I do not own Sonic or any related characters. Blah blah. Now on with the
story.
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The freedom fighters had just reached the outskirts of Robotropolis, the polluted city and headquarters of the malevolent Dr. Robotnik, who had kidnapped the residents of Emerald Hill Zone. Sonic peered around the corner of a derelict building, checking for any patrols, behind him Sally was trying to silence Tails, who was having trouble breathing in the dirtied air.
"The trick is not to take deep breaths." Sally told the fox. "But I don't have much.air as it is.if I breathe less.I'll suffocate." Tails replied between coughs and splutters. "Just trust me." After a spate of coughs, Tails tried to stop himself from gasping, it took a few moments, but he soon managed to stop choking. "Hey it worked." He exclaimed. "The coast is clear." Sonic butted in. "Let's go."
The three moved along the main street, ducking into alleys along the way, not wanting to take the risk of being spotted. It wasn't long before they reached the very centre of the city, and Robotnik's base of operations. "I really don't like this." Sonic said, walking up to the front door. "I know, we haven't come across a single patrol and there's no-one guarding the front door." Sally concurred. "Not that I'm complaining that we've had it easy, but this is so obviously a trap." He said opening the door. "Which means he knows we're here already, so there's no point in sneaking in." He continued, striding inside as casually as possible. Sally quickly followed, trying to stop him. "Sonic wait, he could have it booby." She shouted, but was cut short as the door slammed shut and locked behind Tails. ".trapped." She gave Sonic an angry glare. "What?"
While they started bickering, Tails took in his surroundings, though he didn't find it beautiful, he was awe struck at all of the gadgets and machinery that lit up the place like a Christmas tree. It was a fairly large room; the walls were made from a thick grey metal just like the walls on the outside, although these weren't heavily coated in oil and grime, at the other end of the room was a small desk, obviously for a receptionist, or a robot equivalent to sit behind, but at the moment there was nobody there. Suddenly the PA system kicked in with an ear-piercing whistle, Sonic and Sally immediately stopped arguing and listened as they heard someone clearing their throat over the microphone.
"Welcome to my humble home Spikeball, I hope you like it because it the last place you'll ever see." Said the voice, trailing into a cold heartless tone before laughing manically. "Yeah whatever Robotnik!" Sonic shouted out, knowing that he would be able to hear him. "What have you done with the Emerald Hill Folk?" He continued. "Why I haven't done anything to them," Robotnik answered, pretending to sound shocked. "Yet. They're down in my Laboratory, but you wont be able to get to them." "Oh and why's that?" As if on cue, a squadron of troopers burst out of a door and lined up, aiming their guns at the Mobians. Tails became scared and began to whimper slightly. "Don't worry Tails." Sonic said, trying comfort the fox. "These guys are easy, just aim for the chest and they virtually fall apart, just don't let them shoot you." "I think he could have figured that one out for himself." Sally mocked before running towards the troopers, closely followed by Sonic.
All of the troopers opened fire on the hedgehog, as they were programmed to do so over any other freedom fighter, this gave Sally the opportunity to just walk right up to them without fear of being attacked. She disarmed the first with a swift kick; the gun went flying into another's head, while the machine was staggering back, she kicked it in the chest, knocking it back into the wall and destroying it. Meanwhile Sonic had already destroyed half of the troop, blasting straight through them like a cannonball, and after taking cover at the sound of gunfire, Tails had finally got the nerve to attack, flying above their heads, punching and kicking as hard as he could. It wasn't long before they had destroyed the whole regiment and went through the door they had come from, leading them to a short hallway with a lift and two doors, one leading to the stairs, the other leading to somewhere unknown as it was locked.
"I think we better take the stairs, Robotnik's bound to have booby trapped the lift." The squirrel said. The other two agreed, Sonic dashed to the front heading up to the next floor, but when he tried the door, it was locked, so he went up another floor. 'Locked too.' He thought to himself. He continued doing this until he reached the very top, the door that led to the roof, he pushed the bar down and heard the clanking sound of it unlocking, but he didn't open it, instead he rush back down to the others, telling them of his news, then picked Sally up and dashed back up again, with Tails flying straight up between the banisters.
They slowly walked through the door, suddenly finding harder to breathe again out in the polluted air, but that soon passed as they caught sight of what was at the other side of the building by the second stairwell. "It's about time you pests showed up, I do have other things to do besides ridding you from my life." The maniacal dictator bellowed. "Cram it Robotnik," Sonic barked back. "What have you done with the Emerald Hill People?" "Oh don't worry they're fine, for now, and you can see them soon enough, but first I want you to meet my newest creation, the prototype of the Metallix!" Robotnik exclaimed, ending his short speech in a tremendous roar.
The trio waited, as Robotnik's new machine slowly revealed itself, walking out from behind Robotnik. He had made it in the form of Sonic himself, the same height and build, even the metal quills looked similar, though as it was a prototype, it had no added paint to it, only having the dull grey of the metal it was made from as colour. "I'm flattered, but I'm better looking than that." Sonic remarked. "And I have to admit, I was expecting something bigger to be hiding behind that big ol' but of yours." "Yes, you can wise crack all you like Spikeball, but it wont stop your demise." Robotnik snarled back. "Metallix, attack!"
The machines blood red eyes glowed brighter for a second as it computed its master's command, then in the blink of an eye it charged at the three, extending its arm slightly and swiping it across them, luckily for Tails he was short enough for the attack to pass right over him, but the others weren't so fortunate, the Metallix hit them both in the face and as a result, they staggered back and tumbled over the edge of the roof. Tails panicked, he ran towards the edge, planning to try and save his friends, but before he could reach it, the Metallix moved between them and he ran straight into it with a hard metal clang, falling flat on his back a little dazed.
As the two fall to their untimely doom, Sonic extends his hand out to Sally, who wastes no time in taking it in her own. Sonic pulls her in close and moves his hand around her waist and waits, suddenly he sticks his free hand out, grabbing onto the end of a flagpole, which bends from the sudden weight put on it, moving them towards the building, timing it just right, Sonic let go sending the two hurtling through a window and into an abandoned office.
By the time his head had stopped spinning, the prototype was towering over him, its eyes glowing brighter than ever, sending a chill down the fox's spine. "Eliminate target." The machine said in a monotone voice, as it began to overload some of its circuits, forming the energy into a ball, making it an effective weapon. Tails curled up as tightly as he could, covering his head with his arms and scrunching his eyes tightly shut, whimpering expectantly.
"Stand down my beauty." Came a voice, Robotnik's'. "You have proved yourself enough, I won't be sending you to the scrap heap." He suddenly felt himself being lifted up by the scruff of his neck, he tried to struggle free but froze when he was turned around and was almost nose-to-nose with Robotnik. "So this is the hedgehog's new recruit, the one who's even faster than he is." Robotnik said with an evil smirk on his face. "I suppose appearances can be deceiving." He mocked. "Lemme go you evil.blob!" Tails shouted, trying to squirm out of Robotnik's grip. "You're lucky I have something special planned for you." Robotnik bellowed, shaking the poor fox around. "I would have let my Metallix have you for that remark."
Tails stopped squirming and almost froze, he didn't know what to be scared of most, being given to the killing machine behind him as some sort of plaything that would be ripped to shreds, or the thought of what Robotnik could have planned for him. He wouldn't have long to find out, as Robotnik took him back inside through the other stairwell.
Meanwhile, Sonic and Sally were just coming to from their little ordeal, and after quickly brushing themselves clean of glass and other things, which they managed to land on they quickly set out to rescue their friend. "I knew we shouldn't have brought him along, why do I always listen to you instead of myself?" Sally snarled. "Because you can't resist my hedgehog charms." Sonic joked in reply. "This isn't funny Sonic, Tails is up their all alone with that madman, we have to save him." "He's not up there." Sonic said, now serious. "What? How do you know?" Said wondered. "If I know Robotnik, and unfortunately I do, he'll have taken Tails down to his laboratory by now. That's where we need to go, not the roof." He explained. "Then let's go." Sally commanded, wanting to hurry things along. She grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, but as soon as they stepped outside of the office, troopers and Badniks galore surrounded them. "We do not have time for this!" Sonic growled, heading for the nearest enemy.
Meanwhile in Robotnik's laboratory, Tails was stood in a small, suspended cage, watching fearfully as Robotnik worked on the device he had planned for him. Sparks fly off in all directions as the evil scientist uses the welder to change the shape of his project. "You better let me go, or you'll be sorry." Tails whimpered, feeling the safety the cage was giving him from Robotnik.
Robotnik turned to face the kit and lifted his goggles from his eyes, leaving them on top of his head as he always does. "What are you going to do, cry on me?" He cackled. "Oh you're talking about Sonic aren't you, well if he does make it past my defences, then he's going to get a nasty shock when he comes to rescue you and your furry friends." He said in a cold tone, opening the cage door and reaching in for the fox. Tails backed to the other side of the cage as Robotnik's shadow loomed over him, he was hoping beyond hope that Sonic would just burst in right now, but when Robotnik grabbed his foot, he knew it wasn't going to happen.
"Come on, let's go, we don't have much time." Sonic said, throwing the last Badnik into the wall. Sally ran past him and barged her way through the stair doors, Sonic, a little taken aback by her swiftness, quickly followed her, picking her up as he rocketed down the stairs and into the basement. It wasn't long before they found the corridor that would take them to the lab, but a security locked door impeded their progress. "That's all we need, if only we had some kind of code breaker." Sally said examining the lock. "Why break the lock, when you can just break the door." Sonic said motioning for Sally to move out of the way. He took a few steps back to give himself a run up, then bolted towards the door, jumping into the air and putting all of his might into a Spin Attack. He hit the door hard, making a sound almost as loud as a small explosion, he made a large dent where he hit it, but he still had momentum, and began pushing the door in, the hinges and locks began to buckle until they were completely ripped from their frame.
Sonic landed on one knee to steady himself, and rubbed the back of his head before standing, his expression was showing how much that had hurt, but he soon hid it as Sally began to pass him, changing it for one that was more smug. "Sometimes I'm so good, I even surprise myself." He commented. Sally just sighed. "Stop showing off and let's go get Tails and the Emerald Hill people." Sonic waited for her to pass before hopping around in agony, holding the back of his head, stifling a scream.
"Laboratory security breached, intruder alert, subjects Sonic The hedgehog and Sally Acorn." The computer announced in Robotnik's lab. Robotnik was busy welding again, the sparks giving his face an ugly glow, behind him an empty cage swung from the short struggle between it's owner and it's last occupant. "Metallix, deal with them!" Robotnik called to the machine standing by a wall behind him. "I obey." The Metallix replied in a cold, unfeeling tone. The Metal Sonic walked out of the laboratory, heading off to meet its prey, leaving Robotnik to his evil deeds.
Back in the corridor, Sonic and Sally were trying to plan for anything they could think of that Robotnik might have waiting for them. "Move!" Sonic shouted, pushing Sally to one wall and backing himself against the other. Suddenly a ball of energy zipped by, exploding somewhere at the other end of the passage. "What the hell was that?" Sonic wondered aloud. He soon found out as the Metallix charged at him, punching him in the face and knocking him to the ground. "You have met your match hedgehog, I am like you in every way, only better." The machine gloated. "We'll see about that." Sonic barked back, getting up and swinging for the robot. But the machine just simply moved out of the way, delivering a blow to the hedgehog's stomach in reply, then let him drop to the floor. Sally made her move, she tried to use hand-to-hand combat against it, but it was simply too quick and blocked everything, countering with a backhand to the face.
By this time Sonic had gotten to his feet and threw a punch at his metal counterpart head, but he didn't hit his target, instead, Metallix had caught his attack and began digging it's sharp fingers into the back of Sonic's hand, then as Sonic began to cry out in pain, it grabbed his extended arm and threw Sonic into the wall, creating cracks upon impact.
Sonic slid down into a sitting position, his head was hurting even more now than it was before, his vision was a little blurred, but he could still see what was going on. The Metallix was stood right in front of him, creating another ball of energy, Sonic wanted to attack him, but he felt too dizzy to do anything. Suddenly Sally stormed in with a flying kick to the Metallix's head, making it fire into the wall, creating a large hole. She helped Sonic to his feet, who tried to focus on his target, he charged at the Metallix, hitting it in the chest with a Spin Attack. The force of the attack knocked the machine into a wall and it collapsed, circuitry sparking.
After they were certain it wasn't getting back up again, they ran the rest of the way down the corridor, finally reaching Robotnik's lab, but when they opened the door, there was nobody there. A large metal barrier slowly lifted up, revealing Robotnik behind inch thick bulletproof glass.
"I don't know how you defeated my Metallix, but your pathetic little lives end here!" He bellowed through an intercom. "Can it Robotnik!" Sonic shouted back. "What have you done with the Emerald Hill people and where's Tails?" "Oh the Emerald Hill fluff balls are just in there." He said pointing to a large metal cell door below him, though Sonic was undecided whether to trust him or not as they could not see inside. "But you wont get to them, and as for Tails, well he's right here."
Robotnik pushed a button and a heavy object dropped from the ceiling, landing right in front of Sonic and Sally, cracking the floor and creating a dust cloud that prevented them from seeing what it was. As the dust starts to clear, a small silhouette appears. "Tails, is that you?" Sally called running towards the figure, only to be struck in the face and flung across the floor, knocking her out cold.
Sonic too could see the figure. "Hey Tails what's the big idea?" He shouted at his friend. But as the dust died down some more he realised that it wasn't his friend, or at least not any more. "What have you done to him Robotnik?" He shouted at the insane dictator, not taking his eyes from his mechanised friend. "I would like you to meet the new Tails." Robotnik laughed. "Complete with arm mounted lasers, rear rotor blades and he's made from a super strong metal I created." "So you've given him some extra fire power than usual, I'm still gonna smash it and free my friend." Sonic said plainly.
"Oh I think not, you see this is no ordinary Badnik, this is my new Cybernik!" Robotnik exclaimed, standing up from his chair, almost expecting a cheer to be heard. "You see a few weeks ago I made plans for the Cybernik, a machine that, like the regular Badnik, uses the creature inside as a battery. But unlike the regular Badnik, it uses the power, skills and intelligence of the host, allowing the machine to think and act on it's own judgement, while still being totally loyal to me." He began to explain.
"Then before I melted them down for failure, some of my Badniks told me of a two tailed fox that had beaten Sonic in a race, and how the fox was incredibly intelligent for his age. I was ecstatic; I knew that if I could get a hold of him then he would be perfect for my Cybernik, so I sent spy cameras to record images of him, allowing me to model the frame. I worked all through the night to get it ready in time, for I knew that by taking the villagers you would bring him with you to save them. And now for doing so, he will kill you."
The Cybernik immediately attacked Sonic, throwing punch after punch, but none were landing on their target, as Sonic was fast enough to avoid them. Despite this, Sonic wouldn't retaliate, not wanting to attack it, knowing that his friend was inside and not knowing if he would be ok if he let loose and smashed it open. The Cybernik however, continues its onslaught, much to the delight Robotnik, now giddy with excitement of how well his creation is doing. Sonic was getting tired, he could keep doing this for much longer, he had to attack, even if it was his friend inside. He quickly ran behind it, turned and hit it in the back of the head with a Spin Attack, knocking it to the ground with a loud clang.
"So much for your new machine." Sonic mocked over his shoulder. "Ah, but you haven't seen any of it's tricks yet." Robotnik replied.
The Cybernik shot back up and aimed one of its lasers at Sonic, as soon as it fired, Sonic threw himself to one side to avoid it, but he was still caught by the blast as it hit the ground, causing him to land awkwardly.
"I think you'll love his next weapon, in fact, I think you'll go to pieces over it." Robotnik cackled, unable to stop himself from laughing at his own terrible joke.
The Cybernik turned away and placed its hands on the floor, Sonic just watched unsure at what the machine was doing, slowly the rotor blades began to turn, picking up speed in a matter of seconds, it was then that Sonic realised what was happening, he was being sucked in towards the razor sharp rotor blades. He tried to get up and run away, but the suction was already too strong, he could only hold fast, then it got stronger. He slowly began to drift backwards getting closer and closer to the blades, he was less than a few inches away, when suddenly a huge blast hit the robot and sent it flying across the room. The sudden stop in suction almost made Sonic run into the nearest wall, but he just managed to turn in time and take a quick rest.
"What the hell do you think you're doing you stupid machine? Sonic was about to become mincemeat!" Robotnik bellowed over the intercom. At first Sonic thought he was venting his anger on the Cybernik, who had stopped just before he could have killed him, but then he noticed something else in the room. The Metallix. "I must kill Sonic The Hedgehog." It commanded, clearly malfunctioning after its fight with him. "I think I'm going to have to make some adjustment to the Metallix." Robotnik grumbled to himself. "Cybernik, destroy them both!" He shouted.
The Cybernik slowly got back to its feet, despite the force of the blast it took, its armour was almost unscathed barring a few scorch marks. However, it didn't try to attack, instead it just stood there, carrying itself in a child like manner. "S-Sonic, I'm sorry, I-I can't help it." It said. "Tails!" Sonic called, immediately recognising his friend's voice. "I said attack!" Robotnik roared. Tails dropped to one knee, holding his head. "Sonic, please help me." He begged before Robotnik bellowed another command. "Tails, keep fighting it, I know you can do it." Sonic called to the mechanised fox. After a few moments the fox looked up again. "Tails?" Sonic spoke, not knowing who was now in control. He stood up once more, aimed his laser and fired it, hitting the Metallix, which had been walking around in circles for the past five minutes, right in the head, blowing it clean apart. "Oh man, am I glad it's you." Sonic sighed, walking over to Tails, but stopped when the machine moved its arm again, this time aiming it at him. "Uh oh." Was all the hedgehog could think of in the short space of time he had.
He quickly ducked underneath the laser shot, and then charged at the Cybernik, jumping in the air and landing a heavy foot into its face and knocking it to the ground. Yet it got straight back up again. Sonic knew this wasn't going to work, the armour was simply too strong, so after dodging another laser blast, he put all of the strength he could muster into one Spin Attack, just like he had done with the door. He hit the Cybernik in the chest, hurling it across the room and into a mainframe that was positioned against the wall. The Mainframe begins to malfunction, sending wave after wave of electricity into the robot, suddenly the head lifts up and the chest unfolds, exposing Tails, hooked up to all sorts of plugs and wires. Sonic tries to get to his friend before he gets fried, but the spouting bolts of electricity keep him at bay; he tries to quickly think of a way to help him, when suddenly the mainframe shuts down, stopping the flowing electricity.
"What the." Sonic began, only stopping as he noticed Sally standing only a few yards away, she had just woken up in time to witness Sonic's final blow, and had rushed over to help. "It's called a plug Sonic." She said, swinging the lead around in a circle. "I'll get Tails, you get through that door." She instructed, pointing to the same place Robotnik had earlier.
Once at the door, Sonic checked it over, just in case there were any obvious traps, not seeing any, he wandered to the side of the door and tentatively pushed the button, the doors burst into life, half of it lifting up into the wall, the other half retracting into the floor. Inside, the captured Mobians were squinting from the bright light, which had just entered their pitch-black room, as soon as Sonic came into view, the prisoners began rejoicing, some even crying with glee. The blue hedgehog entered the room, immediately noticing the thick long chain that tied all of the prisoners together by the ankles, and also secured them to the wall.
Grabbing the nearest wall attachment, he pulled as hard as he could, placing a foot on the wall for extra leverage after his first failed attempt. It wasn't long before Sonic became impatient; he turned to face the prisoners with an annoyed expression. "Well don't just sit there, give me a hand." He shouted. The Emerald Hill people snapped into action, lining up behind the blue hedgehog and, in count, began pulling the chain, after a few tugs, a link broke near the wall, and they all tumbled backwards. "Quick, get out of here, and don't stop running until you get home." Sonic ordered while helping the prisoners free themselves via the loose end.
The villagers had all left the lab in just a few minutes, Sonic dashed up to Sally, who had by then freed Tails and was carrying the unconscious fox in her arms. "Is that everybody?" She asked. "Yeah, now let's get out of here." Sonic replied, and was about to start running when the PA system kicked in again. "Not so fast Spikeball!" Robotnik shouted, the blast door closing at the same time, locking them inside. Sonic looked up at the control room, where Robotnik was before, but it was empty. "There's no point looking for me Sonic," Robotnik cackled. "I left while you were doing your little rescue mission, and I'm now far enough away so I wont get caught by the blast." "Blast?" Sonic wondered out loud. "Oh, that's right, I haven't told you yet." He gloated, wanting to drag his inevitable victory out for as long as possible. "My lab is rigged with enough explosives to destroy the whole building, and you with it." He exclaimed, bellowing with laughter upon its finish.
"So your gonna blow me up eh, but what about your precious Head Quarters, if what you say is true, then you'll turn it to rubble." Sonic explained to the nearest camera, trying to talk his way out of the bad situation. "But my Head Quarters can be rebuilt, and it will be a lot easier to do so without you around." Robotnik replied. "You not gonna get away with this." Sonic shouted back, feeling aggravated that his plan hadn't worked. "How cliché, you have minutes before your pathetic lives end, that should be enough time for you to beg for mercy." Robotnik gloated once more. "Not that I'll give it." He muttered under his breath. With that a countdown started inside the lab.
"There's got to be a way out of here." Sally said with a slight air of panic in her voice. "But where?" Sonic replied. "We're underground, and that door is way too thick for me to knock down." "Then we have to shut the self destruct program down." She exclaimed, running to the nearest console. She handed Tails to Sonic, and began typing away, trying to get into its systems, but each time her path was block by a password screen, to which she couldn't guess.
While she kept trying, Sonic laid Tails on the floor and gently began to tap his face, trying to wake the fox up. "Tails, wake up buddy." But he soon got impatient and gave him a hefty slap. "Wake up Tails!" The first thing Tails did after he slowly opened his eyes was to clutch his stinging cheek. "Why are you hitting me." He whimpered. "Sorry bro, but you wouldn't wake up, and we need your help." Sonic explained. "You're good with computers right?" He asked to be certain. "Well I don't like to gloat but." He began to say. "That's great, come on." Sonic interrupted, grabbing his wrist and pulling him up and toward the console. But before Tails could start typing, he collapsed to the floor. "What wrong with me?" "That's probably my fault." Sonic admitted, remembering the final blow he dealt on the Cybernik. "But there's no time to just lay there, I'll hold you up while you type, and hurry, the bombs gonna go off in less than three minutes." He explained. "Bomb!" Tails shrieked, immediately getting back up again.
Tails began frantically typing, information passing over the screen so fast that even Sonic couldn't keep up with it, but each time the message displayed 'access denied'. To make things worse Tails was slowing down and was finding it increasingly difficult to stay awake. The computers voice announced that there was only a minute left, but Tails still couldn't get in. "Thirty seconds." It broadcasted again, then Tails stopped, his arms flopped to his sides and his head lolled. Sonic, who was holding on to his torso, let go and moved to his side to check on him. "Oh great, he's out of it again." He grumbled, as Tails fell face first into the keyboard, then onto the floor. "Ooh, that's gotta hurt." He commented, quickly picking his friend back up again.
"Sonic look!" Sally cried excitedly, pointing to the screen, to which Sonic complied. The screen was now flashing 'access granted', then began shutting down the self-destruct sequence and opened the blast door. "Alright!" Sonic shouted. "Tails and his face stopped the bombs, in your face Robotnik." He continued, celebrating with a little victory dance with Tails, who was still unconscious. "Come on Sonic, let's go in case it starts up again." Sally called. The three left the building as quickly as possible, heading back for home with the rest of the Emerald Hill villagers.
Meanwhile, in an unknown area, Robotnik was cursing the hedgehog to high heaven, smashing his view screen in his rage. "That hedgehog ruins everything." He yelled. "But mark my words hedgehog, when my Death Egg is complete, you shall regret the day you crossed paths with Dr. Ivo Robotnik." He bellowed at the top of his lungs, laughing insanely into the night air.
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The freedom fighters had just reached the outskirts of Robotropolis, the polluted city and headquarters of the malevolent Dr. Robotnik, who had kidnapped the residents of Emerald Hill Zone. Sonic peered around the corner of a derelict building, checking for any patrols, behind him Sally was trying to silence Tails, who was having trouble breathing in the dirtied air.
"The trick is not to take deep breaths." Sally told the fox. "But I don't have much.air as it is.if I breathe less.I'll suffocate." Tails replied between coughs and splutters. "Just trust me." After a spate of coughs, Tails tried to stop himself from gasping, it took a few moments, but he soon managed to stop choking. "Hey it worked." He exclaimed. "The coast is clear." Sonic butted in. "Let's go."
The three moved along the main street, ducking into alleys along the way, not wanting to take the risk of being spotted. It wasn't long before they reached the very centre of the city, and Robotnik's base of operations. "I really don't like this." Sonic said, walking up to the front door. "I know, we haven't come across a single patrol and there's no-one guarding the front door." Sally concurred. "Not that I'm complaining that we've had it easy, but this is so obviously a trap." He said opening the door. "Which means he knows we're here already, so there's no point in sneaking in." He continued, striding inside as casually as possible. Sally quickly followed, trying to stop him. "Sonic wait, he could have it booby." She shouted, but was cut short as the door slammed shut and locked behind Tails. ".trapped." She gave Sonic an angry glare. "What?"
While they started bickering, Tails took in his surroundings, though he didn't find it beautiful, he was awe struck at all of the gadgets and machinery that lit up the place like a Christmas tree. It was a fairly large room; the walls were made from a thick grey metal just like the walls on the outside, although these weren't heavily coated in oil and grime, at the other end of the room was a small desk, obviously for a receptionist, or a robot equivalent to sit behind, but at the moment there was nobody there. Suddenly the PA system kicked in with an ear-piercing whistle, Sonic and Sally immediately stopped arguing and listened as they heard someone clearing their throat over the microphone.
"Welcome to my humble home Spikeball, I hope you like it because it the last place you'll ever see." Said the voice, trailing into a cold heartless tone before laughing manically. "Yeah whatever Robotnik!" Sonic shouted out, knowing that he would be able to hear him. "What have you done with the Emerald Hill Folk?" He continued. "Why I haven't done anything to them," Robotnik answered, pretending to sound shocked. "Yet. They're down in my Laboratory, but you wont be able to get to them." "Oh and why's that?" As if on cue, a squadron of troopers burst out of a door and lined up, aiming their guns at the Mobians. Tails became scared and began to whimper slightly. "Don't worry Tails." Sonic said, trying comfort the fox. "These guys are easy, just aim for the chest and they virtually fall apart, just don't let them shoot you." "I think he could have figured that one out for himself." Sally mocked before running towards the troopers, closely followed by Sonic.
All of the troopers opened fire on the hedgehog, as they were programmed to do so over any other freedom fighter, this gave Sally the opportunity to just walk right up to them without fear of being attacked. She disarmed the first with a swift kick; the gun went flying into another's head, while the machine was staggering back, she kicked it in the chest, knocking it back into the wall and destroying it. Meanwhile Sonic had already destroyed half of the troop, blasting straight through them like a cannonball, and after taking cover at the sound of gunfire, Tails had finally got the nerve to attack, flying above their heads, punching and kicking as hard as he could. It wasn't long before they had destroyed the whole regiment and went through the door they had come from, leading them to a short hallway with a lift and two doors, one leading to the stairs, the other leading to somewhere unknown as it was locked.
"I think we better take the stairs, Robotnik's bound to have booby trapped the lift." The squirrel said. The other two agreed, Sonic dashed to the front heading up to the next floor, but when he tried the door, it was locked, so he went up another floor. 'Locked too.' He thought to himself. He continued doing this until he reached the very top, the door that led to the roof, he pushed the bar down and heard the clanking sound of it unlocking, but he didn't open it, instead he rush back down to the others, telling them of his news, then picked Sally up and dashed back up again, with Tails flying straight up between the banisters.
They slowly walked through the door, suddenly finding harder to breathe again out in the polluted air, but that soon passed as they caught sight of what was at the other side of the building by the second stairwell. "It's about time you pests showed up, I do have other things to do besides ridding you from my life." The maniacal dictator bellowed. "Cram it Robotnik," Sonic barked back. "What have you done with the Emerald Hill People?" "Oh don't worry they're fine, for now, and you can see them soon enough, but first I want you to meet my newest creation, the prototype of the Metallix!" Robotnik exclaimed, ending his short speech in a tremendous roar.
The trio waited, as Robotnik's new machine slowly revealed itself, walking out from behind Robotnik. He had made it in the form of Sonic himself, the same height and build, even the metal quills looked similar, though as it was a prototype, it had no added paint to it, only having the dull grey of the metal it was made from as colour. "I'm flattered, but I'm better looking than that." Sonic remarked. "And I have to admit, I was expecting something bigger to be hiding behind that big ol' but of yours." "Yes, you can wise crack all you like Spikeball, but it wont stop your demise." Robotnik snarled back. "Metallix, attack!"
The machines blood red eyes glowed brighter for a second as it computed its master's command, then in the blink of an eye it charged at the three, extending its arm slightly and swiping it across them, luckily for Tails he was short enough for the attack to pass right over him, but the others weren't so fortunate, the Metallix hit them both in the face and as a result, they staggered back and tumbled over the edge of the roof. Tails panicked, he ran towards the edge, planning to try and save his friends, but before he could reach it, the Metallix moved between them and he ran straight into it with a hard metal clang, falling flat on his back a little dazed.
As the two fall to their untimely doom, Sonic extends his hand out to Sally, who wastes no time in taking it in her own. Sonic pulls her in close and moves his hand around her waist and waits, suddenly he sticks his free hand out, grabbing onto the end of a flagpole, which bends from the sudden weight put on it, moving them towards the building, timing it just right, Sonic let go sending the two hurtling through a window and into an abandoned office.
By the time his head had stopped spinning, the prototype was towering over him, its eyes glowing brighter than ever, sending a chill down the fox's spine. "Eliminate target." The machine said in a monotone voice, as it began to overload some of its circuits, forming the energy into a ball, making it an effective weapon. Tails curled up as tightly as he could, covering his head with his arms and scrunching his eyes tightly shut, whimpering expectantly.
"Stand down my beauty." Came a voice, Robotnik's'. "You have proved yourself enough, I won't be sending you to the scrap heap." He suddenly felt himself being lifted up by the scruff of his neck, he tried to struggle free but froze when he was turned around and was almost nose-to-nose with Robotnik. "So this is the hedgehog's new recruit, the one who's even faster than he is." Robotnik said with an evil smirk on his face. "I suppose appearances can be deceiving." He mocked. "Lemme go you evil.blob!" Tails shouted, trying to squirm out of Robotnik's grip. "You're lucky I have something special planned for you." Robotnik bellowed, shaking the poor fox around. "I would have let my Metallix have you for that remark."
Tails stopped squirming and almost froze, he didn't know what to be scared of most, being given to the killing machine behind him as some sort of plaything that would be ripped to shreds, or the thought of what Robotnik could have planned for him. He wouldn't have long to find out, as Robotnik took him back inside through the other stairwell.
Meanwhile, Sonic and Sally were just coming to from their little ordeal, and after quickly brushing themselves clean of glass and other things, which they managed to land on they quickly set out to rescue their friend. "I knew we shouldn't have brought him along, why do I always listen to you instead of myself?" Sally snarled. "Because you can't resist my hedgehog charms." Sonic joked in reply. "This isn't funny Sonic, Tails is up their all alone with that madman, we have to save him." "He's not up there." Sonic said, now serious. "What? How do you know?" Said wondered. "If I know Robotnik, and unfortunately I do, he'll have taken Tails down to his laboratory by now. That's where we need to go, not the roof." He explained. "Then let's go." Sally commanded, wanting to hurry things along. She grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, but as soon as they stepped outside of the office, troopers and Badniks galore surrounded them. "We do not have time for this!" Sonic growled, heading for the nearest enemy.
Meanwhile in Robotnik's laboratory, Tails was stood in a small, suspended cage, watching fearfully as Robotnik worked on the device he had planned for him. Sparks fly off in all directions as the evil scientist uses the welder to change the shape of his project. "You better let me go, or you'll be sorry." Tails whimpered, feeling the safety the cage was giving him from Robotnik.
Robotnik turned to face the kit and lifted his goggles from his eyes, leaving them on top of his head as he always does. "What are you going to do, cry on me?" He cackled. "Oh you're talking about Sonic aren't you, well if he does make it past my defences, then he's going to get a nasty shock when he comes to rescue you and your furry friends." He said in a cold tone, opening the cage door and reaching in for the fox. Tails backed to the other side of the cage as Robotnik's shadow loomed over him, he was hoping beyond hope that Sonic would just burst in right now, but when Robotnik grabbed his foot, he knew it wasn't going to happen.
"Come on, let's go, we don't have much time." Sonic said, throwing the last Badnik into the wall. Sally ran past him and barged her way through the stair doors, Sonic, a little taken aback by her swiftness, quickly followed her, picking her up as he rocketed down the stairs and into the basement. It wasn't long before they found the corridor that would take them to the lab, but a security locked door impeded their progress. "That's all we need, if only we had some kind of code breaker." Sally said examining the lock. "Why break the lock, when you can just break the door." Sonic said motioning for Sally to move out of the way. He took a few steps back to give himself a run up, then bolted towards the door, jumping into the air and putting all of his might into a Spin Attack. He hit the door hard, making a sound almost as loud as a small explosion, he made a large dent where he hit it, but he still had momentum, and began pushing the door in, the hinges and locks began to buckle until they were completely ripped from their frame.
Sonic landed on one knee to steady himself, and rubbed the back of his head before standing, his expression was showing how much that had hurt, but he soon hid it as Sally began to pass him, changing it for one that was more smug. "Sometimes I'm so good, I even surprise myself." He commented. Sally just sighed. "Stop showing off and let's go get Tails and the Emerald Hill people." Sonic waited for her to pass before hopping around in agony, holding the back of his head, stifling a scream.
"Laboratory security breached, intruder alert, subjects Sonic The hedgehog and Sally Acorn." The computer announced in Robotnik's lab. Robotnik was busy welding again, the sparks giving his face an ugly glow, behind him an empty cage swung from the short struggle between it's owner and it's last occupant. "Metallix, deal with them!" Robotnik called to the machine standing by a wall behind him. "I obey." The Metallix replied in a cold, unfeeling tone. The Metal Sonic walked out of the laboratory, heading off to meet its prey, leaving Robotnik to his evil deeds.
Back in the corridor, Sonic and Sally were trying to plan for anything they could think of that Robotnik might have waiting for them. "Move!" Sonic shouted, pushing Sally to one wall and backing himself against the other. Suddenly a ball of energy zipped by, exploding somewhere at the other end of the passage. "What the hell was that?" Sonic wondered aloud. He soon found out as the Metallix charged at him, punching him in the face and knocking him to the ground. "You have met your match hedgehog, I am like you in every way, only better." The machine gloated. "We'll see about that." Sonic barked back, getting up and swinging for the robot. But the machine just simply moved out of the way, delivering a blow to the hedgehog's stomach in reply, then let him drop to the floor. Sally made her move, she tried to use hand-to-hand combat against it, but it was simply too quick and blocked everything, countering with a backhand to the face.
By this time Sonic had gotten to his feet and threw a punch at his metal counterpart head, but he didn't hit his target, instead, Metallix had caught his attack and began digging it's sharp fingers into the back of Sonic's hand, then as Sonic began to cry out in pain, it grabbed his extended arm and threw Sonic into the wall, creating cracks upon impact.
Sonic slid down into a sitting position, his head was hurting even more now than it was before, his vision was a little blurred, but he could still see what was going on. The Metallix was stood right in front of him, creating another ball of energy, Sonic wanted to attack him, but he felt too dizzy to do anything. Suddenly Sally stormed in with a flying kick to the Metallix's head, making it fire into the wall, creating a large hole. She helped Sonic to his feet, who tried to focus on his target, he charged at the Metallix, hitting it in the chest with a Spin Attack. The force of the attack knocked the machine into a wall and it collapsed, circuitry sparking.
After they were certain it wasn't getting back up again, they ran the rest of the way down the corridor, finally reaching Robotnik's lab, but when they opened the door, there was nobody there. A large metal barrier slowly lifted up, revealing Robotnik behind inch thick bulletproof glass.
"I don't know how you defeated my Metallix, but your pathetic little lives end here!" He bellowed through an intercom. "Can it Robotnik!" Sonic shouted back. "What have you done with the Emerald Hill people and where's Tails?" "Oh the Emerald Hill fluff balls are just in there." He said pointing to a large metal cell door below him, though Sonic was undecided whether to trust him or not as they could not see inside. "But you wont get to them, and as for Tails, well he's right here."
Robotnik pushed a button and a heavy object dropped from the ceiling, landing right in front of Sonic and Sally, cracking the floor and creating a dust cloud that prevented them from seeing what it was. As the dust starts to clear, a small silhouette appears. "Tails, is that you?" Sally called running towards the figure, only to be struck in the face and flung across the floor, knocking her out cold.
Sonic too could see the figure. "Hey Tails what's the big idea?" He shouted at his friend. But as the dust died down some more he realised that it wasn't his friend, or at least not any more. "What have you done to him Robotnik?" He shouted at the insane dictator, not taking his eyes from his mechanised friend. "I would like you to meet the new Tails." Robotnik laughed. "Complete with arm mounted lasers, rear rotor blades and he's made from a super strong metal I created." "So you've given him some extra fire power than usual, I'm still gonna smash it and free my friend." Sonic said plainly.
"Oh I think not, you see this is no ordinary Badnik, this is my new Cybernik!" Robotnik exclaimed, standing up from his chair, almost expecting a cheer to be heard. "You see a few weeks ago I made plans for the Cybernik, a machine that, like the regular Badnik, uses the creature inside as a battery. But unlike the regular Badnik, it uses the power, skills and intelligence of the host, allowing the machine to think and act on it's own judgement, while still being totally loyal to me." He began to explain.
"Then before I melted them down for failure, some of my Badniks told me of a two tailed fox that had beaten Sonic in a race, and how the fox was incredibly intelligent for his age. I was ecstatic; I knew that if I could get a hold of him then he would be perfect for my Cybernik, so I sent spy cameras to record images of him, allowing me to model the frame. I worked all through the night to get it ready in time, for I knew that by taking the villagers you would bring him with you to save them. And now for doing so, he will kill you."
The Cybernik immediately attacked Sonic, throwing punch after punch, but none were landing on their target, as Sonic was fast enough to avoid them. Despite this, Sonic wouldn't retaliate, not wanting to attack it, knowing that his friend was inside and not knowing if he would be ok if he let loose and smashed it open. The Cybernik however, continues its onslaught, much to the delight Robotnik, now giddy with excitement of how well his creation is doing. Sonic was getting tired, he could keep doing this for much longer, he had to attack, even if it was his friend inside. He quickly ran behind it, turned and hit it in the back of the head with a Spin Attack, knocking it to the ground with a loud clang.
"So much for your new machine." Sonic mocked over his shoulder. "Ah, but you haven't seen any of it's tricks yet." Robotnik replied.
The Cybernik shot back up and aimed one of its lasers at Sonic, as soon as it fired, Sonic threw himself to one side to avoid it, but he was still caught by the blast as it hit the ground, causing him to land awkwardly.
"I think you'll love his next weapon, in fact, I think you'll go to pieces over it." Robotnik cackled, unable to stop himself from laughing at his own terrible joke.
The Cybernik turned away and placed its hands on the floor, Sonic just watched unsure at what the machine was doing, slowly the rotor blades began to turn, picking up speed in a matter of seconds, it was then that Sonic realised what was happening, he was being sucked in towards the razor sharp rotor blades. He tried to get up and run away, but the suction was already too strong, he could only hold fast, then it got stronger. He slowly began to drift backwards getting closer and closer to the blades, he was less than a few inches away, when suddenly a huge blast hit the robot and sent it flying across the room. The sudden stop in suction almost made Sonic run into the nearest wall, but he just managed to turn in time and take a quick rest.
"What the hell do you think you're doing you stupid machine? Sonic was about to become mincemeat!" Robotnik bellowed over the intercom. At first Sonic thought he was venting his anger on the Cybernik, who had stopped just before he could have killed him, but then he noticed something else in the room. The Metallix. "I must kill Sonic The Hedgehog." It commanded, clearly malfunctioning after its fight with him. "I think I'm going to have to make some adjustment to the Metallix." Robotnik grumbled to himself. "Cybernik, destroy them both!" He shouted.
The Cybernik slowly got back to its feet, despite the force of the blast it took, its armour was almost unscathed barring a few scorch marks. However, it didn't try to attack, instead it just stood there, carrying itself in a child like manner. "S-Sonic, I'm sorry, I-I can't help it." It said. "Tails!" Sonic called, immediately recognising his friend's voice. "I said attack!" Robotnik roared. Tails dropped to one knee, holding his head. "Sonic, please help me." He begged before Robotnik bellowed another command. "Tails, keep fighting it, I know you can do it." Sonic called to the mechanised fox. After a few moments the fox looked up again. "Tails?" Sonic spoke, not knowing who was now in control. He stood up once more, aimed his laser and fired it, hitting the Metallix, which had been walking around in circles for the past five minutes, right in the head, blowing it clean apart. "Oh man, am I glad it's you." Sonic sighed, walking over to Tails, but stopped when the machine moved its arm again, this time aiming it at him. "Uh oh." Was all the hedgehog could think of in the short space of time he had.
He quickly ducked underneath the laser shot, and then charged at the Cybernik, jumping in the air and landing a heavy foot into its face and knocking it to the ground. Yet it got straight back up again. Sonic knew this wasn't going to work, the armour was simply too strong, so after dodging another laser blast, he put all of the strength he could muster into one Spin Attack, just like he had done with the door. He hit the Cybernik in the chest, hurling it across the room and into a mainframe that was positioned against the wall. The Mainframe begins to malfunction, sending wave after wave of electricity into the robot, suddenly the head lifts up and the chest unfolds, exposing Tails, hooked up to all sorts of plugs and wires. Sonic tries to get to his friend before he gets fried, but the spouting bolts of electricity keep him at bay; he tries to quickly think of a way to help him, when suddenly the mainframe shuts down, stopping the flowing electricity.
"What the." Sonic began, only stopping as he noticed Sally standing only a few yards away, she had just woken up in time to witness Sonic's final blow, and had rushed over to help. "It's called a plug Sonic." She said, swinging the lead around in a circle. "I'll get Tails, you get through that door." She instructed, pointing to the same place Robotnik had earlier.
Once at the door, Sonic checked it over, just in case there were any obvious traps, not seeing any, he wandered to the side of the door and tentatively pushed the button, the doors burst into life, half of it lifting up into the wall, the other half retracting into the floor. Inside, the captured Mobians were squinting from the bright light, which had just entered their pitch-black room, as soon as Sonic came into view, the prisoners began rejoicing, some even crying with glee. The blue hedgehog entered the room, immediately noticing the thick long chain that tied all of the prisoners together by the ankles, and also secured them to the wall.
Grabbing the nearest wall attachment, he pulled as hard as he could, placing a foot on the wall for extra leverage after his first failed attempt. It wasn't long before Sonic became impatient; he turned to face the prisoners with an annoyed expression. "Well don't just sit there, give me a hand." He shouted. The Emerald Hill people snapped into action, lining up behind the blue hedgehog and, in count, began pulling the chain, after a few tugs, a link broke near the wall, and they all tumbled backwards. "Quick, get out of here, and don't stop running until you get home." Sonic ordered while helping the prisoners free themselves via the loose end.
The villagers had all left the lab in just a few minutes, Sonic dashed up to Sally, who had by then freed Tails and was carrying the unconscious fox in her arms. "Is that everybody?" She asked. "Yeah, now let's get out of here." Sonic replied, and was about to start running when the PA system kicked in again. "Not so fast Spikeball!" Robotnik shouted, the blast door closing at the same time, locking them inside. Sonic looked up at the control room, where Robotnik was before, but it was empty. "There's no point looking for me Sonic," Robotnik cackled. "I left while you were doing your little rescue mission, and I'm now far enough away so I wont get caught by the blast." "Blast?" Sonic wondered out loud. "Oh, that's right, I haven't told you yet." He gloated, wanting to drag his inevitable victory out for as long as possible. "My lab is rigged with enough explosives to destroy the whole building, and you with it." He exclaimed, bellowing with laughter upon its finish.
"So your gonna blow me up eh, but what about your precious Head Quarters, if what you say is true, then you'll turn it to rubble." Sonic explained to the nearest camera, trying to talk his way out of the bad situation. "But my Head Quarters can be rebuilt, and it will be a lot easier to do so without you around." Robotnik replied. "You not gonna get away with this." Sonic shouted back, feeling aggravated that his plan hadn't worked. "How cliché, you have minutes before your pathetic lives end, that should be enough time for you to beg for mercy." Robotnik gloated once more. "Not that I'll give it." He muttered under his breath. With that a countdown started inside the lab.
"There's got to be a way out of here." Sally said with a slight air of panic in her voice. "But where?" Sonic replied. "We're underground, and that door is way too thick for me to knock down." "Then we have to shut the self destruct program down." She exclaimed, running to the nearest console. She handed Tails to Sonic, and began typing away, trying to get into its systems, but each time her path was block by a password screen, to which she couldn't guess.
While she kept trying, Sonic laid Tails on the floor and gently began to tap his face, trying to wake the fox up. "Tails, wake up buddy." But he soon got impatient and gave him a hefty slap. "Wake up Tails!" The first thing Tails did after he slowly opened his eyes was to clutch his stinging cheek. "Why are you hitting me." He whimpered. "Sorry bro, but you wouldn't wake up, and we need your help." Sonic explained. "You're good with computers right?" He asked to be certain. "Well I don't like to gloat but." He began to say. "That's great, come on." Sonic interrupted, grabbing his wrist and pulling him up and toward the console. But before Tails could start typing, he collapsed to the floor. "What wrong with me?" "That's probably my fault." Sonic admitted, remembering the final blow he dealt on the Cybernik. "But there's no time to just lay there, I'll hold you up while you type, and hurry, the bombs gonna go off in less than three minutes." He explained. "Bomb!" Tails shrieked, immediately getting back up again.
Tails began frantically typing, information passing over the screen so fast that even Sonic couldn't keep up with it, but each time the message displayed 'access denied'. To make things worse Tails was slowing down and was finding it increasingly difficult to stay awake. The computers voice announced that there was only a minute left, but Tails still couldn't get in. "Thirty seconds." It broadcasted again, then Tails stopped, his arms flopped to his sides and his head lolled. Sonic, who was holding on to his torso, let go and moved to his side to check on him. "Oh great, he's out of it again." He grumbled, as Tails fell face first into the keyboard, then onto the floor. "Ooh, that's gotta hurt." He commented, quickly picking his friend back up again.
"Sonic look!" Sally cried excitedly, pointing to the screen, to which Sonic complied. The screen was now flashing 'access granted', then began shutting down the self-destruct sequence and opened the blast door. "Alright!" Sonic shouted. "Tails and his face stopped the bombs, in your face Robotnik." He continued, celebrating with a little victory dance with Tails, who was still unconscious. "Come on Sonic, let's go in case it starts up again." Sally called. The three left the building as quickly as possible, heading back for home with the rest of the Emerald Hill villagers.
Meanwhile, in an unknown area, Robotnik was cursing the hedgehog to high heaven, smashing his view screen in his rage. "That hedgehog ruins everything." He yelled. "But mark my words hedgehog, when my Death Egg is complete, you shall regret the day you crossed paths with Dr. Ivo Robotnik." He bellowed at the top of his lungs, laughing insanely into the night air.