Chapter 7 The other Freedom Fighters watched in horror as the building caved upon itself. The entrance was belching dust into the air, until it too gave in and collapsed, sealing their friends inside. "Oh mah lord!" cried Bunnie. Knuckles fell to his knees, face in his mitts. Rotor took off his hat, and bowed his head. Bunnie looked at them fiercely. "Come on, ya'll, we've got tah try and get them out ah there!" She ran up to the pile of debris, and began heaving it pieces off to the side. Knuckles and Rotor ran up, and started to dig. Knuckles, being an echidna, was well adapted for this type of job, and had quickly removed a large portion of stuff. After about an hour of hauling and lifting, they were exhausted. They had so far not run across any sign of their friends, and were beginning to give up hope. "We're never gonna find them," said Knuckles. "And even if we do, what's to say that they're still.alive?" He was on the verge of tears. Bunnie placed her mechanical arm about his shoulder. "Don't worry, hon," she said soothingly. "We'll find them. You jus' wait and see." He gave her a weak smile. Suddenly, the pile gave a slight twitch. Bunnies' head snapped around. "Did ya'll hear that?" "Yeah," replied Rotor and Knuckles, their faces filled with fresh hope. The threesome dove forward, and began tearing away at the debris once again. After a few minutes, they ran into a sharp blue spine, sparking madly. At first they did not want to continue in that area, but they heard a soft voice calling from beneath it. "Help us, please! Anyone!" "Sally-girl, is that you?" called Bunnie. "Bunnie! Am I glad to hear you! Tails and I are both down here. We're fine!" They dug madly, and uncovered one of the metal hedgehogs. Sally then pushed herself up through the wreckage, Mecha lying lifelessly atop her legs. Knuckles jumped over and wrapped her in his tight embrace, tears running down his face. "Sally, I thought we'd lost you!" he sobbed. She hugged him back. "You would have if it weren't for him." She nodded toward Mecha. "He put himself between me and the collapsing building. Tails is over there." Bunnie and Rotor went and moved the debris where Sally had pointed. They ran across Sonic, and they paused for a moment, not really wanting to move him, for a fountain of sparks was spewing from his backside. Tails lifted himself up, crying. "What's wrong, Tails?" asked Bunnie. Tails looked at her and sniffled. "He.he sacrificed himself.for me. He protected me with his body." Tails gazed at Sonics' unmoving body. "Sonic." He hung his head into his hands, unable to hold back his emotions. Bunnie, Rotor and Knuckles all recoiled in shock. "You mean." Knuckles started, "he was telling the truth?" Sally nodded, her own tears streaming down her face. "Yes, he was. They gave up everything in order to save us." She looked over at Rotor. "We have to do something. We can't just leave them here." She stood up, and bent to pick up Mecha. She held him in her arms, bearly able to support his weight. "Let's get them back to Knothole, and see what we can do to help them. Rotor, grab Sonic." "Yes'm," he replied. He picked up Sonic, and gave him a quick glance-over. "He's in bad shape, Sal. I'm not sure if I'll be able to repair either of them effectively. But I'll try." They set off for the forest in silence, their hearts heavy. As they approached Knothole, it's inhabitants swarmed about them like bees to a flower. They pressed in against the five-some, wanting to know why they were so late. Sally told them to get out of their way, so that Rotor could get to his workshop to try and revive Sonic and Mecha. The villagers did not move a muscle, and finally Knuckles and Bunnie drove them back, clearing a path for Sally and Rotor. They reached Rotor's workshop, and went inside, locking the door behind them. Sally laid Mecha down on one of the tables, her arms dripping with oil. Rotor put Sonic down, hooked both hedgehogs up to a computer, and ran a schematics scan on them. "It doesn't look good, Sal," he said. "They've both taken heavy internal damage as well as externally. I'm not sure that even if I repaired them, that would even come back on-line." Sallys' gaze met Rotors. "We have to try," she replied. Rotor nodded. "Right. I'll begin right away. I could use some help, if you're willing to stay." "Of course I'll help you," she said. With that, they both began to try a restore Sonic and Mecha. Knuckles came in after a few minutes, and worked with them. A week passed, with none of the three emerging from Rotor's workshop. The inhabitants of the village were getting worried. They were wondering what was so important that they did not leave. Bunnie and Tails told the villagers what occurred in Robotropolis. When their tale was finished, the people were in shock. They could not believe that Sonic had actually disobeyed Sally's order, that he had been roboticized, and that he had sacrificed himself to save his best friend. They also didn't believe that Mecha had become good, and was friends with Sonic. After this knowledge was known, the village simmered down, but everyone was still worried about what might happen when the two hedgehogs were brought back on-line. Another few days passed, and still no one had left Rotors' workshop. Inside, they were still finishing repairs on Sonic and Mecha. None of them had slept or eaten much, most of their time used to try and revive the heroes. Sally was constantly close to tears, praying that they would be able to ignite the spark that would bring them back. Her mind told her that it was hopeless, but her heart would not give up hope. After a total of two weeks passed after their return from Robotropolis, they were ready to try to bring Sonic and Mecha on-line. Rotor had the two hooked up to power cables, ready to be given energy. "Let's hope this works, guys," said Rotor. He walked over to a switch on the wall. "Here we go." He pulled it down, sending millions of watts through each of the hedgehogs. Knuckles and Sally watched with anticipation. Please let this work, thought Sally. I don't know what I'll do if it doesn't. Power flowed into the still figures, but no change was seen. After a few minutes, Rotor turned to Knux and Sally. "I don't think it worked, guys," he said quietly. "They should have come on-line by now." Sally burst into tears, and Knuckles ran up to her to try and comfort her. "Hey, Sal." he whispered in her ear. "We did the best we could." Sally sobbed onto his shoulder. "I know." she replied. "But I feel like we let them down.oh Knuckles!" He wrapped his arms around her, tears silently dripping down his face. Rotor walked over to them and joined them in their moment of sorrow. They exited the hut to tell the village the sad news. But what none of them noticed was one of the metallic hedgehogs twitching on the table.