet each other?" Amy asked.

"Uh, well..." Sally said, trying to recall the event.

Before she could answer, however, a giant metal hand suddenly grabbed Amy, pinning her arms to her sides. "What the-" Was all she could mutter as the arm pulled back, lifting her off the ground and into the air screaming. The two didn't have to wonder what was happening for long, as Eggman's Egg Mobile came floating down with Amy in it's metallic clutches.

"It's been a while, Princess."

"Eggman." Sally said rather venomously.

"Ya'll let 'er go right this instant!" Bunnie demanded.

"Why don't you make me?" He scoffed. "Robots, ATTACK!" Upon his command, multiple Moto Bugs and Buzz Bombers surrounded the two girls.

"I've got the left side. Bunnie, you take the right." Sally said. The two split up immediately and attacked the offending robots. Bunnie's cybernetic arm morphed into its energy cannon form and she fired at the Moto Bugs. Once they were cleared out, she jumped back a bit to avoid fire from the nearby Buzz Bombers. She tried using her blaster arm to destroy them, but they just avoided her energy blasts. Using the rocket boosters built into her feet, she flew up and shot energy blasts at the Buzz Bombers, destroying them.

Meanwhile, Sally was destroying the Moto Bugs surrounding her, using her Ring Blades to slice the robots apart. She then back flipped and landed on top of a Moto Bug that tried to ram into her from behind. Noticing a Buzz Bomber flying towards her in an attempt to tackle her, she jumped off of the Moto Bug and onto the back of the Buzz Bomber. She then drove one of her energy blades into its back, causing it to lose control of its flight. Grabbing its head with one hand while keeping the energy blade lodged in its back, Sally was able to steer the Buzz Bomber so that it was now heading towards a group of four Moto Bugs. She took the energy blade out of the robot's back and jumped off, landing safely on the ground while the Buzz Bomber crashed into and destroyed the Moto Bugs behind her.

Unbeknownst to Sally, Eggman was charging up the main blaster on his Egg Mobile, and was currently aiming at her. However, Bunnie noticed this and immediately broke off from her fight to rush to Sally's aid.

"Light's out, Princess" Eggman whispered as he fired a blast of electric energy at Sally.

Before the blast could hit her, Bunnie pushed her out of the way. The electric blast hit Bunnie, and she fell to the ground, unable to move and nearly unconscious. Eggman then pressed another button on the Egg Mobile's control terminal and another metallic arm extended out from the right side of the Egg Mobile and picked up the helpless Freedom Fighter.

"Bunnie!" Sally called out as she saw Bunnie being grabbed by the metal arm. "Let them go!" She demanded.

"If you want them, come and get them." Eggman taunted, floating away and out of her reach. "And bring your hedgehog bodyguard with you." Eggman then turned the Egg Mobile around and flew back to his base. Deciding she needed Sonic's help for this, she ran as fast as she could to Tails' house.

-Tails' House-

Meanwhile, Sonic was sitting on the couch, thinking about the events that occurred earlier. He was glad that Amy didn't suspect anything about him and Sally, but if she did find out... yikes.

"So, how'd it go?"

Sonic nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden voice. He turned around and found that the owner of the voice was Tails. Sonic was confused as to what the young fox meant, but once he recovered from his shock he caught on that he was asking about Amy.

"Well, better than I thought." He mused. "Wait how did you know about it?"

"Bunnie told me." Tails replied.

Before the two could continue, the front door suddenly flew open and a very distressed Sally came rushing through. She was visibly exhausted, and was trying to catch her breath.

"Guys... Need help... Amy... Bunnie... Eggman... " She panted, gasping for air between each word.

"Calm down, Sal." Sonic said, gently holding the princess by her shoulders. "Breathe."

Sally complied and took a minute to catch her breath. "Eggman attacked us and captured Amy and Bunnie!"

"What?!" Sonic shouted in shock. "Where are they now?"

"He said he was taking them to his base, but I have no idea where it is." Sally replied.

"Not a problem. Tails, start up the Tornado." Sonic said.

"The Tornado?" Sally asked, curious.

"Yeah, my plane. Come on, I'll show you." Tails said excitedly as he ran through the doorway leading to his workshop. Despite the situation at hand, Sally couldn't help but smile at Tails' excitement. She and Sonic followed Tails into the garage, which Tails designed to double as a workshop.

"Here she is!" Tails said as he stood in front of a plane. It was a small, vintage-style red biplane with two white wings and a silver propeller.

"Wow! Did you build this, Tails?" Sally asked, amazed.

"Yup!" Tails replied.

"Alright, let's go!" Sonic said. As Tails got into the pilot's seat, Sally noticed that there were only two seats on the plane.

"Wait! There are only two seats. Where will you sit?" Sally asked.

Sonic jumped onto the top wing of the Tornado. "Right here!"

"On the wing of the plane? Isn't that dangerous?" She asked.

"Don't worry, Aunt Sally. He does it all the time." Tails assured her.

"Okay, then..." She sighed. She didn't exactly approve of his reckless and impulsive actions most of the time, but she was relieved that Sonic could keep his balance on a moving plane. She got into the passenger seat of the Tornado, and Tails opened the garage door.

"Let's get going!" Sonic said. "The girls have waited long enough."

To be continued...