Chapter 3
"Crocbot….?"
For a moment, the Freedom Fighters stared at their adversary in surprise. It
seemed impossible that Crocbot was returned, let alone on the edge of Knothole,
fitted for war. After all, Crocbot had been virtually dead when he was carried
off in Sonic's old biplane, the Winged Victory, by several of the Devil's
Gulag's escaped convicts during the skirmish at West Mobotropolis. What added
to their disbelief was the fact that Snively had been taken away by
Robo-Robotnik; he had not even been around to see Crocbot being taken away by
Drago, Sleuth Dawg and the Fearsome Foursome.
In Sally's arms, Snaggle buried his head. He was clearly frightened, and Sally
clung onto him.
"Rotor, we'd better get him out of here…"
"….You……"
Sonic's mouth hung open at Crocbot. It started twitching at the corners.
"Sonic?" Amy looked frightened. "Sonic, I do-"
"…….You…….." Suddenly, Sonic began to laugh. "…..HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING
ME!!!!!!!!"
"SONIC!!"
"YOU'RE the ally?!" Sonic, though knowing full well he was asking for it, was
in such disbelief that he couldn't help but taunt the new Crocbot that stood
before him. "What GIVES?! Did Snively have some for of brain fart or
something?! Geez, I expected something a little more frightening and less
dim-witted than you!!!"
"SONIC!!!!!"
"….So I'm not 'frightening' enough?"
Crocbot's mouth moved, curling into a twisted, metallic smile as it took a step
forward. Sonic put his left foot back, ready for the attack.
"…….Huh."
The attack came almost instantaneously; Sonic almost didn't move in time, and
neither did the Freedom Fighters. With a loud popping sound all ten of
Crocbot's fingers simultaneously shot a single bullet out towards them all.
"DUUUUUCK!!!!!"
Sonic threw Sally and Snaggle to the ground before ducking himself. The bullet
barely missed his ear as he went down; he could almost hear it whizzing past
him.
"Phew…." He mutters as he smashed into the ground. "When eating own words, chew
first. Then swa-"
Each bullet fell to the ground just behind them; each exploded, setting the
grass on fire. Sonic felt Rotor push his head further into the ground; soon, a
small clot of dirt was piling into his nose.
"Graaaah!"
"You fiend!" Rotor glared at Crocbot. "You did that on purpose!"
"Did I?" Crocbot spoke in mock innocence. "Oh, I hope my homing
bullets didn't surprise you too much. Then again, I'm impressed by how
they work. It didn't quite expect them to be so theatrical."
"Homing bullets?!?" Sonic's eyes bulged out as he heard this. "Woah, did I pick
the wrong time to taunt you…."
"Oh yes, you did." Sonic heard Sally's angry voice. "Now get off of me,
hedgehog."
"……M……" Snaggle's voice was more frightened than ever. "….Mina…..P-princess…."
"Indeed. For, with but a mere inkling of a thought from me," Putting his
hands into the ammunition line on his shoulder, Crocbot's finger chambers
suddenly reloaded as he spoke, "the bullets can home in with 99% accuracy on
the intended target. And – this is the part that intrigued me – they explode
upon impact. An innovative killing process, if I may say so myself."
"And I bet Snively told you all this, and you just so happened to remember it
in your pea……brained……"
Sonic slowed down as realization began to kick in.
"Wait one minute…"
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Crocbot didn't even turn to face Amy as she swung her Piko Piko Hammer towards
him as hard as she could; she had snuck off before the robot had fired the
bullets at the others. The hammer had already left her hands as she screamed.
"Amy!!!!!!! NO!!!!"
"LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!!!!!!!!"
*POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNG*
The Hammer left a large dent in the backside of the robot in its shape. It
dropped to the ground with a bang. On his part, Crocbot leaned forward to
deflect the full brunt of the hit. He began to blow blue.
"YES!!!"
Amy jumped to get her hammer back. She intended to repeat the process. As such,
the pink hedgehog was completely unaware of Crocbot's tail flying right towards
her.
"AMY!!!!!" Sonic screamed. He knew it was too late. "NOOOOO!!!!"
Amy looked up from her hammer just as the spiky tail slammed into her side at
point blank range. Her body was impaled by three separate spikes; almost
instantly she went limp.
"AMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!"
Sally and Rotor could only cover Snaggle's eyes as the spike retracted with a
chinking sound. Amy, wide-eyed, slid off of each spike, an action that made a
gruesome squishing sound and left the spikes red.
"Idiot female." Crocbot took a step back and turned around, obviously
relishing his triumph. He stopped glowing blue, the dent in his armor gone, as
if it had never existed. "Be thankful I missed her heart, or indeed,
hedgehog, she would have truly paid for the attack. Not that it really had much
effect, either way."
Sonic stumbled to Amy's side, picking her head up and frantically feeling her
wrist. She was still alive, which shocked him; however, she was bleeding
profusely, and it was spilling onto his hands and legs.
"Sonic!" Rotor ran to him. "Don't touch her! Crocbot-"
"Ha." Sonic's voice was low, and he began to shake as he looked down at Amy. "I
don't care. It doesn't matter; you're not Crcobot anyway, are you?"
"Heheheh…" Crocbot's eyes glowed. "Indeed, hedgehog, I am. But only
in body……not in spirit."
Slowly, Sonic's head turned up. His eyes slit as he looked up at the robot
crocodile, whose arms were still calmly crossed, his head turned down at Sonic
in a superior way that, he realized, was all too familiar. The hedgehog's voice
shook with anger as he spoke.
"…..You."
As a response to Sonic's understanding, the crocodile chuckled, almost laughed.
Not in the maniacal, giggling fashion that Crcobot had been prone to do, as Tails
described it. It was a calm, assured chuckle, full of airs and confidence.
There was only one person who had the airs to do it.
"….Mammoth Mogul." Sonic glared at Crocbot's shell, the fuzzy pieces coming
together. His teeth clenched together. "You…..you….."
"What?!?!" Sally looked at the robot in shock. She still covered Snaggle's
face. "But…..but that's impossible!"
"No….." Sonic's growled as he continued speaking through clenched teeth. "No.
It makes sense. His spirit's there. Its him. He's the only one with the
gumption to be this sadistic. I bet you never left the area after I uncovered
your fake Tails plot, did you?"
"Oh, I left…..briefly." Mogul smirked evilly with a knowledge that Sonic
couldn't pick out. "I had fun elsewhere. Thwarted, yes, but I didn't leave
here without options. Snively had found these remains while scouting the
deserts that my Fearsome Foursome had been hiding in. And when my spirit
approached him…..Well, let us simply say that the tete a tete we held yielded
many ideas."
"And where does Mina fit into your sick ideas, you scumbag?!" This time, Sonic
could no longer hold the rage in. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?!"
"My, my!!!!" Mogul chuckled again. "Ah, yes. Here is where our
differences lie. Your temper gets the best of you. This gives me invincible
advantage." The fingers pointed at Sonic. "I could just kill you and
save me the trouble of your flea-bitten ways….but no. It would be too easy to
do that. I have already won the day with a mild taste of what I can do to all
of you."
Suddenly, there came a beep. The robotic body began to glow blue again.
"…Ah, my time is almost up. I will have to recharge." Mogul gave a mock
sigh as his rocket-propelled feet lifted him into the sky, his eyes blazing. "
In the meantime, Snively and I have both decided to give you a chance to learn
what has become of your mongoose friend…..if you decide to take it. Return to
this spot in one hour exactly – alone – and all your questions may be answered.
Maybe."
With that, he gave an evil laugh as he blasted off into the distance, leaving
the Freedom Fighters alone in their defeat. As Mogul left, also, two eyes
glimmered in the bushes, disappearing in a puff of clouds.
---------------
"….Perfect….."
Snively rubbed his hands together with glee as he watched Sonic, slumped over,
pick up the bleeding Amy on his monitor. Snively was nearly ecstatic as he
observed Sonic pushing past Rotor, and walking past Sally and Snaggle, saying
absolutely nothing to them as he walked off into the bushes towards Knothole.
"Phase One is complete." Snively sat down in a chair, kicking his shoes off as
he did. "And very soon…….checkmate…."
He looked up at the tube which held the unconscious Mina, then looked back down
at the screen. He began to laugh harder than he ever had before.
"This…..will be PERFECT!!!!!"
