-Episode 9: Mayhem In The Mining Town Part 2-

-Some Time Earlier-

After Geoffery finished his call he walked over to Sally and the rest of the Freedom Fighters. It's as if he seems anxious to get the mission fully underway. Tails kept an eye on Geoffery and continued to observe his behaviour. He believes that something is definitely off with him.

"Come on, let's go. We can't keep Sonic waiting." He said as he started to briskly walk ahead, with Sally and the rest of the Freedom Fighters following shortly after.

"He's not…really the waiting kind.." Sally muttered under her breath, obviously still worried about Sonic's wellbeing. Regardless, she tries to put it to the back of her mind and put her full focus on the mission. Bunnies also took note of Sally's tense body language and started to worry for Sally a little bit. Just when things couldn't get more tense, Nicole contacted Sally.

"Sally, what's happened to Sonic? I can't track him.." the lynx asked.

"He just charged on ahead, that idiot's being reckless again..Keep trying to track him, he couldn't have gone that far." Sally instructed, obviously trying not to show her worry.

Some time after, the team ended up in a forest that looks like it's seen better days. Bunnies walked around the place, as if it was intimately familiar to her, the forest had many playground rides that are now in a decaying state due to Robotnik's takeover of Mobius all those years ago.

"It was an innocent back then, huh? We used to come here and play all the time…Do you remember?" Bunnie asked, pondering about her treasured past memories, before looking at her robotic limbs.

"Bunnie…" Antoine said sympathetically, putting his hand on her robotic hand. The rabbit looked at the coyote with a sad smile. Tails looked at the two of them with a sympathetic expression.

"Childhood was a time that seemed more innocent…until…" Geoffery said, as he walked over to a wooden playground horse and put his hand on it, reminiscing about a painful memory.

"Geoffery?..." Sally asked, taking note of the pain in his voice.

"…. They worked as miners in this very town. This was where I spent a great deal of my childhood. I was often lonely because of how often they worked, but I got by... One night, a squad of robots came and took them. Robotnik wanted them as slaves to build the structures for his empire… They refused, and they paid the price; that being death. I hated how powerless I felt… that'Geofferys why I wanted to become a freedom fighter.." Geoffery said, finishing his story.

Sally found it difficult to respond, Geoffery was someone who suffered the same as her and the others; he had his family taken from him and he had to fight to take revenge on Robotnik. She put her hand on Geoffery's, which was still on the wooden horse.

"… We're gonna take our planet back, Geoffery. We'll free it from tyranny again.." Sally said, with the last sentence giving off a hint of uncertainty, a weakness that Geoffrey definitely picked up on.

Just as Tails was about to speak, the pained scream of a familiar voice could be heard. This was not good news at all. Sally took her hand off of Geoffery's and looked in the direction of the scream, she knew exactly who that was.

"Sonic!" she called out before running in the screams direction.

"Sally-girl, wait up!" Bunnie called out to her, before she and the others started running after her.

However, the worst case scenario ended up happening; just as they caught up with Sally, they came across her fighting off a swarm of robots. Was Eggman here already, or was it as Tails is coming closer to believing; did someone tip him off?

"They just keep coming!" Sally says, still slicing them down one at a time, until Geoffery takes one that was about to hit the chipmunk from behind down with his blade.

"Go, find Sonic. I'll handle this." Geoffery said, standing against the robots, to which Sally nods with affirmation and runs with the others in the direction of Sonic's cry for help. As they do, Geoffery is seen standing against the robots.

Meanwhile the others arrive to where Sonic is seen being crushed under the heel of a larger robot, to which Sally's response was swift and immediate; she used her holographic blades to slice down at the large robot's chest, causing it to stumble back and off of Sonic from the severe damage.

"Wha- Who dares?!" Eggman exclaims, shocked at how damaged his large machine.

This gives Sonic the opening he was looking for: he spin dashed straight into the gaping, damaged hole on the robot and caused it to explode, shortly after landing on the ground in a crouching position. He then proceeds to stand up and look straight at Eggman.

"Tch.." he spat, before seemingly receiving a transmission on his earpiece.

"What is it?.. What, now?!.. Alright.." said Eggman, reluctantly giving his robots the order to retreat.

"We'll meet again, Freedom Fighters! Expect us very soon!" said Eggman, before stepping onto a mechanical platform that transports him to his fleet.

Sonic, puzzled by all this, finally started to question the nature of his retreat, but shrugged it off as he turned to the direction of Sally, who walks up to him proceeds to lightly shove his shoulder.

"What we're you thinking?! You could have been killed! And on top of all that, your reckless stupidity put everyone in danger." Said Sally, scolding the hedgehog.

"Is everyone alright?" Sonic asked, exasperated.

"No thanks to you. What if one of us had died? That would've been on you…Instead, you run off and you, because you did the ONE THING I told you not to do, Sonic The Hedgehog!.. Still, I'm glad you're alright.." scolded Sally, before calming down and hugging Sonic.

"Sal, I.." Sonic muttered.

"I don't hate you Sonic… It's exactly the opposite… I don't want you to die… alright?" Sally said, with a near tearful whisper. However, the moment was interrupted when Bunnie, Antoine and Tails playfully teased the two of them, with all of them engaging in a family hug.

Meanwhile, the last shot focuses on Geoffery, who is looking at the Freedom Fighters from afar, before placing his index and middle fingers on his earpiece before the screen fades to black.

-To Be Continued-