"Going on up," said Sonic.
"Right." She put a foot onto his hands. "Okay, Sonic. One, two, three!"
Sonic wasn't the strongest
animal on Mobius, but he could handle this. He helped boost Sally up into the
vent.
He watched as she clambered up—watched until the dust fell onto him.
He heard Sally hacking and coughing. "Robotnik needs to clean these more often!" she said. "Really unsanitary!"
"Yeah," said Sonic, trying to wipe his eyes clean, "I'm sure he wants his bots all squeaky clean."
"Alright, I'm ready," she said. She'd turned around and was extending a paw to help Sonic into the vent himself.
"One, two, three, four!"
He came very close to hauling Sally out of the vent, but she caught herself and helped him up. "There are so many things I should do to you right now," she said.
"Like what?"
Sally was going to say something, but couldn't manage it. "Like… li… choo!"
She sneezed all over Sonic at close range.
"Uh, Sal, dis-gus-ting! How royal!"
"Call it payback," she said. "Besides, I couldn't help it."
"You could've turned your head!"
"Oh, yeah. Oh well." She turned and started crawling through the vent. It was very small, barely enough for an animal, so she had to go on forearms and thighs.
Sonic smiled as he followed. He was going to get in big trouble for this one. Oh, well, what could she do? "Nice view," he said with an audible smirk.
Her head whipped around to stare at him. He just kept on smirking.
She planted a boot in his face. "Ow!"
"'Nice view', you have some nerve, Sonic Hedgehog!"
"Isn't it a compliment?"
She started shifting. Sonic realized too late what she was doing. "Hold on, Sal, I'm not sure…"
"Oh, I'm very sure." She pushed Sonic's head down right into the dust of the vent and started moving over him.
In light of what he'd said, one would think that Sonic might've enjoyed that, but he found nothing sensual in getting pressed into the metal of the vent. The close proximity to Sally did nothing for him.
As she got off of him, he heard her say, "Okay, Sonic, YOU get to lead!"
"This is not cool," he said.
"Oh, I agree. The view from here is terrible."
Sonic sighed. It was going to be a long crawl.
It WAS a long crawl.
Having to stare at Sonic's butt the whole time hadn't been quite as bad as Sally'd imagined, but it still wasn't pleasant. And she'd sneezed about a dozen times over the course of the journey.
Now, though, the payoff was at hand.
"There," she said. "That vent ahead.
"Just how far down do we gotta go?"
"It's about fifteen meters."
"Not cool. How're we gonna manage that?"
"I brought rope," said Sally. She stopped moving forward and brought her backpack around to her front. "We just open the vent, put a piton in the duct, drop the rope, and slide down."
"Oh yeah? Isn't everyone and their mother gonna hear us put the piton in?"
"A problem, yes, but it shouldn't be too much."
"And if they see the rope?"
"We won't spend that much time exposed. We'll gamble."
"Sal, you are scarin' this hedgehog."
"How so?"
"Every part of this plan is based on bets!"
"Not a gambling person, Sonic?"
"It just doesn't make sense, comin' from you. I mean, whatever happened to "We have to keep the Freedom Fighters together"? Whatever happened to "safety first"?"
"A game of Markers."
"Huh?"
"We've got to take some chances, Sonic, or we'll never make any headway. This is a big risk, yes, but it's got an enormous payoff. Okay, ready?"
"I guess so. Let's do it to it, Sal."
Glad to hear it, Sonic. I was beginning to think you weren't going to help out. And I need your confidence to bolster my own.
Seconds later, she dropped the rope. Sonic was already holding part of it. As the rope went down, so did he. Sally slipped on a pair of gloves she'd stolen from Sonic one time and followed him immediately.
Ow! The rope burned her thighs. She was sliding down as quickly as possible, and it was tearing her legs apart. Her paws were doing slightly better, by virtue of the gloves.
"Hey, I got a cool view again!" said Sonic from beneath her.
Sally all but let go of the rope and came close to her goal of smashing into Sonic. In no time, both were on the ground.
"Hold on, Sal!" he said. She grabbed his shoulders and he took off, dodging Swatbots and trying to get to their destination: the freighter.
Robotnik waited impatiently for Snively to explain what was going on. "What is it?" he said.
"Sir, it's hard to tell, the traffic is very confused… there's something about a freighter diverting from its course."
"What freighter?"
"One of the ones just in. It had just finished unloading its cargo of supplies and was en route to unload some oil at the refineries. But for some reason, sir, it's not going to the refineries."
"'Some reason'? Idiot! There's only one reason! Get me over there, along with three squads of Swatbots! NOW!"
Robotnik's heartbeat skyrocketed. His mind raced with all the destructive things the Freedom Fighter could do with an entire freighter.
"Identify that freighter! Stand by to target it as a hostile!"
"Yes, sir."
"Where is it headed, sir?"
"It's hard to tell, sir. Along these lines," he said, pointing to the map display.
Robotnik tried to see what vital things might be along that line—and his pacemaker froze. "Snively! I want all Swatbots to inspect the area around factory 34!"
"Yes, sir."
Robotnik banged his fists against the seat, panicked. Oh no, oh no, oh no! He had to have news, any news—the anticipation, the fear, it was the worst!
"Sir! The freighter is definitely headed for factory 34! And someone put a hole in the roof of that factory!"
"A hole?" What was the freighter carrying? Robotnik tried to remember.
Oh NO!
"Shut down the factory! Shut it down! Cut all power to that factory!"
"We can't
be that specific, sir, we have to cut power to the entire sector!"
"Do it!"
"Yes, sir, but why?"
"All electricity must be off! Tell all Swatbots to shut down! Disarm all their weapons! We have to get all of that out now!"
"Working, sir," said Snively. Robotnik could tell he was bewildered, but he was too caught up in panic to mind much.
Robotnik took control of the piloting and moved directly for the factory at high speed. His worst fears were confirmed. There was the freighter, hovering over the factory.
And it was dumping thousands of barrels of oil into the factory.
"Now dumping the last twenty percent," said Nicole. Nicole was interfaced with the freighter's computer and monitoring all operations.
"Good," said Sally. "This is the kind of disaster Robotnik inflicts all the time. We're finally giving him a little taste of it."
"Yeah we are," said Sonic, "but check it out. Every hovercrate in Robotropolis is right on top of us."
"Don't worry," said Sally. "They won't shoot at us until we're away from the factory. They can't afford to risk setting off all that oil.
"Oh, great! So I only have to worry after that!"
"Yes," said Sally, "This always was a weakness in the plan."
"What?"
"Well, it wouldn't be like Robotnik to not notice us doing this. So I always knew we'd end up surrounded by pretty much everything."
"So the plan is…?"
Sally hesitated for a moment. "Give me a minute."
There was silence, except for the workings of the freighter.
"WHAT?"
Temptation manifested right in front of Robotnik's eyes.
There were the pathetic princess and the horrid hedgehog, just standing there on the bridge of the freighter, practically begging to be shot!
Yet Robotnik couldn't act. The oil unloaded by the freighter meant that the factory would be crisped instantly if ignited, and that would spark a fire Robotnik would have little ability to stop.
Then again… wouldn't it be worth it?
Robotnik's hands shook with violence. Yes… how much would he be willing to pay to decapitate the Freedom Fighters? What was the hedgehog's life worth? Oh, it would be sweet to see that blue body incinerated!
But if it destroyed a large part of Robotropolis, Robotnik would lose his manufacturing base. He would be unable to support his peripheral operations. Most of his ability to control the planet would vanish, and his empire would crumble.
Would it be worth it?
Robotnik struggled to keep his hand from jamming down the firing controls on the panel.
Just to see the hedgehog flail back, a hole in his chest?
Just to see that princess' head cooked?
Just to see them die, before his eyes?
Was it worth it?
"Sssss-nively!"
"Yes, sir?"
"Get me out of sight of that
hedgehog! Keep us close enough to give the Swatbots orders, but don't let me
see them!"
"Yes, sir," said Snively.
Slowly, ever so slowly, Robotnik began to cool off.
How could I let myself go so far? He wondered about it. If I'd slipped so badly in the past, I would never have gotten this far. I must keep control of myself! That hedgehog will not have this much power over me!
With that thought of fury and defiance, he got his brain working again.
Sonic and Sally looked back at each other, then back towards the control panel, then back at each other.
"We did what we came to do," Sally said, "but now we're completely surrounded. Hover units are everywhere!"
"Sal, we're not done yet! I ain't done kickin' Robuttnik's tail. You've gotta get us out of this!"
"I'm working on it, Sonic," she said. She looked over the schematics. "I may have a plan," she said. "Are there Swatbots beneath us?"
"I don't know," he said.
"Nicole?"
"Accessing freighter cameras. Negative."
"Good. Here's what we do. We tell Nicole to put in a program to hold the hover freighter at two meters above the ground. We get out the way the oil came out."
"Which way's that?"
"Via these chutes in the bottom of the unit. We'll have to move fast; if Robotnik figures out what we're doing, he'll have some hover units at ground level. But if we move quickly, we'll get out of the freighter and use it to shield us. Then you pull out your Power Ring and we go home."
"Since I've got nothin' better, it sounds like a plan."
"Not exactly buying into it with enthusiasm, are we, Sonic?"
"I've bought into better."
Nicole beeped. "Warning. Hover units are attempting to dock with the freighter."
"Last thing we need now is to tangle with Swatbots," said Sonic.
"Agreed. Nicole, is the program ready?"
"Affirmative. How much time to set?"
Sally checked the schematic. "Fifteen seconds."
"Timer set."
"Begin!"
She leapt into Sonic's arms, yanking Nicole out as she did. "Fifteen seconds to what?"
"To emergency descent. Move it!"
He did. They arrived at the fuel tanks with ten seconds to spare. Nicole opened the doors before them and they went straight into the tanks, which still had some residual oil on the floors.
They slid some, which was bad—they needed every second.
"Nicole, open the top part of the transfer tubes!"
The system of transfer tubes in the freighter—the tubes that were used to dispense oil—had two locks. One was on the inside of the storage tanks, the other on the outside. This created a small area in which the Freedom Fighters could hide.
"I can't breathe!" said Sonic.
"Too much oil fumes," said Sally. "Come on! There!"
Both could see a gap in the floor. They dashed towards it and stumbled. They landed one on top of the other in the gap. "Nicole, close outer door!"
"Why?" said Sonic.
The door closed, but even as it did, the ship gave a sudden lurch.
"Emergency descent…" Sally began, but both Freedom Fighters were soon pressed against the top of the tube. Oil splattered into their fur, pressed against their bodies by velocity.
"Disengages… the… engines!"
"Smooth… move… Sal!"
Well, now Sonic knew why she'd hurried them so much. If they'd been outside the tube when this had happened, they would've slammed against the ceiling of the much-bigger tank room.
His thoughts were crushed out of him a moment later.
With a second lurch, the freighter's descent slowed dramatically. Both animals slammed against the bottom of the tube.
They didn't have time to cry out in pain. The breath was smashed out of their bodies.
"Not now," Sally mouthed. Had Sonic been knocked unconscious? He wasn't moving!
"Sonic," she tried to say, but could get no air into her lungs.
Agonizingly, she reached for him. She unsnapped the backpack, though it took all of her effort. Centimeter by painful centimeter, she removed the Ring from his backpack.
It began to glow the second it touched his skin.
"Come on, hedgehog!" she said, this time audibly.
The Ring slid over his shoulder, now down his upper arm, forearm, finally to his paw.
"Wake up!"
The Ring flashed, and Sonic gasped.
His fingers curled around the Ring. Sally smiled. She'd succeeded.
"Nicole?" she gasped.
Without another word, the computer opened the lower hatch door, spilling the Freedom Fighters the last two meters to the ground.
Once more, they were in pain and out of breath; but Sonic had his Ring, now, and he would not be denied.
With effort, he got to his feet and picked up the now-spent Sally. But it was with no effort that he lifted the Ring high.
The familiar energy raced through every cell in his body. Yes!
"I am the hedgehog!" Sonic shouted. With that, he blasted off.
Swatbots were incapable of anticipating, and Robotnik was just far enough away to not know immediately what was happening. These twin facts saved Sonic and Sally.
The Swatbots couldn't know that Sonic was on the ground, and they couldn't expect what he would do. So they had no chance of catching him for the first few moments after he emerged from the freighter.
A few seconds was all he needed.
"Yaaaaaaah!"
In those few seconds, he blew through the gauntlet. He passed the Swatbot corridor around the area. However, Robotnik had set up one final cordon of bots around the fringes of the area.
Sonic saw them all too late. It was far too late, and he was moving far too quickly, to dodge effectively. Three Swatbots faced him down, blasters raised.
Then a ball of tawny and orange was amongst them.
Sonic thought he might cry.
Tails took down the Swatbots, one by one, with precision and strength.
Sonic slid to a stop. He was still holding Sally, who was now alert again, even if she still was struggling to breathe.
"C'mon, you two. Ant, grab my shoulders. Tails, grab Ant. We're gettin' outta here!"
"Sonic! Swatbots right!"
It was a hoarse voice, but it was clear, and Sally's pointing finger left no doubt.
Sonic issued a thought even before he turned to face the bots. The Power Ring began to dissolve in his hand. He had no time to spend on them! With a war cry he hurled the Ring into the lead Swatbot.
Even as the Ring lost its coherency and became energy, it traveled the distance to the Swatbots. It struck like a cross between a cannon shell and a lightning bolt.
But Sonic was no longer looking. The Ring had bought him all the time he needed. He was gone, long gone, before the next group of Swatbots arrived.
When the Freedom Fighters arrived back at Knothole, they were totally wiped out. Exhausted. Tails and Antoine all but fell off of Dulcy. Sonic had slowed almost to a walk as he crossed the bridge into Knothole.
But when the four of them entered the village and saw all the animals waiting for them, desperate to hear news about the raid, they couldn't help but cheer.
And the cry of gratitude and exultance leapt from animal to animal, from the four successful Freedom Fighters to the crowd that waited for them.
The citizens of Knothole welcomed home the Freedom Fighters. They brought them to the fireplace and waited for them to tell the stories. But something unusual happened. Instead of being hyped up by telling the stories, the Freedom Fighters nodded off.
Tails was first. As Sally tried to tell about what they'd targeted, Tails laid himself down and fell asleep, slowly curling up into a ball, using his tails for blankets.
Sonic and Sally were next, almost simultaneous. Sally had ended up handing the story over to Antoine. Sonic and Sally had leaned their heads into each other for support, but this simply made them fall asleep. They fell, as one, backwards to the ground, where they slept within millimeters of each other.
Antoine was last. As he tried to recount some part of the story, he found himself unable to find the right word. Some seconds before then, he'd actually stopped speaking in Mobian Standard. Over five seconds, his head dropped to his chest and his eyes closed, but he kept on talking until finally falling onto his face.
The Knothole citizens were stunned, unsure of what to do. There was some nervous laughter, but an uneasy murmur.
"Alright, y'all, time to go to bed!" There were protests, but Bunnie drove everyone off to bed. And before she and Rotor returned to the workshop, they got blankets for every one of the Freedom Fighters.
Even those covered in oil.
TO BE CONTINUED…