Chapter 2: "Hard Copy"

Sally was nodding already, Bunnie not even finished explaining the break down of the teams. "Well done, Bunnie. I can't see anything to improve based on what we've got. What time is everyone preparing for?" She looked up from the rough map of the plan with a confident smile. The two ladies were in her cottage again, early the morning after the others' meeting.

Smiling herself, the metal-limbed rabbit woman answered, "As soon as you're ready, Sally-girl. Rotor's preppin' the scan-blockers for 'em right now."

Giggling, the princess said, "Well then I just need a little breakfast." She jumped suddenly, and Bunnie blinked in surprise. "Oh no! I forgot completely about poor Tails last night!"

Her friend smiled happily. "No worries there, Sally-girl. I read to him."

The squirrel relaxed back to a fond smile herself, and hugged Bunnie. "Thanks, Bunnie. He looks forward to it so much."

Bunnie grinned. "Just because the prettiest gal in our little organization likes to read to him at night."

Sally laughed, but was blushing a bit. "Don't be silly, Bunnie, I'm hardly the prettiest one here. Tails loves your hugs."

This time Bunnie still smiled, but it was obvious she wanted to move on. "Come on then, Sally-girl. Let's get you some grub!"

Hiding the sympathy she felt for Bunnie's situation, Sally nodded happily, and they hurried off to the refectory to get some food with the others. They found Sonic and Tails there already, the super-fast hero already munching on a plate full of chili-dogs.

"Aunt Sally!" the twin-tailed fox shouted for joy, and zipped headlong for the poor woman.

Sally was a bit scared by his speed, but caught him up in her arms with a warm laugh, and kissed the little boy on both cheeks, then his nose, making him giggle and hug her affectionately. She patted his fur, and let him down. "Were you good for Bunnie last night, Tails?"

Tails nodded rapidly. "Yes, Aunt Sally! Bunnie did different voices, but she was really good with the evil goblin king and the little cub!"

Bunnie was blushing gently, and gave her friend a nervous smile when Sally looked up with a kind of 'told you so' smirk. The rabbit woman finally leaned down to pat Fox's shoulder. "That's really sweet of you say, darlin', but I know you prefer Sally-girl's voices, don't worry 'bout a thing."

Tails giggled, but was totally sincere when he said, "Oh but I like yours, too, Aunt Bunnie!"

Her attempt foiled, the cyborg finally just laughed, and nodded to him, smiling. And then the two women finally joined the blue hedgehog with Tails. Sonic was grinning at the little interchange himself, but was too busy inhaling chili-dogs to do much else.

As Sally pulled herself up some fruit and bread with juice, she gave Sonic's 'breakfast' a dismal stare. "I'll never understand how you can get away with eating so much junk, Sonic… Must just be that insane metabolism of yours."

Sonic winked, taking half of another dog in one bite. "I'm just too cool for indigestion, Sal. Can't keep up with my feet!"

Sally opened her mouth to shoot down his questionable biology, but finally just rolled her eyes with an exasperated smile, and starting eating herself.

It didn't take long for the freedom fighters to meet outside and finalize their preparations. Rotor coached Sally on the scan-blocker, which resembled a simple black, narrow box strapped to the chest like a reverse-back-pack (only on the front for easy of reaching the controls). Sonic, of course, didn't need a scan-blocker, since was supposed to be a diversion anyway.

The three teams, including Dulcy, were actually just about to take off, when one of the mechanical messenger pigeons fluttered down toward Sally. Everyone watched as she let the robot land on her wrist, and popped open the panel on its back, taking the message out. Letting the robotic bird fly off, she unfolded the message, her eyebrows rising. "It's from Sir Charles." Immediately everyone was listening closely. "He says that Robotnik is beefing up security around the fortress, and that the supply lines have completely stopped today. He's guarding something," she said ominously for herself, looking back up to her friends and comrades.

Sonic braced down playfully. "Then it's time to juice, Sal! You guys get going, I'll get the swat-butts in the usual tizzy once you get there."

Sally reached out, but he was already spinning around and revving at the ground. "But we need to make sur--!" She cringed down and away with the others as a sonic boom shook the ground and the air screamed in the hedgehog's wake. "…sure to get all the patrols," Sally finished dryly, sighing.

Bunnie was laughing into her furry hand. "The Sugar-hog never was short on courage, Sally-girl."

"No… that he's not." Sally's tone wasn't quite as fond as Bunnie's, and then she looked up to Dulcy. "Ready then, Dulcy?"

The dragon winked, and lay down. The three teams climbed up on her back, Antoine murmuring anxiously, and then she twisted around, shooting into the air with a wailing, accented fox announcing her departure.

(The dark city…)

Dulcy shot down through the dark clouds over Robotropolis, and smiled as she saw the blue streak down below, ripping toward the central hub. The dragon looked back over her shoulder to Sally and the others. "I spotted him again. Where-to first?"

Sally shook her head down at the blue spec below them, and then replied to the dragon, "Southwest of the fortress first, Dulcy. Bunnie, Antoine, and I will try to scatter first, keep the other teams free of too many swat-bots."

The dragon was already diving. "You got it, Sally."

Down on the ground, Sonic was grinning as he blurred over the terrain, wind streaming across his face, his backpack barely hanging onto his shoulders. He did love his job. As he reached the slums of the actual city, an over-head patrol of the small gun-boats driven by attached swat-bots abruptly twisted and dove after him. Their monotone voices chorused, "Hedgehog alert. Priority 1. Capture."

Sonic laughed over his shoulder. "You slow pokes never quit, I'll give you that! But I've got a bigger party to start, so let's juice!" He sped off, almost flickering out of sight as he drove straight for the fortress at the heart of the city. Soon a small armada of ships and sprinting swat-bots were running after him, and he did have to juke to the sides regularly, but they just couldn't catch him.

Dulcy was just flying off to drop the other teams as Sally pulled Nicole from her boot amid a small pile of junk Southwest of the fortress. Bunnie was keeping an eye out while Antoine just shivered down between them. "Nicole, scan area. Any detectable activity?"

The computer flickered and clicked for a moment, then replied, "Negative, Sally. Beyond a greater concentration of swat-bot defenses in the area, I can detect no abnormal activity."

Sally frowned, but touched Bunnie's shoulder after putting Nicole away. "We just have to get closer. When Sonic passes this area, we move in."

Bunnie winked back at her. "You got it, Sally-girl."

"I am wondering why I am here, yes?" Antoine moaned, holding his head.

Both women sighed, but sharpened their eyes at the fortress, keeping their ears open for patrols.

Sonic was zigzagging around the fortress at this point, and while the army chasing him was getting bigger, something was very wrong. "No sign of butt-nik or any big toys yet…" He leaned down into a faster rush as a few shots came too close for comfort. He was just coming around to Sally's teams' location, and he needed to be focused.

Bunnie perked up a bit, and smiled. "There he goes, Sally-girl!"

Sally looked over, and saw the blue streak rip across the part of the fortress closest to them, all the swat-bots and ships in the area charging after him. Sonic angled around, and pretended to wave up at the bots' cameras, but he was actually signaling Sally and her team as he shot straight South, ripping past their hiding place with a familiar rush of wind and force. Bunnie had to clamp her mechanical hand over Antoine's mouth to keep his whimpering from revealing their location to the small ocean of swat and stealth-bots storming after the hedgehog.

As the three of them quickly came out of hiding and ran for the fortress' base, Sally realized something was wrong as well. Robotnik was not sending anything special after them. No new bots were pouring out of the fortress, no big cannons, nothing. Her mind ground on the troubling information as she reached a ventilation hatch with Bunnie and Antoine, and was pulling Nicole from her boot, ready to connect her to the console to get a better handle on their situation before using the vent… when she froze.

Antoine was too busy shaking, but Bunnie looked to Sally with some urgency in her eyes. "Sally-girl, what's wrong? You gotta get your head in the game, darlin'."

Sally let Nicole down, and looked to Bunnie. "I am. Look at this, Bunnie. Just the visible patrols? Nothing coming out of the fortress, no new weapons? We're being drawn in."

(Elsewhere…)

Robotnik's smile grew steadily. The hedgehog on his large screen from several different perspectives. Sonic had pulled the army chasing him out into the junk-yard, and was starting to make them shoot each other or buzz-saw through their metal frames. Now that he was so confident of victory, Robotnik could recognize the hedgehog's talent at wrecking machinery. He was almost a machine himself… "Ah, the irony," the doctor muttered to himself. "Snively?"

"Yes, sah?" the balding man replied warily, standing by his console again.

"Opportunity knocks. Activate the weapon. It is time to end this game, Hedgehog," Robotnik narrowed his eyes at the screen with a flash of red light. "Enjoy."

(Outside…)

Bunnie was about to push Sally on the idea of it being a trap, considering how big the force that had been guarding the fortress was, but then they all heard it, even Dulcy. A sonic-boom, and a ripping rush.

Green eyes widened as Bunnie swallowed. "That wasn't the Sugar-hog…"

Sally shook her head, and twisted around, looking out from the fortress. She spotted it, arcing down through the air from near the top of the tower. Something dark, glistening… and unbelievably fast.

"That was it, that's what he's been working on!" Sally realized with her heart sinking into her feet. "Sonic was the target the whole time!" She snapped a gun from her pack, and fired it up into the air.

Bunnie blanched. "But, Sally-girl, we can't just scrap the mission. Maybe that's just a new defense bot or somethin'?"

Dulcy was visible careening down toward them already. Sally shook her head. "No, Bunnie, this is too dangerous. Sonic will need help on this one."

Bunnie dragged the shocked Antoine out as Sally ran into the open to signal Dulcy down as orderly as possible. "Sonic can handle himself, Sally-girl, what's gotten into you?"

"In-coming!" Dulcy warned, smashing down into the ground, and skidding to a halt right in front of Sally.

The squirrel princess looked back to Bunnie. "I think I know what that things is. Dulcy, can you fly right away?"

"Sure, Ma…" the muddled dragon managed.

Anxious about her friend's choice, Bunnie finally hefted Antoine up onto Dulcy's back with Sally and herself, and then the dragon took off, shooting toward the waves of explosions that was Sonic fighting the swat-bots.

Sonic himself was having a blast. Cutting a hover-head in half, he shot out the far side, unrolled, and ran down a hill of junk, getting several other swat-bots to shoot each other to pieces.

"Too slow, bots! I thought you'd at least learn not to shoot at each other by now!" he laughed, and zipped around like a jagged line, causing several other bots to explode.

He was just turning around after a hard stop when it hit. His super-fast senses caught the bots flying apart around something much faster, coming from the direction of the fortress. Sonic blinked, and then dashed to his right.

"Whoa!" he gasped, seeing a trail of shattered rock and metal in the line he'd just dodged out of.

Turning around, Dulcy and the others just getting a good view themselves, Sonic's eyes widened at the sight waiting for him.

Standing at the end of the shattered terrain was a tall, dark shape. It slowly turned around, revealing dark blue metal, razor-sharp blades along the back of the rounded head, black eyes, and glowing red pupils over a metallic silver faceplate. The hands were articulate and large, the legs simple, with sharp, black shoe-like feet.

Metal Sonic narrowed his eyes at the real one, and the optics flared as the blades on the back of his head revved with the ominous, metallic roar that had so haunted Snively before. He spoke in a deeper voice than the other robots, apparently with a unique voice-module. "Sonic located. Priority 1 target."

"My stars…" Bunnie breathed.

Sally looked at the robotic hedgehog with dark shock written on her face, and Dulcy almost lost control of her flight.

"It's… Sonic…"

Sonic himself turned truly angry. "Now you've gone and done it, Ro-butt-nik. Nobody, and I mean nobody, copies me and gets away with it!" He shouted to the swat-bots all around him. "And if you think this hunk of junk is fast enough to beat me, you're just as wrong as you've always been!"

Metal's blade-fin revved again, and he suddenly blasted toward Sonic. The real hedgehog jerked down to the side, but stopped as the robot looked down at him from the left. "Actually, Sonic," the robot said coldly, "I'm just as fast as you are."

And then the swat-bots started firing again. Sonic revved, laughed, and shot off, Metal Sonic's blades revving before he rocketed after the blue wonder. The combined sonic explosions actually shattered the remaining swat-bots into oblivion, and the race was on.

Dulcy didn't need to be told. She cracked the whip, and sent herself ripping through the air to try and keep up with the two super-fast hogs.

Bunnie leaned in over Sally's shoulder, focused on the two racers. "That 'bot sure is fast, alright. What do you think, Sally-girl?"

Sally's hands clenched the saddle on Dulcy's back. "We need to lure him into a trap, Bunnie. That thing has to be destroyed. Sonic is our only real edge."

Metal was rapidly catching up to Sonic, but the original blue streak was smirking to himself. He'd let the clone get a little bit close, then leave him in the dust like everything else. "How's the weather back there, chrome-dome?"

Metal's eyes narrowed, and he started to speed up. Unlike Sonic's legs, Metal's zigzagged back and forth at incredible speed, leaving his lower body little more than a jagged cloud of blue and silver. They ripped down the streets together, leaned into their runs, matching motion for motion across the would-be track.

Sonic let Metal get within grabbing range, but then shot off like a bolt, aiming for the left-hand building they were just about to pass. He would flip over the robot, get behind him, and buzz-him in the back.

But he didn't see into the robot's mind. All the data that had been poured into his memory banks. It analyzed Sonic's behavior every fraction of a second, and mapped it onto video-samples of the hedgehog's tactics. The calculations were made before Sonic himself could blink, and Metal had three possible courses of action, each with 22, 33, and 78 probabilities of success.

The blue-metal robot suddenly shot up the right building with an insane burst of speed, and Sonic shouted in surprise as he flipped off the left building, only to have Metal Sonic shooting off to meet him from the other side. Both of them suddenly revved down into spinning discs, Sonic shooting down into the mechanical buzz-saw. They struck, bounced, rolled off opposite buildings, struck again. The cycle repeated in a blistering rush of blows and shattered buildings as Dulcy kept flying after them, the two blurring around like ping-pong balls on acid.

Even Sally was in a mild daze watching the super-fast duo rip into each other, only to bounce off from the matching speed of their blades. Bunnie was ducking her head down, because Dulcy was flying just fast enough to stay ahead of the falling debris from the buildings the fighting was ripping apart down the street.

And then it happened. They hit each other at slightly off angles, and their speed turned it into a vicious impact. Both were jarred out of their spinning positions, and sent flipping wildly through the air.

"Sonic!" Sally screamed, seeing him shoot off ahead of them, flailing like a rag-doll. A landing from that altitude…

Dulcy gritted her teeth, and snapped her tail down yet again. She rocketed ahead, just reaching Sonic as he fell toward the ground, and Bunnie and Sally yanked the speedy wonder down onto the dragon's back. Sonic groaned, holding his head. "Aw man… Sal, that thing hits hard…"

Antoine was a blubbering mess, but Bunnie looked back around him, and her eyes flared. "I don't mean to rain on the parade here, y'all, but he landed a lot better than you did, Sugar-hog."

They all looked back, except for Dulcy, and saw Metal simply flip down and crash to his haunches, instantly ripping after them with a flash of his red optics and a rev of his back-blades.

Sonic stood up on Dulcy's back, balancing, and focused down on the robotic copy darkly. "Sally, go get the other teams with Dulcy here. I know what to do with this hunk of junk."

"Wait, Sonic! We have to--No!" Sally actually tried to grab him this time, but he leapt off the dragon, and yanked a power-ring out of his back-pack, grinning with satisfaction.

Sally growled in frustration, and leaned to Dulcy. "Fly back around, Dulcy! We're gonna have to do this the old-fashioned way."

Dulcy started to angle back around. "Do what?"

Sally pulled two charges out of her back-pack, and looked back to Bunnie, who grinned, and pulled two more out of hers. The princess looked back to Dulcy's curious face. "Make a sonic-boom."

"That is sounding very dangerous, nes pa?"

"Quiet, Antoine!" all three women with him shouted in unison. The dragon dove after Sonic, who hit the ground just as the power-ring engulfed him in light, and he ripped toward Metal.

Metal's eyes flashed, and just as Sonic reached him, the robot pitched around to Sonic's left, turning on a dime, and slamming one hand into the ground as he locked both feet against it, focusing up on the hedgehog's back. Sonic smirked, and shot off, but Metal's back revved, his eyes flashed once more, and he shot off like a darker bolt. This time, however, his entire body locked forward, and his speed erupted. Sonic looked back, his eyes widening as he realized this machine was actually keeping up with him with a power-ring. They were out of Dulcy's sight in a blink, making Sally's expression fall with surprisingly deep despair, but off with the racers, Sonic hit a curved wall, and shot himself back toward the outside of the city. Metal chased him, the two airborne for several seconds, and landing rushing to meet Dulcy and company once more.

Spotting the dust-trails approaching, Sally readied her charges. "Bunnie, we'll use Nicole to time it." She pulled the computer off her leg.

"Ready, Sally-girl." She had the explosives out in both hands, ready to toss them down over Dulcy's flanks.

Sally readied both of hers in her free hand, and watched a count-down start on Nicole's screen.

Down on the ground, Sonic furiously charged ahead, his power-ring running low, he could feel it. That Robotnik could craft a machine so close to his own speed was privately quite disturbing to the speedy hedgehog, but he officially had bigger priorities. Sally, Bunnie, Dulcy, and his other friends were in serious danger as long as this thing was around. Seeing a blue and silver metal mask where his own face could be had unsettled Sonic more than he would admit to the same friends, and he could almost imagine the robot behind him finding Knothole…

Without his usual sarcasm or mockery, Sonic gritted his teeth, and ripped down the road, seeing Dulcy flying to meet him. Sally had a plan. Sonic grinned, and found the strength in him for another burst of speed.

Metal Sonic, however, started to slow faintly, his red optics dimming. His speed-burst was draining his power system to dangerously low levels. He could still predict the hedgehog with startling accuracy, but his diagnostics told him he could no longer keep up with the organic enough to utilize the predictions effectively. He was not programmed for retreat, however.

Nicole blinked. "Now, Sally."

"Bunnie!"

"Let 'em rip, darlin'!"

Four Rotor-made grenades shot down from Dulcy as Sonic zipped past beneath. Metal Sonic glanced up, self-defense programming reacting, but not fast enough. The absolute priority of Sonic's presence had delayed him at a crucial moment, and Metal Sonic was only skidding to a halt when the bombs hit the ground all around him. "Priority one…" His blades revved just as the bombs exploded, his body still shifting with his stop as he vanished in four clouds of light, force, and smoke.

"Yee-haw!" Bunnie hollered, waving her mechanical fist up in the air as Dulcy swerved around, Sally almost feeling relieved as she held Nicole up, their dragon friend starting to fly after Sonic.

"Nicole, report. Status of robotic hedgehog?"

The computer blinked a few times, but the smoke was already clearing. Sonic smirked where he stood, near the end of the street, just as Nicole finally said, "Target destroyed."

Sally almost fell off Dulcy with her relief, Bunnie giving a yelp and catching her on one side. Down on the street, scattered around a few craters, were the sparking parts that remained of Metal Sonic. The optical apparatus, with some of the top of the head, was still glaring at Sonic from the right side of the street, but the red lights dimmed… and finally shut off.

Dulcy aimed down, but didn't try to land. She just needed to get close to it. Sonic waved up at them.

"Great shot, ladies! Where would I be without ya, right?"

Sally smirked down at him. "Right. Now get back to Knothole. We'll recover the other teams."

"I'll help!" Sonic called as Dulcy started to fly up again, forcing him to turn around.

Bunnie waved down at him. "Just get home, Sugar-hog! We figured out what ole rust-bucket was workin' on, didn't we?"

Sonic was about to protest, but then stopped, his finger sinking. "Oh yeah… we did… Hm. Way past!" And he hopped, revved his legs, and shot off with a familiar boom and rush.

Sally sighed, holding a hand to her heart. "That was too close. Dulcy, the others should be at the meeting place in the junkyard by now anyway."

"Got it, Sally!" the dragon replied cheerfully, quite relieved herself.

Bunnie glanced back, and sighed with exasperated humor at the white Antoine clinging to Dulcy's tail. She reached her mechanical arm back, and the hand extended, gripping his collar before pulling him back to sit behind her. Looking forward to her friend, the half-mechanical rabbit patted Sally softly on the back. "Sure was, but you did it, Sally-girl."

"We did it, Bunnie. Thanks." The princess looked forward dismally, though. "This isn't over, though. Robotnik might just build another one of those things."

"Maybe so, but we know some of Rotor's toys will take care of 'em real quick, right?"

Sally grinned again. "Good point, Bunnie. Oh, thank goodness, the other teams are there," she noticed, pointing down for Dulcy.

Her three current passengers wailed as Dulcy swept down into another crash-landing…

(In the dark fortress…)

It was difficult to believe that the freedom fighters still in the city didn't hear the heart-chilling roar from Robotropolis' ruler. "Nooooo!"

Snively was already trying to leave the command center, when he yelped, choking as Robotnik's mechanical hand clamped around his tiny neck and hefted him up to the bushy orange mustache and glowing red eyes.

"I had him, Snively! I had that blasted hedgehog!"

"Y-yes… sah…"

Snively was sent into the console with a dismissive shove as Robotnik stomped away, prattling on manically as his hands contorted up near his head. "I calculated every variable! Accounted for every possible strategy! Designed an entirely new physical-motion drive and inertial dampeners! I had everything in place, in order. The hedgehog's demise was certain!"

He twisted again, stomping back the other way. "How could he defeat Metal Sonic? It was flawless, obedient, fast enough to catch and outmatch that little blue stain until…"

Snively watched anxiously, hiding behind the edge of his console as Robotnik seemed to freeze, like a computer losing power abruptly. He stared into nothing with his glowing eyes. "Until…" he repeated quietly… ominously.

Abruptly, he snapped toward his command chair, and bounded into it with surprising speed for his girth (though he did shake most of the room with his landing), and started clicking controls. "Computer, play security-orb files from the following time increments," he ordered, typing busily at his private console.

Snively stepped out, blinking as the large view-screens split up and came to life with other video-feeds… this time of Princess Acorn, her cyborg friend, and other freedom fighters during battles with the hedgehog. And then the footage changed to the most recent fight, with Metal Sonic screeching to a halt only to be destroyed by four grenades dropping from above…

"THAT'S IT!" Robotnik's voice boomed, his fists almost ripping the sides of his command chair off he pounded them so violently. He started to laugh, spinning his throne around with manic humor. "Yessss. Yes! How could I miss it before? It's so obvious now!"

The chair halted, and Snively yelped, realizing Robotnik was staring at him.

"Snively! Send swat-bots to pick up the wreckage of my dear little pet-project. I have… programming to write…" He relished the words, tapping his fingers together.

(Author's Note)

Sorry for the delay in uploading this chapter. was having issues for me, and would not let me upload the document.

Getting into the meat of things now. I hope this second chapter proves interesting compared to the foreshadowing in the first. With what I've written, the story is already a very unique spin on the SatAM universe, for good or ill. Thank you for the positive reviews, and I apologize for any typos I've missed. Thank you for reading!