Chapter 2 – Confrontations

Eggman laughed maniacally as he watched Tails lead Amy and Big into his trap. The small group of heroes who remained to oppose him was scarcely intimidating, considering the power he had on his side. He suddenly remembered something.

"Sonic! I think we've given the thief enough time to snoop. Retrieve her."

"You got it, doc," Sonic replied, leaping out of the trap door.

Turning to the captured detectives, Eggman flipped a switch and watched their eyes open. The devices worked perfectly as always.

"You're finally awake," Eggman commented. The detectives turned to him.

"Yep. I told you I wasn't going to be tired," Charmy grinned, turning to Vector.

"Enough of this! Who do you serve?" Eggman demanded, just to be certain.

In unison, they replied, "Dr. Eggm-Robotn-Egg-Robo-Eggma-Robotni-Eg-Rob-Eggma-Ro-"

"I thought I fixed that glitch," Eggman grumbled, turning to the computer and pressing a few keys.

"Eggman," the heroes finished, looking proud of themselves.

"Good. Now go pick up where Knuckles left off."

Knuckles stepped out of the teleporting mechanism after regaining his strength, scowling. "Why send them? I can do the job myself."

"Evidently not," the doctor replied. "Besides, I need you to help me set up the equipment for when the new arrivals get here. Push that chair out of the way, would you?"

"Of course, doctor," Knuckles glared, clenching his fists. "But don't be surprised if those guys don't get the job done."

Rouge stood in front of the computer screen, marveling at Eggman's work. My boss will certainly be interested in this, she mused, preparing to email a copy of the documents to herself.

"Hey, you! Stop right th-"

Rouge whirled around to see the guard robot explode dramatically. Cursing, she stood in front of the computer to guard it long enough to complete the transfer. A whoosh of air behind her suggested she had already failed.

"Sorry, Rouge, I can't let you do that," Sonic taunted, jumping down behind Rouge to shut down the computer and immediately flipping up to stand face-to-face with her.

Rouge immediately noticed the device on Sonic's head. "What makes you think you can stop me?"

"As a matter of fact, I already did. The doctor just changed his password, and you'll never remember what you learned after I'm through with you. Now come with me."

"You wish."

"You realize you don't stand a chance, don't you?" Sonic sneered, striking a pose. "You won't even be able to see what hit you."

"If you were an agent, you'd know we can see quite a bit," Rouge shot back, ripping the mouse of the nearest computer off of its cord and throwing it above Sonic's head.

"Intruder alert. Intruder alert," an electronic voice announced repeatedly.

"You hit the deactivated motion sensor, triggering the alarm," Sonic narrated, looking impressed. "You know, you're an intruder too."

Smiling, Rouge pulled out her card. "You'd be surprised how many robots I've fooled with this card."

A group of guard robots descended the stairs, easily finding the source of the alarm. Flashing her card, Rouge shouted, "Get him!"

Sonic chuckled and shook his head. "This used to be Eggman's lab, Rouge. I can prove that I work for him."

"Doesn't matter. The government owns this place now, so I have more jurisdiction here than you do."

"Fine. We'll do this the hard way."

Rouge considered leaving, but she knew that if she fought Sonic on her own, her chances of winning were slim. The robots charged at Sonic, who seemed not at all worried about the attack.

"Well?" Shadow snarled. "Where are your friends?"

Cream flinched. "Please don't use that tone of voice. I don't know where they could have gone."

Omega contributed, "Neither Amy Rose nor Big appears on my sensors."

"I think we should keep moving," Espio commented. "It's only a matter of time before Eggman-"

"Before Eggman what?" a taunting voice said behind them. "Finds you? Way too late for that."

"Vector," Espio said sadly, recognizing the voice and spinning around deftly. "Don't make me hurt you."

"You don't stand a chance!" Charmy stated; to Espio's chagrin, his voice had not changed in the process either.

"See that?" Espio whispered to Omega. "It's Charmy's personality exactly. No way Eggman could copy that."

"I am not convinced," came the whispered reply. Loudly, the robot said, "You are outnumbered, and this time we are prepared for battle. Chances of victory for you are low."

"Enough talk. Let's end this," Shadow said menacingly, jumping forward and entering a fighting stance. "Cream, I think there's a good chance Eggman has your friends too."

Knowing Shadow was right, she shouted angrily, "It's not nice to trick people. I'll show you our power! Let's go, Cheese."

"You talk too much," Charmy replied, somewhat ironically. "Let's rock!"

"Are you sure this is the right way, Tails?" Amy asked for the third time.

"Of course I'm sure. I saw Sonic with my own two eyes somewhere around here. We're getting closer."

"I miss Cream," Big said sadly. Froggy jumped up and down on his shoulder to cheer him up, but the cat was too worried to notice.

"Don't worry, Big," Tails said, barely able to hide his malice. "You'll see her again soon."

They continued walking for a bit in silence, until they reached a small clearing in the forest. Amy looked around, then lowered her head a bit and watched her shadow. Next to her she could see Big's enormous silhouette and Froggy still jumping. Tails's shadow was bigger and harder to make out, and it looked like there was something in the air next to him-

"Amy! Look out!" Big shouted.

Looking up, Amy saw a huge army of robots emerging from a secret trap door in the clearing. Tails laughed evilly.

"You fell right into our trap. Prepare to meet Eggman!"

"You tricked us!" Amy glared, readying her hammer. She didn't know if she was strong enough to win, but she was sure now that Sonic was in danger, and she had to save him.

Froggy gave out a small cry and hopped away. Big nodded and whispered, "I'll see you soon, Froggy." He pulled out his fishing rod and attached a spiked ball to the end. "I have some smashing to do."

Eggman laughed, watching the viewscreens. "Perfect! All of the players are in position. I-"

"All except me, you mean," Knuckles grumbled.

"Knuckles, how many times do I have to explain this to you-"

"Explaining won't help," Knuckles interrupted. "I just want to fight."

"You did."

"Yeah, and I got hit by a cheap shot, so you teleported me away instantly so they couldn't meddle with your precious device."

"I can't help it if you-"

"Send me out. Sonic may need help, or-"

"What you don't seem to understand here, Knuckles, is that I am in charge and you work for me. If you are unhappy with the way I'm treating you, we can always take a trip to the back of the lab…"

Knuckles glared. "You wouldn't do that."

"Try me. I'll have eleven others."

Unable to come up with a reply, Knuckles growled and turned away to continue his manual labor. If you're not more careful, you'll have a lot less than that, he thought bitterly, clenching his fist again. Eggman shook his head at Knuckles' impertinence, but he had anticipated this side-effect of the machine. It was not difficult as much as tedious to keep these fools in line.

Rouge hovered just above Sonic until he was about to strike a robot, at which point she slammed him with a powerful kick. Despite Sonic's immensely powerful punches that sent robots flying, there was enough distraction for Rouge to send an important message out. When one of the defeated robots' detonation finally knocked Sonic out, Rouge started to run. She sighed when she saw the hedgehog stand up in the reflection in one of the computer screens. She could finish this fight herself.

(A/N: Well, all the fights are set up. What will happen to our heroes? What was Rouge's important message? Will Shadow and co. defeat their adversaries and find Eggman's base? And so on. Find out sometime later.)