Sonic shoved the combot through the dirt, his speed on. "Tails, where are ya, get over here!" he shouted.
The fox jumped down from the cart, his tails whirring behind him. He landed in front of Sonic with a grunt, smack on the bot. His eyes flashed and he grinned.
"Thirty-two seconds," Tails reported.
"Hey, it's been a while since the old days!" Sonic protested with a smirk, spinning on his heel. "I'd like to see you push that thing—Still a lot of them trying to break free of my perimeter, I'll steer them away!"
Sonic lunged into a blur and a sonic boom cracked behind him.
Tails swung over the combot, whipping out his laser knife. He grinned.
Yeah. Just like the old days. Back when Uncle Sparks had been there and they ran on missions in the forests together—back when they spat openly at Robotnik's name and Sonic smashed every robot in his path—
Tails pushed his laser knife against the joint of the combot arm and sparks spewed from the metal. Tails bit his lip, keeping his eyes and ears fixed on the ring of combots on either end of the line, watching for blaster muzzles pointed his way—
The camera lens on the smashed sensory panel flexed.
"Hello, two-tailed freak."
Tails froze. His fur stood on end.
He glanced sidelong at the camera.
"Yes, I can see you…"
Robotnik.
Tails caught his breath, staring down at the combot speaker, his eyes wide. He began to tremble and he tightened his hold on the laser knife.
Sonic skidded to a stop and rolled next to him on his knees. "Tails, what, are you still working on tha—?"
"…Tell that troublemaking teenager you follow that he can fight me all he wants." Robotnik's voice said. "He's always been such a nice color. I have a message for you to deliver to him—Oh, wait. There he is."
Sonic crouched next to Tails, his every muscle taut, his eyes fixed on the speaker. "Tails—what—"
"He just starting talking," Tails hissed out, his eyes huge.
"You both know I am the new authority in this planet, and that makes you rebels," Robotnik said. "So you can play this game if you would like, but all rebels' must pay to play…if I win, you pay hard. I think I'll take your skins first."
Tails jolted. Sonic raised an eyebrow.
"When I catch you, I will take off your spikes, Sonic," Robotnik's voice murmured. "And as for your fox, I will cut off his tails, and I will wear them around my neck and I will hang what's left of your pelts from the towers of Robotropolis, because that's what happens to hunted animals back where I come from-"
Tails belted out a shout with all his might and slammed his foot into the camera. The lens crunched beneath his foot. He yanked out the speaker system, and tore the cords free, shaking. "Huh!" Tails blurted at the top of lungs, his teeth chattering. "You know nothing, Robotnik—You'll never catch Sonic-!"
Sonic slammed into Tails, throwing him flat, as a slew of bullets shot overhead.
"Get the cart, Tails!" Sonic shouted.
The hedgehog lunged up, spitting, and shot towards the incoming combot.
Tails scrambled back up and forced himself back over the combot. He picked up his laser knife and pushed it back into the arm, trying to focus and work.
"Oh, so I can have your remains on credit then?" Robotnik's voice came from anther combot nearing the cart. "I'd prefer a down payment myself."
"Such a bad joke, Robo!" Sonic laughed. "It's almost painful." He hurled himself into the combot, feet first, throwing it back. "Get it? Painful?"
A shudder ran through Tails' shoulders. He wound his tails around himself, as if trying to pull them away from invisible hands and knives.
The arm broke free. Tails swallowed, jumped up and ran to the padlock on the cart.
"It's the carts you are interested in, I see," Robotnik said from another combot—on the other end of the perimeter.
Sonic spun around and darted for it.
"I'll give you a head ups, you won't like it. Each one holds fifty of your fellow Mobian downgrades."
Sonic whipped into the combot, taking the head off. He shoved it forward and landed in a crouch, catching his breath.
He looked down the line of carts, first one way, then the other.
"That's an awful lot of prisoners to free for two little animals," Robotnik said from behind him.
"Good thing this kid is fast, then!" Sonic snapped.
Robotnik's voice chuckled somewhere from the forest. "The view is even better from where I can see you."
Sonic spun around, rolling out of line of a bullet. He glanced up, his gaze locking on the faint outline of a hulking monster cruiser stretched across the clouded night sky. Black and gleaming with metal, its underbelly glowing with nethyl packs. Some sort of mist seemed to rain down from it so that everything behind it was hidden in gray fog.
It was coming towards them, now well over the horizon.
Tails dragged the combot hand over the padlock. It blinked open, revealing a series of digital levers. Tails took one look at them and slid the first one up.
The side of the cart began to roll up. The sound of Mobian voices filled the air, some screaming, some crying, some begging—
Tails found the button that released the tray restraints. Within seconds of touching it, the first Mobians began pouring out of the cart—a young male wolf, an old female squirrel, a crying dog child…
Sonic spun to look at the prisoners, his eyes flashing in triumph. He laughed and let out a loud whistle, running to them.
"To the woods, move it!" Sonic shouted, helping the dog child up. "Don't stop for anything!" He spun around and charged into the approaching combots.
"Hurry!" Tails shouted, jumping free of the cart. He grabbed onto the old woman, helping drag her out of line of the stampede.
Sonic grinned, shaking as he punched into the combots.
"I don't care what it takes, Robo-head!" Sonic blurted. "I don't know how many carts there are and I don't care how many combots there are—I don't care how many of my people there are in these boxes, but they're all gonna be free of you! They're all gonna be free of you if I have to run all night—all week—!"
Fire cracked from the belly of the aircraft overhead.
The cart exploded.
