(See Prelude for Disclaimer).
~Chapter 6: New Alliances~
Maddie and Rachel stared dumbfounded at the robotic insect that hovered in the air in front of them.
"What...what are you?", asked Maddie.
"I am EB-Unit 1, I am a defense droid created by my master, designation "Penelope Wachowski", for the sole purpose of defending and aiding her and those affiliated with her", said the robot bee.
Then, its eyes glowed as it scanned Maddie and Rachel, who flinched at the sudden action. Then it suddenly stopped, "You are relatives of my creator, so I will assist you", said EB. Maddie looked at the robot bee and then inside of Tails' backpack, seeing his gadgets.
"I have an idea", she said.
"And I want to have a word with my fiancé. And that word is "murder"", said Rachel.
Maddie then turned to EB, "Okay, you can help us. How do you work exactly?", she said.
"I have two defense modes: Lethal and Non-lethal. My lethal setting is only to be used in dire situations where my creator's life or the life of others are in danger of being terminated", EB explained.
Maddie was a little shocked by this but she shook it off, "Okay then. This situation isn't life threatening, so set yourself to "non-lethal" please", she said.
EB let out a loud buzzing and beeping noise, "Non-lethal Defense Mode activated", he said.
Then it followed after Maddie and Rachel as they snuck around the perimeter of the hotel, which was now crawling with G.U.N. agents. "All right. Game plan. I get inside the hotel and find where they're hiding Tom, Penelope and Sonic", said Maddie.
"That plan is most logical, it has a high probability of success", said EB.
Rachel nodded in agreement, "Okay. Then I find Randall, right? And then I squeeze the breath from his lying, deceitful, perfectly manscaped body!...I'm going through a lot right now. So let me process this my own way, okay?", she said when her sister looked at her funny.
"Sure, sure. No judgment", said Maddie.
"Should've brought a journal", said Rachel.
Maddie opened Tails' backpack and pulled out a strange looking device that almost resembled a toy gun, Rachel grabbed it. "Is this meant to be a weapon? This is adorable. Take that, Randall! Run, Randall!", she said.
"All right. We're about to find out. All right!", said Maddie.
"Let's go kick some Booty", said Rachel.
The two women headed out to enact their plan, but were stopped by a G.U.N. Agent. "Stop right there!", he said. Maddie reached into Tails' backpack and out a circular device, she threw it at the agent. It let out a shockwave that shot him up into the air, Maddie looked stunned. "He's gonna come back down, right?", she asked.
"Probability seems quite low", said EB.
"I don't know. Good luck!", Rachel called out
Then Maddie pointed at the hotel, "Look! Tom, Penelope and Sonic have to be inside", she said.
Rachel nodded, "I got a fiancé to vaporize. Watch your back, sis", she said.
She and Maddie then high fived each and split off to complete their objectives. As Maddie approached the hotel, she was surrounded by G.U.N. agents. "We got her. Move in", one of them said.
Before Maddie could react, EB swooped in, aimed his stinger at the agents and began firing green orbs at them. When each orb hit the agents, they exploded into wads of a sticky green substance that glued the agents to the ground and walls.
Maddie was surprised, "This is what you can do?!", she said.
EB looked at her curiously, "This is the function of my Non-lethal Defense Setting, I fired a substance that will immobilize any was attackers without causing them any bodily harm", he explained.
Maddie nodded as she continued running into the hotel, more G.U.N. agents tried to take her out but EB fired more sticky balls at them, trapping them like flies in a spider web. Soon, Maddie came upon the room where Tom and the others were locked up.
"I detect four heat signatures from withing this room", said EB.
"Can you unlock the door?", asked Maddie.
EB nodded as he held up one of his hands, it retracted and was replaced by a small blowtorch. He used it to singe the lock on the door, breaking it open; Maddie then rushed inside the room.
"Maddie!", said Tom.
"Mom!", said Penelope.
"Come on. We're busting out of here", said Maddie as she untied Tom.
"How'd you get past the guards?", asked Tom.
Just then, EB flew into the room and hovered before Penelope. Tom jumped back in surprise and Sonic looked on in shock as well, "Our daughter really is a genius, hun", said Maddie.
Penelope smiled as she reached over and petted the robot bee on the head, "Good job, EB! You did really well for a test run, not bad for a prototype. I can't wait to get you patented, now get my brothers out of those cages", she said.
EB nodded as he flew over and used his blowtorch to unlock the cages that held Sonic and Tails.
[Time Skip]
Meanwhile on another island, Knuckles placed the compass down onto a space on the ground that seemed to be made for it.
"The owls were fools to think they could hide this", he said before there was a sudden rumbling noise, "What's happening?"
"Wait for it...", said Robotnik.
Suddenly, a bright green light shot up out of the water and into the sky. A giant labyrinth then erupted from the sea, "Yes. Eureka! I've found it!", shouted Robotnik.
[Time Skip]
Back at Hawaii, Sonic and the others looked to see the beam of light shooting up into the sky. "Sonic, what is that?", asked Tom.
"Oh no...", Penelope muttered.
"A big problem. The compass led Robotnik to the Emerald", said Sonic.
"That's got to be hundreds of miles away", said Maddie.
"All right. Huddle up. Let's figure out a plan. Together", said Tom.
Sonic began to walk off, "There's no time for that. I'm the only one that can get there fast enough", he said.
"Sonic, this is way too big for you to do by yourself", said Maddie.
Sonic stopped and moved his hand to the unconscious Tails, "You see that little fox over there? He came all the way across the universe to meet his hero. And what did his hero do? I practically got him killed. You know what? You were right. My moment came and I blew it. I'm no hero", he said.
"Wait...", said Tom.
"No. I'm not letting anyone else get hurt because of me. I'm gonna fix this while I still can", said Sonic.
Before he could dash off to the beachside, he was grabbed by his arm. He turned to see Penelope standing there, holding him tightly.
"Sis?", he asked.
"What do you think? That I'm gonna just watch helplessly from the sidelines? I don't think so", said Penelope.
"I'm asking you to wait here!", said Sonic.
"And I'm telling you not a chance. You're my brother! I'm with you, and I'm just as much involved in all this as your are, whether you like it or not!"
"I have to do this alone!"
"What is this to you? A game?"
"No!"
"So you think you can just reload a previous save and try again to be the big hero, eh Blue Justice?!"
"NO!"
"Then what? What is it?"
"I'm not..."
"Not what?"
"I-I'm not strong enough!"
"Strong enough. And this will make you stronger?"
"Yes--NO!!"
"Oh, so is that what this is to you? Some sort of workout game!? Gonna play some Wii Sports?!"
"I CAN'T LOSE YOU LIKE I LOST LONGCLAW!!"
Penelope was taken aback by what Sonic has just said, he grabbed her by her legs as he pressed his head against them, his shoulders slightly shaking. He then looked up at her, revealing that he had broke down crying.
"I can't. Not like Longclaw, I'm not...strong enough", Sonic whispered as he cried.
Penelope then knelt down and pulled him into a warm embrace, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. "If we work together, you won't need to be", she said with a smile.
"But Sis, I...I don't...I don't know--"
Sonic was cut off when Penelope reached a hand up to wipe away his tears and gave him another kiss on the forehead, "Little Bro, we've been by each other's side since the day we met. I swore I would stay with you and go with you to that mushroom planet if you were discovered, I stood by you and defended you even at the cost of my own life.
"I think it's pretty obvious at this point that I will never let you fight alone. We're brother and sister, family, and family stick together no matter what. I am going with you, and if we don't make it back, then...well, at least we went down fighting together!", she said.
Sonic smiled as he embraced her, then he let go as she gently pushed him away. "EB! Activate Handheld Weapon Mode, and switch to your laser gun", she called out.
The robotic bee nodded as he suddenly underwent a small transformation: he latched onto Penelope's right arm, securing himself by wrapping his arms and legs around it. Then, his propeller and antennae retracted, giving him the appearance of a gun strapped to Penelope's arm, with the stinger pointing outward.
Then Penelope turned to Sonic, "Let's get going!", she said. Sonic nodded as they both sped off to the beachside.
"Penelope! Sonic!", Tom shouted. As he said this, Tails awoke suddenly. He caught a glimpse of the woman and hedgehog speeding away.
"Penelope! Sonic, wait!", he said. Tails tried to fly to catch up with them, but due to being in no shape to fly, he fell to the ground, with Tom and Maddie rushing over to him.
"Hold on. Hold on. Wait, wait, wait. Don't move. Don't move", Maddie said.
"Take it easy, little guy. You're hurt", said Tom.
"But we have to help them. You don't know what they're up against", said Tails as he winced in pain. They turned to Walters, who was tied up due to a small scuffle he had with Rachel while everything else was going on.
"You believe us now?", asked Tom. Walters simply nodded since he couldn't speak due to the gag in his mouth.
[Time Skip]
Penelope and Sonic made it to the beachside, they stared at the waves as they crashed back and forth.
"Water. Why did it have to be water?", said Sonic.
"I know you can't swim, Little Bro, but we've got to get to the source of that light! Cuffs, activate!", said Penelope as a pair of metal clamps came up out of her hoverboard and secured her feet to it, "This is so I don't fall off or lose my board to the ocean".
Sonic sighed before he crouched down, his body lighting up with electricity. "Okay, I can do this", he said.
Penelope got into position as well, "We can do this, Sonic", she said.
"Gotta go fast", they both said in unison.
Then, they both took a deep breath and sped though the water, Penelope gliding over it while Sonic ran along the surface. Soon the waves started to pick up, but they pushed onward.
"Don't give in, Sonic! We can make it!", Penelope shouted as loud as she could over the crashing waves.
The two pushed on as hard as they could, but the waves became too strong and they were suddenly washed into the ocean.
A few minutes later, Sonic regained consciousness and found himself on an island, with Penelope crouching over him.
"Hey, thought you'd never wake up. I've been performing CPR for the last twenty minutes. Don't worry, I didn't give you mouth-to-mouth", she said.
She helped Sonic stand up and they walked into the nearby underbrush, soon coming across the path to a massive labyrinth.
[Time Skip]
Robotnik and Knuckles were already running through the labyrinth, setting off a series of booby traps that destroyed a few of Robotnik's badniks. Then, a giant spiked metal ball came rolling at them, they ran for their lives.
"I don't want to die like this! It's derivative!", shouted Robotnik.
There was a doorway ahead of them, but it was slowly closing. "Make room for daddy!", shouted Robotnik. Knuckles ran ahead and held up the closing wall so that he and Robotnik could get through; they both jumped through the doorway just as it slammed closed, "Two and two. Great! We're still bipedals, more or less", said Robotnik.
A stream of fire shot out of the wall, "Fire in the hole! I've solved it. There is a booby trap every seven seco…", Robotnik trailed off as a large axe swept past him, just barely missing him, "That was a little early. So glad it didn't cut off my mustache".
He then saw Knuckles walking ahead, completely disregarding the booby traps because he wanted to get to the Master Emerald as quickly as possible. "Hey, little red wrecking ball. I know you're dying to get your Emerald on, but can we be a little bit more mindful of our surroundings? May I?", said Robotnik as he activated his gauntlet.
"In 30 feet, turn left", it said.
Robotnik turned to look at Knuckles, "Work smarter, not harder", he said.
Meanwhile, Penelope and Sonic stood at the entrance of the labyrinth.
"EB, do a quick scan of this labyrinth. Give me a full layout of the place", said Penelope.
EB unlatched himself from her arm and flew up to the entrance of the labyrinth, his eyes scanned the surrounding walls and floor before he returned to Penelope's arm in weapon mode.
"Scan complete: the labyrinth contains many traps that protect the Master Emerald, which lies in the center. Creator, you have a 50% chance of surviving the traps. Sonic, meanwhile, has a 90% chance of survival. It would be logical if you simply fly over the labyrinth to the center while he runs through it", said EB.
Penelope sighed, "Can't argue with statistics. Sonic, you head through the labyrinth while I fly over it. Chances are one of us will beat Robotnik and Knuckles to the center", she said.
Then she flew up over the maze as Sonic ran through it, dodging each of the traps that nearly got him.
Back with Robotnik and Knuckles, the latter punched down the wall that led into the chamber where the Master Emerald was.
"Wow. That really opened up the space. I can't even picture it with an impenetrable wall now. And the rubble is always a nice touch", said Robotnik.
"At last, the Master Emerald", said Knuckles.
"Ultimate power", said Robotnik.
Knuckles slowly walked up to the Master Emerald's alter, "Soon order will be restored. All because of what we have done together", he said.
"Such a lovely sentiment, Knuckles. I think I feel a single tear forming. Sadly…you're as useful to me now as a backstage pass to Limp Bizkit", said Robotnik as he subtly pulled out a taser.
But before he could do anything, Sonic came crashing through the ceiling. "Nailed it", he said. Then, Penelope flew in right after him. "Huh, I guess we both made it at the same time. Go figure", she said.
"These two are always trying to spoil a bad thing!", said Robotnik.
"You guys are here, too? Took the long way, huh?", asked Sonic.
"Is everything a joke to you? Why must you constantly interfere with my destiny?", said Knuckles.
"Because my destiny is to protect my friends and family", said Sonic.
"And my destiny is to help him to that in any way I can!", said Penelope.
"I think I just threw up in my mouth", said Robotnik.
"And if you want that Emerald, you're gonna have to go through us", said Sonic.
Then, he sped up towards the Emerald, Knuckles leapt up and ran onto the wall. Sonic jumped onto the opposite wall and then the two shot towards each other, headbutting before throwing punches and kicks at each other.
Sonic was thrown onto a nearby statue but he turned around and shot at Knuckles, "The echidna's taking no prisoners today! Sonic has heart, but will he lose the quill to live?", said Robotnik as he hid behind a pillar.
Then he felt a tap on his shoulder, "Hey! Fancy meeting you here!", said a familiar voice. Robotnik turned around just in time for Penelope to punch him across the face, knocking him back. Then she pointed the arm that had EB attached to it and started firing laser beams at him, Robotnik stood up quickly and ran around trying to dodge them.
"Come on and fight me, you coward!", Penelope shouted.
"Sorry, but I don't fight women nor would I want to. I may be a diabolical mastermind but I'm also a feminist!", shouted Robotnik as he dodged another laser beam.
Sonic landed on the ground just a few feet away from Knuckles, "I don't want to fight you, but you're not giving me much choice", he said as he launched himself towards the echidna to kick him.
Knuckles then deflected him with a punch, sending him rolling into a nearby waterfall. "Too easy. Let's do this", he said as he walked up the steps to the Emerald's alter. But just then, Sonic zipped past Knuckles at lightning speed before running up the wall to the ceiling; he then rolled up into a ball and started repeatedly hitting Knuckles with a homing attack, pounding him into the ground.
Then he jumped out of the hole he made but Knuckles came flying at him, throwing his fists at him in rapid punches, trying to land a hit. "Why - don't - you - stand still and DIE?! WITH HONOUR?!", Knuckles shouted.
Sonic dodged each punch, "Let me think about it. Okay, I thought about it and I'll pass", he said. Knuckles kept punching until he finally landed a blow on Sonic, sending him across the floor.
As this was happening, Robotnik kept dodging Penelope's laser blasts until one hit the ground and created a divet that tripped him up and caused him to fall over. He then looked up to see Penelope standing over him, her laser gun at the ready.
"Give up?", she asked with an intimidating glare.
Robotnik looked down and saw the heavy amount of sandy dust coating the floor, so he subtly scooped some up in his right hand.
"There's something on your face...", he said.
When Penelope gave him a look of confusion, he suddenly threw the dust into her face, momentarily blinding her.
"AH! MY EYES!", she screamed.
"...it was pain!", Robotnik said as he took the opportunity to get away from Penelope while she was trying to get the grit out of her eyes.
He finally made it up to the Master Emerald, "Hi there, beautiful. You're the real deal, aren't you? Where have you been all my life?", he said.
Sonic lifted his head up as he tried to shake off his daze, he looked up to see Knuckles holding a large rock over him. "Say goodbye, hedgehog", he said. Sonic cowered in fear before he looked down and saw Robotnik about to get the Master Emerald.
"Knuckles, stop! Robotnik's stealing the Emerald!", he said.
"What kind of fool do you take me for?", Knuckles asked.
"Just look!", Sonic responded.
Knuckles looked to see what Sonic was talking about and it turned out he was right. Robotnik was reaching his hands over to grab the Emerald, "Wait! That wasn't the deal", shouted Knuckles as he put down the rock he was holding and Sonic got up, albeit wore out and holding his right arm.
Robotnik looked at Knuckles with false sympathy, "You poor, naïve creature. It's not your fault. A more advanced intellect would have seen this move coming a mile away. Or 1.6 kilometers", he said.
"But I trusted you! You were my friend!", shouted Knuckles.
Robotnik then let out a loud, condescending laugh before he spoke again, "I'm sorry. That just hit me funny. Let this be my final lesson to you, you dim-witted celestial skin tag. Friends…are open, honest and vulnerable with each other. Which means x squared times the hypotenuse of y squared, divided by the absolute value of friendship, equals…Dookie!", he said as he turned back to the Emerald.
"Oh no...", said Sonic.
Robotnik then leaned in to put his hands around the Emerald. Penelope had finally cleared her eyes of the dust, just in time to see this.
"NO!", she shouted as she tried to run up to the alter but then a shockwave of energy was released, throwing her, Sonic and Knuckles back.
"Chaos...is...power!!!", Robotnik shouted as he and the Master Emerald vanished into thin air.
Then suddenly, the entire labyrinth began to collapse as water started flooding into the chamber. "Let's get out of here!", said Sonic as he made a run for it. Knuckles was down on the ground as a column was about to fall on him; Penelope saw this as she threw herself in front of him and stuck her arm out, "EB! Defend!", she shouted.
The robot bee detached from her arm and extended him arms out to catch the column, however, the small robot was not strong enough to hold it back and it slipped from his grip, falling onto Penelope and Knuckles, and trapping them under the water.
Due to EB slowing down the column's momentum, it didn't crush Penelope or Knuckles to death but it kept them pinned on top of each other and under the water, where they couldn't breathe. The water completely covered them up as they both lost consciousness.
"Knuckles! Sis!", Sonic shouted but there was no response.
Then, EB came flying out of the water. "Sonic, the column is too heavy and I am much too small to successfully pull my creator or the echidna out of their entrapment. You must free them before they drown", he said.
"Ugh! Water again? Come on!", complained Sonic. He then jumped into the water, using a rock to weigh him down. He tried to move the column but it was too heavy, he breathed in a nearby huge air bubble to restrain from breathing the water. Knuckles slowly began to regain consciousness and saw Sonic trying to pull the column up, and tried to help push the column off though it was difficult due to its weight and the unconscious woman on his chest.
Holding his breath, Sonic motioned to him that they needed to push the column off together; on the count of three, Sonic and Knuckles pushed the column away with all their might. With Knuckles freed, he grabbed onto Penelope's limp body and swam up to the surface.
When he got to a flat rock formation above the water, Knuckles deposited Penelope's unconscious body onto it. EB flew over and retracted one of his hands and stuck it inside of Penelope's mouth, he then pumped a large air bubble into her lungs.
Penelope then suddenly regained consciousness and coughed violently as she spat back up the water, she then looked around and realized something was wrong.
"Wh...where's Sonic?", she asked.
Back under the water, Sonic tried to speak with his breath held in, but his bubbles started to exhale out of his mouth which he covered. He tried to swim but he only sank, Sonic struggled to hold his breath and muffled a cry for help, but he slowly began to lose consciousness.
As Sonic was on the verge of drowning, Knuckles' hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Sonic's hand. Knuckles then pulled Sonic up on the beach, where Penelope was waiting since she had recalled her hoverboard with her wristlet computer and EB used it to carry her tired body to the shore. She thanked her lucky stars that she remembered to make all three machines waterproof.
Sonic coughed for air, trying to suck in the air for his starved lungs, he then looked up at Knuckles.
"You saved me", he said.
"Don't talk to me. I'm not in the mood", said Knuckles as he sat next to him. Sonic then threw a ball of sand at him, making Knuckles get on his feet, "How dare you attack me in my hour of sorrow!", Knuckles shouted.
Sonic threw another sand ball, hitting Knuckles square in the face. "Why did you save me?", he asked. Sonic prepared another sand ball, but Knuckles threw one large sand ball at him, burying him in sand. Penelope was watching whole exchange while silently giggling.
"Because you saved me first, which clearly gave you a tactical advantage I do not understand", said Knuckles.
Sonic emerged out of the sand pile, "It wasn't a tactic. I couldn't just let you die. And my Sis couldn't let you die either, hence why she tried to stop the column from falling on you", he said.
Now Knuckles was confused, "Why? I've been trying to destroy you since the moment we met, and my actions have only caused her misfortune", he said.
"Because being a hero isn't about taking care of yourself. It's about taking responsibility for other people", said Sonic.
Knuckles sat down beside him again, "Wise words. An ancient earth proverb?", he said.
"No, sir, that's a Wachowski family special. I got it from a guy in a rowboat. Someone who means a lot to me. To us", said Sonic as he looked at Penelope.
"Dad...", she whispered.
Suddenly, Sonic heard something. "Wait a second. What's that sound?", he asked. Sonic looked up to see Tails piloting a plane,heading for them.
"Only Sonic the hedgehog needs rescuing this much", said Tails.
"Tails!", shouted Penelope.
"That sly little fox!", said Sonic as he let out a joyous laugh.
He then looked to Knuckles, who sat looking depressed.
"Knuckles...?", said Penelope.
"Come on, knucklehead. We're not beat yet", said Sonic.
"On the mountain, you told me you'd lost everything. Both you and the Earth Woman did, the way I did. But you both seem so hopeful and free. How did you both move forward despite failing again? And again. And again. And again. And again--"
Sonic cut him off as he was getting annoyed, "Okay, I didn't fail that much, and my sister hasn't failed at all. Seriously, you should see her report card, straight A's. Plus, we didn't do this all alone. We found a new family. New friends. And you can too", he said as he lowered his hand to Knuckles, "You don't have to be alone anymore".
Knuckles looked to Sonic and eventually gripped his hand, dislocating his knuckles. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Are you kidding me with that handshake?!", Sonic complained.
Penelope laughed before a thought came to her head, "Wait a minute! Knuckles, why did you save me? I was trapped on top of you beneath the column, when you got out, you could've easily swam away without me. Why didn't you?", she said.
Knuckles looked to the ground solemnly before looking back at her, "If I am being honest, you remind me of my mother. She was the healer of my village, she took care of me whenever I fell ill and she taught me everything I know about nature.
"She was always very protective of me because I was her only child, but she had perished from an unknown illness when I was quite young. On the mountain, I saw you protecting the hedgehog even though you would've been no match for me.
"And when I saw the sympathy in your eyes when I told you I lost everything, for a moment...I saw my mother looking back at me. I could still feel her love and protectiveness, and I knew you and the hedgehog must've held a similar relationship.
"If I didn't save you...I would've dishonored my own mother's memory and I would feel great shame knowing I caused Sonic to lose you", he explained.
His explanation had moved Penelope to tears, she smiled widely as she dropped down and pulled Knuckles into an unexpected hug.
"Ah! What is this? An act of agression!? How dare you deceive me after I saved you from certain death, Earth Woman?!", Knuckles shouted angrily.
"First off, Knucklehead, her name's not "Earth Woman"! Its Penelope, get it right! Second, she's actually more like my older sister than a mother to me, but I'm sure she appreciates the sentiment. Also, she kinda did act like a Mom when we were growing up, so I guess it still works", said Sonic.
"And lastly, this isn't an act of agression. It's called "a hug". On Earth, this is how we show appreciation, gratitude and affection. Its especially used by friends and family members to show affection for the ones they love", said Penelope.
As she continued to hug Knuckles, he felt a strange feeling build up in his chest. It wasn't a bad feeling, in fact, it was actually quite pleasant; it was a comforting warmth that reminded him more of his mother, especially when she would comfort him on stormy nights when he was afraid.
This feeling in his chest...was love.
Knuckles slowly and carefully returned the embrace so he wouldn't accidentally crush Penelope's spine, a small smile forming on his face as he nuzzled into her hair.
She smells of blooming orchids...just like mother always did, he thought happily.
"Then, thank you...sister", he said.
[To be continued...]
