Chapter Six

"TARGET ACQUIRED!"

He stopped in his tracks, hearing the threatening robotic voice. Froggy squirmed in his hands, croaking with fear. Big pat his pal on the head and looked around, frowning and blinking with confusion.

"Uh, hullo?" He asked, "Is someone here?"

Big turned around, seeing red eyes glaring at him through the darkness. The moon appeared from behind a cloud and the red-black robot took full form in front of him, glaring at him menacingly, it's red eyes flashing with the firelight providing more light for Big to see through the darkness and take in the sight of the newcomer.

"Oh, hullo, stranger. Just passing through?" Big asked, "You look like you're lost, buddy. Would you like me to provide some directions or lead the way?"

"GIVE ME THE FROG!" The robot buzzed.

"I don't think so, you look very mean!"

"UNACCEPTABLE! THAT FROG IS IMPORTANT, DOCTOR ROBOTNIK HAS ASSIGNED ME TO TAKE THE FROG FOR IT HAS SOMETHING OF STRATEGIC VALUE! HAND OVER THE FROG OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED! OTHERWISE, DOCTOR ROBOTNIK DOES NOT VALUE ORGANICS ANYWAY!"

"You're working for Eggman?" Big was terrified, "Oh no. I heard about him, he takes animals and puts them in robots. He probably wants to put Froggy inside a Moto Bug or a new advanced robot. I can't let you take him, no!"

"REFUSAL TO COMPLY REGISTERED! YOU WILL BE OBLITERATED FOR YOUR INSOLENCE, I WILL TAKE YOUR FROGGY BY FORCE AND DELIVER HIM TO ROBOTNIK EITHER ALIVE OR IN PIECES! I SHALL ANNIHILATE EVERYTHING, YOU CARBON-BREATHERS ARE OF NO VALUE TO ME!"

"Froggy, run!"

'Rrriiiibit!'

Froggy jumped out of Big's hands and jumped away, hopping as fast as he could. Big balled his hands into fists and Omega prepped his cannons. The cat ducked as the robot opened fire, obliterating his house. Big glared at Omega furiously as the robot recharged it's weapons, the battle robot's red eyes blazing evilly.

"It's not nice to blow up someone's home and threaten someone." Big said.

He jumped at Omega and punched him in the face, the robot quickly raised it's arms and the cat retreated when his fist hit his metal foe's shoulder, clutching his hand and groaning in pain. Big looked at Omega with surprise, comprehending how strong he was.

Omega fired up his thrusters and launched himself at Big, grappling him to the ground. Big grabbed the robot by the shoulders with all the strength he had and threw him off him. Omega slammed into a tree, causing some coconuts to fall over before the tree collapsed to the ground and knocked over another tree.

"DESTROY ALL LIFE FORMS!" Omega thundered.

BLAM-BLAM-BLAM! His machine gun systems activated and he fired on Big, even as the cat jumped and ducked to evade the shots. Big pulled out a metal umbrella and held it up defensively, Omega's bullets streaked towards him and bounced off the umbrella as if they were rain.

The cat grabbed his fishing rod and threw the line, watching it wrap around Omega. The robot buzzed and swiped with his claw, cutting the line. Then he hovered into the air and ran at Big, grabbing him by the neck with a sinister glare. Big punched Omega in the face and the head rotated wildly before Omega regained control and straightened his face, snarling mechanically.

Despite his foe's strong grip, Big kicked Omega in the torso and pulled his clawed hands off of him, the cat then grabbed him and lifted the robot over his head. But, just as he was about to throw him, Omega fired up his thrusters and flew through the woods while taking Big with him.

"WHOOOAAAAAAAAA!" The cat cried.

Omega flew into a clearing where a large temple lay and Big collapsed to the ground, Omega advanced towards the old structure and grabbed a statue, ripping it out of its foundation.

He threw it at Big, who rolled out of the way just in the nick of time. The statue impacted a tree and exploded into a large layer of rubble.

Omega activated his arm cannon once more and rained fire on Big, who leaped over the bullets and ran towards the robot when the gunfire let up. He leaped into the air with his arms wide and landed on Omega in a sort of belly flop, knocking over the robot.

Rockets fired up and Big rolled off in a yelp as he felt his fur smoldering, Omega moved out of the way and launched himself into the sky, Big got back up and looked around for his robotic enemy. Then he saw a shadow and dove out of the way, just before Omega made his next landing.

WHAM! Stone flew everywhere and one piece of rubble struck Big in the back.

"AH!" Big cried.

He felt a slight pain flare up in his back and he hunched over, clutching his middle back area in agony despite his fat stature. He looked up at Omega, filled with plenty of fight left. Omega charged, claws glinting. Big raised his fists, blocking Omega as he came at him and grappled with the robot, ignoring the pain in his spine.

"YOU ARE AN OBSTACLE THAT WILL BE REMOVED, YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED! EXTERMINATE, ANNIHILATE, DESTROY! I AM E-123 OMEGA, OMEGA SHALL CONQUER FOR ROBOTNIK AND DESTROY THE BLUE ONE HE KNOWS FOR HE IS THE OBSTACLE THAT GETS IN HIS WAY!"

Big struggled, pushing back against Omega with all the strength in his body, yelling and grunting as he pushed harder. Maybe he could do it, maybe he could...

WHAM!

Omega pushed back, striking Big in the forehead with a head-butt and punched him in the ribs while clawing at him. The dazed and injured cat stumbled back, Omega came at him one more time and punched him, striking the cat hard in the face.

Big bumped into a tree and fell to the ground with a groan, rubbing his head in a daze, then his eyes closed and he slumped over, laying perfectly still.

"ENEMY ELIMINATED!" Omega buzzed, "FLESH-BAG HAS BEEN RENDERED UNCONSCIOUS! MISSION: CAPTURE FROG! FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION! SCANNING FOR FROG, PURSUING TARGET! DESTROY ANYONE WHO GETS IN THE WAY!"

He activated his jets and took off over the Mystic Ruins forest, flying over the trees and leaving the large purple cat behind, unconscious and injured, on the ground below, his mission remaining unchanged...