SatAM Timeline: Between "Doomsday" and first episode of would-be third season.

Chapter 5: SatAM Sonic's POV

Would you believe we were now in...Robotropolis! Well, maybe you would, since Robotnik had called for a temporary truce. We were there in his command centre to recover from Evil Sonic's attack as Knothole was too small to house us all and we couldn't risk Robuttnik discovering its location. None of us were pretty comfortable though. But then again, us Sonics were more worried about Robo-Robotnik and what he was doing with the Giant's Hand.

"Wonder what he's up to now?" I thought out loud.

"Something diabolical, Pixel Brain, what else?"

"Pixel Brain?" I turned to the one who had said that. To my surprise, it was another regular Sonic, no funny clothes on. "What kind of insult is 'Pixel Brain'?"

"One I usually reserve for Tails. But since you sounded just like him, stating the obvious and..."

Angrily, I got right into his face. "No one calls me or any version of my little buddy names and gets away with it!"

"Hey, cool it! Besides, it's not like he minds, doppelganger."

"Tails doesn't mind being made fun of? Yeah, right. And who are you calling 'doppelganger,' doppelganger?"

"Cut it out, you two!" Sally marched up, her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. "This isn't the time to be fighting."

We both reluctantly stopped.

Kaboom!

That nearly knocked us off our feet. "What was that?"

"Look!"

We all turned to a large monitor on the wall and gasped at what we saw.

A 100-foot-tall robot was destroying a town with missiles, lasers and flamethrowers. It looked a lot like a Shadow Swatbot except for the more padded shoulders, visible gears and pistons in its stomach and the cubic head, which had a horn on the left and right sides and a large viewing window and speaker so we could easily see and hear the pilot.

Robo-Robotnik was gloating and laughing crazily. "Behold the mightiest weapon ever created...Giant Borg!"

Giant Borg? How corny could you get?

The citizens of the town were screaming and running for their lives. Some Freedom Fighters were battling the monstrous robot but none of their weapons were making so much as a scratch in its metal hide. Some even lassoed Giant Borg's body in an attempt to restrain it but the robot just snapped the ropes in two. Finally, they retreated, taking with them their wounded companions and pride.

Needless to say, this got me and the others all fired up. "Why are we sitting here," I yelled angrily, "while other Freedom Fighters are getting their behinds kicked fighting that thing!"

"You said it!"

"Let's go get it!"

"I'm with you!"

"Don't be so hasty, hedgehogs."

We turned to Robotnik who had just entered. "I overheard what Robo-Robotnik called it. Can't you tell what Giant Borg really is?"

The Sonic I had been arguing with stepped up. "If you have something to say, say it, Lardbelly."

Robuttnik turned a little red in the face. I snickered; I had to admit, I liked that insult. I almost made a note to try that one on my Robuttnik...but then I remembered that he was dead.

Robotnik ultimately decided to ignore that insult. "What was the name of the weapon you so utterly failed to retrieve?"

The insulting Sonic and many of the others winced. "Giant's Hand, so?"

"So what did Robo-Robotnik call his battle suit?"

"Giant Bo-" The other Sonic paused and frowned. After a few seconds, he said, "...You mean that thing used to be the Giant's Hand!"

I gasped and looked at the screen. That did explain a lot.

"How did Robutt-Robuttnik do that?" I asked.

"Did none of you notice the button on the side of the glove? If it is pressed, the Giant's Hand will tap into the subconscious of whoever pushed it and transform into a weapon of which shape will most reflect the individual's inner thoughts."

"You talk too much," said the other Sonic. I actually had to agree; half of that explanation had gone right over my head.

Robotnik sneered. "Well... Don't you rodents have a few worlds to save?"

"Are chili dogs an essential part of a complete meal?" I answered as some of us started heading out, "Are we the fastest things alive?"

"Can I save the day with no help?"

I stared at the other Sonic. "How big can your ego get?" I wondered out loud.

"Man, what is your problem?" I asked that other Sonic.

"What problem? I'm too cool to have one."

We were running as part of a battalion of Sonics, heading for an attack on Giant Borg. Not to my delight, I got stuck beside that Tails-Name-Caller. I had an ace up my sleeve though.

"Oh yeah? Are you so cool that you managed to defeat your Robuttnik like I did?"

A strange look appeared on his face. "...Yo-You defeated your Robotnik?"

I rolled my eyes. "And you said that I state the obvious. Of course I did."

"You mean you ki-killed him?"

"What else would I mean?"

"Why?"

"What kind of question is that? To free Mobius."

"But there could have been a cure!" he yelled, actually looking upset.

I raised an eyebrow. "A cure? For what?"

"To change him back."

"Whadayya mean 'change him back'?"

He paused for a moment, frowning. Finally, he whispered, "Robotnik... Was he never good in your world?"

I snorted. "Good! Ha! That'd be the day! Ha ha ha! Not even before he betrayed the king, I'll bet!"

"Then how come you're blue?"

"I was born this way, how else?"

"Well, I wasn't."

I stared at him, amazed. "Say what?"

"My Dr. Ivo Robotnik used to be Dr. Ovi Kintobor, a scientist dedicated to ridding Mobius of evil forever. He meant to achieve it by collecting seven objects called the Chaos Emeralds, which have the ability to absorb evil. Although he only got a hold of six, that didn't stop him from transferring most of the planet's evil into them.

"I met him by coming across his laboratory and decided to hang out with him for a bit. I helped him search for the seventh emerald in exchange for his experimenting with my sonic speed so that I could run faster. Once, I ran so fast on a treadmill, I made it explode, causing the colour of my fur to change from brown to blue and my spines to fuse together.

"Then one day, Kintobor tripped on a wire and fell into the machine that contained the Chaos Emeralds. The resulting explosion combined him, the evil from the emeralds and a rotten egg he had been holding into the evil Robotnik. I've been fighting him ever since."

I didn't know which shocked me more the fact that his Robotnik actually used to be good, that he used to be friends with him or that he used to not look cool.

"Giant Borg dead ahead!"

So it was. The mechanical giant was stomping around in a big field, probably looking for another town to destroy.

"Let's do it to it!" I excitedly shouted, "Last one to land a hit on Giant Borg is a slow-mo!"

Just then, Giant Borg turned around and spotted us. It fired off a volley of missiles.

"Whoa!" We barely got out of the way in time. "Hah! You missed us, Robo-Robotnik!"

"That's what you think, hedgehogs."

"Huh?" At that moment, we heard a whistling sound behind us so we turned our heads around.

"Yikes!" The missiles had turned around and were coming straight back towards us. Apparently, they were the heat-seeking kind.

"Hedgehog missile alert!" I yelled. "Bailing warp seven!"

We scrambled like maniacs and split up all over the field. One of the missiles decided I was a good target, however, and chased after me. What were the odds?

I eyed Giant Borg and remembered the time when I was in a similar situation with a Stealthbot ("Sonic Boom"). I smirked. "You're going down, Robo-Robotnik."

I whistled to the others who had missiles tailing them and motioned for them to follow me. We headed for Giant Borg, intending to lure the missiles right back to where they came from.

Robo-Robotnik, however, was not impressed or fooled. "Do you meddlesome hedgehogs actually think you can defeat me?"

"We don't think we can, we know we can!"

He responded by firing off another round of missiles.

I gasped. "Oh man!" Missiles both behind and in front of us! What were we going to do?

I almost slapped myself for my stupidity a moment later. The oldest trick in the book, how could I have forgotten that?

"Hey!" I hollered at the others, "Keep running towards the missiles. When I give the word, jump as high as you can! Got it?"

They seemed to understood my plan and grinned. "Got it!"

The missiles in front kept coming closer...forty feet...Robo-Robotnik was cackling...thirty feet...a bead of sweat rolled down my face...twenty feet...I could see my reflection in the metal...ten feet...

"Now!"

We jumped a good dozen feet up into the air, hoping the missiles would fly into each other and explode.

But they didn't.

At the very last second, they turned skywards, heading straight for us again, a mere two inches apart from each other! And there was no direction for us to go but down!

"Oh man, this is not cool!"

"You sound like Tails again!"

Bam!

With kicks, punches and shoves, several Sonics, including the one I had argued with, knocked the missiles into each other.

Kaboom!

The resulting explosions knocked us out of the air and we landed on the ground, momentarily stunned and wounded.

Robutt-Robuttnik noticed this and stomped over. Through glazed eyes, I saw Giant Borg lift a huge foot, obviously intending to squash us. "A few dozen down..." The foot started to come down. "...several hundred to go."

"That's what you think!"

The next thing I knew, I was in the arms of another Sonic. I didn't like being carried like this but I didn't protest. There was a great thump a second later as the Giant Borg's foot hit the ground.

Robo-Robotnik was furious. "You hedgehogs won't get away!" He started firing several lasers.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

Retreat? Were they crazy! We couldn't retreat! What about Mobius? And what would the others say?

Protests similar to my thoughts reached my ears then I heard this reply: "We need more reinforcements! Now fall back!"

I smirked grimly. "We'll get you next time, Robo-Robotnik! You hear me? Next time!"