An army of Buzz-Bombers and Bat-Brains came blasting through the roof of the treasure room, with Cater-Killers and Spikes coming out of another entrance. The echoes from above the ground caused the ceiling to crumble from underground, dropping rocks near Sonic and Bunnie as they recoiled with Spelunk blowing a fuse.
"Huh?! What in tarnation is the meanin' of this?! What are those things, anyway?!" Spelunk hops out of his minecart in a huff.
"Told you they'd find us here! And now they're going to bring this whole place down on our heads!" Sonic then gestures to the old mole, "And you, geezer, you owe me a soda after this!"
"I wouldn't even buy you a hundred sodas with all my treasure!" Spelunk runs with his hands over his head, trying to dodge the rocks. "This is all your fault, hedgehog! You busted in on me, and now everybody else wants to!"
"It's YOU who's makin' a big mistake, you old fogy! Haven't you ever heard of Robotnik, the nastiest lowlife in Mobius?" Bunnie asked.
"Nope!" Spelunk flees towards the exit, leaving Sonic and Bunnie to fend for themselves.
"Let me guess; you don't get out much, do you?" Sonic crosses his arms with an unamused look.
Spelunk turns his head towards Sonic. "Nuh-uh!"
Sonic looked outraged, "And don't you realize that Egghead is about to destroy this entire place and steal everything you've got?!"
Spelunk is now standing outside the exit, looking at Sonic. "No, siree! Don't pay any minds to current events!"
Sonic then looks at Bunnie while sticking a thumb back at Spelunk, acting bored as ever, "Maybe this guy should consider a career in politics."
As more Badniks began to invade from the roof, it suddenly collapses, propelling them inside. Spelunk saw this coming before he quickly backs away. He gasped as a pile of boulders fall in front of the exit, sealing the trio off from any means to escape.
"Oh, now I ain't going nowhere!" Spelunk points to the boulders blocking the doorway. "Them rocks have sealed off the only way out!"
Bunnie notices the Badniks charging and crouches down, ready for a rumble. "You take the ones on the right, Sugar-Hog! I've got business with the ones on the left!"
"Got it, Buns!" Sonic smirks, cracking his knuckles before looking at Spelunk. "We can stop this, but you gotta' let us go for just this once, old-timer!"
As the old mole looks back and forth at the Badniks and Sonic, he had no choice but to heed Sonic's words for now, "Ugh! Oh, alright! But this here behavior of yours got's to be discouraged, or I might have to share my treasure!"
Sonic soon curls into a ball and unleashes a spin attack onto one of the Cater-Killers that came forth, "What? You don't think we can handle a few tons of rock, a bunch of Badniks, a limited air supply, and your bad attitude? I'll have us out of this place faster than you can say that you're a grumpy old miser!"
Next up was Bunnie, who lunged her way over to present a dropkick onto a Buzz-Bomber, and then pulled her arm back to punch three other Bat-Brains quickly. Sonic saw another Buzz-Bomber coming at him fast; he curled into a ball and blasted through the bee-based Badnik. The blue hedgehog turned around to see a little rabbit, that had been a robot only seconds ago, hopping away. Bunnie nearby was already busting through more Badniks in the treasure room, and every time, she saw animals pop out of their remains. A giant boulder from above splits in half by a Buzz-Bomber's rail detonator and falls towards Spelunk. Sonic looks up and realizes a piece of the boulder is about to flatten Spelunk.
"Oh no!" Sonic runs toward Spelunk and pushes him out of the way just in time to avoid getting flattened.
Sonic is now carrying Spelunk in his arms until he sets him down. "Looks like you've got new friends!"
"Why, you risked your own life to save mine?" Spelunk became honestly shocked as a tear forms in his left eye. "No one's ever done anythin' like that for me!"
"Relax, Pops!" Sonic winks his left eye at him. "That's what Freedom Fighters do! Now, enough mush! We're going to need your help to stop these dumb-bots from doing any more damage around here!"
Bunnie saw two more Spikes slowly making their way to swipe their protruded claws at Bunnie, causing her to backflip away.
"A little help would be very appreciative, boys!" Bunnie stammered worriedly.
Then suddenly, Sonic's ball form came cruising through and knocked the two hermit crab Badniks out of the way. Bunnie glared at the sight of a few Bat-Brains taking bags of Spelunk's treasure alongside some Cater-Killers that carried a bunch more. Hoping to salvage the situation, Bunnie rushes over to stop them just as she became ambushed by other Cater-Killers.
Three more Cater-Killers were slithering after Bunnie until a spiky platform shoots up from the ground between her and the Badniks, poking through the caterpillar-based Badniks. Each broken Cater-Killer had popped out small critters after another as Sonic skids into a fighting stance.
Spelunk stood by while holding a remote control device in his hand. "And stay out, you robot-rapscallions! I didn't build all these traps to sit on my duff while you robot-duffers try to rob me!"
"Now you're catching on, Pops!" Sonic smirked as he spins through the boulders blocking the exit.
"All right, Sugar-Hog!" Bunnie cheered.
Sonic's head pops out from the hole in the boulders, looking impatient to leave immediately. "I'm waiting!"
He soon runs back through the hole with Bunnie and Spelunk, hightailing just in time as the rest of the boulders fall into the pit, burying it completely. As the group raced along within the caverns, Sonic attacked a Cater-Killer in the head with a roll, and its body segments broke off in different directions. Each mobian barely escaped being hit with one Badnik or two. They continued to run, coming across a few Buzz-Bombers as Bunnie jumps to swing her extended robotic leg and destroy each bee-based Badnik. The group studied the three caves on their way through a pathway, trying to determine which one leads out.
"Which way, geezer?" Sonic asked.
Dejectedly, Spelunk shakes his head. "It doesn't matter; I booby-trapped all of em'!"
The old mole stepped towards one cave, only to find a couple of spiked balls attached on ropes swaying each side.
"Whoa!" Sonic said, surprised but still smiling. "Gee, most people would have been satisfied with a deadbolt and a chain!"
"That's for sure!" Bunnie chimed in. "How do we get past this swingin' doohickey?"
"A person needs to be faster than a mosquito to get through there!" Spelunk responded as he points at the trap.
Sonic gave a smug smirk at that statement, snapping his fingers, "Pssh, who do you think taught those bugs how to boogie in the first place? Bunnie, you think you can use your awesome stretchy robot arm through this trap?"
Giving it a thought or two, Bunnie eventually nodded in response and winds her robotized arm back, "Allow me, boys."
Bunnie waited for the right moment before launching her robotic arm forward until it stretched in between the spiked balls. By the time she reaches the other side of the cave, Bunnie then pulls as the strength of her arm stops the spiked balls from rocking.
"Okay, that should do it!" Bunnie smiled.
"All right! This way to the races, aces!" Sonic smirks, pumping a fist.
"Haha! So, what are we waitin' for now? Let's go!" Spelunk simpered.
At once, both Sonic and Spelunk ran in place as they zipped alongside the stopped spiked balls. Just as the two made their way to the other side, Sonic halts to reach behind him and grab Bunnie's robotized hand.
"Just a sec, Bunnie! I got you!" Sonic called out to the southern belle.
The blue hedgehog then tugs Bunnie's arm back with a massive haul, causing her to propel herself and hop her way across the spiked balls. Spelunk watch as Bunnie then makes it to the other side alongside them.
"Wow! Thanks, Sugar-Hog!" Bunnie praised.
"Hey, you give a little you get a little!" Sonic smiled happily.
"Come along, you two!" Spelunk waved a hand towards him as he points onward. "There should be an exit somewhere!"
"Got it. Juice time!"
With that said, Sonic and Bunnie pursued their way to follow Spelunk and find where Sally or Dr. Robotnik could be right now.
Dr. Robotnik continued to laugh as he launched another fireball at Sally, who kept jumping over it and pointed to draw her bow at him. She shot an arrow into the bottom of the Egg-O-Matic. The carrier wobbled precariously for several seconds, but Dr. Robotnik only had a moment to keep his grip on the multi-purpose hovercraft, steadying it.
"Miserable little princess!" Dr. Robotnik shouted out to Sally. "Dark days are awaiting, for I shall torch you and Knothole into ashes!"
Dr. Robotnik zips his hovercraft to the side of the stage Sally was on, shooting a fireball below her. She jumped to the other platform, and the fire on the other side spreads across it.
"Stop moving and give me that other Emerald, princess!" Dr. Robotnik's hands angrily fisted on his control panel.
"How about no, Robotnik?!" Sally barked back, along with another arrow shooting at the hovercraft.
"Your cocky little needle-mouse won't save you this time!" Dr. Robotnik shouted and shot another fireball below Sally, only for her to jump and discharge another arrow to hit him again. "And stop hitting me!"
Another hit.
"Come on, now!"
Another fireball.
"Go ahead and try, Robotnik!"
As an intense fight followed, Robotnik kept firing at the chipmunk girl. She alternated between attacking the Egg-O-Matic and jumping to various stages on the lava pit. Eventually, however, Sally found herself cornered in the final unburned platform.
"Crap!" Sally yelled, seeing she had nowhere else to go.
"Indeed so, Princess Sally," Robotnik commented with a maniacal grin that stretched from ear to ear on his face. "It's game over for you this time, you royal brat."
Afar from where they were, Sonic, Bunnie, and Spelunk watch from behind broken piles of large boulders in the distance. Despite the concern that both Sonic and Bunnie had for Sally, they needed a plan to stop Dr. Robotnik from doing any harm. Each of them held their left hands up to their faces as they whisper to each other. Picking through his mining bag, Spelunk held out a piece of Sulfurius in his right hand as he peels it with a knife into a spare sack.
"Bet you both never seen Sulfurius in its natural state afore!" Spelunk whispered to Bunnie, standing next to him.
"What in the hoo-ha is that?" asked Bunnie.
"Don't know exactly, but it works just like gunpowder! We have to stall Robotnik in his machine so that I can blow up that lootin' lunatic with this." Spelunk replied, gesturing to the sack filled with Sulfurius fragments.
"Cool!" Sonic smirked, continuing. "You guys go on ahead of me, and I'll distract Butt-Nik as long as I can until I give you the signal!"
When they nod their heads in unison, Bunnie and Spelunk both sneak away while Sonic darts his way into the battle.
"Yo, Butt-Nik! I knew you'd have something here!" Sonic crosses his arms and taps his left foot. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to play with fire?"
"Sonic!" Sally smiled gratefully.
"Hehe! Someone call for the hedgehog?" Sonic asked while wagging his finger.
"Ah~! There you are, rodent!" Dr. Robotnik shot the blue hedgehog a deathly glare from underneath his pince-nez sunglasses. "I see you've decided to face me! Now, I will finish you with my new improvement to my Egg-O-Matic!"
"So what, you're going to launch a wrecking ball at me again?" Sonic asked with a raised eyebrow.
Dr. Robotnik then made a confused look and quarreled, "Launch another wrecking ball? No!"
Sonic snapped his fingers to continue teasing the tyrant, "Oh, pull the ground I'm standing on apart? Push me into the lava?"
Dr. Robotnik held his hands at his head in frustration. "No, no, fire! Yes, fire, I'll shoot fireballs at you!"
"Well, then you should've said you were going to shoot fireballs at me earlier or tell me I'll become burned to death. Or maybe say 'You Will Burn!'" Sonic rolled his eyes as if to mock his current situation. "But still, dude, 'I will finish you with my new improvement to my Egg-O-Matic!' with fireballs? I mean, that's just an easy way for...!"
"I make the machines, hedgehog!" Dr. Robotnik disrupted, pressing a button as fireballs come down towards him. "I shall now demonstrate!"
Sonic began to evade every flame blast and looked for the opportunity to attack. "Nice try, Egghead! You'll have to try harder than that!"
"Haha! Look below yourself, rodent!" Dr. Robotnik cooed, pointing to where Sonic stood.
The speedy hero looked down to see one of the fireballs spreading and taking up an entire piece of land.
"CRAP!" Sonic shrieked.
He tried to grab hold of Dr. Robotnik's hovercraft, but the surface was too slippery and fell to the fire below. Luckily, Sonic landed just as the fire disappeared. Dr. Robotnik started moving toward the next piece of land and shot another fireball.
"He's trying to get me trapped," Sonic figured, presenting a smirk. "So I'll have to trick him!"
As Dr. Robotnik made his way back to Sonic's section, the blue hedgehog waited until the fire on the other side started to disappear. He jumped over just as another fireball struck towards where Sonic was standing. As soon as Sonic landed, he turned around and spun at the evil doctor as he crossed over to him. Went Sonic landed a hit, he quickly kicked himself back to the platform and waited until Dr. Robotnik shot another fireball and repeated the process.
The speedster jumps up and hits Dr. Robotnik's Egg-O-Matic, causing more fireballs to be shot at Sonic once more. But the evil doctor keeps missing while Sonic kept bouncing and hitting his Egg-O-Matic repeatedly. Dr. Robotnik, appropriately enough for the setting of the fight, lost his cool and kept alternately shooting fireballs at two other platforms. Sonic saw a pattern in this. However, and naturally, he leaped from one platform to another to avoid the fiery lava, all the while giving the hovercraft a good smack every time.
"You little pest! Stay still!" Dr. Robotnik growled at Sonic.
"Alrighty, then!"
Surprisingly, the blue hedgehog halted his movement as Dr. Robotnik grinned madly, aiming for him again to shoot once more. But Sonic jumps up on purpose and avoids the fireballs before he hits the Egg-O-Matic over again.
"Oopsies!" Sonic laughed at his antics.
"You are one persistent hedgehog, and I'll give you that." Dr. Robotnik sighed before showing a twinkle in his eye, "But it's time for your little girlfriend... TO BURN!"
With that becoming told, Sonic froze in shock and shouted in dread, "Sally, get out of there!"
Dr. Robotnik's flamethrower aimed right where Sally remained, who widened her eyes until somebody else snatched her before she could have gotten engulfed by the fire. Dr. Robotnik's jaw dropped at the sight of Sally, who just got rescued by none other than her best friend, Bunnie.
Sonic sighed in relief. "Oh, good."
"What?!" Robotnik shouted. "How did you-?!"
"Bunnie! Thanks for the save." Sally replied in a voice of relief and delight that her teammate was still alive.
"Y'all okay, Sally-Girl? Sorry to be tardy for the party." Bunnie beamed at her best friend.
"Grrr, you fools will not stand a chance! The Chaos Emeralds are MINE!" Dr. Robotnik waves his left arm furiously.
"Ha! Then try this one out for size, Eggman!" Sonic shouted as he glared at the mad doctor.
With that, he curled up into a ball, revving in place before slamming into the Egg-O-Matic, bouncing Sonic onto the hovercraft while it began swaying in circles. When the flamethrower ran out of juice while Dr. Robotnik tried to recharge, Sonic's hand snagged his hand into the carrier and held out the yellow Chaos Emerald. Afterward, Sonic attacked and smashed the flamethrowing weapon.
"Looks like I broke your toy, Eggy!" Sonic taunted while holding the yellow Chaos Emerald. "But I got a cool prize, though."
"NOT AGAIN!" The evil doctor screamed and attempted to catch Sonic but failed after what happened next.
"Now, Spelunk!" Sonic called out.
Hastily enough, Spelunk pops out of his hiding spot behind the boulders, holding the bag of Sulfurius shreds in his right hand.
"This is what ol' Spelunk will teach you when droppin' in unannounced, you rotten interloper!" Spelunk shouted.
After Sonic descends back to where Sally and Bunnie are, Spelunk then winds his arm before tossing the bag into the hovercraft's ignited weapon. Sonic bolted his way to use his arms wrapped around Sally's head as a shield when the eruption occurred, with Bunnie and Spelunk hiding along in pursuit. Dr. Robotnik shrieks in shock as the Sulfurius explodes, causing metallic parts of the flamethrower weapon to blow everywhere. The group withdrew themselves and saw the Egg-O-Matic slam into the ground on the other end of the lava pit. Uncovering himself alongside Sally and Bunnie, Sonic hopped his way over and landed next to where the hovercraft impacted, showing off a proud smirk as usual.
"Nice try, Ro-Butt-Nik, but you'll have to try harder than that next time you want to get rid of me!" Sonic said with a self-satisfied grin.
"Give it up, Robotnik. Our world doesn't belong to you. And you're never getting your hands on the Chaos Emeralds." Sally stepped out, flanking Sonic alongside Bunnie and Spelunk.
Dr. Robotnik pressed several buttons on the Egg-O-Matic's control panel, getting the damaged hovercraft back up as he scowled at the blue hedgehog.
"Grr, this is not over yet, hedgehog!" Dr. Robotnik vowed, not impressed and hardened. "You may think you've won this round, but I have an army. And now that I know you live here, old mole, I'll send wave after wave of expendable Badniks to clear out your treasure. Nowhere shall be safe for you! Once my master plan is in effect, I'll have you all begging for mercy-!"
Spelunk throws a rather heavy chunk of a diamond at the bloated human's head, which bounces off rather painfully. "You think I want to listen to you prattle? Get off my lawn and good riddance to a smelly egg like you!"
"Yowch!" Dr. Robotnik rubs the bruised side of his head before rumbling an animalistic growl in his throat. "Oh, you better wait, rodents! I'll get you for this!"
Having made that declaration, Dr. Robotnik flew away laughing, yet he yelped from Spelunk's brief assault seconds ago.
"Master plan, eh?" Bunnie muttered as she crossed her arms. "Don't like the sound of that."
"Tell me about it." Sonic joined sternly.
"I must say, you lot pleasantly surprised me back there." Spelunk praised with a slight chuckle.
"Yes, but you're not safe here, sir. Robotnik still has some of his Badniks patrolling around here, and they'll come for you eventually. You could come along with us!" Sally tried to reason with the old mole.
But Spelunk emphatically shook his head in dissent, holding up his remote. "Nonsense! I still have plenty of tricks up my sleeve to protect my treasure in Marble Bridge. I won't be needing any help, but I can't thank you enough for showing me the error of my ways, Sonic."
"Easy, Spelunk! You're not going to get all sappy sentimental on me and start gushing now, are you?" Sonic said while waving his open hand in response.
"Hehe! No! I'll leave the gushing to Robotnik after you pop him one for ol' Spelunk." The old mole tittered for a bit. "You all don't worry about me. My caverns may seem craggy, but I've got a lot of work to do! You go, help folks, as you helped me!"
Sally then sighed to respond next, "Okay, but try to stay out of sight. You'll want to move all your treasure somewhere else, where the Badniks can't find it."
"She's right, you know!" Bunnie agreed.
"Oh, that pile of glitter earlier? Ha! My REAL treasure is even deeper underground and behind a lot more traps. Those rust buckets will never get their hands on it!" Spelunk began to grin, though, a bit unsettling.
"I hope you're right, and thank you again, Spelunk." Sally became a bit skeptical but showed some appreciation for the old mole's actions today.
After waving goodbye to Spelunk, he left to continue his workload in the Marble Bridge's dungeons. The trio of heroes began their way across the surface of Marble Bridge and found another capsule used to contain small animals.
"Welp, there's another one!" Sonic then jumps straight onto the capsule's switch. "Let's give these little guys some fresh air and open grass!"
With a press onto the capsule's switch, the large metal containment unit then breaks open, thereby releasing many tiny critters. Satisfied for the small animals, Bunnie knelt to the ground and pet one critter while a bluebird flew onto her shoulder. Each of them continued expressing gratitude for the heroes as Bunnie giggled at their innocent antics. Meanwhile, as each critter passed by Sally's legs, she was too busy pressing buttons on Nicole and handling two of the Chaos Emeralds.
"Now that we have two Emeralds, all we need are five more," Sally stated.
"And then we'll banish Robotnik for good. If Spelunk hadn't led us to that doodad of that fat jerk, we all would've been goners." Bunnie crossed her arms with a smile.
"Yeah, let's hope that we'll be able to find them before Robotnik does. Plus, we'll have to rescue Rotor and Antoine in either of those Super Badniks." Sally responded.
"Totally," Sonic acknowledged, "All that matters is we got out a-okay, and I'm ready to kick more-! YEOWCH!"
"SONIC!" shouted Sally.
"Are y'all alright?" added Bunnie.
Sally and Bunnie's attention soon got brought onto Sonic's yelp, and their eyes were concerned that his upper arm had gained a deep scratch as crimson blood flowed from the wound. Without thinking, the girls rushed over, and Sonic looks at his arm to shake it as if testing out how bad the injury is to him.
"It's nothing." Sonic faked a smile, though, still in a monotone.
"Don't say that!" Sally glares at him worriedly, tending to his arm. "Sonic, how did you get hurt?"
"I...! Uh...! Must've scrapped myself from something sharp after we dealt with Eggman's flamethrower, that's all!" Sonic felt awkward as he looks away at the sky, tapping his muzzle to distract himself from this uncomfortable moment.
"Oh, my stars, you gotta be more careful next time, Sugar-Hog!" Bunnie exclaimed, making Sonic shrink a little by her voice.
"Bunnie, let's set up camp until we're set to move onward," Sally said, patting Sonic's shoulder while glancing at him.
Sonic tried to declaim, "W-Wait, I'm fine! We need to save your friends! Let's just-OUCH!"
"You're not okay, Sonic. Do you want to bleed yourself out or something? Stop worrying and just let me help you already, okay?" Sally said in a commanding voice.
The blue hedgehog gritted his teeth when his wound kept throbbing, carelessly desiring to tell Sally that he was okay to keep moving. But Sally's expression remained stone-faced to quiet him, reaching a roll of bandages and ointment from out of her quiver's extra pocket, used for apparatus. As Sonic watched Bunnie take off to find some firewood, Sally gently rubbed the medicine onto his upper arm, then wrapped the bandages around it. Sonic didn't know if it was too much, but Sally wanted to make sure.
"Sonic, listen, it'll be okay," Sally said, still looking concerned yet understanding. "I have to learn to trust myself that my friends are going to be alright soon. You've said it yourself before, didn't you? We'll save them from Robotnik soon, but right now, I have to make sure you're good too. Okay?"
Sonic became intrigued to listen to the princess' words of reassurance, and it was enough to make the speedy hero calm down for once. He could remember a time when he had been cared for by others who utterly loved him like family. However, harsh memories were soon flooding back in Sonic's mind upon the truth that he caused the birth of an evil tyrant to wreak havoc in Sally's family and kingdom.
It was still all his fault.
Sonic frowned at that thought, knowing he'd have to make a point to confess to Sally eventually. Startled straight away by what he was thinking, Sonic shook his head furiously in an attempt to push aside such negative thoughts and focus on Sally herself. The princess kept her patient gaze upon him for an answer until Sonic quickly responded with his usual cheeky smirk.
"Thanks, Sally. You've been catching onto my words, have you?"
"You could say that, Sonic."
The two stared each other in the eyes and couldn't look away from each other until a cleared throat noise was made, typically by Bunnie, to attract their attention as she handled some lumber.
"Am I interruptin' somethin'?" Bunnie smirked.
"Ummm, uh, nothing! Nothing happened! We were only talking while she, well, you know?" Sonic said, gesturing to his bandaged upper arm as he chuckled nervously.
"Yeah, just talking. We'll help set a fire over there!" Sally smiled, trying to make a straight face, and walks over to the southern belle to change the conversation.
"Look, Sally-Girl, if you two wanted to be alone, all you had to do was ask, okay?" Bunnie kept smirking, which caused her best friend to blench.
"Bunnie, that's the absolute last thing on my mind," Sally replied in uncertainty. "Sonic and I were making sure things will go properly by the time he's rested."
"Sure, they will~!" Bunnie joyfully stated, taking a short glimpse at Sonic behind them. "You gotta admit it yourself, Sally-Girl, that Sugar-Hog sure is a handsome one."
"He's just…interesting," Sally replied.
"Yeah, and with speed like that, who knows what he could do to...oh, I don't know...a girl?" Bunnie giggled, showing her playful side and making it hard for Sally to respond to that.
"W-Well, I don't know about that. But yes, Sonic's speed will give us a great advantage."
"Wait a minute, Sally-Girl! Are you sayin' we should let him join the team?" Bunnie said, somewhat eager for her answer.
"I don't know, maybe. But we're both on the same side, so we might as well! Who knows, with him on the team, we could win the war against Robotnik in less than a year!" Sally said, seemingly excited about the opportunities that could present themselves.
"I think that's a great idea. It'd be fun to have a man on the team. If you know what I mean, Sally-Girl?" Bunnie said, fluttering her eyelids.
Her face flushing pink, Sally tried to stay calm when she was already groaning at her best friend's light-heartedness. She snatched some firewood from Bunnie and strolled off with a teasing Bunnie in pursuance. Sonic's eyes followed the two girls talking to each other and stared down at his bandaged arm in a pondering mood.
"Longclaw, Uncle Chuck, I'm not giving up on you guys, not even my new friends either. It's still my responsibility, and I must count on myself to save Sally's friends. Though, after everything with Kintobor from his accident, how will I tell Sal that I'm the one who caused this pain for her? Why does everything have to be so dang hard?"
Mumbling to himself, Sonic let out a deflating sigh until he jolted from hearing one of the girls beckoning out for his assistance in fixing the campfire. One day or another, without that guilt in his chest, Sonic will soon have the opportunity to tell Sally the truth. But as for right now, he needed to hold on a lot longer for his new friends' sake, perhaps even his own.
Dr. Robotnik remained in his Egg-O-Matic, growling some muttered swears about Sonic's absurdity under his breath while currently online with his measly nephew on the monitor screen. The bloated human had a bandage on his head from when Spelunk hit him with a diamond so brutally. His arms stay crossed as the tyrant's scrunched face said it all for Snively that his uncle had failed to retrieve each Chaos Emerald, as well as defeating Sonic. Speaking of which, Snively still looked a bit sweaty and bothered while pressing buttons on his control panel back in Robotropolis.
"What is it that you've called me for, Snively? Can't you see I'm brooding after all the trouble I went through? Grr, how dare that foolish old mole hit me with a diamond, of all things on this planet!" Dr. Robotnik said, getting annoyed by his nephew's abrupt call and summoning for his full attention.
"W-Well, sir," Snively finally spoke out through the screen. "Our network has picked up another Chaos Emerald through a trail that leads to Spring Yard. I've already requested a few Badniks there to begin their search. However, there is another thing, sir-!"
Dr. Robotnik cuts him off by smashing his fists onto the control panel, groaning as he did. "Oh, now what's happened, Snively?! I'm getting a little impatient if you keep things hidden much more slowly from here on out! Now, tell me, what is this other thing?"
"Let me send it to you, Dr. Robotnik."
At once, Snively started fiddling the keyboard as fast as he could and posts an image of a poster that just became recently located. "One of our Fly-Bots had discovered an event that is taking place live on a special broadcast within Spring Yard. It also seems that the Chaos Emerald is a cash prize, along with ten thousand dollars, for whoever wins this extreme obstacle racecourse throughout Spring Yard's city full of pinball barriers."
"WHAT?!" Dr. Robotnik shouted as he leaned in against the screen, causing Snively to jolt back in fright. "Breezie's got a lot of nerve when she was supposed to be doing HER job: making mobians miserable and hoaxing them out of their money and property! It is also why I've included those three dimwits, the Marxio Brothers! They are supposed to be in charge of gathering resources for me and keeping Breezie from doing things that go out of my way for my total domination of Mobius! What an exquisite fringe benefit it would be to robotize each of those three human dolts if they fail me against that hedgehog with the Super Badnik!"
The look on Dr. Robotnik's face scared the pants off of Snively. It was a combination of frustration and ferocity as the evil doctor fought hard to make sure he wouldn't snap. He didn't want to lose his cool in front of his nephew after his recent defeat against Sonic and Princess Sally Acorn. His voice, however, couldn't hide the trouble he currently felt as he sighed for a moment.
"Which reminds me, Snively," Dr. Robotnik begrudgingly asks him. "Did you happen to know how Miles is doing with my other designs for new Badniks? Where is he right now? I'd like to see him here in the control room."
"O-Oh! Uh, w-well," Snively gulped, his nervous grin looking quite devastated at this point. "T-The boy is not here as of now, Dr. Robotnik. H-He's uh, actually, sent on a-!"
"Where exactly did you send him to, Snively?"
"I, uh, oh dear...!" Snively's voice was higher than usual, a huge indication that he was on the verge of receiving his uncle's wrath after saying his answer. "Could it seem tolerable enough that I sent him outside to perhaps scratch around for more Badnik parts, as well as the Chaos Emerald...?"
"And where would that be, Snively?"
"...at the Spring Yard, sir?" The short human finished as he tried to keep a calm face, though he felt destroyed, while Dr. Robotnik seems to be shuddering in anger before acting quietly.
"Snively, I can pardon the numerous amount of times that your doing gets out of hand." Dr. Robotnik then grits his teeth as his face turned red with anger once again. "But when it comes to my plans for Miles, he's not supposed to take part in anything else unless I SAY SO, Snively! You DARE report to me that you let him go off solely without MY permission!"
"I'm afraid so, sir. But that runt became so insisted on going there himself that he must've known about Breezie's contest before I did, sir! I MEAN IT! I didn't expect him to be so infatuated about going there alone! I only told him about the Chaos Emerald that we're supposed to be tracking! HONEST! B-But I won't let it happen again! I'll order Miles to come back immediately-!"
"Forget that!" Dr. Robotnik cuts Snively off all of a sudden, causing the nephew to become confused. "I'm coming back to Robotropolis for urgent repairs on the Egg-O-Matic! And you, Snively, will fly over to Spring Yard and find out where Miles would be doing there!"
"S-Say what now?" Snively looked in a combination of irritation and confusion, more from the fact he doesn't want anything to do with the fox pup. "But s-sir, what about the hedgehog? And why should I care about babysitting that brat if he gets trapped or destroyed by that Super Badnik? It's what he deserves."
"Because YOU'RE the one who sent him there without fully acknowledging that Breezie has decided to do things HER way! You've already done enough research on the Miracle Planet project I've sent to you, so you might as well go and be a babysitter for the time being! As for Sonic, we'll keep him and the princess on surveillance with the Fly-Bots as a safety measure. We've lost valuable time as it is now. Afterward, YOU BOTH WILL GET BACK TO WORK!"
Snively admitted that he never wanted to deal with Miles being another assistant for his uncle. But Snively knew that Dr. Robotnik always has plans for each of them if one or the other manages to ruin everything for Dr. Robotnik's dream empire. And now, he became demoralized by Dr. Robotnik's tyranny and stripped him of his pride and dignity. The short human wouldn't be able to express himself with Dr. Robotnik around. Of course, Snively wanted power for himself and to most likely overthrow his uncle's reign someday, but he became terrified of Dr. Robotnik to no end. He'll need to wait just for the right moment to step in and take action soon.
"Y-Yes, Dr. Robotnik," Snively said gloomily, his eyes trailing off with a hint of anger within him. "As you command."
TO BE CONTINUED...