Princess Sally Acorn rolled herself aside as the large silvery head of a giant hammer nearly smashed down on her. From the drivers seat of the Egghammer Mk II Tank, the yellow hedgehog muttered a depreciative curse and raised the tank's mighty hammer back to strike the chipmunk again. Sally scrambled to her feet and made a dash through the gathered crowd and into an alley. A few of the braver crowd members tried to prevent her escape with outstretched arms. A pair of roundhouse kicks and a punch to the face convinced them otherwise, and Sal slipped into the dark alley, leaving the crowd behind to watch in confusion and anger as the young princess slipped away. Sally pulled the hood of her blue sweatshirt back up over her head as she approached the chain-linked fence ahead. Overhead, a small helicopter, the size of Tails' biplane hovered, the fox pilot shooting footage with a camera as the hammer tank tried in vain to squeeze its way in. Sally breathed a sigh of relief as she began to scale the fence blocking her way. The crowd behind began to hoot and cheer as the tank's pilot snaked the long grasping arm of the tank into the dark alley. Princess Sally gasped as the hand came within inches of grabbing her, the long mechanical fingers brushing over the back of her sweatshirt. She climbed as fast as her legs would take her. All those missions to Robotropolis were coming back to her as she made it to the top of the gate and climbed over. She let herself drop awkwardly onto a pile of boxes below, rubbing her tail painfully as she stood up. She took a look back as the hammertank's pilot worked the arm controls in frustration, trying to grasp past the fence. Sally thanked her lucky stars and bolted down the alley. She reached into the front pocket of her sweatshirt and pulled out a small computer, flipping it open and keying a few commands on the small keyboard.
"Nicole, How far are we on GPS?" She panted, checking back to see if she was followed.
"Current Global Positioning indicates three miles from our projected target, Sally." The feminine voice of her computer replied.
Great...that's quite a long distance in a city like this. Sally slipped Nicole back into her pocket and bolted for the end of the alley ahead. A blast of wind stopped her in her tracks as the small helicopter slipped down into her path. The fox pointed the camera directly at her, broadcasting to all across Station Square. He smiled mockingly at her as his helicopter hovered mere feet off the ground, blocking Sally's escape.
"Smile for the people..."
Sonic felt a knot in his stomach as he watched what was going on live right in front of his eyes. The tv flickered with each shakey image as Sally bolted towards the cameraman, finally sliding into a swift skid below his field of vision as she tried to disappear into the crowd. The blue hedgehog sat up from his seat. So many questions, covictions, and emotions had flowed through him. He gritted his teeth in anger. The audacity of the situation only seemed to add heat to his anger. He knew what he had to do...In the blink of an eye and the flapping of some paperwork, Sonic bolted over to his closet and pulled out a backpack. He rushed down the stairs to Tails' workshop in the garage. He filled up his backpack with some of the fox's most recent inventions and slung the bag over his shoulder. In the blink of an eye, he blasted out the door and towards the heart of the city to solve the problem himself.