What If.....Sonic and Metal Sonic Switched Places?
A Fanfiction by Stoney
Author's Note: Howdy-doodley-doo! Chapter three has (finally) arrived, and there was much rejoicing.....
Audience: (Dully) Yay.
Stoney: I can tell that you guys are all bloody impatient to get on with the story, so let's st--hey! Sonic, what are you doing?! Stop it! Let go of me! Ow, that hurts! Knock it off!
Sonic: (in a deep, echoing, out-of-character voice) Silence, fool! You must PAY for not updating for so long! I hereby banish you to ETERNAL PAIN AND TORMENT!!
(Sonic drags Stoney over to a blood-red door and opens it to reveal darkness beyond)
Stoney: OH, NO! Not in THERE! Don't throw me in there, please! No! NO! NOOOOOO!!! (gets thrown inside)
Knuckles: Yikes, Sonic. What's in that room, anyway?
Sonic: (slams the door shut and starts talking in his normal voice) I threw him into the Torture Room of Internet Pop-Up Windows.
Knuckles: (gasps) No way! That's just cruel, man!
(muffled screams of terror can be heard coming from the other side of the door, along with the sounds of someone beating their fists on it frantically)
Stoney: (muffled) LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! I'M SORRY ALREADY, JUST PLEASE LET ME OUT! AAAAAHHHHH!!
Sonic: Yeah, but he deserved it. C'mon Knux, let's get on with the story.
Knuckles: Well, okay.....(walks off with Sonic)
Chapter III
Rescue
Amy watched with wide eyes as she saw Metal Sonic march her hero and the paralyzed Tails away through the trees. She'd followed Tails and Sonic in their race, intent on not being left behind again, and had arrived just as the trio started to leave.
Amy recalled one time that she asked around Knothole about Metal Sonic. She had been intrigued by the mysterious robot copy of her favorite hedgehog, and wanted to know more about him. The answers she received weren't pleasant. Sonic himself had given the most detailed description, using longer words than he normally did;
"He's hatred in its purest form, evil incarnate. He'll think nothin' of ripping your throat out if you're even slightly annoying to him. He's an unpredictable, uncontrollable killer, Amy. One minute he might be coldly cordial to ya, and the next he'll be rending you limb from limb. Never, ever trust him. He'll stab you in the back without a thought."
Panic set in. Amy's thoughts sped up frantically. What should she do? What COULD she do?? Sonic was in trouble! She had to help him! Dismally she thought of her only weapon, the Piko-Piko Hammer she'd stolen from Robotnik's Final Egg carrier. Against Mecha, the colossal weapon probably wouldn't do anything more than chip his paint.
She wringed her hands in worry, terrified of what might happen to her beloved Blue Blur. Hysteria was quickly taking over her thoughts as she stood rooted to the spot, torn with indecision. She couldn't just leave Sonic and Tails at the mercy of the robot, but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to help them by herself. "I've got to go get the other Freedom Fighters!" She finally decided, before running back the way she had come.
She only hoped she was making the right choice.....
----------
Knuckles tromped through the Great Forest, A scowl marring his features. After leaving Rouge at the lake, his mood had taken a distinct turn for the worse. Espio followed him at a resonable distance, knowing better than to get in Knuckles' way when he was like this.
Espio wondered where they were going. Knuckles seemed to know, as indicated by his sure footsteps. But so far the echidna hadn't mentioned what their destination was.
Summoning up all his courage, Espio decided to venture a question. "Uh.....Knuckles?"
"WHAT." Was the snapped reply.
Espio cringed at the echidna's tone. "Um, where are we going?"
Knuckles didn't answer, but instead slammed his fist into a nearby tree. Noticing how the action made him feel slightly better, he hit the tree again, imagining that the bark had Robotnik's face on it. It wasn't fair! Just as he'd finally began to forget about the whole ARK incident and the painful memories that came with it, that lousy bat had to remind him about it all over again. He hit the tree again, leaving another pair of gaping holes in its' trunk. Forgetting about everything else except venting his anger, he began pummeling the tree over and over again, growling and snarling at it.
Finally Knux paused to rest a moment. The tree's surface was marred by craters and holes, leaking sticky green sap down its disfigured side. Knuckles' imagination suddenly conjured up a disturbing image that replaced the holes with flesh wounds, and the sap with blood.....
Knuckles shook his head to ward off the frightening visions. His common sense returned to him, making him feel revulsion as he realized what he'd done. Turning away from the mangled tree to continue walking on the path, he finally answered Espio's question. "We're going to Knothole. They're the closest place I can think of that has a teleporter we can use to get back to the island."
"Oh, okay." Espio replied as he wondered slightly at Knuckles' sudden outburst. Why had the echidna reacted like that when he'd asked his question? Did it have something to do with what Rouge had told them? He eyed the remains of the tree with more than a tiny bit of fear. He hoped Knux would never do that to him.....
Espio finally gave up on trying to think about it. Maybe Knuckles would tell him later when they got back to Angel Island. Meanwhile, they were getting pretty close to Knothole, and the path abruptly ended a few feet ahead. Putting off his thoughts until later, Espio started concentrating on helping Knuckles work his way through the natural obstacles in front of them.
----------
"Hey Antoine, could you help me with these?" Rotor wheezed, his face blocked by the several cardboard boxes he was carrying.
The heavily accented reply came at once. "Oui, Monseiur Rotair." Immediately afterward a couple brown hands relieved the walrus of several boxes. "Sacre Bleu!" Antoine yelped as the weight of the boxes nearly made him fall over. "Whatz een zees?! Bricks?"
Rotor stood up straighter and managed to free one hand long enough to wipe some sweat off his forehead. "Naw, they're just some fireworks we're gonna use tonight when it gets dark. We've got several of them that need to be carried out to the launch site."
Antoine hefted up the box with a grunt. "Wondairful."
"Here, I'll show you where they go." Rotor started walking towards one of several hover transports that floated silently in the middle of Knothole. The vehicle was similar to a semi truck minus wheels, and a large cargo area was attached to its back. The doors to this cargo area had already been opened, and within were other boxes similar to those that Rotor and Antoine carried.
Rotor heaved his box up on top of the rest, then turned to help Antoine with his. They leaned against the stack afterward, Rotor taking off his cap and using it to fan himself. It'd been a busy afternoon.
The entire village of Knothole had been preparing for the journey out to the Great Unknown that night for the Day of Independence celebration. The cargo transports had been loaned to them by a moving company in Sapphire City, and since noon they'd been working nonstop to pack various supplies into them. By now, the last of the supplies were being loaded, and the time was nearing when the villagers would pile into various hovercars and drive out to the party's location. Rotor was privately thankful; he didn't mind work, but today had been particularly stressful on him and he needed a break.
Antoine hadn't fared much better. Sally had put him in charge of taking inventory, and he was feeling mentally exhausted. Both were looking forward to the party itself, when all of them would have a chance to relax.
Sally approached the two, a slightly worried look on her face. Antoine suspected she had another task for them to do, but instead her request was entirely different.
"Have either of you two seen Sonic, Tails, or Amy?" She asked when she was near enough.
Rotor blinked, then thought back over what he'd seen that day. "Nope." He finally shook his head at last. "Not since lunch, at least." He grew slightly concerned. "Why, is something wrong?"
Sally seemed to grow more agitated. "They were supposed to come back to help us pack, but nobody's seen them all afternoon. It's almost time for us to leave, but they still haven't returned! Where are they?"
Rotor rubbed one of his tusks thoughtfully. "I.....don't know, Princess." He sighed at last. "Do you think we should go looking for them?"
"I--"
Sally was interrupted as something slammed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground. Sally tumbled forward, a ruffled and dizzy pink hedgehog landing on top of her.
Sally pushed her off and stood up. "Hey, watch where you're....." She began before she realized who she was talking to. Her eyes widened. "Amy?! Is that you?!?"
Normally stylish and neat, Amy Rose was now hardly recognizable. Numerous cuts and wounds marred her arms from where she'd run through prickly bushes in her mad dash through the forest. Her head was bruised and battered, and Sally could see the beginnings of a black eye starting to form. Her clothes were the worst; torn and tattered in her haste to make it back to the village.
"Owchies." Amy whimpered, holding her bruised head where it had collided with Sally. "Who put that brick wall there.....?"
Sally spun around and seized the arm of a passing villager. "Quick! Alert Dr. Quack, it's an emergency! Please!" The surprised villager nodded once before she released his arm and he ran off.
"Sonic....." Amy passed out, exhaustion finally catching up with her.
----------
Sonic tumbled to the floor of the chamber, and the door slammed shut behind him. He was instantly on his feet, pounding on the glass and staring around helplessly. "You can't do this!" he shouted, his voice muffled and dimmed by the glass tube around him.
Robotnik and Metal Sonic stood at the machine's control console across the room. The robot was too busy working the many switches, dials, and buttons to respond, but Robotnik looked up at his adversary with a sneer. "Ha, hedgehog! Who's going to stop me? Your pitiful friends? They don't even know you've been captured, and your fox friend is still in my custody."
Sonic let his hands slide down the side of the tube and stepped back. He looked up at the white lens above him which made up the ceiling of the container. Two small, steel cylinders stuck out of it. Although Sonic couldn't see them from his viewpoint, a couple steel pipes were connected to the cylinders. These pipes ran up along the wall of the laboratory and disappeared into the ceiling, possibly meant to release some sort of gas into the container.
The thought sent a stab of fear through Sonic's normally bold heart. He hurled himself against the glass, hoping against hope it would break. But of course it didn't. All that happened was he bruised his arms and legs and gave Robotnik a good laugh.
A sickening metallic hum came on, making the lens glow a bright, cold blue. The soft hiss of air was heard as a green-tainted cloud began to invade the small space inside the chamber. Sonic began to hyperventilate, gasping with terror. He couldn't run, he couldn't hide, he couldn't even defend himself. He was trapped in three enclosed feet with a deadly gas that would most certainly kill him. He pressed himself against the glass, trying to avoid the cloud, even though he knew very well he could not.
The noise increased, and the cloud surrounded him like a thick fog. Sonic tried to hold his breath for as long as he could, but his lungs eventually gave out and he was forced to inhale. Sonic made a disgusted face--the gas had an acrid, foul taste to it that burned in the back of his throat. Without warning he went into a coughing fit, his body rejecting the foreign substance in the only way it could. He held his aching stomach and leaned heavily against the glass, desperately trying to stop his wild coughing.
The chemical began to exert its influence over him. He felt his muscles slowly relax, and his head slumped forward on his chest. He hung there a moment, fighting the pull, then lost. He fell to his knees in the center of the chamber. Nausea overwhelmed him-he closed his eyes and held his head. The heat and light from the lens engulfed him. He collapsed onto his side, unconsciously going into the fetal position as he did so. It was too bright- -far too bright. It hurt. He ached all over, as if with the flu.
He opened his eyes, forced them open. He pulled one curled fist from his forehead and opened it. What would happen to him? Would the deadly chemical eat away at his flesh, or would it destroy him from the inside somehow? He could feel the toxins flowing through his air pathways like a poison, traveling towards his brain. He fought it, trying to block it out, trying to squelch the intruding particles. When would the gas start it's fatal work? And what would happen when it did so?
The gas reached his central nervous system, and darkness settled over Sonic's eyes like a curtain. He struggled and fought blindly, like an animal in a trap. Dimly his vision returned. As if from a great distance, he was aware of writhing and striking his head on the glass, over and over. The pain was overwhelming. His muscles jerked spasmodically, making him look like he was having some sort of seizure. His breaths began to come in shorter and shorter gasps.
One hand hit something hard and sharp. Something on the floor. He looked down, expecting to see some horrible disfiguration on his limb, but instead saw a metal panel. One corner of the plating had come loose from the rest of the floor and was sticking up at an angle, jabbing him. In the small space that Sonic could see underneath the panel, circuitry and wires were visible.
Somehow, what remained of Sonic's scattered thoughts focused enough to get an idea. He struggled to move his twitching arm, feeling as if he were lifting heavy weights instead of his hands. The gas was starting to take over, and his vision began to dim again. With all the failing strength he could still muster, he worked his hand underneath the panel. His groping fingers encountered several wires, and he grabbed some. Fighting the gas's effects long enough to summon one last surge of strength, he pulled as hard as he could, ripping them out with a snap.
Two things happened simultaneously: Metal Sonic suddenly yelled out "Malfunction!", and Sonic was violently shocked with a large dose of electricity. He'd apparently damaged something vital--the pain he'd felt beforehand paled in comparison to the agony that surged through him now. He was jerked erect from the force of the current, muscles locked, unable to let go.
Alarms began to blare throughout the laboratory. Robotnik roared in confusion as the machinery connected to the experimental tube Sonic was in began to expel smoke into the room. He turned to Metal Sonic, who was frantically working to shut off the power.
"What's going ON?!" Robotnik bellowed. "WHAT HAPPENED?!?"
Metal Sonic spoke quickly while he worked. If he had been organic, he would have sweatdropped. "The main power supply has been damaged! The device is overloading!" One of the panels caught fire, and Mecha yelled in surprise. More smoke clouded the area.
"Shut it off!" Robotnik ordered with a cough, waving his hands to clear the air.
"I'm trying!" Mecha snapped back, while spraying the flames with a fire- retarding chemical from a nozzle in his arm. "It isn't responding to my commands!"
Robotnik ran over to another panel and pressed down on a button. "SWATbot repair crews, come to the main laboratory immediately!" He spoke into an intercom. "And bring flame-retardants with you!" He added as an afterthought.
The smoke thickened. Robotnik turned away from the panel and struggled to breathe. It almost felt as if his nose and mouth were padded with cotton; difficult to draw in a breath. He sank to his knees, his lungs screaming for the precious oxygen which the smoke denied him. He began coughing violently. Vaguely he remembered the emergency gas mask he'd attached to his arm before the experiment. If he could get it on, he could breathe again. Robotnik began to unhook the mask, his movements slow and sluggish. Halfway through the action his body went slack as strength left him. He collapsed, the world fading to black before his eyes.
Metal Sonic knew nothing of Robotnik's predicament. The controls he stood in front of sparked and crackled dangerously, light flashing through the cracks in-between their plating. Mecha tried to manipulate a switch and was awarded with tendrils of blue lightning shooting out of the console onto his body, attracted by the extra metal he contained. The batteries that provided his own small power supply immediately overloaded, shorting out with a sharp crackle. Mecha gave a mechanical scream of pain before he was hurled, charred and smoking, past Robotnik's body and into the room's opposite wall.
The power surge in the experimental tube's machinery reached critical levels. Finally, it became too much for them to handle.
The machine exploded.
----------
"So that's the plan. Everyone got it?"
Sally grimly looked around the table at the faces there. Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, and herself had all gotten together in the Conference Hut for an emergency meeting. Amy had woken up and told them her alarming news, and now they'd finished discussing a rescue plan. Amy had begged with them to let her be a part of the plan, wanting to help Sonic in any way possible. But Dr. Quack had been adamant in insisting she rest before doing anything else, so she eventually gave in.
Sally's question was met with affirmative nods from the rest of the group. Sally stood up with a nod of her own. "Then let's go." She didn't give any sort of prep talk, nor did she voice any witticisms like 'Let's do it to it!'; She was far too worried about Sonic to do much of that at this point.
As the group walked out of the hut towards Knothole's entrance, they were met by Knuckles and Espio in the village square. "Hey guys!" Knuckles waved at them as he approached. "Could I use your teleporter to get back to Angel Island? I had to come down here for some business, but now I've gotta get back to the Master Emerald."
Sally nodded at him, her expression still grim with worry. "Sure, but you'll have to wait for us to get back before any of us can operate it." Using teleporters usually required two people: one to operate the controls for the destination and such, and the other to do the physical act of teleporting.
Knuckles arched an eyebrow, noticing the expressions on everyone's faces. "Why, where are you going?"
"Robotropolis. Sonic's been captured." Rotor replied shortly.
Knuckles' eyes widened. "Crap. That guy gets into the worst fixes, doesn't he? Listen, I'll help ya rescue him. Just let me radio the Chaotix to let them know I'll be gone a bit longer than usual. Espio," He added while turning to his chameleon friend, "you can come too if you like."
Espio shrugged. "Okay, sure."
Sally smiled gratefully at them both. "You really don't have to do this for us, you know."
Knux grinned back. "I know." Then he shrugged. "Since I'm stuck here anyway until you guys get back, I might as well help out." He and Espio jogged off to the Communications Hut to radio their teammates on the Island, with the latter calling back at the group over his shoulder. "We'll follow and meet you guys there! Just hurry and get going, Sonic needs our help!"
"Allright! Let's go, y'all!" Bunnie cheered. The five raced away to the entrance, spirits lifted knowing that reenforcements were on the way.
----------
Robotnik awoke to see repair robots spraying foam on the several fires raging around the laboratory. The ventilation fans had finally started working, pumping the smoke out of the room through the air vents in the lab's ceiling. He slowly got to his feet, noticing as he did the many cuts and embedded glass shards in his rotund body. The alarms had stopped.
Robotnik glanced at the area where his machine had once been and saw nothing more than some bits and pieces of smoking rubble. he noticed that the tubes which had pumped his experimental compound into the chamber had been ruptured, and one of them was leaking out a thin trail of the green cloud. Immediately he unhooked the portable gas mask from his metal arm and put it on. He hoped he had not inhaled any of the compound while he'd been knocked out.
Turning his head to scan the room, Robotnik gritted his teeth as he saw the destroyed state that the rest of his lab was in. The explosion had wiped out a good half of his other equipment in the room; vials containing mysterious liquids had fallen on the floor and smashed, their contents spilling out and mixing into an unidentifiable puddle. Computer terminals were burnt to nothing more than smoking shells, their internal wiring fried to a crisp. Tables lay on their sides against the walls, with messy tangles of plastic tubes next to them. The floor was littered with glass shards and metal fragments, completing the chaotic atmosphere.
Turning around in a circle, Robotnik scanned the room for Sonic and Mecha. Sonic lay in a heap in one of the corners, his quills burned black at the edges. It was a miracle he was still in one piece. Metal Sonic was lying within a good-sized indentation in the wall, shorted out and lifeless. The damage was repairable, thankfully, but it would be a long time before the robot was back to peak performance again.
"I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!!!" Robotnik screamed to the heavens while waving his fists in the air. He'd been so close to winning, but Sonic had still managed to mess everything up! Now his laboratory was ruined, Mecha was in critical condition, and he himself might have accidentally become a part of his own experiment with exposure to the gas. It just wasn't fair!
A spasm of pain reminded Robotnik of his own injuries. Snarling in fury, he ordered a couple of the SWATbots to bring Mecha to the Repair Bay area and another pair to take Sonic back to the prisons. He then hobbled out of the room after them, heading towards the Medical Ward.
----------
Tails sat in a corner of his cell and cried.
He cried and cried some more, unable to control the tears that ran unchecked down his face. They'd dragged him to the prisons, released him from Mecha's force field and dumped him in a cell before leading Sonic away, most likely to be roboticized.
Tails didn't know what to do. He'd never felt more scared in his entire life. Sure, he'd been captured with Sonic before now, but they'd always been broken out at the last minute. This time, Robotnik was acting smart and not wasting any time before he did whatever he was going to do to Sonic. Tails doubted that his blue hero would ever be rescued in time. All hope seemed lost.
Tails pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped an arm around them, while using the other to wipe his eyes with the back of his hand. But the waterworks refused to stop. Sobs shook his small body as he wondered what would happen to him now. Would he and Sonic just become another couple robots under Robotnik's control? He didn't think he'd be able to withstand the possibility that he would. He buried his face in his arms and continued to cry.
A screech of rusty metal told him that someone had opened the door to the prisons. Tails didn't bother to get up, knowing that the door was only opened when a new prisoner was brought in, or when SWATbots had come to take a prisoner to the Roboticizer. He did, however, quiet his crying slightly so he could hear what was going on.
The clanking of robotic feet passed by his cell. Tails buried his face further into his arms, praying they hadn't come for him.
They didn't. Another rusty squeak indicated that the robots had opened the cell next to his. Tails heard a thump as something hit the floor of the cell, and the clanking receded as the SWATbots walked away. Screech, the prison door opened and closed again.
Silence.
Time passed, and Tails' river of tears eventually thinned, then stopped. The fox sat still, wondering about the new prisoner that had just been brought in. Whoever it was, it hadn't made a sound for a long time. After a few more minutes of no noise coming from the new prisoner, Tails' curiosity got the better of him. He moved to the front of his cell and stuck his head in between two of the bars to see into the next cell over. Unfortunately, the cell was covered by heavy shadows and Tails couldn't see a thing. Sighing in disappointment, Tails sat down next to the bars, tails drooping.
CLANG!
The sound echoed down the hallway and made Tails' head snap up in alarm. What was that? His curiosity renewed, Tails leaped to his feet and peered out through the bars at the hallway beyond.
----------
"Antoine!" Sally furiously whispered. The coyote had fallen out of the ventilation duct and had forgotten to cushion his landing by rolling. Because of that, his boots had hit the steel floor noisily.
Antoine looked up at Sally sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry, moi Prinzess."
Sally fell out and rolled, then gave Antoine an irritated look when she stood up. She sighed. "C'mon, let's just go." She began to trot off down the hallway, Antoine following meekly behind her.
Sally checked the cells as they passed by them, but they were all empty. That is, all of them except for the one containing the orange fox who called out their names joyously as they approached.
Sally quickly hurried up to Tails and enveloped him in a tight hug. "Tails, there you are!" She whispered tearfully. Tails gagged at her tight hold.
"Aunt.....Sally.....I can't.....breathe....."
"Oops, sorry....." Sally broke the embrace, allowing Tails air once more. After catching his breath, Tails started to quickly tell Sally about how they'd been captured. He finished with, "They've taken Sonic away, Aunt Sally! We have to get him back!"
"Right." Sally thought a moment. "But first we need to get you out of here." She stood back and surveyed the cell Tails was in. It was locked with an old-fashioned padlock, large and heavy with a small keyhole in the top. The little light that illuminated the area gleamed off its black surface dully.
Tails tried shaking each of the bars, but he already knew that none of them were loose. Sally eventually sighed and scratched her head in puzzlement. "I don't know how we're gonna get you out, Tails. We'd need someone really strong to break this lock, and Nicole doesn't work on non-electronic locks." Her face suddenly brightened as an idea occurred to her. "Hang on, I think I know what to do!" She unhooked a small wavelength radio from her vest and turned it on. Pressing down on the 'talk' button, she spoke into its receiver.
"Hey Bunnie, are you there? Can you hear me?"
"Shore 'nuff! What's up, Sally-girl?" Was the reply.
"We need your help to break Tails out before we rescue Sonic. Can you get to a vent from your current position?"
Silence was the only answer to this question for several minutes. Just when Sally was beginning to wonder whether Bunnie's radio had malfunctioned, the rabbit spoke up again. "Yeah. Where're ya'll holed up at?"
"Prison block 3-B, section 12." Sally replied, relieved. "Hurry, please. Sally out."
"Roger that. Ah'll be there in a sec. Bunnie out."
----------
He watched them from underneath an overhang of rusted steel pipes that stuck out from a huge pile of trash. They couldn't see him even if they wanted to--he was an expert at hiding in shadows, and knew how to avoid being seen. You learn a few good tricks when you've been hunted your entire life, he thought bitterly.
The rabbit with steel limbs moved into the center of his vision, blasting away waves of robot soldiers using a gun installed in that robot arm of hers. For a few minutes he watched her go to work demolishing the survivors of her initial attack. She obviously knew some form of Martial-Arts, considering the precise kicking/punching maneuvers she used. Idly he wondered how her limbs had gotten that way. Robotization? Perhaps--but if that were the case, why wasn't she fully roboticized?
Another voice started speaking to the rabbit. After a few moments, he realized it was coming from a small radio attached to her waist. Intrigued, he listened in on the conversation.
".....break Tails out before we rescue Sonic. Can you get to a vent from your current position?"
The rabbit looked around for a few minutes while dodging laser-fire from the robots. Finally, she seemed to find what she was looking for. "Yeah. Where're ya'll holed up at?"
"Prison block 3-B, section 12. Hurry, please. Sally out."
"Roger that. Ah'll be there in a sec. Bunnie out."
A flash of motion from off to the left diverted his attention. He looked in that direction in time to spot a bright red echidna smashing all the other surviving robots to pieces with his huge fists. Although the rabbit was unfamiliar to him, he recognized the echidna instantly.
He narrowed his eyes. 'What's Knuckles doing HERE?' He wondered.
Little did he know that there was someone who was even better at hiding than he was prowling the area that day.
He was very startled when he heard a voice right next to him speak up. "Who are you?"
He jumped a little and turned, not expecting to have been seen. But there was nobody there. He immediately leaped into a spin kick aimed behind him, thinking the speaker had circled around to attack from behind. But his foot only connected with air.
He looked around in confusion, looking for the person who had spoken and finding no one.
"I'll say it again," The voice spoke in his ear. "Who are you?"
His fist shot out in a devastating backhand that apparently missed. Someone or something chuckled from off to his left, and he kicked blindly in that direction. "That won't exactly work." The Thing snickered, this time from above him.
He looked around wildly, almost frightened that he was facing an invisible opponent. "Where are you?" He whispered.
"Now why should I answer that?" The Thing replied from somewhere in front of him. "You'd just attack me, wouldn't you? I tell you what. If you tell me who you are and what you're doing here, I'll show myself to you."
Then he realized something. Why was he bothering with this person? He could just run away, couldn't he? "Forget you." He growled before taking off. Immediately he collided with something and knocked it down, throwing them both to the ground. A muffled "Oof!" indicated that he'd finally hit the Thing that had been speaking to him.
He blinked. It seemed solid enough, even if he couldn't see it. Quick as a flash, he had his arm around what he thought was its throat and squeezed, choking it. "What are you?" He hissed.
The Thing gave a choked reply before fading into sight before his eyes. His eyes widened as a purple chameleon appeared out of nowhere before him. "My...name is......Espio......" The chameleon coughed.
He blinked and released Espio immediately, standing up in surprise. The chameleon gasped for air gratefully and lay on the ground for a few seconds as he caught his breath. After a few moments he sat up to catch sight of his attacker, but the being was gone.
----------
"Okay Bunnie, let 'er rip!"
This exclamation was followed shortly afterward by a laser-blast vaporising the padlock to Tails' cell. Sally rushed forward and opened the door with a rusty screech, and embraced Tails when he practically leapt out into her arms. Sally looked up at Bunnie and Antoine after a few moments. "Okay," She began, "now we need to find out where they're holding Sonic."
"But Aunt Sally! They took Sonic out of the prisons! He's not here!"
This statement Surprised Sally so much that she let go of Tails and stepped back in shock. "What?? Oh, no! We've got to hurry, they might already be taking him to the roboticizer!" Without waiting for the others, she started running towards the cell block entrance.
"Hey! Sally-girl, wait up a sec!" Bunnie yelled as she, Antoine and Tails chased after the Princess.
----------
He slowly glanced out of the vent at the area around him. Nothing ususual met his eyes. Deciding this was a good sign, he dropped out of the vent to the ground, hardly making a noise upon landing.
Again he paused, looking around slowly from left to right, keen ears straining for the slightest hint of a footstep. No sounds were heard, so he finally relaxed and glanced around casually. That name he'd overheard in the rabbit's conversation.....it couldn't be the same Sonic he knew, could it?
He had to find out. Walking slowly down the cell block, he casually glanced through the bars in the cells. No prisoners met his eyes. Either they were all in a different cell block, or Robotnik had already roboticized them all. He could care less. All that mattered was finding out whether the same Sonic he was thinking of was here or not.....
Something caught his eye. Farther down the hallway, the door to a single cell had been left wide open. He snorted. Was Robotnik raised in a barn or something? Didn't he have enough sense to close doors anymore? Shaking his head in mild disgust, he continued on past the door.
The next cell was heavily shadowed, making it difficult to see into. But somehow, he managed to make out the shape lying on its floor just fine. He strode to the front of the cell and grasped a couple bars. He stared at the shape for a few moments, his eyes sparkling with some hidden emotion. "So it WAS you they were talking about." He muttered softly. The tiniest hint of a smile crept into his expression. "Good to see you again, blue hedgehog."
He stepped back and gave the bars a cursory glance, folding his arms as he pondered how he would get Sonic out of that cell. For indeed, that was just what he planned to do.
After a moment of consideration, he strode up to the bars and gave each of them a firm yank, testing them for weaknesses. To his sinister delight he found one-a loose bar. With a moment's pause and a muffled grunt, he jerked the metal pole out of the door, letting it fall to the floor with a clatter.
He stepped easily through the now-sizable gap between the bars, and gingerly picked up the battered blue form that still lay crumpled inside. Getting back out through the hole was just as easy, although he was hindered a bit by having to carry Sonic over his shoulder.
Still, he managed. Looking up and down the hallway again, he noted with suspicion the lack of guards stationed here. It seemed very odd to him that Robotnik would leave someone like Sonic unguarded. Of course, it was possible that all the guards had been called away to deal with that rabbit and Knuckles, but he couldn't help feeling a sense of foreboding sweep over him. Something was wrong here. Very wrong.
Still, he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, as the expression went. Walking easily back down the corridor to the ventilation shaft he'd used, he heaved Sonic up and into it before clambering up into the space himself. If he hurried, he could get out of here before anything else happened.
He clamped the vent's grate back into place, then grabbed Sonic's inert form and crawled away into the labyrinth of the fortress's circulatory system.
Silence descended upon the prison block, now empty save a single metal bar on the floor.
----------
"Sally!"
The voice spoke up with such urgency in its tone that Sally nearly fell over in mid-stride. Luckily, she managed to regain her balance and slow down enough to where she could activate her radio and answer the summons. "What is it, Doctor Quack?"
"Sally, you're not going to believe this.....I was just going to the Medical Hut to check up on some last-minute paperwork, and guess who I found on the front step? Wait, don't try answering, I'll tell you: It was Sonic!"
Sally gaped at the radio in complete disbelief. The only reply she could stutter out was: "W-what??"
"Get back here to Knothole, NOW! I'll tell you more once you're here." The comm suddenly went silent, leaving a stunned Sally Acorn standing in the hallways of Robotnik's fortress.
Tails, Bunnie and Antoine finally caught up with the Princess, with Bunnie glaring daggers at her. "Sally-girl, what was the meanin' of ya'll just gettin' up and runnin' away lahk that?!"
"Sonic's.....been rescued." Sally replied, barely hearing Bunnie's reprimanding words.
That stopped Bunnie's tirade before it even began. "WHAT?!"
"We've got to get back to Knothole!" Sally answered, finally coming out of her daze. "Quick, let's radio Knuckles and tell him we're moving out!" She dashed off down the hallway again, much to Bunnie's dismay.
"Sally-girl!!" Bunnie yelled futilely after her. "Dangit, why can't she just wait up?"
----------
Only twenty feet away from where Espio had found the mysterious newcomer, Knuckles ran through the SWATbot ranks like a hot knife through butter, smashing anything that moved. He was having a blast. Although guarding the Master Emerald was his job, it got awfully boring. A little action was just what he needed, and he was enjoying every moment of this.
One SWATbot shot its lasers at him and almost hit, but Knux had ducked and rolled away before the laser should have done so. He came to his feet in front of the robot that had fired and punched his fist straight through its head, leaving a gaping hole which spat circuitry and sparks.
Knux grinned as the robot wobbled and fell to the ground in pieces. Sonic had told him several times about how much fun he'd had on some of his raids in Robotropolis.....and now Knux understood why.
Suddenly, his radio started beeping, recieving an incoming signal.....
----------
"Knuckles!" Sally barked into her small shortwave radio. "Knux, do you copy?"
The echidna's voice came through. "Yeah, what is it?"
"We're heading back to Knothole. Mission accomplished." Sally could hardly believe the words, even as she said them.
"Gotcha. I'll meet up with you guys in a sec."
Sally turned the radio off and glanced behind her, to find that the others had caught up with her again. Bunnie looked like she had a lot to say to Sally, but couldn't find the words to say it with. Antoine just looked like she had when she'd first recieved the news: stunned. Then Sally looked down at Tails, to see the little fox crying with relief that Sonic was okay. Sally knealt down and hugged him tightly, whispering comforting words in Tails' ear as the young fox cried on her shoulder. "Ssh, there there, Tails.....it'll be okay.....Sonic'll be alright, he's safe now.....you don't have to worry.....it's okay....." Tails nodded at her comforting words, but continued to release all the pent-up emotion he'd kept bottled up since they'd broken him out.
Finally Sally released the embrace and stood up, a little teary-eyed herself. She turned to the two other Freedom Fighers there and spoke only two words. "Let's go."
The rest of the mission was rather uneventful. Knuckles arrived at the prisons through the route Sally and Antoine had used, found Sally and the others, and helped them climb back out. When they arrived outside they met up with Espio and Rotor, and all of them high-tailed it back to Knothole.
----------
Sonic came to quite some time later. Odd, he didn't just wake up like he normally did--first he heard something beeping, then a voice in his head saying, "Main systems online. Loading secondary systems." His eyes opened and he sat up to look at where he was.
Sonic blinked. What was wrong with his vision? Everything around him looked like images from a computer screen. He turned his head from side to side, taking in his location. It looked like he was still somewhere in Robotnik's lab--the room seemed to have the same dirty, ruined look that the rest of the city did.
----------
Mecha woke up and opened his eyes. He didn't feel himself come online; just blink, and he was staring at a wooden ceiling. Pain lashed through his body, making him mentally wince. Slowly he sat up, noticing the abscence of the battery recharger's familiar hum. Mecha closed his eyes and opened them again. For some reason, his view seemed sharper, more enhanced than usual. He looked around. The walls of the room he was in seemed to be made of some sort of clay. A window above his head allowed bright, unobstructed sunlight to enter the area. Underneath him was a cushioned bed, and his head had been propped up by several pillows.
Staring around at their unfamiliar surroundings, Mecha and Sonic spoke at the same time.
"What happened?"
Stoney: What? The chapter's over already?! Nooo!
Cliffhangers are nice. I like cliffhangers. They taste yummy. Have no fear, my next chapter is nearly complete! Soon you will find out just WHAT our favorite hedgehogs think of their new predictament! Hopefully, it won't take me nearly as long to update the next chapter.....[darn Document Manager on this site, it makes me so mad.....]
You might notice that a little bit of this chapter borrows from a teaser written by NetRaptor as part of her Fanfiction "Complete the Story" contest. This is because I had started this fic with the intention of entering it in the contest, but before I could finish it the contest ended. Since then, I have decided to simply post it as a new fanfic and have resumed writing it. PLEASE don't go flaming me and telling me that I'm stealing from NetRaptor intentionally, because I'm not. Thanks for understanding!
As an added bonus, I've included an extra-special, all-natural, 100% whole- grain preview of the next chapter below! Aren't I nice?
Sonic: Hey! How'd you get out of the Torture Room?!
Stoney: Uh, oh, gotta run! "till next chapter, toodles! (gets chased offscreen by Sonic)
~PREVIEW! YAY!~
His hands were completely encased in metal.
Sonic stopped thinking entirely. He moved his hands, and the metal abominations in front of him moved accordingly. He mentally ordered his hands to snap their fingers, and the metal hands did so with a sharp clank Each finger was a conical metal spike that somehow retained enough flexibiliy to bend at the joints. The palm was nothing more than a thick metal plate, shaped slightly rectangular and painted a dull yellow.
Sonic's thoughts resumed full force, and terror swept through him. He had been roboticized. Somehow, he just knew it. He was now a robot. That tube they'd put him in must've been some modified version of the Roboticizer. Sonic didn't doubt it for a second.
Sonic cradled his head in his disfigured hands for a few moments before a thought occurred to him. If he'd been roboticized, then how come he'd retained his free will?
Hope surged through him. Maybe the roboticizer had messed up because of what he'd done to it, and it hadn't been able to enslave his mind! If that was the case, Robotnik had made an even greater mistake than he'd realized- Sonic now had a durable metal body and amazing new strength, to boot. He could trash Robotnik's fortress easily in this form, he realized.
He looked around again. Some sort of power cord was connected to his stomach. The cord led over to a small generator humming nearby. He had been laying down flat on a metal table, cluttered with parts of other machines and several power tools. A flat piece of metal that lay near his hands had been polished so much that it reflected images like a mirror. Sonic picked it up and tilted it so it would reveal his face, dreading what he would see.
Staring back at Sonic from within the reflection were the blood-red pupils of Mecha.
A Fanfiction by Stoney
Author's Note: Howdy-doodley-doo! Chapter three has (finally) arrived, and there was much rejoicing.....
Audience: (Dully) Yay.
Stoney: I can tell that you guys are all bloody impatient to get on with the story, so let's st--hey! Sonic, what are you doing?! Stop it! Let go of me! Ow, that hurts! Knock it off!
Sonic: (in a deep, echoing, out-of-character voice) Silence, fool! You must PAY for not updating for so long! I hereby banish you to ETERNAL PAIN AND TORMENT!!
(Sonic drags Stoney over to a blood-red door and opens it to reveal darkness beyond)
Stoney: OH, NO! Not in THERE! Don't throw me in there, please! No! NO! NOOOOOO!!! (gets thrown inside)
Knuckles: Yikes, Sonic. What's in that room, anyway?
Sonic: (slams the door shut and starts talking in his normal voice) I threw him into the Torture Room of Internet Pop-Up Windows.
Knuckles: (gasps) No way! That's just cruel, man!
(muffled screams of terror can be heard coming from the other side of the door, along with the sounds of someone beating their fists on it frantically)
Stoney: (muffled) LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! I'M SORRY ALREADY, JUST PLEASE LET ME OUT! AAAAAHHHHH!!
Sonic: Yeah, but he deserved it. C'mon Knux, let's get on with the story.
Knuckles: Well, okay.....(walks off with Sonic)
Chapter III
Rescue
Amy watched with wide eyes as she saw Metal Sonic march her hero and the paralyzed Tails away through the trees. She'd followed Tails and Sonic in their race, intent on not being left behind again, and had arrived just as the trio started to leave.
Amy recalled one time that she asked around Knothole about Metal Sonic. She had been intrigued by the mysterious robot copy of her favorite hedgehog, and wanted to know more about him. The answers she received weren't pleasant. Sonic himself had given the most detailed description, using longer words than he normally did;
"He's hatred in its purest form, evil incarnate. He'll think nothin' of ripping your throat out if you're even slightly annoying to him. He's an unpredictable, uncontrollable killer, Amy. One minute he might be coldly cordial to ya, and the next he'll be rending you limb from limb. Never, ever trust him. He'll stab you in the back without a thought."
Panic set in. Amy's thoughts sped up frantically. What should she do? What COULD she do?? Sonic was in trouble! She had to help him! Dismally she thought of her only weapon, the Piko-Piko Hammer she'd stolen from Robotnik's Final Egg carrier. Against Mecha, the colossal weapon probably wouldn't do anything more than chip his paint.
She wringed her hands in worry, terrified of what might happen to her beloved Blue Blur. Hysteria was quickly taking over her thoughts as she stood rooted to the spot, torn with indecision. She couldn't just leave Sonic and Tails at the mercy of the robot, but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to help them by herself. "I've got to go get the other Freedom Fighters!" She finally decided, before running back the way she had come.
She only hoped she was making the right choice.....
----------
Knuckles tromped through the Great Forest, A scowl marring his features. After leaving Rouge at the lake, his mood had taken a distinct turn for the worse. Espio followed him at a resonable distance, knowing better than to get in Knuckles' way when he was like this.
Espio wondered where they were going. Knuckles seemed to know, as indicated by his sure footsteps. But so far the echidna hadn't mentioned what their destination was.
Summoning up all his courage, Espio decided to venture a question. "Uh.....Knuckles?"
"WHAT." Was the snapped reply.
Espio cringed at the echidna's tone. "Um, where are we going?"
Knuckles didn't answer, but instead slammed his fist into a nearby tree. Noticing how the action made him feel slightly better, he hit the tree again, imagining that the bark had Robotnik's face on it. It wasn't fair! Just as he'd finally began to forget about the whole ARK incident and the painful memories that came with it, that lousy bat had to remind him about it all over again. He hit the tree again, leaving another pair of gaping holes in its' trunk. Forgetting about everything else except venting his anger, he began pummeling the tree over and over again, growling and snarling at it.
Finally Knux paused to rest a moment. The tree's surface was marred by craters and holes, leaking sticky green sap down its disfigured side. Knuckles' imagination suddenly conjured up a disturbing image that replaced the holes with flesh wounds, and the sap with blood.....
Knuckles shook his head to ward off the frightening visions. His common sense returned to him, making him feel revulsion as he realized what he'd done. Turning away from the mangled tree to continue walking on the path, he finally answered Espio's question. "We're going to Knothole. They're the closest place I can think of that has a teleporter we can use to get back to the island."
"Oh, okay." Espio replied as he wondered slightly at Knuckles' sudden outburst. Why had the echidna reacted like that when he'd asked his question? Did it have something to do with what Rouge had told them? He eyed the remains of the tree with more than a tiny bit of fear. He hoped Knux would never do that to him.....
Espio finally gave up on trying to think about it. Maybe Knuckles would tell him later when they got back to Angel Island. Meanwhile, they were getting pretty close to Knothole, and the path abruptly ended a few feet ahead. Putting off his thoughts until later, Espio started concentrating on helping Knuckles work his way through the natural obstacles in front of them.
----------
"Hey Antoine, could you help me with these?" Rotor wheezed, his face blocked by the several cardboard boxes he was carrying.
The heavily accented reply came at once. "Oui, Monseiur Rotair." Immediately afterward a couple brown hands relieved the walrus of several boxes. "Sacre Bleu!" Antoine yelped as the weight of the boxes nearly made him fall over. "Whatz een zees?! Bricks?"
Rotor stood up straighter and managed to free one hand long enough to wipe some sweat off his forehead. "Naw, they're just some fireworks we're gonna use tonight when it gets dark. We've got several of them that need to be carried out to the launch site."
Antoine hefted up the box with a grunt. "Wondairful."
"Here, I'll show you where they go." Rotor started walking towards one of several hover transports that floated silently in the middle of Knothole. The vehicle was similar to a semi truck minus wheels, and a large cargo area was attached to its back. The doors to this cargo area had already been opened, and within were other boxes similar to those that Rotor and Antoine carried.
Rotor heaved his box up on top of the rest, then turned to help Antoine with his. They leaned against the stack afterward, Rotor taking off his cap and using it to fan himself. It'd been a busy afternoon.
The entire village of Knothole had been preparing for the journey out to the Great Unknown that night for the Day of Independence celebration. The cargo transports had been loaned to them by a moving company in Sapphire City, and since noon they'd been working nonstop to pack various supplies into them. By now, the last of the supplies were being loaded, and the time was nearing when the villagers would pile into various hovercars and drive out to the party's location. Rotor was privately thankful; he didn't mind work, but today had been particularly stressful on him and he needed a break.
Antoine hadn't fared much better. Sally had put him in charge of taking inventory, and he was feeling mentally exhausted. Both were looking forward to the party itself, when all of them would have a chance to relax.
Sally approached the two, a slightly worried look on her face. Antoine suspected she had another task for them to do, but instead her request was entirely different.
"Have either of you two seen Sonic, Tails, or Amy?" She asked when she was near enough.
Rotor blinked, then thought back over what he'd seen that day. "Nope." He finally shook his head at last. "Not since lunch, at least." He grew slightly concerned. "Why, is something wrong?"
Sally seemed to grow more agitated. "They were supposed to come back to help us pack, but nobody's seen them all afternoon. It's almost time for us to leave, but they still haven't returned! Where are they?"
Rotor rubbed one of his tusks thoughtfully. "I.....don't know, Princess." He sighed at last. "Do you think we should go looking for them?"
"I--"
Sally was interrupted as something slammed into her from behind, knocking her to the ground. Sally tumbled forward, a ruffled and dizzy pink hedgehog landing on top of her.
Sally pushed her off and stood up. "Hey, watch where you're....." She began before she realized who she was talking to. Her eyes widened. "Amy?! Is that you?!?"
Normally stylish and neat, Amy Rose was now hardly recognizable. Numerous cuts and wounds marred her arms from where she'd run through prickly bushes in her mad dash through the forest. Her head was bruised and battered, and Sally could see the beginnings of a black eye starting to form. Her clothes were the worst; torn and tattered in her haste to make it back to the village.
"Owchies." Amy whimpered, holding her bruised head where it had collided with Sally. "Who put that brick wall there.....?"
Sally spun around and seized the arm of a passing villager. "Quick! Alert Dr. Quack, it's an emergency! Please!" The surprised villager nodded once before she released his arm and he ran off.
"Sonic....." Amy passed out, exhaustion finally catching up with her.
----------
Sonic tumbled to the floor of the chamber, and the door slammed shut behind him. He was instantly on his feet, pounding on the glass and staring around helplessly. "You can't do this!" he shouted, his voice muffled and dimmed by the glass tube around him.
Robotnik and Metal Sonic stood at the machine's control console across the room. The robot was too busy working the many switches, dials, and buttons to respond, but Robotnik looked up at his adversary with a sneer. "Ha, hedgehog! Who's going to stop me? Your pitiful friends? They don't even know you've been captured, and your fox friend is still in my custody."
Sonic let his hands slide down the side of the tube and stepped back. He looked up at the white lens above him which made up the ceiling of the container. Two small, steel cylinders stuck out of it. Although Sonic couldn't see them from his viewpoint, a couple steel pipes were connected to the cylinders. These pipes ran up along the wall of the laboratory and disappeared into the ceiling, possibly meant to release some sort of gas into the container.
The thought sent a stab of fear through Sonic's normally bold heart. He hurled himself against the glass, hoping against hope it would break. But of course it didn't. All that happened was he bruised his arms and legs and gave Robotnik a good laugh.
A sickening metallic hum came on, making the lens glow a bright, cold blue. The soft hiss of air was heard as a green-tainted cloud began to invade the small space inside the chamber. Sonic began to hyperventilate, gasping with terror. He couldn't run, he couldn't hide, he couldn't even defend himself. He was trapped in three enclosed feet with a deadly gas that would most certainly kill him. He pressed himself against the glass, trying to avoid the cloud, even though he knew very well he could not.
The noise increased, and the cloud surrounded him like a thick fog. Sonic tried to hold his breath for as long as he could, but his lungs eventually gave out and he was forced to inhale. Sonic made a disgusted face--the gas had an acrid, foul taste to it that burned in the back of his throat. Without warning he went into a coughing fit, his body rejecting the foreign substance in the only way it could. He held his aching stomach and leaned heavily against the glass, desperately trying to stop his wild coughing.
The chemical began to exert its influence over him. He felt his muscles slowly relax, and his head slumped forward on his chest. He hung there a moment, fighting the pull, then lost. He fell to his knees in the center of the chamber. Nausea overwhelmed him-he closed his eyes and held his head. The heat and light from the lens engulfed him. He collapsed onto his side, unconsciously going into the fetal position as he did so. It was too bright- -far too bright. It hurt. He ached all over, as if with the flu.
He opened his eyes, forced them open. He pulled one curled fist from his forehead and opened it. What would happen to him? Would the deadly chemical eat away at his flesh, or would it destroy him from the inside somehow? He could feel the toxins flowing through his air pathways like a poison, traveling towards his brain. He fought it, trying to block it out, trying to squelch the intruding particles. When would the gas start it's fatal work? And what would happen when it did so?
The gas reached his central nervous system, and darkness settled over Sonic's eyes like a curtain. He struggled and fought blindly, like an animal in a trap. Dimly his vision returned. As if from a great distance, he was aware of writhing and striking his head on the glass, over and over. The pain was overwhelming. His muscles jerked spasmodically, making him look like he was having some sort of seizure. His breaths began to come in shorter and shorter gasps.
One hand hit something hard and sharp. Something on the floor. He looked down, expecting to see some horrible disfiguration on his limb, but instead saw a metal panel. One corner of the plating had come loose from the rest of the floor and was sticking up at an angle, jabbing him. In the small space that Sonic could see underneath the panel, circuitry and wires were visible.
Somehow, what remained of Sonic's scattered thoughts focused enough to get an idea. He struggled to move his twitching arm, feeling as if he were lifting heavy weights instead of his hands. The gas was starting to take over, and his vision began to dim again. With all the failing strength he could still muster, he worked his hand underneath the panel. His groping fingers encountered several wires, and he grabbed some. Fighting the gas's effects long enough to summon one last surge of strength, he pulled as hard as he could, ripping them out with a snap.
Two things happened simultaneously: Metal Sonic suddenly yelled out "Malfunction!", and Sonic was violently shocked with a large dose of electricity. He'd apparently damaged something vital--the pain he'd felt beforehand paled in comparison to the agony that surged through him now. He was jerked erect from the force of the current, muscles locked, unable to let go.
Alarms began to blare throughout the laboratory. Robotnik roared in confusion as the machinery connected to the experimental tube Sonic was in began to expel smoke into the room. He turned to Metal Sonic, who was frantically working to shut off the power.
"What's going ON?!" Robotnik bellowed. "WHAT HAPPENED?!?"
Metal Sonic spoke quickly while he worked. If he had been organic, he would have sweatdropped. "The main power supply has been damaged! The device is overloading!" One of the panels caught fire, and Mecha yelled in surprise. More smoke clouded the area.
"Shut it off!" Robotnik ordered with a cough, waving his hands to clear the air.
"I'm trying!" Mecha snapped back, while spraying the flames with a fire- retarding chemical from a nozzle in his arm. "It isn't responding to my commands!"
Robotnik ran over to another panel and pressed down on a button. "SWATbot repair crews, come to the main laboratory immediately!" He spoke into an intercom. "And bring flame-retardants with you!" He added as an afterthought.
The smoke thickened. Robotnik turned away from the panel and struggled to breathe. It almost felt as if his nose and mouth were padded with cotton; difficult to draw in a breath. He sank to his knees, his lungs screaming for the precious oxygen which the smoke denied him. He began coughing violently. Vaguely he remembered the emergency gas mask he'd attached to his arm before the experiment. If he could get it on, he could breathe again. Robotnik began to unhook the mask, his movements slow and sluggish. Halfway through the action his body went slack as strength left him. He collapsed, the world fading to black before his eyes.
Metal Sonic knew nothing of Robotnik's predicament. The controls he stood in front of sparked and crackled dangerously, light flashing through the cracks in-between their plating. Mecha tried to manipulate a switch and was awarded with tendrils of blue lightning shooting out of the console onto his body, attracted by the extra metal he contained. The batteries that provided his own small power supply immediately overloaded, shorting out with a sharp crackle. Mecha gave a mechanical scream of pain before he was hurled, charred and smoking, past Robotnik's body and into the room's opposite wall.
The power surge in the experimental tube's machinery reached critical levels. Finally, it became too much for them to handle.
The machine exploded.
----------
"So that's the plan. Everyone got it?"
Sally grimly looked around the table at the faces there. Bunnie, Antoine, Rotor, and herself had all gotten together in the Conference Hut for an emergency meeting. Amy had woken up and told them her alarming news, and now they'd finished discussing a rescue plan. Amy had begged with them to let her be a part of the plan, wanting to help Sonic in any way possible. But Dr. Quack had been adamant in insisting she rest before doing anything else, so she eventually gave in.
Sally's question was met with affirmative nods from the rest of the group. Sally stood up with a nod of her own. "Then let's go." She didn't give any sort of prep talk, nor did she voice any witticisms like 'Let's do it to it!'; She was far too worried about Sonic to do much of that at this point.
As the group walked out of the hut towards Knothole's entrance, they were met by Knuckles and Espio in the village square. "Hey guys!" Knuckles waved at them as he approached. "Could I use your teleporter to get back to Angel Island? I had to come down here for some business, but now I've gotta get back to the Master Emerald."
Sally nodded at him, her expression still grim with worry. "Sure, but you'll have to wait for us to get back before any of us can operate it." Using teleporters usually required two people: one to operate the controls for the destination and such, and the other to do the physical act of teleporting.
Knuckles arched an eyebrow, noticing the expressions on everyone's faces. "Why, where are you going?"
"Robotropolis. Sonic's been captured." Rotor replied shortly.
Knuckles' eyes widened. "Crap. That guy gets into the worst fixes, doesn't he? Listen, I'll help ya rescue him. Just let me radio the Chaotix to let them know I'll be gone a bit longer than usual. Espio," He added while turning to his chameleon friend, "you can come too if you like."
Espio shrugged. "Okay, sure."
Sally smiled gratefully at them both. "You really don't have to do this for us, you know."
Knux grinned back. "I know." Then he shrugged. "Since I'm stuck here anyway until you guys get back, I might as well help out." He and Espio jogged off to the Communications Hut to radio their teammates on the Island, with the latter calling back at the group over his shoulder. "We'll follow and meet you guys there! Just hurry and get going, Sonic needs our help!"
"Allright! Let's go, y'all!" Bunnie cheered. The five raced away to the entrance, spirits lifted knowing that reenforcements were on the way.
----------
Robotnik awoke to see repair robots spraying foam on the several fires raging around the laboratory. The ventilation fans had finally started working, pumping the smoke out of the room through the air vents in the lab's ceiling. He slowly got to his feet, noticing as he did the many cuts and embedded glass shards in his rotund body. The alarms had stopped.
Robotnik glanced at the area where his machine had once been and saw nothing more than some bits and pieces of smoking rubble. he noticed that the tubes which had pumped his experimental compound into the chamber had been ruptured, and one of them was leaking out a thin trail of the green cloud. Immediately he unhooked the portable gas mask from his metal arm and put it on. He hoped he had not inhaled any of the compound while he'd been knocked out.
Turning his head to scan the room, Robotnik gritted his teeth as he saw the destroyed state that the rest of his lab was in. The explosion had wiped out a good half of his other equipment in the room; vials containing mysterious liquids had fallen on the floor and smashed, their contents spilling out and mixing into an unidentifiable puddle. Computer terminals were burnt to nothing more than smoking shells, their internal wiring fried to a crisp. Tables lay on their sides against the walls, with messy tangles of plastic tubes next to them. The floor was littered with glass shards and metal fragments, completing the chaotic atmosphere.
Turning around in a circle, Robotnik scanned the room for Sonic and Mecha. Sonic lay in a heap in one of the corners, his quills burned black at the edges. It was a miracle he was still in one piece. Metal Sonic was lying within a good-sized indentation in the wall, shorted out and lifeless. The damage was repairable, thankfully, but it would be a long time before the robot was back to peak performance again.
"I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!!!" Robotnik screamed to the heavens while waving his fists in the air. He'd been so close to winning, but Sonic had still managed to mess everything up! Now his laboratory was ruined, Mecha was in critical condition, and he himself might have accidentally become a part of his own experiment with exposure to the gas. It just wasn't fair!
A spasm of pain reminded Robotnik of his own injuries. Snarling in fury, he ordered a couple of the SWATbots to bring Mecha to the Repair Bay area and another pair to take Sonic back to the prisons. He then hobbled out of the room after them, heading towards the Medical Ward.
----------
Tails sat in a corner of his cell and cried.
He cried and cried some more, unable to control the tears that ran unchecked down his face. They'd dragged him to the prisons, released him from Mecha's force field and dumped him in a cell before leading Sonic away, most likely to be roboticized.
Tails didn't know what to do. He'd never felt more scared in his entire life. Sure, he'd been captured with Sonic before now, but they'd always been broken out at the last minute. This time, Robotnik was acting smart and not wasting any time before he did whatever he was going to do to Sonic. Tails doubted that his blue hero would ever be rescued in time. All hope seemed lost.
Tails pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped an arm around them, while using the other to wipe his eyes with the back of his hand. But the waterworks refused to stop. Sobs shook his small body as he wondered what would happen to him now. Would he and Sonic just become another couple robots under Robotnik's control? He didn't think he'd be able to withstand the possibility that he would. He buried his face in his arms and continued to cry.
A screech of rusty metal told him that someone had opened the door to the prisons. Tails didn't bother to get up, knowing that the door was only opened when a new prisoner was brought in, or when SWATbots had come to take a prisoner to the Roboticizer. He did, however, quiet his crying slightly so he could hear what was going on.
The clanking of robotic feet passed by his cell. Tails buried his face further into his arms, praying they hadn't come for him.
They didn't. Another rusty squeak indicated that the robots had opened the cell next to his. Tails heard a thump as something hit the floor of the cell, and the clanking receded as the SWATbots walked away. Screech, the prison door opened and closed again.
Silence.
Time passed, and Tails' river of tears eventually thinned, then stopped. The fox sat still, wondering about the new prisoner that had just been brought in. Whoever it was, it hadn't made a sound for a long time. After a few more minutes of no noise coming from the new prisoner, Tails' curiosity got the better of him. He moved to the front of his cell and stuck his head in between two of the bars to see into the next cell over. Unfortunately, the cell was covered by heavy shadows and Tails couldn't see a thing. Sighing in disappointment, Tails sat down next to the bars, tails drooping.
CLANG!
The sound echoed down the hallway and made Tails' head snap up in alarm. What was that? His curiosity renewed, Tails leaped to his feet and peered out through the bars at the hallway beyond.
----------
"Antoine!" Sally furiously whispered. The coyote had fallen out of the ventilation duct and had forgotten to cushion his landing by rolling. Because of that, his boots had hit the steel floor noisily.
Antoine looked up at Sally sheepishly. "Oops. Sorry, moi Prinzess."
Sally fell out and rolled, then gave Antoine an irritated look when she stood up. She sighed. "C'mon, let's just go." She began to trot off down the hallway, Antoine following meekly behind her.
Sally checked the cells as they passed by them, but they were all empty. That is, all of them except for the one containing the orange fox who called out their names joyously as they approached.
Sally quickly hurried up to Tails and enveloped him in a tight hug. "Tails, there you are!" She whispered tearfully. Tails gagged at her tight hold.
"Aunt.....Sally.....I can't.....breathe....."
"Oops, sorry....." Sally broke the embrace, allowing Tails air once more. After catching his breath, Tails started to quickly tell Sally about how they'd been captured. He finished with, "They've taken Sonic away, Aunt Sally! We have to get him back!"
"Right." Sally thought a moment. "But first we need to get you out of here." She stood back and surveyed the cell Tails was in. It was locked with an old-fashioned padlock, large and heavy with a small keyhole in the top. The little light that illuminated the area gleamed off its black surface dully.
Tails tried shaking each of the bars, but he already knew that none of them were loose. Sally eventually sighed and scratched her head in puzzlement. "I don't know how we're gonna get you out, Tails. We'd need someone really strong to break this lock, and Nicole doesn't work on non-electronic locks." Her face suddenly brightened as an idea occurred to her. "Hang on, I think I know what to do!" She unhooked a small wavelength radio from her vest and turned it on. Pressing down on the 'talk' button, she spoke into its receiver.
"Hey Bunnie, are you there? Can you hear me?"
"Shore 'nuff! What's up, Sally-girl?" Was the reply.
"We need your help to break Tails out before we rescue Sonic. Can you get to a vent from your current position?"
Silence was the only answer to this question for several minutes. Just when Sally was beginning to wonder whether Bunnie's radio had malfunctioned, the rabbit spoke up again. "Yeah. Where're ya'll holed up at?"
"Prison block 3-B, section 12." Sally replied, relieved. "Hurry, please. Sally out."
"Roger that. Ah'll be there in a sec. Bunnie out."
----------
He watched them from underneath an overhang of rusted steel pipes that stuck out from a huge pile of trash. They couldn't see him even if they wanted to--he was an expert at hiding in shadows, and knew how to avoid being seen. You learn a few good tricks when you've been hunted your entire life, he thought bitterly.
The rabbit with steel limbs moved into the center of his vision, blasting away waves of robot soldiers using a gun installed in that robot arm of hers. For a few minutes he watched her go to work demolishing the survivors of her initial attack. She obviously knew some form of Martial-Arts, considering the precise kicking/punching maneuvers she used. Idly he wondered how her limbs had gotten that way. Robotization? Perhaps--but if that were the case, why wasn't she fully roboticized?
Another voice started speaking to the rabbit. After a few moments, he realized it was coming from a small radio attached to her waist. Intrigued, he listened in on the conversation.
".....break Tails out before we rescue Sonic. Can you get to a vent from your current position?"
The rabbit looked around for a few minutes while dodging laser-fire from the robots. Finally, she seemed to find what she was looking for. "Yeah. Where're ya'll holed up at?"
"Prison block 3-B, section 12. Hurry, please. Sally out."
"Roger that. Ah'll be there in a sec. Bunnie out."
A flash of motion from off to the left diverted his attention. He looked in that direction in time to spot a bright red echidna smashing all the other surviving robots to pieces with his huge fists. Although the rabbit was unfamiliar to him, he recognized the echidna instantly.
He narrowed his eyes. 'What's Knuckles doing HERE?' He wondered.
Little did he know that there was someone who was even better at hiding than he was prowling the area that day.
He was very startled when he heard a voice right next to him speak up. "Who are you?"
He jumped a little and turned, not expecting to have been seen. But there was nobody there. He immediately leaped into a spin kick aimed behind him, thinking the speaker had circled around to attack from behind. But his foot only connected with air.
He looked around in confusion, looking for the person who had spoken and finding no one.
"I'll say it again," The voice spoke in his ear. "Who are you?"
His fist shot out in a devastating backhand that apparently missed. Someone or something chuckled from off to his left, and he kicked blindly in that direction. "That won't exactly work." The Thing snickered, this time from above him.
He looked around wildly, almost frightened that he was facing an invisible opponent. "Where are you?" He whispered.
"Now why should I answer that?" The Thing replied from somewhere in front of him. "You'd just attack me, wouldn't you? I tell you what. If you tell me who you are and what you're doing here, I'll show myself to you."
Then he realized something. Why was he bothering with this person? He could just run away, couldn't he? "Forget you." He growled before taking off. Immediately he collided with something and knocked it down, throwing them both to the ground. A muffled "Oof!" indicated that he'd finally hit the Thing that had been speaking to him.
He blinked. It seemed solid enough, even if he couldn't see it. Quick as a flash, he had his arm around what he thought was its throat and squeezed, choking it. "What are you?" He hissed.
The Thing gave a choked reply before fading into sight before his eyes. His eyes widened as a purple chameleon appeared out of nowhere before him. "My...name is......Espio......" The chameleon coughed.
He blinked and released Espio immediately, standing up in surprise. The chameleon gasped for air gratefully and lay on the ground for a few seconds as he caught his breath. After a few moments he sat up to catch sight of his attacker, but the being was gone.
----------
"Okay Bunnie, let 'er rip!"
This exclamation was followed shortly afterward by a laser-blast vaporising the padlock to Tails' cell. Sally rushed forward and opened the door with a rusty screech, and embraced Tails when he practically leapt out into her arms. Sally looked up at Bunnie and Antoine after a few moments. "Okay," She began, "now we need to find out where they're holding Sonic."
"But Aunt Sally! They took Sonic out of the prisons! He's not here!"
This statement Surprised Sally so much that she let go of Tails and stepped back in shock. "What?? Oh, no! We've got to hurry, they might already be taking him to the roboticizer!" Without waiting for the others, she started running towards the cell block entrance.
"Hey! Sally-girl, wait up a sec!" Bunnie yelled as she, Antoine and Tails chased after the Princess.
----------
He slowly glanced out of the vent at the area around him. Nothing ususual met his eyes. Deciding this was a good sign, he dropped out of the vent to the ground, hardly making a noise upon landing.
Again he paused, looking around slowly from left to right, keen ears straining for the slightest hint of a footstep. No sounds were heard, so he finally relaxed and glanced around casually. That name he'd overheard in the rabbit's conversation.....it couldn't be the same Sonic he knew, could it?
He had to find out. Walking slowly down the cell block, he casually glanced through the bars in the cells. No prisoners met his eyes. Either they were all in a different cell block, or Robotnik had already roboticized them all. He could care less. All that mattered was finding out whether the same Sonic he was thinking of was here or not.....
Something caught his eye. Farther down the hallway, the door to a single cell had been left wide open. He snorted. Was Robotnik raised in a barn or something? Didn't he have enough sense to close doors anymore? Shaking his head in mild disgust, he continued on past the door.
The next cell was heavily shadowed, making it difficult to see into. But somehow, he managed to make out the shape lying on its floor just fine. He strode to the front of the cell and grasped a couple bars. He stared at the shape for a few moments, his eyes sparkling with some hidden emotion. "So it WAS you they were talking about." He muttered softly. The tiniest hint of a smile crept into his expression. "Good to see you again, blue hedgehog."
He stepped back and gave the bars a cursory glance, folding his arms as he pondered how he would get Sonic out of that cell. For indeed, that was just what he planned to do.
After a moment of consideration, he strode up to the bars and gave each of them a firm yank, testing them for weaknesses. To his sinister delight he found one-a loose bar. With a moment's pause and a muffled grunt, he jerked the metal pole out of the door, letting it fall to the floor with a clatter.
He stepped easily through the now-sizable gap between the bars, and gingerly picked up the battered blue form that still lay crumpled inside. Getting back out through the hole was just as easy, although he was hindered a bit by having to carry Sonic over his shoulder.
Still, he managed. Looking up and down the hallway again, he noted with suspicion the lack of guards stationed here. It seemed very odd to him that Robotnik would leave someone like Sonic unguarded. Of course, it was possible that all the guards had been called away to deal with that rabbit and Knuckles, but he couldn't help feeling a sense of foreboding sweep over him. Something was wrong here. Very wrong.
Still, he was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, as the expression went. Walking easily back down the corridor to the ventilation shaft he'd used, he heaved Sonic up and into it before clambering up into the space himself. If he hurried, he could get out of here before anything else happened.
He clamped the vent's grate back into place, then grabbed Sonic's inert form and crawled away into the labyrinth of the fortress's circulatory system.
Silence descended upon the prison block, now empty save a single metal bar on the floor.
----------
"Sally!"
The voice spoke up with such urgency in its tone that Sally nearly fell over in mid-stride. Luckily, she managed to regain her balance and slow down enough to where she could activate her radio and answer the summons. "What is it, Doctor Quack?"
"Sally, you're not going to believe this.....I was just going to the Medical Hut to check up on some last-minute paperwork, and guess who I found on the front step? Wait, don't try answering, I'll tell you: It was Sonic!"
Sally gaped at the radio in complete disbelief. The only reply she could stutter out was: "W-what??"
"Get back here to Knothole, NOW! I'll tell you more once you're here." The comm suddenly went silent, leaving a stunned Sally Acorn standing in the hallways of Robotnik's fortress.
Tails, Bunnie and Antoine finally caught up with the Princess, with Bunnie glaring daggers at her. "Sally-girl, what was the meanin' of ya'll just gettin' up and runnin' away lahk that?!"
"Sonic's.....been rescued." Sally replied, barely hearing Bunnie's reprimanding words.
That stopped Bunnie's tirade before it even began. "WHAT?!"
"We've got to get back to Knothole!" Sally answered, finally coming out of her daze. "Quick, let's radio Knuckles and tell him we're moving out!" She dashed off down the hallway again, much to Bunnie's dismay.
"Sally-girl!!" Bunnie yelled futilely after her. "Dangit, why can't she just wait up?"
----------
Only twenty feet away from where Espio had found the mysterious newcomer, Knuckles ran through the SWATbot ranks like a hot knife through butter, smashing anything that moved. He was having a blast. Although guarding the Master Emerald was his job, it got awfully boring. A little action was just what he needed, and he was enjoying every moment of this.
One SWATbot shot its lasers at him and almost hit, but Knux had ducked and rolled away before the laser should have done so. He came to his feet in front of the robot that had fired and punched his fist straight through its head, leaving a gaping hole which spat circuitry and sparks.
Knux grinned as the robot wobbled and fell to the ground in pieces. Sonic had told him several times about how much fun he'd had on some of his raids in Robotropolis.....and now Knux understood why.
Suddenly, his radio started beeping, recieving an incoming signal.....
----------
"Knuckles!" Sally barked into her small shortwave radio. "Knux, do you copy?"
The echidna's voice came through. "Yeah, what is it?"
"We're heading back to Knothole. Mission accomplished." Sally could hardly believe the words, even as she said them.
"Gotcha. I'll meet up with you guys in a sec."
Sally turned the radio off and glanced behind her, to find that the others had caught up with her again. Bunnie looked like she had a lot to say to Sally, but couldn't find the words to say it with. Antoine just looked like she had when she'd first recieved the news: stunned. Then Sally looked down at Tails, to see the little fox crying with relief that Sonic was okay. Sally knealt down and hugged him tightly, whispering comforting words in Tails' ear as the young fox cried on her shoulder. "Ssh, there there, Tails.....it'll be okay.....Sonic'll be alright, he's safe now.....you don't have to worry.....it's okay....." Tails nodded at her comforting words, but continued to release all the pent-up emotion he'd kept bottled up since they'd broken him out.
Finally Sally released the embrace and stood up, a little teary-eyed herself. She turned to the two other Freedom Fighers there and spoke only two words. "Let's go."
The rest of the mission was rather uneventful. Knuckles arrived at the prisons through the route Sally and Antoine had used, found Sally and the others, and helped them climb back out. When they arrived outside they met up with Espio and Rotor, and all of them high-tailed it back to Knothole.
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Sonic came to quite some time later. Odd, he didn't just wake up like he normally did--first he heard something beeping, then a voice in his head saying, "Main systems online. Loading secondary systems." His eyes opened and he sat up to look at where he was.
Sonic blinked. What was wrong with his vision? Everything around him looked like images from a computer screen. He turned his head from side to side, taking in his location. It looked like he was still somewhere in Robotnik's lab--the room seemed to have the same dirty, ruined look that the rest of the city did.
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Mecha woke up and opened his eyes. He didn't feel himself come online; just blink, and he was staring at a wooden ceiling. Pain lashed through his body, making him mentally wince. Slowly he sat up, noticing the abscence of the battery recharger's familiar hum. Mecha closed his eyes and opened them again. For some reason, his view seemed sharper, more enhanced than usual. He looked around. The walls of the room he was in seemed to be made of some sort of clay. A window above his head allowed bright, unobstructed sunlight to enter the area. Underneath him was a cushioned bed, and his head had been propped up by several pillows.
Staring around at their unfamiliar surroundings, Mecha and Sonic spoke at the same time.
"What happened?"
Stoney: What? The chapter's over already?! Nooo!
Cliffhangers are nice. I like cliffhangers. They taste yummy. Have no fear, my next chapter is nearly complete! Soon you will find out just WHAT our favorite hedgehogs think of their new predictament! Hopefully, it won't take me nearly as long to update the next chapter.....[darn Document Manager on this site, it makes me so mad.....]
You might notice that a little bit of this chapter borrows from a teaser written by NetRaptor as part of her Fanfiction "Complete the Story" contest. This is because I had started this fic with the intention of entering it in the contest, but before I could finish it the contest ended. Since then, I have decided to simply post it as a new fanfic and have resumed writing it. PLEASE don't go flaming me and telling me that I'm stealing from NetRaptor intentionally, because I'm not. Thanks for understanding!
As an added bonus, I've included an extra-special, all-natural, 100% whole- grain preview of the next chapter below! Aren't I nice?
Sonic: Hey! How'd you get out of the Torture Room?!
Stoney: Uh, oh, gotta run! "till next chapter, toodles! (gets chased offscreen by Sonic)
~PREVIEW! YAY!~
His hands were completely encased in metal.
Sonic stopped thinking entirely. He moved his hands, and the metal abominations in front of him moved accordingly. He mentally ordered his hands to snap their fingers, and the metal hands did so with a sharp clank Each finger was a conical metal spike that somehow retained enough flexibiliy to bend at the joints. The palm was nothing more than a thick metal plate, shaped slightly rectangular and painted a dull yellow.
Sonic's thoughts resumed full force, and terror swept through him. He had been roboticized. Somehow, he just knew it. He was now a robot. That tube they'd put him in must've been some modified version of the Roboticizer. Sonic didn't doubt it for a second.
Sonic cradled his head in his disfigured hands for a few moments before a thought occurred to him. If he'd been roboticized, then how come he'd retained his free will?
Hope surged through him. Maybe the roboticizer had messed up because of what he'd done to it, and it hadn't been able to enslave his mind! If that was the case, Robotnik had made an even greater mistake than he'd realized- Sonic now had a durable metal body and amazing new strength, to boot. He could trash Robotnik's fortress easily in this form, he realized.
He looked around again. Some sort of power cord was connected to his stomach. The cord led over to a small generator humming nearby. He had been laying down flat on a metal table, cluttered with parts of other machines and several power tools. A flat piece of metal that lay near his hands had been polished so much that it reflected images like a mirror. Sonic picked it up and tilted it so it would reveal his face, dreading what he would see.
Staring back at Sonic from within the reflection were the blood-red pupils of Mecha.