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-"

*BOOOOOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOBOOOOOOM*



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!!!!"

*WHAAAAAAAM*



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!!!!!"