CHAPTER SEVEN - Bust Out, Act I

What a pity... thought Robotnik. I really do think he would have made a fine leader for my forces.

He sighed as he continued to watch Nail make his useless attempts to escape the glass chamber. Suddenly though, he felt a heavy blow on the back of his head. He flew from his chair and fell face first to the floor.

What the...? He got to his feet and turned around. He couldn't believe his eyes. Sonic was standing there, while flanked by Knuckles and Tails.

"What do you think of my right hook, Robotnik?" said Knuckles before he started laughing.

Robotnik ignored him completely though, and gazed at Sonic in shock. "You...Nail killed you! How are you here!"

"Hey...don't change the subject! Knuckles asked you a question!" yelled Sonic.

"Yeah, what do you think of my right hook? Maybe I should show it to you again since you didn't get a good look the first time!"

Robotnik turned around and saw that Knuckles had moved over to the roboticization chamber and was about to punch it open.

"No!"

Robotnik dived for the controls to the roboticizer. However, Sonic zoomed over and used a hard karate chop on his arm before he could press any buttons. While Robotnik shrieked in agony from his injured arm, Sonic kicked him away from the chamber controls. He stumbled backwards and fell to the floor.

"Since you're not going to say what you think about Knuckles' fighting abilities, then say what you think of mine! Knuckles has been showing me a few moves for awhile now, and I wanna know what you think of my progress."

Robotnik heard breaking glass behind him, and turned around. Knuckles had successfully made a hole in the roboticization chamber's glass and had dragged the gasping Nail out. He was taking in deep breaths of air.

This is all crazy...this is my city, I should be in control, not them! What am I going to do...? Robotnik thought. Aha! Now I know what I can do!

Robotnik got to his feet and started grinning.

"Why are you so happy all of a sudden?" Tails asked.

"You may have won the battle just now, but you will now lose the war!"

Robotnik pressed a button on a band on his wrist. The general alarm sounded throughout the building. A robotic voice was heard from the overhead speakers:

"Intruders in the roboticization chamber. Repeat, intruders in the roboticization chamber. Search and destroy immediately."

Knuckles was scared. It looked like their simple rescue plan had been blown and now they'd all be captured or killed. Robotnik's swatbots were already coming into the room through the doors.

How are we going to get out of this one! All the exits are blocked now!

"Knuckles! Tails!" Sonic shouted, bringing Knuckles out of his thoughts. "Get him out of here! I'll cover for you!"

"Sonic! NO!"

"Just get away!" yelled Sonic as he threw himself at the crowd of bots.

Knuckles shouted, "Tails! Grab one of his arms!"

Both of them grabbed hold him, and then the three of them flew over the crowd of swatbots and out one of the doors. They landed on the floor behind the bots after they were over. Tails and Knuckles then dragged the half-conscious fox down the hall between them. They heard Robotnik say "Get after them!" while they fled down the hall as fast as they could.

"Go to Robotnik's office!" shouted Knuckles.

The three of them headed down the hall. Knuckles punched down the door to Robotnik's office when they got there.

"Come on! We have to jump!" he said as he pointed at the window.

They jumped through the glass and it broke to pieces. Shards of it cut into their skin, but none of them noticed at the moment. Their fear for themselves and for Sonic had completely overridden their sense of pain. Tails and Knuckles once again flew through the air while holding Nail between them.

For facing off against so many swatbots, Sonic was doing well in this fight. He had managed to destroy quite a few of them, but there just didn't seem to be any end to them. As the fight wore on, he grew more and more exhausted. Finally, he got too exhausted to keep fighting, and one of the swatbots hit him with its stun gun. Sonic fell to the floor and couldn't move at all, and he was in extreme pain. Robotnik strode over and stood above him.

"Your friends may have escaped, but they've only delayed the inevitable," Robotnik said. "I'm sure my swatbots will hunt them down out there like rats eventually. Then, they will join you in the robotization chambers!" He laughed manically.

"For now though, we're going to stay here. I'm going to gather most of my forces in this building. If your friends escape my patrols, they'll surely come back here looking for you. Either way, they'll definitely be captured!" Robotnik laughed again, and kicked Sonic's head. There was a blinding flash of white light in Sonic's eyes, and then it faded into darkness.