Preface: Hello, again! First of all, I'd like to apologize for the huge delay - basically, our printer broke, so I couldn't get the chapters looked at before I uploaded them. But we have a new printer now, and I promise, there should be no delays from here on out! Anyways, let's start catching up, shall we?


FREEDOM PACK


Previously...after discovering a strange vortex in the middle of the night, Sally Acorn, along with Sonic, Tails, and Rotor, investigated it, leading them to a strange world of small mobian-like creatures. After meeting the Pikwik Pack, one of the new worlds' residents, they set out to help deliver a package while also finding the Chaos Emeralds along the way. Just as the package was delivered, however, most of the group was kidnapped, with only Sonic and Suki escaping.

Now...they head back to Blackout Woods, with Rotor in tow, to rescue the others...


Roll Call

Sonic the Hedgehog - Issac Ryan Brown: Fastest thing alive. Hero of Mobius.

Miles "Tails" Prower - Kate Higgins: Tech-savvy sidekick. High-flying pal.

Sally Acorn - Navia Robinson: Princess of the Kingdom of Acorn. Leader of the Freedom Fighters.

Rotor Walrus - Benjamin Diskin: Knothole's resident inventor. Mission control.

Suki the Hedgehog - Emma Ho: Pikwik Pack leader. Responsible boat driver.

Axel the Raccoon - Daniel Pathan: Blue-furred speedster. Driver of trucks.

Hazel the Kitten - Molly Lewis: Youngest Pikwik Pack member. Lover of tacos and helicopters.

Tibor the Hippo - Jacob Soley: Softy with a tough exterior. Train operator.


Chapter 7:
Storming Castle Manipulator


[Character Selected: Sally]
[Current World: Pikwik Planet]
[Current Location: Dark Castle, Prison Room]

With a sigh, Sally took the Holo-Blades out of the barrier that she and the other kidnapped heroes had been put behind. Since the strange figure trapped them, they had tried to break through, but the barrier was completely impenetrable. "Well, we tried everything," she said, looking down at the ground. "Ramming, spinning, cutting, pounding…"

"I guess we'll never see Suki again," said Tibor, nervously rubbing his hands together. "We never should have delivered that package…"

"Hey, we didn't know that shadowy figure was evil," said Axel, rubbing his friend's back. "And I bet Suki and Sonic are gonna come save us."

"But until then," said Sally, sitting down, "I guess we'll just have to wait."

Tails sat down next to the squirrel. "Yep, guess we are," he said. He turned to the remaining Pikwik Pack members. "So, uh…what are you guys' favorite foods?"

"We all love tacos," said Hazel, smiling, "especially me!" But then she frowned. "We were gonna have them at Suki's party…"

Realizing that question failed, Tails racked his brain for another one. "How about hobbies? Any hobbies besides delivering packages?"

"I'll tell you one hobby I have," a new voice suddenly spoke into Tails' communicator. "Showin' up outta nowhere!"

[BGM: Junkie XL - Sonic the Hedgehog Mid-Credits Scene]

Tails' smile grew as he realized who the voice was. "NICK?" he shouted. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

Sally heard the AI's voice as well. "So you're NICK," she said, glad to finally meet him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Rotor and Sonic can't quite talk to you," said NICK, "so I'm gonna be your line of communication! And also…" Two holographic screens appeared from the headsets. The one in front of Tails gave the fox a peek into the figure's control room, while Sally's screen gave an overhead map of the fortress' interior. "You guys are gonna help them get to you!"

Sally smiled. "Well, I never did like waiting to be saved by someone else," she said, "but at least I can help them save me." She pushed the communicator to her ear. "Tell them that we got the message and are gonna help."

Axel walked up to Tails. "Say, what's going on there?" he asked.

Tails gave a determined look. "Help is on the way," he said, "and we're gonna help them…"


[Party Selected: Sonic, Suki, Rotor]
[Current World: Pikwik Planet]
[Current Location: Blackout Forest]

[BGM: Asher Lenz, Stephen Skratt - A Bright Idea BGM]

Deep in Blackout Woods, Sonic and his remaining allies were making their way back over to the mysterious fortress. Rotor's modified glasses served as searchlights as the three headed towards their destination. "So did they get the signal, NICK?" Sonic asked the AI after a little while.

"They got it!" NICK responded. "I'm gonna let you guys know what they can find while you try to save them."

"Thanks, NICK!" said Rotor, nodding. As he said that, the three had made it back to the fortress. "Oh, here we are!"

The fortress had one notable addition to it from the first time the group had gone there: a large wall, surrounded by what looked like a moat, but was actually a bottomless pit. "Oh boy…" said Suki, peering into the pit. "I don't know if I can do this…" She slowly started to back up.

"Hey, you can't turn back now," said Sonic, putting his hand on her back. "Your family's in there."

Suki took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll do it for my f-f-family…" She still had trouble saying the word. "But how can we get over this wall?"

"Like so…" And with that, Rotor took out the blaster attached to his backpack and shot a blast at it, causing it to be covered in all sorts of shocks. "Now we can break through it with just a flick!"

"Well, that's…convenient," said Sonic, scratching his head. He backed up, charging up a Spin Dash.

"Okay, we're gonna have to jump over this moat," said Rotor, looking at Suki. "Are you ready?"

Suki gulped. "Well, I'll try…" She got down on all fours, and when Sonic broke out of his Spin Dash, Suki and Rotor ran up and leapt over the moat. They ran right into the wall, which came tumbling down without harming a single one of them. "Wow! I did it!"

"Yeah, you did!" shouted Sonic. "Now for the hard part…the fortress!" He ran up to the door and gripped the door handle. No matter how hard he tugged, the front door wouldn't budge.

"Here, let me try," said Rotor. He walked up to the door, gripped the handle, and opened it without much fuss. "Huh. Guess I am stronger than I thought…"

Walking inside, the three were surprised to find that the inside was brighter than the outside. "I guess we won't need that light anymore," said Suki, referring to Rotor's light glasses.

[BGM: Junkie XL - Sonic's Home]

"Okay, NICK," said Sonic. "Tell Sally and Tails that we're in."

After a quick visit to the other two heroes, NICK returned saying, "Alright, Sally will lead you guys through the fortress, and Tails will give you updates on that shadowy guy's plan!"

"Sounds good," said Sonic. "Okay, Suki, stick with us," he said to the smaller hedgehog. With Sally giving NICK directions and NICK reporting them to Sonic and Rotor, the three began to make their way around the fortress.

"Okay, guys, make a left here…" Sally directed to NICK from the cell, "...and just keep going down it for a bit." She turned to Tails as NICK went to give Sonic and Rotor the directions. "Any updates on the situation with our shadowy guy?"

Tails focused on the camera. "Okay, it looks like he's using the Chaos Emeralds to power the weird package-making thing," he said. The three emeralds the heroes found on their adventure sat at the top of the device, while the cyan one sat in the middle. With a press of the button on the device, energy flowed between the two ends, and before long, a package formed in the middle. "And now he's taking it out and…teleporting it?"

The other three Pikwik Pack members listened in. "That's all he's doing?" asked Hazel. "Sending everyone packages?"

"Uh-oh, looks like these aren't any ordinary packages," Tails continued. He looked at the camera in the figure's room. The video feed showed the package appearing in the hands of the young deer that Sonic encountered earlier. When he pulled the tag, however, it revealed a small teddy bear…that immediately latched onto the deer's face. "Sizzling SWATBots, he's attacking the townsfolk!"

"Or, he's trying to strike fear into them," Sally suggested. "Either way, as soon as we get outta here, we gotta stop him!" But then she looked back at the map. "Uh-oh. Sonic, Rotor, I think you've got company!"

"Yeah, he noticed them!" Tails agreed. Looking at the camera again, he noticed the shadowy figure catching Sonic, Rotor, and Suki on video and began to conjure up new badniks to stop them…

Not realizing it quite yet. Sonic pushed his communicator back to his ear. "Are we getting close, NICK? I'm tired of just walking!"

"I've got good news and bad news," said NICK. "The good news is, while you're not that close to where the others are, you're close to where that shadow guy is. The bad news is…"

[BGM: SEGA Sound Team - Act1 Boss (Sonic & Knuckles)]

"Lemme guess," said Rotor, peering ahead. "He noticed?" If NICK wasn't an AI, he totally would have nodded. Ahead of them, badniks identical to Suki, Axel, Hazel, and Tibor were facing down the heroes.

"Huh, they look exactly like me and the others," said Suki, intrigued. "How bad can they really be?" As if to respond to her, the hedgehog's robotic duplicate curled up into its own version of a Super Sonic Spin Attack and charged at the heroes. Tibor's duplicate followed suit, stretching its arms out to attack the others.

Sonic and Tibor jumped out of the way to dodge the attacks, and Suki ran under them. "Alright, guess we gotta get these guys first," said Sonic, cracking his knuckles. Noticing the Axel robot matching him in terms of speed, the hedgehog decided to face up against it. "You may be fast, but are you this fast?" Sonic began to run back and forth, confusing the robot long enough for him to land a hit. The Axel robot went flying out of control, directed at Suki.

I'm sorry about this, Axel, Suki thought. Summoning every bit of courage, she jumped up and delivered a swift kick to the robot. It was sent flying towards Rotor, who shot his blaster at the robot, stunning it. "Now's my chance!" cried Suki, running towards the robot to attack it further…but then her robotic double rammed right into her, sending her flying.

"I got your back, Suki!" cried Rotor. He stomped on the still-stunned Axel robot and fired a shot at the Suki-Bot…but the shot failed! The Suki-Bot instead turned right at the walrus, who quickly swung the blaster, knocking it towards Sonic, who delivered his own Spin Attack.

"Thanks, you two," said Suki, getting up from the floor. "So that Axel-Bot was stunned because it was damaged, but not my robot version," she analyzed.

"So we gotta weaken them before we can stun them!" added Rotor. Seeing the Tibor-Bot charge right at him, he grabbed it and swung it right into the wall. As he did, something caught his eye. "Hey! That Hazel badnik's been doing nothing this whole time!"

Kicking the Suki-Bot away, Sonic ran up to the Hazel-Bot, who was just walking back and forth idly. "Say, I think I know what to do about it…" He pushed his communicator to his ear. "Hey, NICK! Would Tails and Sally hate it if you joined in on the fight?"

"Hold on, lemme check…" One journey to the other two later, and NICK was raring to go. "Alright, how can I help?"

Knowing that NICK was ready, Sonic grabbed the Hazel-Bot, tossed it on the floor, and rolled it over to Suki, who delivered another swift kick in the midst of her defending herself from the Axel-Bot. "All yours, NICK!" said Sonic.

With the opportunity open, NICK zoomed into the Hazel-Bot. Opening his eyes, NICK got a good look at his new body. "Aww! I'm so tiny and adorable!" he said.

"Well, are you powerful, too?" asked Rotor, looking over. The Tibor-Bot was pretty much starting to overpower him.

"I'm on it!" cried NICK. He ran over to the Tibor-Bot and pounced on it, sending it to the ground. "You leave my friends alone!" he cried.

Sensing the opportunity, Tibor fired a clear shot at the Tibor-Bot, stunning it. He immediately followed it up with kicking the badnik over to the Axel-Bot. "You're clear, Suki!" cried the walrus.

"Alright, let's see what else I can do," said the hedgehog. She leapt onto the robot, picked it up, and smashed it onto the ground. NICK helped out by stomping on the robot as well. Once it was weakened enough, Rotor stunned it. "Aaaaand….stomp!" cried Suki, breaking the badnik for good.

"Alright, one more to go!" said Sonic, facing the Suki-Bot. The two charged at each other, but Sonic was fast enough to jump over it and Spin Dash through it from behind. The robot bounced along the ground, and NICK hopped on it, rolled on it like a circus ball, and kicked it over to Suki.

Sonic watched Rotor fire a stun shot at the Suki-Bot as it rolled in front of the real deal. "The final game time seconds count down," he said, running over to Suki, "and the two hedgehogs have decided to team up to deliver the winning kick!" The two lifted their legs up and prepared to deliver one last kick. "Aaaaand…goaaal!" The two simultaneously kicked the last badnik into the wall…but the wall was actually the door to the control room, where the shadowy figure's position was given away.

[BGM: End]

The figure turned from its computers. "Hmph…you certainly are stubborn," it grumbled. "No matter, I can oversee the rest of my plan from elsewhere." And with that, the figure snapped its fingers and vanished into thin air, the package-creating device vanishing with it. As it vanished, NICK blinked, capturing a screenshot of the machinery.

"Hey! Not cool!" cried Sonic, running into the room. "Man, this guy is crazy-powerful!" Then he smiled. "But so is Rotor's tech…"

"And me!" cried NICK. "I copied that guys' tech before he vanished! And I think I have an idea…"

"And I think I just downloaded that idea," said Rotor, analyzing the data in his glasses. "You three rescue the others. I'm gonna stay back and see if I can get this to work…"

"Okay, guys! Follow me!" said NICK. "I think I got down where the others are!" And with that, the group started to follow the robot to save the others.

Meanwhile, Rotor began to assemble the data. "Let's see, if I can alter the data to not have the things be in packages, and to be able to control where they end up…" He smiled. "I think we may be able to get this guy!"

To be concluded...and next time: the final showdown!


Next chapter: "Edits in the Atmosphere" This is it! The shadowy figure has begun its reign of terror, but Team Freedom and the Pikwik Pack are ready to fight back! It'll take all of their strength and wits to take down this baddie, but if delivering is better as a team, then so is fighting an other-dimensional maniac!


Postface: Chapter complete! This is the big lead-up to the finale here, folks! I hope it was worthwhile!

Trivia time! The main reason why I decided on Rotor's starring role is because I was kinda worried I wasn't doing him justice just by having him be in a chair the whole time. So that's why I cooked up his little high-tech backpack - so he could use his smarts on the battlefield! And a familiar face returns...NICK! You may recognize NICK from some of my earlier stories, particularly Spacehog from Mobius IV. I'll admit, I could've tried to make him less of a dues ex machina, but I did think it was a cool way of bringing him back! As for the badnik versions of the Pikwik Pack - hey, it was an opportunity, and I chose to take it.

That should be it! Please read, review, and share around, and I'll see you al next time for the final battle! Stay diamond, everyone!

-Alfred


~The Pikwik Pack and everything related to them are properties of Guru Animation Studio, LTD. Sonic the Hedgehog and everything related to him are properties of Sega Corp. No copyright infringement with any of these companies nor financial gain was intended in the making of this story. Any resemblance to real-world people or events are either coincidental or done fictitiously.~