Author's Note: Number 9, Number 9, Number 9!!! I'm having so much fun
writing it all, well anyway. Nothing much to say, accept for special thanks
to: 0, Scotty CF, and Baby T, Son Goku, Metera, and "nameless" for their
reviews! Please, if you do review could you at least put some type of name
on your review? Its much easier to mention you that way! Now enough guff,
lets get on with it! Note: This chapter is a bit violent in the beginning,
but it's really nothing to fuss about.
***Story***
***Robotropolis***
Shadow had been captured before, but that was nothing compared to the treatment the robots were giving him. The immobilizer's lasso held him in an unbreakable bind, his muscles and limbs could no longer be felt, as if they weren't there. The cold steel city was filled with pollution, with muck and mildew caked upon the silvery walls. Electricity hummed through the walls, lights flashed, and gadgets of all sorts beeped through the long narrow hallways. It was a very dark and bleak place for anyone to be, and Shadow even shuttered at the thought of being shut in this horrible place, and it looked as if this nightmare was only beginning. The former E-102 mercilessly dragged Shadow, never minding the sharp pieces of metal, dirt clumps, or muck that lay in his path. The black hedgehog tried desperately to get his body to respond, but the tight purple bond was doing its job, cutting all impulses and brain signals away from his muscles. Two guard bots followed closely behind, their scanners never stopped going, and they held two powerful laser guns, ready to blast any intruder or any obstacle that stood in their way. Finally, Shadow's long drag finally ended as they approached a steel door with a big Robotnik logo in the center. Pressing in a few keys, it opened up willingly, revealing an eager Robotnik and a curious Metal Sonic.
Robotnik sat on a small stool in which he quickly rose from. He was rather surprised to see his former ally alive, and was pretty curious about just how he had managed to survive such a fiery death. Rubbing his handle bar like mustache thoughtfully, he said nothing at first, but just paced. Metal Sonic came to the guard swatbot's side, and calmly signaled them to leave, in here, he would make sure Shadow did not escape. The immobilizer came forward, its robotic voice droning through the air. "Your orders, sir?" Robotnik said nothing, but peered at Shadow, who was now giving him a pretty dirty look. "So Shadow.you're the one who was causing trouble in my city, destroying my precious swatbots. Now you know that's a naughty thing to do right?" He sneered sarcastically. Shadow only scowled and looked the other direction. "Now I know you don't like this little hold I have on you, but I can let you go, on one condition." Shadow's dark ears pricked. Eggman smiled. "I see I have your attention, ahem. Anyway, lets get to the point, here is the deal I'll cut with you. You return to my side, take your former place as my lead attacker, and I'll gladly let you retain your physical flesh and hide. However, if you refuse, I'll have you turned to metal, right before your girl friend's eyes." Shadow's red eyes widened, both out of shock and anger. Robotnik snickered. "Oh? Didn't think I knew about her? Well I definitely have plans for all of your little friends. I will spare that green girl, if you pledge your loyalty to me." Metal Sonic could only stare at Shadow, lying there, helpless on the ground. For some reason, he couldn't stare into his eyes to long; it was if he was feeling.compassionate. But how could that be possible? He just didn't understand.
Perhaps there was more to him that met the eye. That AI installed in him, after all, had given him feelings, but, did it really give him the power to make decisions? The confused bot shook his head and paid attention to Robotnik, it was seriously stupid to even try to find logic in that. Shadow, who was now stuck in a really tough situation, was being torn between feelings. Sure, Melody had shown him her kindness, maybe even her love, but.would he really give himself up, for someone else? His mind began to race. His black lids closed. Back to the space colony, a flash back took him.
"GET THEM BEFORE THEY ESCAPE!"
They where running through a hallway, toward the capsule area, alarms blaring in their ears, alerting all personal to leave and evacuate immediately. Maria lead the way, Shadow behind her every step. They could hear soldiers running from behind, when a noise Shadow would never forget crackled through the air. A gun shot. Maria was all of sudden clutching her chest, and gasping for air, but she refused to stop going. Shadow was worried, but at the time didn't understand what was going on. She instructed Shadow to stand in the capsule loading area, while she prepared the capsule for launch. She weakly ran toward the panel, but instead of running back, she closed the capsule around here. Shadow, all of sudden aware of what was going on, began to pound madly on the glass, but it was to no avail, it didn't break. Maria, now breathing heavier as her body began to shut down, muttered her final words to her one and only friend.
"Shadow, I beg of you. Do it for me, for a better future. For all people.on that planet, give them a chance to be happy. Let them live their dreams, Shadow, I know you can do it, that is why you where brought into this world. Sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog." She pushed the button, launching the capsule into space, while she herself died that night, forever leaving a painful scar in Shadow's heart. Someone had died for him that day, and that was his only friend and love at the time. Now, it was his turn, he would do it for Melody, as she would've gladly done it for him. Metal Sonic noticed a tear trickle down his cheek as he muttered his answer to Robotnik. "I'd rather be metal then ever serve a disgusting creep like you!!" This enraged the mad scientist, and he stomped over, and kicked Shadow right in the back of the head, between his quills. Shadow winced, and though it hurt horribly, he refused to cry out. Metal Sonic starred at his creator in shock, he had just mindlessly hit another creature, not a robot, but a living creature. However, he didn't have long to dwell on this thought, for the furious Robotnik began to furiously shout orders. "TAKE HIM TO A HOLDING CELL. IMMOBILIZER, GUARD HIM, AND METAL SONIC, DOUBLE THE SECURITY AND TAKE OVER 2 HOURS LATER. IF ANY OF THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS COME, ALERT ME IMMEDIATELY, I DON'T WANT ANYONE DISTURBING ME, WHILE I GET BACK TO WORK." His face was beat red from screaming. "AND I WANT TO KNOW HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO FIX THAT ROBOTOCIZER!!!!" Without another glance at Shadow, he stormed out of the room.
Metal Sonic didn't move for a moment, but he soon came to his senses, and allowed the robots to do their business. When everyone had left the main control room, he stood in silent thought, wondering just what came over him after that whole ordeal. Shaking his head, he settled himself in front of the main control computer, and gazed in the monitors. Even though Robotnik was irritable before, he seemed increasingly irritable every day. All Sonic did was insult him when they ever met, and though it angered him, he had never gone into a screaming fit like he did today. In fact, he had been isolating himself a lot lately. He was up to something. Switching on the main computer's hard drive, he scanned through it, searching for the cleared RAM he had opened up on command by Robotnik. He found it, but he found 2 files that he didn't know of in the main drive. One was labeled "PROJECT ANNIALATION" while the other was labeled. "POWER DOWN." Metal Sonic tried to open up the folder, but a memo flashed on the computer's large screen. "You are unauthorized to view this information." The computer switched off, leaving a dumbfounded Metal Sonic behind. Robotnik had almost giving him complete control of the area, but then again, he never explained why. Now that he thought about it, the doctor only came up to tell him that he needed to watch security, or view the status of the city. Other than that, he was rarely around, always down in his personal quarters, "finishing up his work." It occurred to the AI robot that he had to be doing more than just developing new machines or repairing them, he could come up with a new gadget in a heartbeat.
There was something obviously frustrating him, the question is, what? Shaking his head once more, he went back to his daily monitoring of the robotic city. Mean while, in the quarters of the evil doctor Robotnik, many chemicals are brewing in his small personal laboratory. "Bah, come on, one of these combinations has to be right." Scanning his files and developing theories, he continued to test them with a small lab computer. "Combination faulty." The computer beeped once more. "ARGGGGGH!" screamed Robotnik, fighting every urge to not smash the computer clear out of the room. He did succeed in not destroying the computer, but he did hit the table, hard, causing a bottle of orange chemical liquid to spill into his formula. "NO!" Shouted Robotnik. Just as he was about to trash everything in sight, the computer began to beep incessantly. "Formula complete, estimated time until wear-off, one hour." Robotnik smiled, this time he would have that meddlesome hedgehog for sure. Taking out a special gun, he filled a strange dart with this chemical, and placed it on the now beaten up table. "To bad I can't duplicate this." he said holding up the now empty bottle of the orange chemical. "This is simply to rare, but I think once chance is all I need." Snickering, Robotnik began to gather his stuff. His communicator beeped. Picking it up with a scowl, he practically snarled into it. "WHAT IS IT, THIS BETTER BE GOOD!" Metal Sonic's familiar voice came over the speaker. "Sir the roboticizer will take seven days to repair." Without an answer, Robotnik switched it off and threw it across the room. This would leave a door for the freedom fighters to come rescue their comrade. Groaning, he re-picked up his communicator and paged Metal Sonic.
"Sir?"
"Prepare the swatbot fleets."
"Of course sir, and the freedom fighters? Should they come and cause trouble?"
"Destroy or capture them, whatever is convenient."
"Yes sir."
***Mystic Ruins Knothole***
The feeling of Knothole was very rough and gloomy. Many of the residents had almost lost their spirit to fight. They had been defeated again, tossed aside in a twist a fate. Some had even voiced that they should just move on and restart in a new, rural place. Free of Robotnik and his evil minions. But Sonic had rebuked them all, and tried to desperately rile them up again, by telling them that if they allowed Robotnik to rule that little piece of land that was once known as Station Square to the world, he would soon go in search of them, and either roboticizer them or wipe them out. Melody, who was by far the most upset resident in Knothole, was confined to a hut until she calmed down. She had fits through out the long evening hours that night, and they where afraid to let her go. The aqua creature could easily end up throwing her life away by trying to face Robotnik alone. While Robotnik had set Robotropolis on high alert, Sonic was busy making his own plan. He knew now, that no matter how fast he was or how much experience he had, this time he couldn't take out the evil doctor alone. They needed to re-organize and plan, maybe even train. Another thought bothered him as well, this would take time, and Shadow could easily be a worker bot right now, ready to annihilate them on sight should the come back to the city of steel. His white gloved hand clenched into a tight fist, that didn't matter, he had to fight back, for Shadow, for the survivors, and himself. The morning was only a few hours away. A moderate mist filled the chilled air, and dark clouds hung in the skies, preventing the diamonds of the sky from showing their beauty out in the night. But it wasn't like anyone would've noticed the stars anyway.
Sighing and pushing back his azure quills, he made his way to the war room. He was surprised to find Tails sitting there, hunched over a pile of papers on the desk. "Whats up big guy? Your usually working on your dream plane." He chuckled good naturedly, even Tails smiled. "Well if you really want to know, I'm studying this map we have of Robotropolis, Donovan sighted the trash sight on the retreat last night. We need weapons Sonic, and I think if we need metal, here would be the place to find it." His tails flicked up and down with anticipation, he had a feeling they would come up with an effective plan this time. Sonic too, was grinning widely. "That sounds great, I never thought of that." Tails nodded, and began to speak again. "However, I'm not sure we didn't leave any damage, I noticed that there was a smoldering cable when we left the city, we need to investigate the city's status and lay out the plan. Donovan told me last night when he was guarding Melody along with Knuckles, that he has an experience with fighting and tactics. He offered to teach us some things, but it would take a few days." Sonic felt a bit of hope shoot through him at Tails's words, perhaps the spirit of Knothole had yet to be broken. "Then we must assemble Tails, and act quickly, if that is your idea." Sonic spun around and opened the door. "Since when are you such a good planner?" It was Tails's turn to smile. "Ever since we built Knothole." Shaking his head happily, Sonic left, it was time to once again plan against their evil dictator.
Donovan and Knuckles where talking to each other, telling of each other's pasts. Melody had given up trying to escape and had calmed nicely, due to Knuckle's persuasive threats. Every time she threatened to give him a hard time, he would calmly hold up his fist, his steel like knuckles ready to deliver a devastating blow to her stomach. The green hedgehog wasn't in idiot, she knew she couldn't face 2 skilled echidnas; Donovan backed up his every move. Donovan told the crimson jewel guardian he was born in a rural region, raised from birth to be a protector of people and living things. When his parents had disappeared for some unknown reason, he was forced to live a life on his own, learning the basics his parents never taught him. Over time, he had learned how to move as stealthily as a wolf, and strike like a coiled up snake. Knuckles told Donovan of his many adventures of protecting the Master Emerald and Angel Island. The thought of his once beloved home brought a somewhat heavy feeling to his heart, but he had to admit, he felt better speaking of it. And so, over the course of a few hours, Knuckles and Donovan became friends, learning each other's skills and interests. Rouge mainly stayed home, only coming out when summoned. She too, missed Angel Island. Tails came running up from the war room, his twin tails whirling behind him like a propeller. "Hey guys, Sonic has called a meeting, go ahead to the war room." The 2 fighters nodded. "And Melody?" Donovan said. "I'll go too." Said an eager voice behind him. Melody stepped out side for the first time in 5 hours, a look of pure determination on her feminine features.
Tails nodded once more, before taking off to gather the others. Strider had been thinking silently in the forest, his wolven face scrunched, as if he was frying his brain from thinking to hard. His metal sword gleamed in his hands; he had been the most quiet about this whole ordeal. He had sat here ever since they came back to their haven at night, thinking about just what he could for the residents here, they had to get their city back. Tails touched him gently on the shoulder, breaking his train of thought. He looked up as if he had just come from his trance, his dark green eyes glassy. Tails told him of the news, and went on. Rising slowly with a sigh, the phantom like black wolf went as told.
They all gathered, none eager, and some of them asking why they were standing here. Some cried that it was a waste of time, and that they would all be killed should they go back again. Sonic was very upset about this whole massive gathering, if they were unwilling to fight, and were ready to give up at this very moment, then a defeat was already impossible to avoid. His eyes narrowed, and once again, his hands clenched into fists. Taking his place at the head of the crowd, he spoke forcefully.
"I know that Robotnik has a high advantage, and I know that one of our own has been captured. But, for those who died that day, are you really going to let that Egg moron get away with that? Will future generations always live in fear?! I say to you now, make a choice. Rise up, never back down, don't look back, and never give up the fight and take back what is so rightfully yours. Or run and be destroyed by a dictator who has a soul as dark as the night. You decide!"
There was a period of silence. Then, Donovan rose up, his eyes beaming in the night. Knuckles, and even Rouge came along to Sonic's side. "With you to the end, Sonic." They all said in unison. Strider smiled a smile of faith, and came to Sonic's side. Soon, all the residents of Knothole held their fists up and began to cheer. They wouldn't hide from Robotnik, no matter what the loss. Amy placed her hands on Sonic's hips and whispered in his ears. "I love it when you speak like a hero." Sonic's eyes soften, and he kissed her softly on the cheek. "We'll win Amy, I promise."
Sonic and Tails discussed tactics on what their next move would be. Donovan, Knuckles, Rouge, and Strider, all agreed to teach dojo arts and sneaking techniques. Knuckles and Sonic would scout Robotropolis, looking for useful information and plunder. A group of freedom fighters would help along the way, by carrying any useful metal found in Robotropolis's trash heap back into Knothole. Tails and Vincent would fashion shields from this scrap metal, and would make a few weapons, but they doubt that ordinary metal weapons could be a match against laser guns. That night, every Freedom Fighter in the forest went to sleep, ready to work the hardest they had ever worked before, preparing for the great battle that was sure to come. Melody was particularly excited about this whole fiasco, was ready to put her life on the line for one hedgehog and one hedgehog only, Shadow.
***Robotropolis***
Shadow had been taken to a holding cell the minute the words left Robotnik's mouth. He had been flung like a rag doll into a musty cell; the only thing there was a small cot and muck. Thankfully, the immobilizer realized its paralyzing hold on Shadow's neck, and in the hour, he was moving freely. The robot kept walking back and forth, keeping a good watch, never minding the fact that Shadow kept homing against the bars or spin dashing fruitlessly. Try as he might, he couldn't break free from this horrible prison. Tired and exhausted, he settled down, closed his eyes, and pictured himself back home. He was back upon a lush green hill, over looking the tall pines, oaks, and young saplings that made up his home. Water from the jungle cascaded into the sea of perpetual green, giving the land a very homely touch that screamed for the soul to come and rest. In his little daydream, he felt something touch him and hold him close, a gesture that could only be out of love. Looking up with his garnet eyes, he saw Melody, her kind compassion filled eyes penetrating his very soul. He held her back, and for a moment, he felt at peace.
Up in the main control room, Metal Sonic was working on security measures, sending out signals to all swatbot fleets that every precaution was to be taken. However, he didn't issue the kill on sight command, it wasn't necessary at the present moment. Viewing the monitors and checking the city's progress, everything seemed to be in order. His communicator beeped, an incoming signal from Robotnik had just came in. "Yes sir?"
"Metal Sonic, I want you to call the immobilizer and send him to my quarters, he must be reprogrammed. You are to take over his duties until then. Is Robotropolis on high alert
?"
"Yes sir."
"Excellent, set the main computer into auto alert, it will signal both of us should any of those meddle some people show up again."
"Of course sir."
"Robotnik, out."
"That's strange." Metal Sonic thought as he did as he was commanded. Robotnik hardly ever reprogrammed robots, especially when they completed their first mission. Every day seemed to be growing weirder and weirder in Robotropolis. Setting the computer on auto alert, he left the main control room and headed down to the holding cells. Shadow had fallen asleep (miraculously) but by no means was he sleeping peacefully. Metal Sonic found himself glad that he was, he didn't want any trouble, and hoped that this patrol duty would end soon. Swatbots where hard at work on the roboticizer, each one redoing the parts of the wire with skill, it wouldn't be long before it was in full commission. Down in Robotnik's headquarters, Eggman altered the immobilizer's gun, and installed the special dart inside its barrel. There would be no room for failure in this; he had only once chance to pull off this attack, and only one hour to finish it. The chemical would serve its purpose and then disappear, never to return again in the doctor's grasp. Smirking deviously, he set to work on his next major project.
The production of metal and robots had gone very well in his empire, and he set the worker bots on extreme labor mode as they began to put together the ultimate masterpiece. He shook with excitement as he laid the blue prints of the file he had been working on in the previous weeks. "This time..I will make sure no one survives."
In the cover of darkness on that very long day's night, Sonic and Knuckles moved betwixt the trees, their movements undetectable and inaudible. Knuckles lead the way, while Sonic took to thee back, watching out for any danger as they headed to Robotropolis's borders. The steel city was noising and cold as they set foot upon its dirty grounds. Knuckles quickly began his mission, finding three very useful pieces of information using Nicole. A group of Freedom Fighters, lead by Rouge, entered in the main area. Should anything go wrong, they were to distract the swatbots at all costs. For a while, they moved undetected. The azure leader managed to easily find the trash heap and abstracted several nice chunks of useful metal. Rouge's group kept undetected in the shadows, and carried the metal back to their base. Knuckles had managed to break into the computer's main hard drive and steal a detailed map of Robotropolis, a few swatbot structure blue prints, and a laser gun blue print. He was also glad to find out that the roboticizer was offline, and Shadow had to be still alive. Moving as silent as mice, the group moved away undetected from the polluted city.
***Mystic Ruins Knothole***
The next days were filled with hard work and turmoil for the Freedom fighters. They where put under hard training by Donovan and Strider, while Knuckles around Rouge taught them sneaking and evasion skills. Tails, Sonic, and Vincent fashioned shields that where light weight but durable. Sonic trained under Strider's sword, dodging and weaving like a graceful beast, he learned to avoid quick thrust and sudden movements. Though the training and work involved in this sure to be massive revolt was very hard, the fighting spirit of the Knothole grew, and with that, the hopes of all people wanting to once again be free.
One the sixth night, everybody once again met in the war room, sharing words of encouragement and adding the final touches to their skill. Tails, Sonic, and Vincent passed out the shields to everyone, and using Nicole, they produced the detailed image of the map of Robotropolis. After laying out the plans, everyone was ready to fight. Sonic would be the lead attacker, and Knuckles and Rouge would come in from the south side of the city, while Donovan, Strider, Amy, Tails, and the other Freedom Fighters came in from the north. They would try to get into the cell wing of the city, and break Shadow free. Even though the mission posed a serious threat to all of his or her lives, no one seemed unwilling to go. Knuckles, paranoid that someone was going to steel the precious Master Emerald, placed it inside his coat at its small form. They all knew they had to move quickly, the roboticizer would be completely repaired in a matter of hours.
*** Seventh day, Robotropolis***
Robotnik had been up all night working on Project Annihilation. He monitored all the worker bots who working extremely fast to put this massive robot together. The evil doctor himself would pilot the mechanical wonder, and its main metal frame would be hard to penetrate by any normal creature. It was constructed of black metal and alloy, its weapons include missile launches and a very powerful laser. Its main attack was its homing rockets, and its "foot thrusters" allowed it to shoot itself high into the air and fly off if necessary. A strange device was implanted at the very top of this weapon of mass destruction, and Eggman couldn't be more proud of himself. "Oho! The more I think of it, the better it seems, soon Sonic the hedgehog, along with the rest of the world will be under my control!" Laughing bitterly, he was about to re-scan his blue prints when the alarms began to sound wildly. Intruder alert! Small groups of people have penetrated the northern and southern borders. Robotnik immediately paged Metal Sonic. "Quickly, send out fleets of swatbots! Do not let them escape, annihilate them, capture them, what ever, JUST DO IT!" Switching it off, he ran to his quarters, it was time to put his special robot to the test.
Sonic moved through the city like a blue blur, his running effortless and graceful. He headed in from the west side, glad the other groups were doing their job. He would breach the main security, and hopefully be able to find the dictator himself and end all this madness. Swatbots came pouring out from ever direction, and Sonic battled them with bravery only a true hero could possess. The 2 groups of Freedom Fighters on the north and south side of Robotropolis were doing much better, and fighting beautifully. The shields definitely reduced the number of injuries as they battle their hearts out. Swatbots where destroyed right and left, and every now and then, a shot found its way to human flesh or fur. Tails whirled his tails, cutting robots in half. The people of knothole used metal bars and shields to fight the seemingly endless army of mechanical menaces. Strider sliced through their circuitry with his well-handled sword. Knuckles and Donovan each expressed their true fighting skills as they over took the swatbots in front of them. Sonic finally reached the fighters and fought at their side, everything was going according to plan. Metal Sonic kept sending out fleet after fleet of swatbots, but the Freedom Fighters were fighting with force this time. Robotnik came plowing into the control room and knocked Metal Sonic out the way. Peering into the security monitors, he watched the group fight his mechanical army. The cameras began to short out one by one as the rebels began to destroy them. Robotnik knew now was the time to act, they where moving awfully close to Shadow's location. Turning to Metal Sonic, he quickly shouted, "WHAT ARE YOU STANDING HERE FOR? GET YOUR AIRBOURNE FLEET AND MOVE OUT!" Metal Sonic moved out, and with a group of AI Swatbots, got ready for battle. Robotnik punched a special command in the computer's panel, releasing the immobilizer.
The Freedom Fighters where very surprised when laser shots from above rocked the skies. They dodged and moved quickly, still fighting bravely, though they where slowly being driven back. Something inside each and everyone however, kept them going, they wouldn't lose so easily this time. Sonic jumped ahead of the fighting fleet and continued his way toward the cell wing; they had to break Shadow out. Melody saw the hedgehog, and quickly followed him, a long with a small group of Freedom Fighters. Sonic moved like the wind, hoping, praying that Shadow was ok. He plowed through the alleys, Melody and the others hot in his trail along with a massive group of swatbots. The cell wing of Robotropolis came into view; they weren't to far now. "SONIC LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!" Melody's voice rang out as a purple wire laced with electricity shot through the musty air, catching the world-renowned hero off guard. Sonic was frozen in shock, when a green blur moved in front of him, taking the wire right around her neck. Like Shadow, she was immobilized almost immediately. Sonic, however, wasn't going to lose her like he did Shadow, spin dashing; he plowed in the robot, causing the wire to break. Melody was still paralyzed, but it would wear off in about 5 minutes. Unfortunately, that was more than enough time for a fleet of swatbots to grab a hold of her and carry her way. The robot and Sonic regained their feet, and the azure hero was just about to go after Melody, when something pierced him in the side. The robot had fired the special dart. The chemical was immediately injected into his blood stream. Gasping, Sonic pulled it off and threw it far away. To his surprise, he didn't feel anything, and he managed to spin dash the immobilizer into oblivion with a few well-aimed homing attacks and spin dashes.
Cries from the freedom fighters signified another catastrophe had taken place. Knuckles had been leading an airborne attack along with Rouge and Donovan. They had held off Metal Sonic from hurting anymore troops, when Knuckles was knocked off course by a swatbot jet. He had spun in the air, causing the Master Emerald to fall from his coat. Metal Sonic immediately ceased this opportunity, snatched the emerald from the air by opening his cockpit, and zipped away, paging Robotnik about this sudden luck. Knuckles had bellowed in rage, but knew at the same time there was nothing he could do at the moment. The air was crowded with laser blasts, and a quite a few now laid injured on Robotropolis's grounds. "I'M COMING GUYS!" Came a voice. Sonic came rushing in, and spun into the ancient light attack. He took out several dozens of swatbots in a matter of seconds. "Keep going all of you, we aren't that.." But Sonic was unable to finish. He all of sudden dropped to his knees, grabbing a hold of his head, and shrieking loudly in pain. The leaders of the 2 main fighting squads noticed this, and quickly fought off the swatbots close to Sonic's position. Donovan and Knuckles rushed to Sonic's side. Sonic slowly rose to his feet, his head pounding, and his ears ringing. "Whoa...I feel, very weird." He said. Donovan and Knuckles continued to fight, knowing now that their leader was in bad shape. Sonic shook his head, he had to fight till the very end. He saw a nearby group of swatbots closing in on the Freedom Fighters, he could take them out easily enough.
Or so he thought.For when he tried to run, he only fell flat on his face. "What the?" Sonic said wearily as he rose to his feet. Then it struck him, that strange chemical had sapped him of his super speed and ability to run. Robotnik was laughing and sneering with joy as he saw Sonic the hedgehog almost helpless against his fighting fleet. However, he never got a chance to capture his long time adversary, for the Freedom Fighters, knowing now that they had lost yet another one, began to retreat. They did notice however, that a lot of Robotnik's troops had been taken out, and it would take awhile for him to restock on his fighting force. But for now, they had to help their fallen leader. Carried by Donovan and Knuckles, Sonic was rushed from the battlefield, followed closely by the fighting force.
Metal Sonic landed his jet into the hanger, and an eager Robotnik snatched the Master Emerald away from him. "You did something right for once, good job." The evil scientist studied the gem thoughtfully for a moment. "Freedom Fighter status?" Metal Sonic was fighting every urge not to scowl. "They appear to be retreating sir." This only caused Eggman to smile wider, its coldness showing through his very lips. "Excellent. Oh, and the immobilizer did managed to nail 2 victims, imprison her in a holding cell, but not with that black hedgehog. I'm surprised my own creation would dare go against me. But no matter, she is just refuse." Laughing, he left. Metal Sonic sighed, so long had he been taking this, and yet, an urge inside him really wanted to spin dash Robotnik right were he deserves it. The alarms died down as every last Freedom Fighter retreated from the city's grounds. Melody was imprisoned in a separate area, away from Shadow. Back at the Knothole, everyone knew that the loss of the Master Emerald could only mean double the trouble.
Robotnik returned to the assemblage area, where the worker bots where finishing the touch ups of the main cockpit of Project Annihilation. It wouldn't be long now, and with the Master Emerald in his grasp, he could finally power his ultimate weapon...
***Story***
***Robotropolis***
Shadow had been captured before, but that was nothing compared to the treatment the robots were giving him. The immobilizer's lasso held him in an unbreakable bind, his muscles and limbs could no longer be felt, as if they weren't there. The cold steel city was filled with pollution, with muck and mildew caked upon the silvery walls. Electricity hummed through the walls, lights flashed, and gadgets of all sorts beeped through the long narrow hallways. It was a very dark and bleak place for anyone to be, and Shadow even shuttered at the thought of being shut in this horrible place, and it looked as if this nightmare was only beginning. The former E-102 mercilessly dragged Shadow, never minding the sharp pieces of metal, dirt clumps, or muck that lay in his path. The black hedgehog tried desperately to get his body to respond, but the tight purple bond was doing its job, cutting all impulses and brain signals away from his muscles. Two guard bots followed closely behind, their scanners never stopped going, and they held two powerful laser guns, ready to blast any intruder or any obstacle that stood in their way. Finally, Shadow's long drag finally ended as they approached a steel door with a big Robotnik logo in the center. Pressing in a few keys, it opened up willingly, revealing an eager Robotnik and a curious Metal Sonic.
Robotnik sat on a small stool in which he quickly rose from. He was rather surprised to see his former ally alive, and was pretty curious about just how he had managed to survive such a fiery death. Rubbing his handle bar like mustache thoughtfully, he said nothing at first, but just paced. Metal Sonic came to the guard swatbot's side, and calmly signaled them to leave, in here, he would make sure Shadow did not escape. The immobilizer came forward, its robotic voice droning through the air. "Your orders, sir?" Robotnik said nothing, but peered at Shadow, who was now giving him a pretty dirty look. "So Shadow.you're the one who was causing trouble in my city, destroying my precious swatbots. Now you know that's a naughty thing to do right?" He sneered sarcastically. Shadow only scowled and looked the other direction. "Now I know you don't like this little hold I have on you, but I can let you go, on one condition." Shadow's dark ears pricked. Eggman smiled. "I see I have your attention, ahem. Anyway, lets get to the point, here is the deal I'll cut with you. You return to my side, take your former place as my lead attacker, and I'll gladly let you retain your physical flesh and hide. However, if you refuse, I'll have you turned to metal, right before your girl friend's eyes." Shadow's red eyes widened, both out of shock and anger. Robotnik snickered. "Oh? Didn't think I knew about her? Well I definitely have plans for all of your little friends. I will spare that green girl, if you pledge your loyalty to me." Metal Sonic could only stare at Shadow, lying there, helpless on the ground. For some reason, he couldn't stare into his eyes to long; it was if he was feeling.compassionate. But how could that be possible? He just didn't understand.
Perhaps there was more to him that met the eye. That AI installed in him, after all, had given him feelings, but, did it really give him the power to make decisions? The confused bot shook his head and paid attention to Robotnik, it was seriously stupid to even try to find logic in that. Shadow, who was now stuck in a really tough situation, was being torn between feelings. Sure, Melody had shown him her kindness, maybe even her love, but.would he really give himself up, for someone else? His mind began to race. His black lids closed. Back to the space colony, a flash back took him.
"GET THEM BEFORE THEY ESCAPE!"
They where running through a hallway, toward the capsule area, alarms blaring in their ears, alerting all personal to leave and evacuate immediately. Maria lead the way, Shadow behind her every step. They could hear soldiers running from behind, when a noise Shadow would never forget crackled through the air. A gun shot. Maria was all of sudden clutching her chest, and gasping for air, but she refused to stop going. Shadow was worried, but at the time didn't understand what was going on. She instructed Shadow to stand in the capsule loading area, while she prepared the capsule for launch. She weakly ran toward the panel, but instead of running back, she closed the capsule around here. Shadow, all of sudden aware of what was going on, began to pound madly on the glass, but it was to no avail, it didn't break. Maria, now breathing heavier as her body began to shut down, muttered her final words to her one and only friend.
"Shadow, I beg of you. Do it for me, for a better future. For all people.on that planet, give them a chance to be happy. Let them live their dreams, Shadow, I know you can do it, that is why you where brought into this world. Sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog." She pushed the button, launching the capsule into space, while she herself died that night, forever leaving a painful scar in Shadow's heart. Someone had died for him that day, and that was his only friend and love at the time. Now, it was his turn, he would do it for Melody, as she would've gladly done it for him. Metal Sonic noticed a tear trickle down his cheek as he muttered his answer to Robotnik. "I'd rather be metal then ever serve a disgusting creep like you!!" This enraged the mad scientist, and he stomped over, and kicked Shadow right in the back of the head, between his quills. Shadow winced, and though it hurt horribly, he refused to cry out. Metal Sonic starred at his creator in shock, he had just mindlessly hit another creature, not a robot, but a living creature. However, he didn't have long to dwell on this thought, for the furious Robotnik began to furiously shout orders. "TAKE HIM TO A HOLDING CELL. IMMOBILIZER, GUARD HIM, AND METAL SONIC, DOUBLE THE SECURITY AND TAKE OVER 2 HOURS LATER. IF ANY OF THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS COME, ALERT ME IMMEDIATELY, I DON'T WANT ANYONE DISTURBING ME, WHILE I GET BACK TO WORK." His face was beat red from screaming. "AND I WANT TO KNOW HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO FIX THAT ROBOTOCIZER!!!!" Without another glance at Shadow, he stormed out of the room.
Metal Sonic didn't move for a moment, but he soon came to his senses, and allowed the robots to do their business. When everyone had left the main control room, he stood in silent thought, wondering just what came over him after that whole ordeal. Shaking his head, he settled himself in front of the main control computer, and gazed in the monitors. Even though Robotnik was irritable before, he seemed increasingly irritable every day. All Sonic did was insult him when they ever met, and though it angered him, he had never gone into a screaming fit like he did today. In fact, he had been isolating himself a lot lately. He was up to something. Switching on the main computer's hard drive, he scanned through it, searching for the cleared RAM he had opened up on command by Robotnik. He found it, but he found 2 files that he didn't know of in the main drive. One was labeled "PROJECT ANNIALATION" while the other was labeled. "POWER DOWN." Metal Sonic tried to open up the folder, but a memo flashed on the computer's large screen. "You are unauthorized to view this information." The computer switched off, leaving a dumbfounded Metal Sonic behind. Robotnik had almost giving him complete control of the area, but then again, he never explained why. Now that he thought about it, the doctor only came up to tell him that he needed to watch security, or view the status of the city. Other than that, he was rarely around, always down in his personal quarters, "finishing up his work." It occurred to the AI robot that he had to be doing more than just developing new machines or repairing them, he could come up with a new gadget in a heartbeat.
There was something obviously frustrating him, the question is, what? Shaking his head once more, he went back to his daily monitoring of the robotic city. Mean while, in the quarters of the evil doctor Robotnik, many chemicals are brewing in his small personal laboratory. "Bah, come on, one of these combinations has to be right." Scanning his files and developing theories, he continued to test them with a small lab computer. "Combination faulty." The computer beeped once more. "ARGGGGGH!" screamed Robotnik, fighting every urge to not smash the computer clear out of the room. He did succeed in not destroying the computer, but he did hit the table, hard, causing a bottle of orange chemical liquid to spill into his formula. "NO!" Shouted Robotnik. Just as he was about to trash everything in sight, the computer began to beep incessantly. "Formula complete, estimated time until wear-off, one hour." Robotnik smiled, this time he would have that meddlesome hedgehog for sure. Taking out a special gun, he filled a strange dart with this chemical, and placed it on the now beaten up table. "To bad I can't duplicate this." he said holding up the now empty bottle of the orange chemical. "This is simply to rare, but I think once chance is all I need." Snickering, Robotnik began to gather his stuff. His communicator beeped. Picking it up with a scowl, he practically snarled into it. "WHAT IS IT, THIS BETTER BE GOOD!" Metal Sonic's familiar voice came over the speaker. "Sir the roboticizer will take seven days to repair." Without an answer, Robotnik switched it off and threw it across the room. This would leave a door for the freedom fighters to come rescue their comrade. Groaning, he re-picked up his communicator and paged Metal Sonic.
"Sir?"
"Prepare the swatbot fleets."
"Of course sir, and the freedom fighters? Should they come and cause trouble?"
"Destroy or capture them, whatever is convenient."
"Yes sir."
***Mystic Ruins Knothole***
The feeling of Knothole was very rough and gloomy. Many of the residents had almost lost their spirit to fight. They had been defeated again, tossed aside in a twist a fate. Some had even voiced that they should just move on and restart in a new, rural place. Free of Robotnik and his evil minions. But Sonic had rebuked them all, and tried to desperately rile them up again, by telling them that if they allowed Robotnik to rule that little piece of land that was once known as Station Square to the world, he would soon go in search of them, and either roboticizer them or wipe them out. Melody, who was by far the most upset resident in Knothole, was confined to a hut until she calmed down. She had fits through out the long evening hours that night, and they where afraid to let her go. The aqua creature could easily end up throwing her life away by trying to face Robotnik alone. While Robotnik had set Robotropolis on high alert, Sonic was busy making his own plan. He knew now, that no matter how fast he was or how much experience he had, this time he couldn't take out the evil doctor alone. They needed to re-organize and plan, maybe even train. Another thought bothered him as well, this would take time, and Shadow could easily be a worker bot right now, ready to annihilate them on sight should the come back to the city of steel. His white gloved hand clenched into a tight fist, that didn't matter, he had to fight back, for Shadow, for the survivors, and himself. The morning was only a few hours away. A moderate mist filled the chilled air, and dark clouds hung in the skies, preventing the diamonds of the sky from showing their beauty out in the night. But it wasn't like anyone would've noticed the stars anyway.
Sighing and pushing back his azure quills, he made his way to the war room. He was surprised to find Tails sitting there, hunched over a pile of papers on the desk. "Whats up big guy? Your usually working on your dream plane." He chuckled good naturedly, even Tails smiled. "Well if you really want to know, I'm studying this map we have of Robotropolis, Donovan sighted the trash sight on the retreat last night. We need weapons Sonic, and I think if we need metal, here would be the place to find it." His tails flicked up and down with anticipation, he had a feeling they would come up with an effective plan this time. Sonic too, was grinning widely. "That sounds great, I never thought of that." Tails nodded, and began to speak again. "However, I'm not sure we didn't leave any damage, I noticed that there was a smoldering cable when we left the city, we need to investigate the city's status and lay out the plan. Donovan told me last night when he was guarding Melody along with Knuckles, that he has an experience with fighting and tactics. He offered to teach us some things, but it would take a few days." Sonic felt a bit of hope shoot through him at Tails's words, perhaps the spirit of Knothole had yet to be broken. "Then we must assemble Tails, and act quickly, if that is your idea." Sonic spun around and opened the door. "Since when are you such a good planner?" It was Tails's turn to smile. "Ever since we built Knothole." Shaking his head happily, Sonic left, it was time to once again plan against their evil dictator.
Donovan and Knuckles where talking to each other, telling of each other's pasts. Melody had given up trying to escape and had calmed nicely, due to Knuckle's persuasive threats. Every time she threatened to give him a hard time, he would calmly hold up his fist, his steel like knuckles ready to deliver a devastating blow to her stomach. The green hedgehog wasn't in idiot, she knew she couldn't face 2 skilled echidnas; Donovan backed up his every move. Donovan told the crimson jewel guardian he was born in a rural region, raised from birth to be a protector of people and living things. When his parents had disappeared for some unknown reason, he was forced to live a life on his own, learning the basics his parents never taught him. Over time, he had learned how to move as stealthily as a wolf, and strike like a coiled up snake. Knuckles told Donovan of his many adventures of protecting the Master Emerald and Angel Island. The thought of his once beloved home brought a somewhat heavy feeling to his heart, but he had to admit, he felt better speaking of it. And so, over the course of a few hours, Knuckles and Donovan became friends, learning each other's skills and interests. Rouge mainly stayed home, only coming out when summoned. She too, missed Angel Island. Tails came running up from the war room, his twin tails whirling behind him like a propeller. "Hey guys, Sonic has called a meeting, go ahead to the war room." The 2 fighters nodded. "And Melody?" Donovan said. "I'll go too." Said an eager voice behind him. Melody stepped out side for the first time in 5 hours, a look of pure determination on her feminine features.
Tails nodded once more, before taking off to gather the others. Strider had been thinking silently in the forest, his wolven face scrunched, as if he was frying his brain from thinking to hard. His metal sword gleamed in his hands; he had been the most quiet about this whole ordeal. He had sat here ever since they came back to their haven at night, thinking about just what he could for the residents here, they had to get their city back. Tails touched him gently on the shoulder, breaking his train of thought. He looked up as if he had just come from his trance, his dark green eyes glassy. Tails told him of the news, and went on. Rising slowly with a sigh, the phantom like black wolf went as told.
They all gathered, none eager, and some of them asking why they were standing here. Some cried that it was a waste of time, and that they would all be killed should they go back again. Sonic was very upset about this whole massive gathering, if they were unwilling to fight, and were ready to give up at this very moment, then a defeat was already impossible to avoid. His eyes narrowed, and once again, his hands clenched into fists. Taking his place at the head of the crowd, he spoke forcefully.
"I know that Robotnik has a high advantage, and I know that one of our own has been captured. But, for those who died that day, are you really going to let that Egg moron get away with that? Will future generations always live in fear?! I say to you now, make a choice. Rise up, never back down, don't look back, and never give up the fight and take back what is so rightfully yours. Or run and be destroyed by a dictator who has a soul as dark as the night. You decide!"
There was a period of silence. Then, Donovan rose up, his eyes beaming in the night. Knuckles, and even Rouge came along to Sonic's side. "With you to the end, Sonic." They all said in unison. Strider smiled a smile of faith, and came to Sonic's side. Soon, all the residents of Knothole held their fists up and began to cheer. They wouldn't hide from Robotnik, no matter what the loss. Amy placed her hands on Sonic's hips and whispered in his ears. "I love it when you speak like a hero." Sonic's eyes soften, and he kissed her softly on the cheek. "We'll win Amy, I promise."
Sonic and Tails discussed tactics on what their next move would be. Donovan, Knuckles, Rouge, and Strider, all agreed to teach dojo arts and sneaking techniques. Knuckles and Sonic would scout Robotropolis, looking for useful information and plunder. A group of freedom fighters would help along the way, by carrying any useful metal found in Robotropolis's trash heap back into Knothole. Tails and Vincent would fashion shields from this scrap metal, and would make a few weapons, but they doubt that ordinary metal weapons could be a match against laser guns. That night, every Freedom Fighter in the forest went to sleep, ready to work the hardest they had ever worked before, preparing for the great battle that was sure to come. Melody was particularly excited about this whole fiasco, was ready to put her life on the line for one hedgehog and one hedgehog only, Shadow.
***Robotropolis***
Shadow had been taken to a holding cell the minute the words left Robotnik's mouth. He had been flung like a rag doll into a musty cell; the only thing there was a small cot and muck. Thankfully, the immobilizer realized its paralyzing hold on Shadow's neck, and in the hour, he was moving freely. The robot kept walking back and forth, keeping a good watch, never minding the fact that Shadow kept homing against the bars or spin dashing fruitlessly. Try as he might, he couldn't break free from this horrible prison. Tired and exhausted, he settled down, closed his eyes, and pictured himself back home. He was back upon a lush green hill, over looking the tall pines, oaks, and young saplings that made up his home. Water from the jungle cascaded into the sea of perpetual green, giving the land a very homely touch that screamed for the soul to come and rest. In his little daydream, he felt something touch him and hold him close, a gesture that could only be out of love. Looking up with his garnet eyes, he saw Melody, her kind compassion filled eyes penetrating his very soul. He held her back, and for a moment, he felt at peace.
Up in the main control room, Metal Sonic was working on security measures, sending out signals to all swatbot fleets that every precaution was to be taken. However, he didn't issue the kill on sight command, it wasn't necessary at the present moment. Viewing the monitors and checking the city's progress, everything seemed to be in order. His communicator beeped, an incoming signal from Robotnik had just came in. "Yes sir?"
"Metal Sonic, I want you to call the immobilizer and send him to my quarters, he must be reprogrammed. You are to take over his duties until then. Is Robotropolis on high alert
?"
"Yes sir."
"Excellent, set the main computer into auto alert, it will signal both of us should any of those meddle some people show up again."
"Of course sir."
"Robotnik, out."
"That's strange." Metal Sonic thought as he did as he was commanded. Robotnik hardly ever reprogrammed robots, especially when they completed their first mission. Every day seemed to be growing weirder and weirder in Robotropolis. Setting the computer on auto alert, he left the main control room and headed down to the holding cells. Shadow had fallen asleep (miraculously) but by no means was he sleeping peacefully. Metal Sonic found himself glad that he was, he didn't want any trouble, and hoped that this patrol duty would end soon. Swatbots where hard at work on the roboticizer, each one redoing the parts of the wire with skill, it wouldn't be long before it was in full commission. Down in Robotnik's headquarters, Eggman altered the immobilizer's gun, and installed the special dart inside its barrel. There would be no room for failure in this; he had only once chance to pull off this attack, and only one hour to finish it. The chemical would serve its purpose and then disappear, never to return again in the doctor's grasp. Smirking deviously, he set to work on his next major project.
The production of metal and robots had gone very well in his empire, and he set the worker bots on extreme labor mode as they began to put together the ultimate masterpiece. He shook with excitement as he laid the blue prints of the file he had been working on in the previous weeks. "This time..I will make sure no one survives."
In the cover of darkness on that very long day's night, Sonic and Knuckles moved betwixt the trees, their movements undetectable and inaudible. Knuckles lead the way, while Sonic took to thee back, watching out for any danger as they headed to Robotropolis's borders. The steel city was noising and cold as they set foot upon its dirty grounds. Knuckles quickly began his mission, finding three very useful pieces of information using Nicole. A group of Freedom Fighters, lead by Rouge, entered in the main area. Should anything go wrong, they were to distract the swatbots at all costs. For a while, they moved undetected. The azure leader managed to easily find the trash heap and abstracted several nice chunks of useful metal. Rouge's group kept undetected in the shadows, and carried the metal back to their base. Knuckles had managed to break into the computer's main hard drive and steal a detailed map of Robotropolis, a few swatbot structure blue prints, and a laser gun blue print. He was also glad to find out that the roboticizer was offline, and Shadow had to be still alive. Moving as silent as mice, the group moved away undetected from the polluted city.
***Mystic Ruins Knothole***
The next days were filled with hard work and turmoil for the Freedom fighters. They where put under hard training by Donovan and Strider, while Knuckles around Rouge taught them sneaking and evasion skills. Tails, Sonic, and Vincent fashioned shields that where light weight but durable. Sonic trained under Strider's sword, dodging and weaving like a graceful beast, he learned to avoid quick thrust and sudden movements. Though the training and work involved in this sure to be massive revolt was very hard, the fighting spirit of the Knothole grew, and with that, the hopes of all people wanting to once again be free.
One the sixth night, everybody once again met in the war room, sharing words of encouragement and adding the final touches to their skill. Tails, Sonic, and Vincent passed out the shields to everyone, and using Nicole, they produced the detailed image of the map of Robotropolis. After laying out the plans, everyone was ready to fight. Sonic would be the lead attacker, and Knuckles and Rouge would come in from the south side of the city, while Donovan, Strider, Amy, Tails, and the other Freedom Fighters came in from the north. They would try to get into the cell wing of the city, and break Shadow free. Even though the mission posed a serious threat to all of his or her lives, no one seemed unwilling to go. Knuckles, paranoid that someone was going to steel the precious Master Emerald, placed it inside his coat at its small form. They all knew they had to move quickly, the roboticizer would be completely repaired in a matter of hours.
*** Seventh day, Robotropolis***
Robotnik had been up all night working on Project Annihilation. He monitored all the worker bots who working extremely fast to put this massive robot together. The evil doctor himself would pilot the mechanical wonder, and its main metal frame would be hard to penetrate by any normal creature. It was constructed of black metal and alloy, its weapons include missile launches and a very powerful laser. Its main attack was its homing rockets, and its "foot thrusters" allowed it to shoot itself high into the air and fly off if necessary. A strange device was implanted at the very top of this weapon of mass destruction, and Eggman couldn't be more proud of himself. "Oho! The more I think of it, the better it seems, soon Sonic the hedgehog, along with the rest of the world will be under my control!" Laughing bitterly, he was about to re-scan his blue prints when the alarms began to sound wildly. Intruder alert! Small groups of people have penetrated the northern and southern borders. Robotnik immediately paged Metal Sonic. "Quickly, send out fleets of swatbots! Do not let them escape, annihilate them, capture them, what ever, JUST DO IT!" Switching it off, he ran to his quarters, it was time to put his special robot to the test.
Sonic moved through the city like a blue blur, his running effortless and graceful. He headed in from the west side, glad the other groups were doing their job. He would breach the main security, and hopefully be able to find the dictator himself and end all this madness. Swatbots came pouring out from ever direction, and Sonic battled them with bravery only a true hero could possess. The 2 groups of Freedom Fighters on the north and south side of Robotropolis were doing much better, and fighting beautifully. The shields definitely reduced the number of injuries as they battle their hearts out. Swatbots where destroyed right and left, and every now and then, a shot found its way to human flesh or fur. Tails whirled his tails, cutting robots in half. The people of knothole used metal bars and shields to fight the seemingly endless army of mechanical menaces. Strider sliced through their circuitry with his well-handled sword. Knuckles and Donovan each expressed their true fighting skills as they over took the swatbots in front of them. Sonic finally reached the fighters and fought at their side, everything was going according to plan. Metal Sonic kept sending out fleet after fleet of swatbots, but the Freedom Fighters were fighting with force this time. Robotnik came plowing into the control room and knocked Metal Sonic out the way. Peering into the security monitors, he watched the group fight his mechanical army. The cameras began to short out one by one as the rebels began to destroy them. Robotnik knew now was the time to act, they where moving awfully close to Shadow's location. Turning to Metal Sonic, he quickly shouted, "WHAT ARE YOU STANDING HERE FOR? GET YOUR AIRBOURNE FLEET AND MOVE OUT!" Metal Sonic moved out, and with a group of AI Swatbots, got ready for battle. Robotnik punched a special command in the computer's panel, releasing the immobilizer.
The Freedom Fighters where very surprised when laser shots from above rocked the skies. They dodged and moved quickly, still fighting bravely, though they where slowly being driven back. Something inside each and everyone however, kept them going, they wouldn't lose so easily this time. Sonic jumped ahead of the fighting fleet and continued his way toward the cell wing; they had to break Shadow out. Melody saw the hedgehog, and quickly followed him, a long with a small group of Freedom Fighters. Sonic moved like the wind, hoping, praying that Shadow was ok. He plowed through the alleys, Melody and the others hot in his trail along with a massive group of swatbots. The cell wing of Robotropolis came into view; they weren't to far now. "SONIC LOOK OUT!!!!!!!!" Melody's voice rang out as a purple wire laced with electricity shot through the musty air, catching the world-renowned hero off guard. Sonic was frozen in shock, when a green blur moved in front of him, taking the wire right around her neck. Like Shadow, she was immobilized almost immediately. Sonic, however, wasn't going to lose her like he did Shadow, spin dashing; he plowed in the robot, causing the wire to break. Melody was still paralyzed, but it would wear off in about 5 minutes. Unfortunately, that was more than enough time for a fleet of swatbots to grab a hold of her and carry her way. The robot and Sonic regained their feet, and the azure hero was just about to go after Melody, when something pierced him in the side. The robot had fired the special dart. The chemical was immediately injected into his blood stream. Gasping, Sonic pulled it off and threw it far away. To his surprise, he didn't feel anything, and he managed to spin dash the immobilizer into oblivion with a few well-aimed homing attacks and spin dashes.
Cries from the freedom fighters signified another catastrophe had taken place. Knuckles had been leading an airborne attack along with Rouge and Donovan. They had held off Metal Sonic from hurting anymore troops, when Knuckles was knocked off course by a swatbot jet. He had spun in the air, causing the Master Emerald to fall from his coat. Metal Sonic immediately ceased this opportunity, snatched the emerald from the air by opening his cockpit, and zipped away, paging Robotnik about this sudden luck. Knuckles had bellowed in rage, but knew at the same time there was nothing he could do at the moment. The air was crowded with laser blasts, and a quite a few now laid injured on Robotropolis's grounds. "I'M COMING GUYS!" Came a voice. Sonic came rushing in, and spun into the ancient light attack. He took out several dozens of swatbots in a matter of seconds. "Keep going all of you, we aren't that.." But Sonic was unable to finish. He all of sudden dropped to his knees, grabbing a hold of his head, and shrieking loudly in pain. The leaders of the 2 main fighting squads noticed this, and quickly fought off the swatbots close to Sonic's position. Donovan and Knuckles rushed to Sonic's side. Sonic slowly rose to his feet, his head pounding, and his ears ringing. "Whoa...I feel, very weird." He said. Donovan and Knuckles continued to fight, knowing now that their leader was in bad shape. Sonic shook his head, he had to fight till the very end. He saw a nearby group of swatbots closing in on the Freedom Fighters, he could take them out easily enough.
Or so he thought.For when he tried to run, he only fell flat on his face. "What the?" Sonic said wearily as he rose to his feet. Then it struck him, that strange chemical had sapped him of his super speed and ability to run. Robotnik was laughing and sneering with joy as he saw Sonic the hedgehog almost helpless against his fighting fleet. However, he never got a chance to capture his long time adversary, for the Freedom Fighters, knowing now that they had lost yet another one, began to retreat. They did notice however, that a lot of Robotnik's troops had been taken out, and it would take awhile for him to restock on his fighting force. But for now, they had to help their fallen leader. Carried by Donovan and Knuckles, Sonic was rushed from the battlefield, followed closely by the fighting force.
Metal Sonic landed his jet into the hanger, and an eager Robotnik snatched the Master Emerald away from him. "You did something right for once, good job." The evil scientist studied the gem thoughtfully for a moment. "Freedom Fighter status?" Metal Sonic was fighting every urge not to scowl. "They appear to be retreating sir." This only caused Eggman to smile wider, its coldness showing through his very lips. "Excellent. Oh, and the immobilizer did managed to nail 2 victims, imprison her in a holding cell, but not with that black hedgehog. I'm surprised my own creation would dare go against me. But no matter, she is just refuse." Laughing, he left. Metal Sonic sighed, so long had he been taking this, and yet, an urge inside him really wanted to spin dash Robotnik right were he deserves it. The alarms died down as every last Freedom Fighter retreated from the city's grounds. Melody was imprisoned in a separate area, away from Shadow. Back at the Knothole, everyone knew that the loss of the Master Emerald could only mean double the trouble.
Robotnik returned to the assemblage area, where the worker bots where finishing the touch ups of the main cockpit of Project Annihilation. It wouldn't be long now, and with the Master Emerald in his grasp, he could finally power his ultimate weapon...