Skies over "Northamer"
September 18, UC 0079
1211 Hours, EST
The longer the Tornado flew, the more differences in geography Sonic saw. It wasn't just differences in land, they came across cities that they'd hadn't seen before either. Yet the home beacon was still responding. New Mobotropolis was still there.
Just recently Silver had asked Tails what that bio-analyzer they'd stolen from Eggman does.
"The bio-analyzer scans someone's genetic and physical make-up before roboticizing them," Tails explained. "It should still have the data from when Sally was roboticized, so if we can get her back to the lab, I should be able to use it to change her back."
"'Should'?" Silver said, worried.
"It will work," said Tails. "Trust me."
"We'll have to take the whole thing apart afterwards, though," Sonic noted, staring at the static Mecha Sally. "Can't risk someone else using it to enslave people again. Speaking of which, since when do you know so much about roboticizers anyway?"
"The brain trust did a lot of research when you were in space," said the fox, "we didn't know what the Bem had done, and we couldn't allow Eggman to find a way to roboticize people again. Looks like it's finally paying off!
Straight ahead, a city in the mountains enclosed by a ring of stone and foliage. They were home.
Little did they know; two bogeys were trailing them.
The command center of the Death Egg II. The built-in camera on the Gizoid zoomed in on the biplane far ahead.
Eggman was still boiling over Team Fighters' successful infiltration. "How dare those insolent vermin!" he snarled. "This was supposed to be my ultimate victory, and they've made a fool out of me yet again! If only I could still use my roboticizer."
"Cheer up, Cap'n Eggman," said Cubot (now talking like a pirate). "The Death Egg be nigh-on at full power, so we can get back at those landlubbers soon enough!"
"That's right, boss," Cubot concurred, "and legionization has proven to be—!"
Eggman slammed his palms down on the console. "Enough!" he shouted. "Receiving pity from you two is an even greater insult!" The doctor sighed and his voice was lowered to indoors-level. "But the limitations have opened my mind somewhat. As Mecha Sally, the Dark Legion, and (as much as it pains me to say it) even you two have shown, free will and emotion seem to be effective tools for my army. Which is precisely why my newest Metal Sonic model has a specially-designed power gem core: to allow it to think and adapt to any given situation!"
"Sir," said a worried Orbot, "is it wise to grant such abilities to Metal Sonic? What if he forms a personality of his own and rebels?"
"Bah! Metal Sonic has always had algorithms to simulate thought. But I've made sure this core will only amplify his emotions as I see fit and with combined with the battle data downloaded onto that power gem, he'll be unstoppable! Just think, a machine that can feel hate and enjoy the suffering of others—it's the perfect upgrade for him!"
The Tornado descended for a landing. Silver was the first one to jump off, but was immediately spotted by Cream.
"Welcome back, mister… who are you?" Her greeting had backfired.
"Uh, Hello. My name's Silver." So much for not drawing attention to myself…
Heavy and Bomb were there to greet them as well.
"Sorry," said Sonic, "but we're on a timetable here. How are Uncle Chuck and Rote coming on that roboticizer?"
"They're putting the finishing touches on it as we speak," Heavy reported. "As soon as we deliver the part that you stole from the doctor, it should only be a matter of minutes before—!"
The robot was interrupted when the loud cry of a plasma shot nailed Silver. He was okay, but the fact that Metal Sonic and that copper robot had followed them spoiled the mood.
Sonic's blood went cold. It was the self-destruction of an earlier model that had landed Antoine in intensive care. Holding back was not in the cards. "Team Freedom, get everyone out of here!"
Sonic went one-on-one with the robotic lookalike while Amy and Tails double teamed the other robot.
Yet in the midst of the slugfest, the psychic hold Silver had on the roboticized princess was loosened by Metal Sonic's shot. T-Pup, unfortunately, was too close to that unit when it was lost. The small robodog was pushed away by a powerful forcefield when she booted back up.
Mecha Sally was online again.
Sonic landed a homing attack on Metal Sonic, knocking him away. But the was wide open for Mecha Sally to ram him with an elbow. Shit! Not now! "Amy, I can handle Sal! Just buy Tails enough time to get to the lab! I'll bring her there as soon as I can!"
No sooner had Sonic said this did Amy see Metal Sonic rocketing toward her. "You heard Sonic," she told Tails, "I'll hold them off, so you get going!" She looked back at the incoming Sonic robot and tightened her grip on her weapon. "Sonic told me you could take a hit. But let's see how you do against my Piko Piko Hammer!"
With one big smack, Metal Sonic was knocked up in the air.
But then, that weird robot showed up and touched the head of Amy's hammer. "Piko Piko Hammer, copy."
Sonic had stomped Mecha Sally's face into the dirt when he saw the robot that had given him such a hard time on the Death Egg earlier. After the pounding he'd gotten, he was not going to let Amy get the same!
"Going somewhere, dear?" In Sonic's rush to get to Amy's aid, Mecha Sally was able to get up, take him by the wrist, spin him around a few times, and throw him back-first on the ground.
At Amy's end, it was hammer against hammer. Even though the robot had copied it a second ago, it was already using it as well as her. But in spite of that fact, the robot's focus was on her, meaning Sonic and Tails would have it a little easier getting Sally deroboticized.
But what about Metal Sonic? Amid the fight, a pillar of fire erupted in front of the robot in question's flight path. As the corona dissipated, a skunk could be standing in its center. "Sorry about that, er, bloke. But I won't let some robot tear up my—uh, my master's city!"
The chase between Mecha Sally and Sonic took them all across the city, exchanging shots and blows in the process.
"You're not getting away this time, Sal!" Sonic yelled. "I'm going to change you back if it's the last thing I do!" He attempted a homing attack, but Mecha Sally raised a particle shield to block him.
"Well said, Sonic," Mecha Sally said. "It will be the last thing you do."
"Not if I—GUYS, LOOK OUT!" The chase had brought them to a shelter, where Cream was leading a few other kids.
Mecha Sally was heading straight for them.
Sonic ran faster than he'd ever tried before and delivered a strong left uppercut to the robot chipmunk. "Get out of here, Cream! NOW!"
Mecha Sally went on the ground and Cream fluttered away.
Sonic had hurt his hand punching her like that, but the other option would have been letting her burn a hole through Cream's face.
The robotic princess got back up. "How strange," she said, "you don't seem to be hesitating in engaging this unit presently."
"That's not it!" Sonic shot back. "Fighting you makes me sick, but I swore to save you and all costs, and that includes getting a little rough! I won't fail you this time!"
"'Fail me'?" Mecha Sally said, coldly. "You mean like when you attacked Knothole Village? Or fell for a plot to have me killed? Or could it be that you would have forsaken me for a fight with Silver Sonic?"
Sonic had no time to respond to these accusations. She forcefully kicked him in the guts and finned him to a wall with his foot.
A live hologram of the roboticized Sally beating the tar out of Sonic was the centerpiece of the round conference table in the Secret Freedom Fighters' hidden bunker below New Mobotroolis. Wolf twins Lyco and Leeta, Larry Lynx, Nicole, and the modified Metal Sonic Shard watched the projection play out, unable to do anything.
Elias Acorn, the disgraced former king, could hardly bear to watch. "Director, please," he said, on his last nerve, "I can't let my sister destroy the city! I need to go out there and stop her!"
"I told you, that's not possible!" said unit director Harvey Who. "There are witnesses everywhere, not to mention the king's agent."
"How dare you!" said Elias. "You think restoring me to the throne is worth watching my sister commit these atrocities?!"
"Sonic and the others have returned alive, have they not?" said Who. "Agent Ace succeeded in altering the course of history! There is nothing you can do for her!"
Elias squeezed his eyes shut and looked away.
Shard placed a hand on the ex-king's shoulder. "I don't like it either, man," he said. "But he's right. Let the public heroes save the day this time, okay?"
They were a covert ops unit. Not ones for the limelight. Besides, Elias was supposed to have been exiled to Feral Forest anyway.
Showing up in broad daylight was not a good idea.
Sonic would have to go it alone.
The fight between Amy Rose and the copper robot had reached a stalemate… though they had their hammers locked, her opponent suddenly formed an engine in its belly, one exactly like Metal Sonic's. It revved up and thrusted forward.
Amy stood as firm as she could, but the robot's thrust pushed her back. Her feet never went off the ground though.
Suddenly, she fell backward. She leaned her head forward to find the robot encased in a blue aura, struggling to move. Could it be?
"Hit him! Hit him now!"
Yes! Silver was back in the game and was psychically constricting it. The grey hedgehog's fur was ruffled, but he kept on trucking.
Amy swung her hammer at the robot's belly. It went flying. She chased afterward, leapt high into the air, and brought her weapon down on its head. When she lifted her weapon, the robot's head looked like a stepped-on grape.
"Are you alright?" Silver asked.
"Yeah," Amy said, out of breath. "Haven't had a hammer fight like that since Rosy. Thanks, Silver."
"We should go take care of Metal Sonic, too," said Silver. "I saw Geoffrey over there before, and he probably needs… our help?"
To the eyes of Amy and Silver, it looked like Geoffrey St. John was fighting Metal Sonic, but it was only his body. The ailing king Ixis Naugus, tormented by his mutating and deteriorating body, had appropriated his student's.
Using his magic staff, Naugus trapped the Sonic robot in a purple maelstrom and followed it up with an ice spell. "I think I'll crystallize you for my personal vanguard," Naugus laughed. "What an excellent vanguard you'll make!" Intense pain suddenly overtook him and he fell to his knees. Before his eyes, Naugus helplessly watched as parts of his own body seemed to emerge from the skunk's he was inside of. Curse it all! Why isn't this body preventing this?!
He slumped forward and fell on the ground. Every muscle in Geoffrey's body felt like they weighed a kiloton each.
Meanwhile, Metal Sonic broke free of his icy shell.
"What's Geoffrey doing?!" Amy screamed as she saw him fall. "Metal Sonic's heading towards the lab where Tails and the others are!"
Silver took to the air. "Never mind that, I'm going after him!"
With Eggman robots running amok, Tails couldn't stay calm as he, Rotor, Jules, and Chuck toiled away to get the roboticizer going. It was impossible to use the bio-analyzer for a global roboticizer for something as small as a single-subject deroboticization, so they had to use a standard model roboticizer.
"My sensors are picking up something approaching rapidly, Chuck," Jules told his brother. "You might want to—!"
The roboticized hedgehog was interrupted as a hold was blown through the wall, Metal Sonic had come.
The robotic Sonic began to charge up a laser blast to destroy the roboticizer, but Silver zapped it into stasis just in the nick of time. But as the blue hue encased the robot, there was an internal explosion within it. A puff of smoke emerged from its engine.
This really wasn't what Silver had in mind. Something like this had occurred before with Enerjak Knuckles in his time, where he let his powers go out of control against the warnings of Mammoth Mogul. There was no time to dwell on that though. Sally had to be saved. "I'm gonna keep Metal Sonic under stasis and find Sonic," he told the crew. "The princess should be with him, too. You guys hurry up and finish that roboticizer!"
Eggman's brow furrowed. The signal from the Gizoid was gone, it was most likely destroyed; Mecha Sally was still occupied with Sonic; Metal Sonic reports damage, but has attained data on Ixis Magicks.
"Doctor," said Orbot, "do you think they'll disable Mecha Sally again?"
Eggman did not like the look of what was going on one bit. It was looking increasingly likely. "Open a direct channel to Metal Sonic," he ordered from behind folded hands.
If he couldn't have Sally, they wouldn't either.
Mecha Sally was never above playing dirty when it came to trying to kill Sonic. Now she was even throwing rocks, in addition to her normal routine.
Something caught the corner of Sonic's eye as they fought. "Silver! I never thought I'd say this, but you're a sight for sore eyes! Thanks for stopping Metal-me!"
This prompted Mecha Sally to turn her head in that direction and let loose a head-mounted laser. Silver got shot down and dropped his captive robot.
Metal Sonic immediately went back online and took to the air. He then sent a direct message to the robot princess: "MECHA SALLY—ENGAGE SELF-DESTRUCT. PASSWORD: ΣΘMakeSonicSufferΗΟ249." He began his retreat immediately.
A pink light in Mecha Sally's chest lit up. "Engage self-destruct cycle," she announced. "Detonation in sixty seconds." With a blast of her engines, she was airborne again.
Sonic rushed toward her like a madman and jumped wildly, managing to grab her right forearm. "Stop!" he screamed. "You can't do this!"
"This unit was made to serve Dr. Eggman," the roboticized chipmunk coldly stated. "Your words are useless, but this will hardly be the first time for you. You've stood by and watched your comrades die miserably for years now: all because of your failures!"
Sonic put his foot on the robot's chest in an effort to stabilize himself. Tears began to form in his eyes. "Sally, please!"
Mecha Sally gave no quarter. "Nate Morgan, Tommy Turtle, Sir Connery, and now me. You've already let me die twice. And I assure you, the third time will be the charm. But you may find solace in the fact that I will not perish alone. We will finally be together again as you wanted: in death." Her head-mounted laser was now aimed directly at his forehead. "Goodbye, Sonic the Hedgehog."
Sonic smashed the laser with a headbutt. He put everything into it. She was never going to use that eyesore again.
Then, he smashed every joint on Mecha Sally and her leg thrusters. She wasn't going anywhere.
She was out of commission once more.
Only one thing was left: get her back to normal before the bomb goes off.
At the speed of sound, he sprinted for the lab. She was thrown into the roboticizer like a suitcase full of old clothes, snatched the machine's remote from Tails, and pushed the button. The door to the machine snapped shut.
As he did, a brilliant flash filled the room and everyone had to shield their eyes from it.
The light died down and an avalanche of steam came out of the roboticizer was it reopened.
The only thing on Sonic's mind right now was please don't tell me the bomb went off.
It didn't. As the last of the vapor wafted out of the cylinder, everyone could see its occupant: a Mobian chipmunk with red hair, blue boots and a matching vest, and crooked goggles. She was slumped against the wall, her coat and hair disheveled, and her eyes shut.
Sonic neared the roboticizer. Please tell me she's not dead! He felt her neck. There was a pulse. He wrapped his arms around her, happiness seething from every follicle on his body. "Sal!"
Sally screamed and shove him aside. She looked around, completely in shock, but soon calmed down. Numerous familiar faces were there. She wasn't on the Death Egg anymore.
Finally, she saw Sonic. She buried her head into the hedgehog and wept profusely.
The nightmare that was Mecha Sally was no more.
Death Egg II. Tension strangled the air in the command center, but all of that came to a head when Orbot made an announcement.
"Self-destruct sequence on Mecha Sally aborted. She cannot be raised. Metal Sonic reports severe structural damage, primary weapons disabled, 35% output available. Currently en route to the Death Egg."
Eggman growled. "Those annoying fuzzballs! They must have reversed the roboticization process!" Mecha Sally is gone alongside the Gizoid. I'm running out of options!
"Cap'n Eggman!" Cubot announced. "The Death Egg is completely refueled. Permission to weigh anchor?"
"Yes," said Eggman. "Set course for New Mobotropolis. When Metal Sonic boards, begin repairs ASAP!"
"Aye-aye, sir!"
Notre Dame Base.
"Any word from Orlter, Vines?" Schwieger asked.
"Yes, sir," said the tech, as he printed out an image. "He was able to take a snap of the aircraft in question."
Schwieger received the image. It looked like an old World War I-era biplane, but something like that couldn't be flying as fast as they'd detected. "And the other two bogeys?"
"They were there, but were too small to detect." The systems beeped, a transmission was coming in.
"Jukon K-58, calling all available airbases and submarines in the East Canada region. Large unidentified object sighted approaching Baffin Island. Position: 71.09, -67.92. It—It looks like a large egg!"
A WORD FROM THE AUTHOR: At this point we finally part ways with ASO's stuff and forge our own route with the old Archie cast. May or may not go back to check up with Amuro, though how I set up the next chapter could play into the final decision. Faster, faster, we're about to hit the crossroads!