CHAPTER II
The next day came and Nicky was still a little sour, but he wanted to be in a good mood for his friend's sake. His father took him for a drive in the morning to pick up Mina, who was happy to see him.
"So what's my surprise?" Mina kept asking as they drove off. Compared to what she had already gotten, she couldn't begin to guess at what the intended surprise was going to be.
"You'll see." Nicky answered, trying not to smile too much.
In no time Jules pulled up to the small strip of land near the coast of South Island. Nicky's father worked at the island's only airport, though it was more like a rest stop and refueling center for small planes passing by on oceanic flights. He parked and led the kids to a hangar then opened it, revealing a blue biplane inside.
"Kids, this is my baby, a little fellow I like to call the Tornado." Jules introduced.
Mina gasped. "No way! Are we going to fly?"
Nicky nodded. "Happy birthday." This resulted in a hug.
"You two will have to share a seat, do you mind?" Jules asked. The two blushed but didn't refuse. Nicky and Mina got into the back seat, squishing together as best they could, while the adult hedgehog got into the pilot's seat. Once ready, he drove it into the open and then managed to get it to take flight.
"THIS IS AWESOME!" Mina cheered, both hands in the air.
Jules started with a simple trip around the entire island.
"Hey Dad! I think that's where I found the emerald and the robots!" Nicky called out, pointing when they were passing the mountain.
"Did you tell him about the robots?" Mina asked, speaking up over the wind.
"There are no robots!" Jules countered. "You probably saw drones or something son!"
"I know what I saw Dad!" Nicky protested.
"Hey, do you see that?!" Mina asked.
"What?!" Nicky asked, not hearing that clearly.
Mina tapped on his shoulder and pointed out to see. Nicky looked and his eyes widened. He saw several aircraft in the distance coming their way, it was hard to say exactly what they were but they didn't look like the usual planes that came to the island. There were also two ships in the water coming towards them too, and they looked like battleships.
Nicky tapped his father's shoulder. "Dad, what's that?!"
Jules looked that way as well and got concerned, immediately turning the plane around. "We've got to get back kids! I don't like the looks of that!"
"Are we being attacked?" Mina asked, sounding scared. "Who would attack South Island?"
No one heard her so no one answered.
Jules made the plane go faster, he really didn't get a good impression from what was approaching. What was worse was that South Island had no prepared armada or defense against invasion. There was never a need for one. Which meant if things got bad, the only options left were taking shelter or evacuation.
Jules knew either way, he wanted to get his family ready for the option they were going with.
"Something's coming!" Mina shouted, seeing something new in the air heading their way. Something fast.
"MISSILES!" Nicky screamed, nearly jumping out of his seat if it weren't for the seatbelt.
Jules decided to forgo landing back at the airport and make an emergency landing at the first sight of open land he could get to. He swerved in the air, a hard turn that the two kids didn't like, but it was better than being blown up.
Mina kept her eyes on the approaching missile, seeing it break apart and become three things. Now they didn't look like missiles, more like some kind of flying creatures. "Wait! Those look like… bees?!"
Nicky turned and saw the bees. Unusually large bees that reflected the sunlight in a familiar way. "No, they're robots too! More robots are coming!"
"Enough with the-!" Jules shouted, but he was cut off when the bee machines fired an attack from their stingers that hit and damaged the wings of the biplane. The plane jerked in the air and began to lose altitude at a dangerous rate. "HANG ON TO SOMETHING!"
Mina screamed and clutched onto Nicky who held her protectively. Jules leveled the plane as best he could, but more attacks made it clear that his plane was going down whether he wanted to or not. Up ahead was a forest and crashing there was not a good idea, but a glimmer of reflected light showed him a possibility. It wasn't the best, but it was better than the alternative.
"HANG TIGHT!" He warned, and through luck he managed to keep flying above the trees until he came near the lake. Once over the water he killed the speed as best he could and guided the plane to skid across the surface to reduce impact. There was a large splash that soaked them all and the Tornado went across the water like a large skipping stone until it came to a stop just by the shore, resulting in it being half-submerged but salvageable.
When Nicky and Mina felt the plane come to a stop they opened their eyes. Right away they unbuckled themselves and vacated the plane. Nicky jumped to avoid the water entirely while Mina and Jules both jumped into it and waded to shore.
"Well look who came back."
Nicky, Mina, and Jules turned to see the three robots that the young hedgehog had encountered yesterday. Patched up and looking annoyed.
"It's them." Mina gulped.
"I told you Dad." Nicky muttered.
"Give back the chaos emerald!" The tank robot demanded, his arms turning into turret guns.
"I don't have it on me!" Nicky yelled back.
"Then we don't need to let you live." The tank remarked before opening fire.
In the next second it seemed like a sure thing that they all were going to die. Sure hedgehogs were fast, and even mongoose mobians were up there in terms of high speed, but none of them could outrun a bullet. Their best chance was to move fast enough to avoid getting shot in a vital spot, so Jules and Mina tried that.
Nicky on the other hand had other ideas. Using his top speed, he pushed his father and best friend out of the way much faster than they could have gotten on their own. Then he ran around the lake towards the robots and did a spinning jump at the tank, breaking his left arm off at the socket. In the process the tank slowly did a swing at him, propelled by the impact, and the right arm did a swipe at him. The drill scratched the side of his head, hitting the arms of his glasses and knocking them off.
Nicky was forced to come to a stop, kneeling and panting and not even thinking about his glasses. 'I've never gone that fast before. Nice to know I can, but I can't keep that up for long.'
"It's that kid!" The chicken robot yelled out.
"I've got him!" The monkey robot shouted, lunging at Nicky.
"No I've got him!" The tank robot countered, going in as well despite having only one arm.
"He's mine!" The chicken robot declared, joining in on the attack.
All three swarmed Nicky, making him curl and spin, kicking up the dirt under him to create a smokescreen. A set of hands grabbed him and was yanked by the inertia, then Nicky propelled himself ahead from whichever robot grabbed him. There was a sharp sting in the process, but he had to ignore it.
What Nicky forgot was to direct himself away from the lake, and so he propelled himself right into the water. The shock shook him out of the escape and he flailed, trying to avoid sinking.
Behind him, the smoke cleared and the chicken and tank robots could be seen holding the head and tail of the monkey robot like they were trying to pull him apart.
"I thought you had him." The tank robot said to the chicken robot.
"I thought you had him." The chicken robot said back.
"Let go of me!" The monkey demanded.
Jules jumped into the water and swam to his son, grabbing hold of them and keeping him afloat. "I've got you son. We'll be alright."
He swam back to shore where Mina helped them both out of the water. Nicky coughed and heaved once safe, with Mina giving him a hug to make them both feel better.
"We've got to get out of here!" Jules insisted, grabbing the two and putting them on his back before running. Fortunately as a hedgehog he was pretty fast, though this was a time he wished that he had been the one to have his son's speed.
The trip back to town remained silent after that, though thankfully it did not take long. However, by the time the three made it back the town was under attack. Jules came to a stop and looked on in horror at the sight, with the two kids getting off his back and doing the same.
Up in the sky there was what looked like a mechanical blimp hovering above. Things dropped from it, upon landing they looked like steel pods with yellow platforms on top and a glass window on the side. These pods burst open and ejected multiple robots that went on the offense. Giant mechanical bees that had guns for stingers, metal ladybugs that moved on a single wheel, android caterpillars and crabs that damaged whatever they could make contact with, and floating iron orbs that threw smaller spiked orbs at running civilians.
In short, they were being invaded.
Jules snapped out of it and looked to his son. "Nicky, get your friend to safety. I'm going to check on our family."
Nicky nodded and Jules darted off. He made it a point to avoid all the robots, even if more than one tried to have a go at him.
Nicky grabbed Mina's hand and urged her to come with him, which she nodded to. They both took off, going fast but Nicky controlled his speed to match her own. They immediately heard something come after them, and turned to see those one-wheeled ladybugs pursuing them with sharp claws. Fortunately, they were faster than the bug bots.
The ground burst from under them before they could react, knocking both Nicky and Mina into the air in a painful way. They landed away from each other, groaning but able to see what had attacked them. It was two drill robots that looked similar to the tank robot from earlier, except these were yellow and had hard hats fused to their heads. Once on the ground, the two approached the young mobians, drills spinning ready to do more damage.
Nicky let them get close enough for him to kick them away. It worked, but there was a yelp to his side. He turned and got up, seeing one of the ladybug robots having Mina ensnared with some kind of single claw set of grappling hooks. Another one came close and shot out its own set of claws at him, catching him as well. Nicky spun and rolled like a hedgehog, ruining its grip and freeing himself, then he jumped and stomped on the one holding Mina. The robot took heavy damage and the snare went lax, allowing her to free herself.
Behind Nicky the other ladybug robot along with the two drill robots got composed and ready to retaliate. With them a single crab robot joined up, snapping its claws.
Nicky took up a defensive stance between the machines and Mina, who trembled in fear behind him. "Take your best shot! I'll take you all down!"
"ATTENTION EVERYONE!" A male voice boomed over a loudspeaker, heard from above. Nicky and Mina glanced up, uncertain but suspecting that it was coming from the metal blimp. "THIS IS THE KINGDOM OF ACORN! SURRENDER AND YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED! WE WISH FOR NO LOSS OF LIFE ON YOUR PART! RESIST, AND HARM WILL COME! PLEASE SURRENDER, AND RETURN TO ME THE CHAOS EMERALD YOU STOLE!"
Nicky blinked. 'The chaos emerald? The one I got from those other robots? Is it really that important?'
"The Kingdom of Acorn?" Mina repeated, confused. "Are they declaring war on us? Why would they do that?"
"I don't know, but I think we have something they want." Nicky whispered. "Mina, trust me."
"What do-?" She started, only to be scooped up and put on the hedgehog's back in an instant. His quills poked at her and made her uncomfortable, but he took off and so she had to hold tighter despite the pain. The robots gave chase but Nicky was much faster.
Nicky swiftly came to his house and saw the building was being covered by those metal caterpillars who were tearing down the walls like cartoon termites. All the houses in the neighborhood were in some kind of distress, but that wasn't the worst part. Patrolling the streets were black humanoid robots with domed heads, and many were carrying weapons. Those that weren't, were carrying trapped citizens who were trying to escape. Nicky gasped seeing several of these soldier robots taking away his family, Amy and her family, and even Muttski.
"Let go of us!" Jules protested, restrained by one of the soldier robots. Nicky and Mina hid behind a fence to avoid being spotted.
"Mina, I think these robots still want the big chaos emerald I gave you. Can you go get it before they do while I get my family?" Nicky whispered.
The mongoose gulped. "I don't know if I can."
"Whoever sent these robots, we can't let them have what they came here for." The blue hedgehog insisted. "If you don't want to, that's fine, just stay safe and I'll get back to you."
Before she could respond he took off. He came up from behind the soldier robots and picked one at random, not seeing who they were holding hostage. As before, he jumped and spun in the air, hitting the soldier robot in the back.
The soldier robot didn't break or take visible damage, but it did stumble and fall, releasing its captive. From the front side Nicky could see a small yellow hedgehog get free.
"Tania!" He called out, reaching for her.
"Nicky!" She called back, taking her brother's hand. The armed robots got ready to fire at them but the two dashed away, not stopping until he got his sister back behind the fence he had left Mina at. When he got there though, he saw she wasn't there anymore.
"Tania, stay here and don't move unless something finds you. Do you understand?" Nicky told her, and she nodded. "I'll get everyone else safe too. Be brave."
The yellow hedgehog nodded and Nicky went back to the streets. He had to attack from a different angle, especially now that they were ready for him. The robots positioned themselves to avoid being blindsided, and he could trust himself to be fast enough to get to them before they could react. That took too much out of him to do anything else worth doing. And he wasn't a trained fighter, he couldn't keep relying on speed and luck here.
'I need a miracle.' He thought, hiding behind a tree.
"Nicky, if you can hear me, don't be a hero!" Bernadette yelled out while the androids proceeded on their march out of the suburbs. "Just take your sister and get out of here! Don't worry about us! We'll be alright, I promise!"
The robot restraining her hit her in the head, knocking her out. Sonia and Manny cried out in worry and were quickly gagged by their own captors.
Nicky closed his eyes, debating with himself on what to do next. He wanted to save his family and his neighbors, but he knew he couldn't do anything that he hadn't already done. The same tricks wouldn't work forever, they would learn and counter. And his legs and feet were starting to hurt from all the running.
Unable to think of anything, he silently sighed and ran back to the fence, seeing his sister still there. "We have to go."
"But Mom and Dad-" Tania started.
"We'll help them later. Right now we have to find somewhere to hide." Nicky insisted, rubbing his legs. "And soon, my legs are starting to hurt."
With no other option, the two kids ran off and away from the suburban neighborhood. Tania was being carried on her brother's back since she was too young to keep up on her own. They cut through a park that was empty but showed signs of being attacked earlier, and went into another neighborhood. Several houses here were on fire or already demolished, with more of the black soldier bots shooting at fleeing citizens. Now that they had a clearer view, the kids could see that these robots weren't firing bullets but some kind of energy that stunned the victim and rendered them unconscious. Like some kind of futuristic stun gun. Once on the ground and unable to do more than twitch, other soldier robots grabbed them and carried them off.
'It looks like the stun effect does last long.' Nicky noted, seeing a downed mobian soon enough begin to fight back. 'But it lasts long enough for them to be captured, so best to avoid it.'
"Why is no one fighting back?" Tania asked, horrified by the destruction to her hometown.
"I don't think most people can." Nicky suggested, looking for the road to Mina's house. The sight of smoke rising in the distance, from multiple sources no less, did nothing to soothe him.
The young hedgehogs headed towards the residence of Nicky's friend, avoiding the robots along the way. They got there, seeing two adult mongoose mobians fighting off a set of soldier robots. Mina's father Arthur, was using a weedwhacker to fend them off while Mina's mother Isabella was using a mop. Both looked a little haggard and breathing hard, but they were putting up a fight. The robots were using their stun guns against them but the two were deflecting them with their tools while trying to hit them as well.
The blue hedgehog went around to the back, putting his sister down when in the yard. He came in through the back door seeing bat robots fly around like they were looking for something and ignoring him, with those caterpillar robots breaking everything the bats weren't interested in. Despite being slow, those caterpillars were surprisingly strong.
"I'm scared." Tania said, grabbing her brother's arm for security.
There was a yell from upstairs, prompting him to go that way. As expected, Mina was in her room holding the chaos emerald close to her while trying to fend off more of the bat robots. These ones were equipped with small torches and were aiming them at her, cornering her so she could not escape.
Nicky jumped and did a sweep kick in the air, knocking the bats away. His shoe caught fire, and since the bats landed on his bed it quickly caught fire too. Rather than think about that he grabbed Mina and got her out of his room. She took off on her own and went downstairs, Nicky separated from her for a moment to put out his shoe and grab Tania before joining her. All three reunited outside as the fire upstairs started to spread, the bat robots deciding to burn the whole place down.
"MOM! DAD!" Mina called out, rushing ahead of the hedgehogs to get to her parents faster.
Hearing their daughter made them look away, giving the robots a perfect shot. Arthur yelled as the energy hit him and he went limp against his limp, collapsing on his lawn. Isabella panicked and returned her attention to her husband, but the robots shot her too. She too yelled and fell down on the grass.
Tears escaping her eyes, Mina sped up and in an attempt to copy her friend she jumped and kicked at the soldier bots. She missed and rolled on the pavement, aching from the impact. The robot she attacked turned and fired at her. Mina screamed and held up her arms to defend herself, forgetting that she was still holding onto the chaos emerald in the process.
The energy projectile hit the green gemstone instead of the young girl, and it absorbed the energy like a sponge. Then it began to vibrate, until she couldn't hold onto it anymore and dropped it. When it hit the ground there was a small explosion and the soldier robots seemed to short circuit and collapse like their victims. But the mobians instead felt recharged, healed in fact. Mina's parents could move again and Nicky's legs felt as good as new.
"Whoa, what was that?" Tania asked as she and her brother came up to Mina. Nicky immediately checked on her while Tania took a moment to check on the adults.
"What is this thing?" Mina asked, carefully picking up the emerald again, which was no longer vibrating.
"I don't know, but I think that may be part of why they want it so much." Nicky mused.
"Mina?" Isabella said, regaining her daughter's attention. The mongoose family recollected and hugged each other, grateful to be together again.
The blast drew the attention of other robots that quickly came their way, surrounding them. They couldn't see a way out. Tania grabbed ahold of Nicky who protected her while Mina's parents did the same with their child.
From above, a cluster of small golden orbs dropped around them, but these didn't come from the robots. Even they looked puzzled by this sudden event. Then the orbs flashed and there was a loud bang sound, followed by all the robots spasming and breaking down again.
"What was that?" Arthur asked.
"Come on!" An unknown voice yelled, and from the rooftops dropped two people. One was a purple walrus mobian wearing yellow goggles with yellow gloves and a green utility belt worn like a sash. The other was a brown coyote mobian wearing a blue military uniform and carrying two swords, sheaths strapped to his waist. Both looked like teenagers who were ready to fight, though the walrus reclaimed the golden orbs from before and put them in his belt.
"Everyone, follow us, we can get you to safety." The coyote told the scared citizens when he saw the robots were downed. He talked with a French accent.
"Who are you?"
"I am Antione D'Coolette, bodyguard to Princess Sally, and this is my comrade in arms Rotor Boomer. All of your answers will be explained if you come with us."
"Please do, we can't stand around here chatting." Rotor pleaded, gesturing for them to follow.
"Should we?" Isabella asked.
"What could they do that would be worse than the robots?" Arthur asked.
"Mon dieu! Is that what I think it is?" Antione asked, pointing at Mina.
"You mean this?" She asked, holding out the emerald. "What is it?"
"That is part of how we win the war that just started here and now, kid." Rotor replied. "Please come with us, the fate of the world depends on you."
"More are coming monsieur Rotor." Antione warned, seeing more robots coming their way.
The hedgehogs and mongoose mobians decided to run with Rotor and Antione leading the way.
"Sir we've made good progress on the invasion." A small wormy bald man with a big nose wearing a green jumpsuit said from in front of a monitor.
"Define good, Snively." A gravelly but threatening voice commanded.
"The badniks have fully swarmed the inhabited portion of South Island and are rounding up the mobian locals. There are few casualties so that means we will have many subjects to use. And the seekers have confirmed the presence of chaos energy in the amount we were looking for."
"Hmm… that is good, but I sense there is a problem here Snively."
Snively gulped. "Sir, the sensors show signs of damage and being unable to keep track of the energy. It seems that someone is in possession of the chaos emerald and keeping it away from the badniks. But surely they cannot do that for long."
"No, they can't."
From behind the shadows emerged a man, a rotund bald man that looked rather menacing. He had a large red mustache, sharp red eyes, and it seemed his left arm was mechanical or just covered with a full arm gauntlet. He wore a red and black jumpsuit with large red shoulder pads, black gloves on both hands, and a yellow cape.
"But the sensors showed that the emerald was in the town, didn't they?" The fat man asked.
Snively nodded. "Yes, Dr. Robotnik, they did."
"Round up all the captives but delay the 'process' for now. I recall those bolt brains I sent earlier reporting that a hedgehog child took the emerald. I'd like to find this child first, make an example out of him."
"Yes sir, but what if he's not among the captives?" Snively asked.
Robotnik smirked and put his fingers together. "Then we'll have to 'motivate' the child into coming out of hiding, now won't we?"