Spy Game
By Asher Tye
Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, with other things on my mind, this story kinda took a back seat. Hopefully I can successfully juggle it and everything else again. Also, I decided to change the story's name as you can see. Originally this was just going to be the first three chapters and then I'm done, but since I've decided to try to make it into something of an epic, I thought a name change would be appropriate.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, Sally, Tails or any of the other characters associated with Sega or Archie. They are being used without permission and I give full credit for their creation to their respective creators.
Timeline: Sometime after the restoration of Echidnopolis but before the whole Master Mogul arc. (Yes I am still using Archie for reference, but from now on it will be only loosely used.)
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Move, move, move," Bunnie yelled as she pulled open the hatch leading out of the robot factory. Two figures, a ground squirrel and a walrus moved past her as quickly as they could as laser fire shot past them. At the source of the laser barrage, a familiar blue streak moved back and forth between dozens of SWATbots, trying to keep them from actually getting a good shot at his friends. Not the easiest thing to do in such cramped quarters. As soon as Sally and Rotor had safely escaped through the hatch, Bunnie signaled Sonic that it was time to go. Just before the hatch closed the high-speed hedgehog shot through the opening, much to the chagrin of the SWATbots.
"Sonic we have a big problem."
"What up Sal?"
"Nicole is picking up hundreds of SWATbots, all bearing down on our position," the Princess said. "We need to get out of here now or we'll be overwhelmed."
"Then we'll be needing a ride," Rotor said, gesturing to a hover unit that stood nearby. The Freedom Fighters quickly moved to the hover unit, Nicole's cable link out in Sally's hand as she prepared to hack the machine's computer.
"Nicole can this thing fly?"
"It would appear so, Sally. I am not detecting any major problems with the unit, but I should point out it has no shields and only has half power. That leaves us very few avenues for evasion in the event of pursuit."
"It'll have to do. Sound a retreat for Victor's unit; we'll meet them at the rendezvous point for pick up."
"Complying Sally," the computer said. Sally had no time for any other orders as a laser bolt smacked into the hull of the hover unit.
"Sal we got SWATs," Sonic said as he raced to meet the incoming attackers.
"Sonic get back here," Rotor yelled. "We don't have time for a fi… Agh." The walrus fell backwards as a laser bolt struck his shoulder.
"Rotor!" Bunnie yelled as she moved to her friend using her robotic arm to block the second shot at Rotor.
"Get him inside and start that unit! I'll catch up!" Sonic yelled as he sliced through the SWATbot that had shot Rotor. Bunnie pulled Rotor into the hover unit followed by the princess. In seconds the flying pod began to hum to life and rise into the air. As the door began to close, Sonic jumped off the SWATbot he was busy gutting, sending him flying through the increasingly shrinking hole. Sally sat in the cockpit; Nicole by her side making sure no instrument failures stopped their escape.
"Nicole, can you find where Victor's group is?"
"They are currently one kilometer from the chosen destination. Satellite surveillance shows numerous SWATbots at their position as well. It is highly unlikely they will be able to meet us in time."
"Then we have no choice, we'll go to them." Sally turned back to Sonic and Bunnie. "Find some way they can get on board without us having to land. Anything."
"Gotcha Sally."
"Sally I must point out that it is inadvisable to attempt to retrieve them. This unit is barely serviceable for escape purposes. It is not…"
"You advice is noted and ignored Nicole."
"Understood. I will plot the best possible course for you to take to retrieve them safely." Nicole's monitor began to blink wildly as she took in all the variables.
"Sally, I think we have something here," Sonic said as he held up a metal cable. "We got three of these things back here."
"How long?"
"Not long enough sugah, but I can fix that," Bunnie said, a flame erupting from one of her fingers as she began to weld the cables together. Sally activated the communications system of the hover unit.
"Victor can you hear me."
"I hear you Princess," said a voice as the image of a red fox in a gray jumpsuit appeared on the screen. All around him laser bolts could be seen. "I'm afraid we're pinned down here, though."
"I know, just sit still and we'll pick the four of you up."
"It's only three I'm afraid. The SWATbots got Dodger." At that point the communication link cut out. The hover unit rocked as a laser assault hit them.
"Everybody hang on we have to get out of here." The hover unit flew through the air; quickly leaving the land bound SWATbots behind. It was only a moment later that the craft found itself in another firefight. "Are we ready?"
"One cable ready to grab everyone, Sal," Sonic said as he and Bunnie carried the cable over to door.
"Sssally, we sssee you," came the hissing voice of a red cobra.
"Slade, where's Victor?"
"He'sss been hit," the cobra said as his face appeared on the screen. "Edgar'sss patching him up now."
"We're going to drop a line to you; can you get Victor up as well?"
"I can handle that Princccessssss, but we'll need some cover."
"I've got the hover unit's weapons at half power. It's not much but it should get the job done."
"All right then, drop the cable and let's do it."
"Right." A quick shove and the cable uncoiled as it fell to the ground. Immediately, Slade's hands gripped the line as he began to slither his way up the line, Victor the fox wrapped in his tail. As soon as Slade was a few feet in the air, a black bear, obviously Edgar began to scurry up as well. The SWATbots continued to fire on the trio as they moved, the hover unit's cover fire barely helping them. Just as Slade makes it to with in arms reach of the door, the cable snaps right below him.
"EDGAR!!!" The Freedom Fighters collectively scream as their fellow rebel began to fall backwards to Mobius. On instinct Slade roughly tossed Victor into the hover unit, his tail then wrapping around the cable as he let go with his arms to dive after his comrade. As if on cue, Sonic took off as well, using Slade's body as a road to run down. It all proved for naught however as Sonic and Slade missed the falling bruin's hand and could only watch in horror as he landed with a sickening thud in the sea of robots. Unable to do anything, Sonic could only change his direction, running up Slade as the snake pulled his own body back into the hover unit.
"Sonic where's Edgar?" Sally asked only to see the downcast look on the hedgehog's face. Whatever feelings of sorrow she felt the Princess quickly put aside as the hover unit rocked again, this time from fire coming from the air. The Stealthbots had been summoned.
"Everybody hold on, I'm going to get us out of here." The egg-shaped craft sped up as it zipped through the incoming Stealthbots. The hover-unit's sole combat advantage over a Stealthbot was its maneuverability, and Sally was going to have to use that to her advantage as she dropped altitude into the city.
"Sally, this is an inadvisable course of action," Nicole said. "You have placed yourself within firing range of the SWATbots at ground level."
"Those Stealthbots' lasers will rip this thing to pieces. I can take the blasts of the SWATbots and zipping through the streets should keep us out of the line of fire."
"There is also the new Spy Orbs to consider," Nicole pointed out. Robotnik had recently upgraded his defensive Spy Orbs. Though half again as big as the original ones the new Spy Orbs made up for it with increased detection range, as well as their new offensive weapons. A modified water gun had been mounted on the Spy Orbs, allowing them to squirt mega-muck at those they detect. Each Spy Orb was also now equipped with a small bomb, just in case. Sure enough as Sally looked out, three of the new Spy Orbs were waiting for her Hover-Unit, their squirt guns at the ready. Sally zipped down a side-street to avoid the little machines only to be met with more SWATbots.
&This is not working. I have to think of something or we're toast,& Sally thought. Out of the corner of her eye, the squirrel saw something that gave her an idea. "Guys I have a plan, but you need to do what I say when I say okay?"
"Count on us Sally." The Hover Unit gained altitude again, turning and heading towards the waste management plant of the city. Predictably the Stealthbots began to close in on the rogue unit. Sally continued using a twisting path, trying to avoid the steady laser fire from the robotic flyers as she made her way to the plant. Soon she was circling the plant, the Stealthbots giving chase as the Spy Orbs and SWATbots closed in. Once, twice the hover unit circled the plant. It was on the third circle that it suddenly turned. The Stealthbots moved to avoid crashing into the hover unit, breaking off pursuit. Unfortunately, for them at least, this set them right in the path of the incoming Spy Orbs, which were not programmed to avoid collisions. The resulting explosion sent debris flying down at the SWATbots below, forcing them to scatter or be destroyed. By the time any new Stealthbots could be deployed, the hover unit carrying the Freedom Fighters had already left Robotropolis airspace.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Inside the command center, Snively, second-in-command of the city, watched the chase unfold to its explosive conclusion. Timidly, he turned to his uncle, the Lord of Robotropolis, Robotnik himself.
"Sir.. I'm… I'm afraid the Freedom Fighters escaped…" The small overlander braced himself for the angry scream he was sure to hear.
"Did we get any of them?" Robotnik asked in surprisingly calm voice.
"Well… we were able to take out two of them, but neither were prime targets."
"Ah well, we shall have better luck next time."
"I must say, Doctor, you're taking this rather well…"
"Of course I am Snively. The information we used to plan this little ambush has proven quite reliable, and the promised two bodies were delivered…. Yes I think we'll continue this relationship with our little informant."
"As… As you wish sir."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"This is the third time Robotnik's had troops waiting for us, Sally-girl," Bunnie said as the group made it back to Knothole.
"I know Bunnie," Sally said flatly.
"Don't you think that's more than a coincidence?" Sally whirled around on her friend.
"Are you suggesting there's a spy in Knothole?"
"Well it's not like it doesn't happen," Sonic interjected.
"I know," Sally said bitterness in her voice. "I want you two to stay out of this okay."
"Sal?"
"This is not open for discussion Sonic." With that the princess turned and left.
"What was that about?" Sonic asked the air.
"I wouldn't take it so hard, Sonic," Rotor said, limping up to his blue friend. "Like you said, this wouldn't be the first time a spy's been able get into Knothole, or even that we've been betrayed by someone already here. I think Sally may be taking it personal this time."
"Nah Sally's not that thin-furred."
"It speaks about her ability as a leader that this keeps happening, Sonic. I imagine it gets very disheartening to know she's failing those people."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Tails moved with practiced stealth through Knothole, an easy feat considering he could quite literally rise above those trapped on the ground. Sonic had returned almost an hour ago, but the young fox had heard nothing from his hero, and that rankled him more than anything else. Soon the fox found himself in front of the hut that served as the home/hospital of Dr. Quack, Knothole's resident doctor.
"How isssss he doctor?" came the reptilian voice of Slade, a voice that always had the effect of making Tails's skin crawl. That was something of a pity as he was actually rather fond of the snake Freedom Fighter.
"Victor is resting now; the sedatives I gave him should keep him asleep. Fortunately the wound was not very bad; I think most of the problem came from his hysteria about infection. I imagine he'll be able to move quite freely within a day or so."
"Victor issss a hypochondriac, but that doessss not mean hissss fears are invalid. I would hate to lossse such a leader to something that could be sasses easily prevented."
"Don't worry, you won't. The Great Forest may not be the most sanitary of places, but my little patch of it is fortified against any microbes that might be wandering around." Tails heard the door to the building open as Slade began to leave. "Just let him get some rest and before long he'll be back and ready to go on missions again."
"Very well doctor. I look forward to ssssseeing you again." The snake slithered out the door. "Ssssally would not be too pleasssssed with you Tailssss, if she knew you were eavessssdropping again."
"Did… did something happen on the mission."
"Robotnik got lucky, that's what happened," Sonic said as he appeared out of nowhere. Slade was somewhat surprised, not really used to the hedgehog's tendency to appear out of thin air.
"Sssssonic, fancy meeting you here," Slade said. "Issss the Princesssss feeling any better?"
"Sal's been going over everything that occurred during our mission, both here and in the field. With any luck she can figure out who the scumbag is who squealed to Ro-Buttnik so we can nail 'im."
"Exccccellent, I know I owe whoever it is a few lickssss for the scalesss those crummy bots singed off me."
"Do you really think there's another spy in Knothole, Sonic?" Tails asked, concern evident in his voice. The young kit understood perfectly what it meant that they could have another spy on their hands meant. Suspicions would begin to rise in Knothole as the finger of blame began to be pointed at everyone. Certain factions in Knothole would definitely use this as "yet another example of Sally's ineffective and unpopular leadership." More importantly, it made any mission undertaken until the spy was caught much more dangerous, particularly for Sonic.
"Rotor seems to think so big guy, and Sal's refusing to consider anything else," Sonic replied. "She's probably trying to use Nicole to narrow down the list of suspects." Tails became visibly disappointed at this and Sonic decided it was a good idea to brighten the fox's mood. "Hey big guy, wanna jet with me over to Ant's and see if he'll let us borrow that dart board of his?" Tails looked at Sonic, a peculiar look on his face Sonic couldn't really recognize.
"Sorry Sonic, but I need to go, um, check on something, yeah that's right," Tails said as he put on his most innocent face. Before Sonic could even ask the most obvious question, the two-tailed fox was gone leaving only a cloud of smoke as he did so.
"I wonder where he isssss off to in such a hurry?" Slade asked.
"I don't know, he's been running off by himself a lot lately."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"So, I take it my information proved accurate?"
"Almost to the letter, though I trust you will not be offended if I continue to question your motives."
"Not at all Doctor. Now then, as to what I want for all my help…"
"Yes yes, I got your message on that subject. Though I must admit I find it quite strange for a Mobian to actually be asking me to roboticize them. If that's all you wanted, you could simply let yourself be caught by a SWATbot."
"They say it takes all kinds, doctor. Now, do I have a yes, or a no?"
"Well, there in lies the rub. How do I know you won't betray me the moment I finish?"
"How do I know you won't mess with me while I'm undergoing the process? All deals require a little bit of faith on both parties, and considering what happened to Sleuth Doggy and Drago, I'd say I'm the one going out on a limb here."
"Very well. I look forward to your next transmission. Though this time, I will expect something a bit more substantial than two unknowns."
"What do you have in mind?"
"If you really want what you say you want… give me the Princess and the Hedgehog."
"I was hoping you'd ask for that soon." Sharp, predatory teeth shone in the darkness as a traitor grinned.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Displaying all communication logs," Nicole said as immediately a holographic projection of Robotropolis's Communications was displayed. Only a few days had passed since the failed mission to Robotropolis, finding Sally and Rotor in her hut working.
"So what are we supposed to be looking at Sal?" Rotor asked; his eyes narrowing as he tried to make sense of what he was being shown. The walrus had been noting a less than thrilling change in the Freedom Fighter leader's behavior over the past few days. The walrus hoped that in this environment, the Princess would be more inclined to unburden herself to him. Sonic was her boyfriend, and Bunnie was her best friend, but Rotor was often the one who served as a sounding board for the young Acorn's anxiety, particularly since Julayla's passing. Though it didn't really take the walrus's genius level IQ to figure out what was bother his friend. He was quite sure this evening would entail him having listen to a somewhat unfair stream of questions as to her effectiveness as a leader, questions designed to get out the hurt and betrayal she was obviously feeling towards those she worked so hard to serve, a necessary job he gladly undertook for the sake of his overtaxed friend's sanity. Thus did he brace himself for his answer.
"You're looking for any sort of incoming message to Robotnik whose source isn't immediately obvious. I don't like the idea of having a spy in Knothole again, but I like even less the prospect of ignoring one, especially with all the recent problems we've been having. I intend to show Robotnik that there is a price for cross me like that."
"Woah, Sally, no need to bite my head off," Rotor said, holding up his hands in mock surrender. That was when he happened to glance over at what Sally was looking at. It appeared to be a list of individual Freedom Fighters and there telecommunications habits. Three names in particular stuck out at him; Bunnie Rabbot, Sonic Hedgehog, and his own. "Uh, you told me what I'm looking for, Sally, but what exactly are you looking for?"
"Any transmissions between Knothole and any suspicious or unknown destination," Sally replied in a monotone voice.
"I can understand that, but surely you don't suspect everyone," Rotor said with a smile as he went back looking through his own list.
"That depends; care to reveal who you called in the Great Northern Tundra?" Sally asked in a voice that seemed sarcastically joking to the walrus. When he looked up, however, he noticed the suspicious look in the squirrel's eyes.
"You can't be serious… We've been friends since the beginning of this thing, and you think I might betray the cause?" Rotor demanded in a voice that was both hurt and insulted.
"Lupe trusted Drago, Fly Fly Freddy trusted Sleuth," Sally answered as she turned back towards the holographic screen before her. "And I shouldn't even have to go into Silver Fox's origins. Quite apparently, Robotnik can get to pretty much anyone."
"Maybe, but with all our history, you'd think we'd warrant a little more trust," Rotor said as he got to his feet in an angry huff. "If you'll excuse me, Princess, I think I need to get some air before I say something that might incriminate me as a traitor." With that, the walrus was gone, leaving the squirrel all alone. Once he was gone, Nicole decided to comment.
"Sally, the message you were waiting for has come in. He's ready." Sally tore her attention away from the door her friend had just left, the same stoic visage on her face
"Excellent Nicole, now we can catch ourselves a spy."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"You're kiddin' me," Sonic said later as Rotor finished telling him about what he'd seen in Sally's hut. The walrus was sitting in the community mess-hall, a cup of coffee before him that was only half full, Sonic, Bunnie, and Antoine sitting around him.
"I'm not Sonic, I heard her as clear as a bell," Rotor said. "She as much as accused me of being in cahoots with Robotnik. What's more she suspects all of us of the same thing. I'm half surprised she hasn't accused Tails of planning his own kidnapping just so HE could be a spy." The walrus was still very much upset over his earlier conversation with his "friend."
"I just can't believe Sally-girl could think something like that," Bunny said. For his part, Antoine was clearly torn in how he should react. On the one hand, he was a loyal "knight" for the Kingdom of Acorn and thus he was duty bound to support his Princess in every decision she made. On the other hand, he had always BEEN loyal, and it hurt a great deal that all that loyalty basically amounted to nothing when the possibility of a spy reared its ugly head.
"Soneeque, maybe you can talk to zhe Princess, yes? Remind her zhat we are all her friends, ness pah?"
"Won't do any good," a cynical Rotor said. "She's all but convinced herself that she's the only one she can trust…"
"Well she must still see some value in the rest of us, 'cause she wants us for a mission," came the voice of Victor as he walked up to the group, Slade slithering right behind him. "We're gonna take another stab at detonating Robotnik's Egg-Generator."
"Count me out," Rotor said.
"Rot, what's wrong?" Bunnie asked, though she could guess the answer.
"I'm willing to help out friends and stop Robotnik, but I don't think it's fair to ask me to put my life on the line for someone who doesn't trust me."
"Rotor, Sally will come around, you'll see…"
"Sonic, we've given the Princess everything. I've given her everything. We've trusted her when we've had nothing to go on but her assurances, but if this is how easy it is to lose HER trust then… then I say forget it!"
"Rotor, you cannot be serious."
"I… I don't know," the walrus got up and turned his back to his friends. "Look, I'm not saying I want to quit the Freedom Fighters… I'm not sure what I'm saying really… but with the situation with Tails, and this… I do know I'm no use to you guys until I can sort this out… I wish you luck on the mission but… I'm not going." With that, Rotor Tusker left the cabin.
"Anyone else feel the same way?" Sonic asked, clearly disturbed over what he'd just heard. Everybody else shook their heads slowly, though each face held worry in it over what their aquatic friend had said. Slowly, all five Mobians left the mess-hall and traveled over to the war-hut where Sally stood waiting for them.
"Where's Rotor?" the squirrel Princess asked in a tone that denoted some impatience.
"He said he doesn't want to come," Sonic answered. "He's real…"
"Fine, then, we'll do this without him," Sally interrupted, uninterested in what Sonic had to say. The blue hedgehog was somewhat shocked at his friend's uncharacteristically blatant disregard for the walrus's feelings.
"Sal, I think you may need to talk to him…"
"Later Sonic, we have more important things right now," Sally commanded as she pulled out Nicole and began projecting a three dimensional map of Robotropolis.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Rotor sat at the Power Ring pond, an angry look on his tusked face as he kicked at the water with his clawed feet/flippers. Part of that anger was directed at Sally, but another part was directed at himself. The Freedom Fighters were a team. They'd sworn an oath to do everything they could to help each other in the fight to overthrow Robotnik and take back their homes. And yet here he was, essentially throwing a tantrum and letting his hurt feelings get in the way of his helping where he would quite possibly be needed.
And yet, it had been nearly an hour and no one had come for him.
The sound of air being moved rapidly reached the walrus's ears, the same sound a helicopter made when as it moved through the air. The tusker had little trouble identifying who would use such an unusual mode of transport. An orange, furry body landed right next to Rotor and he turned to stare at the look of confusion on the face of Tails.
"What are you doing here?" Tails asked, his voice not accusatory, even if Rotor felt it should be. "I just saw Sonic and the others leave on a mission, I thought you were with them."
"They… didn't need me," Rotor lied. They needed him, and they hadn't had any part in the decision for him not to go.
"Well that seems kinda dumb, 'specially for Aunt Sally," Tails responded as he stripped off his shoes and socks and dipped his feet into the water. As Rotor looked at the fox, he couldn't help but think back to that fateful meeting they'd had where Sally had admitted she was considering sending the kit away. Again Rotor had spoken against her, though admittedly it was not solely Tails he had been concerned about. She hadn't acted on it, in fact the walrus had almost been ready to believe that Sally had given up the idea, but with this…
And Tails didn't even know his fate was up in the air. Had Rotor's wandering eye not fallen on what Sally was working on, none of the others would know she suspected them either. Silently Rotor wondered when he'd been designated the universe's secret keeper.
"Well," Tails began, "since you're obviously not doing anything know, maybe we could do something together."
"I don't know, I'm no Sonic. I can't really do all those high-speed things you and he love to do all the time."
"Well Sonic's not here," Tails said playfully. "Besides, we have things in common, don't we?" Tails thought for a moment. "I like to build stuff and so do you. Maybe we can work on a project together." Now it was Rotor's turn to think.
"Sure, why not. It has been a while since we went tinkering together. It'd be nice to see how far you've advanced."
"Cool, I'll grab my tools and meet you at your workshop," Tails said as he pulled his footwear back on and jumped into the air, using his tails to hover as he did so. Rotor too got up to leave, only to suddenly feel very woozy as he did so. Once he regained his balance, he found himself looking a taller figure wearing a full, blue cloak that his everything about him but his hands. Those hands held a long silver staff with three prongs at the top holding onto what looked like a crystal skull. The shaft of the staff was covered with strange markings that looked to Rotor's eye to be some form of ancient Mobian.
"He must not leave," came a voice the walrus could only assume was the figure's voice.
"'He must not leave?' What's that supposed to mean?" All of a sudden the wind picked up out of nowhere and Rotor's hands moved quickly to keep his hat from flying off as he closed his eyes to keep the flying dirt from hitting him.
"He must not leave," the voice said again. When the mechanic opened his eyes, the figure was gone, not even leaving footprints behind. "Or destruction will come again…"
"Weird," was all Rotor could say in response.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"Jeeze Louise, more of those SWAT-butts," Sonic said as he peered around the corner of one of Robotropolis's grim encrusted buildings. Behind him, Slade and Victor stood, his partners for this mission. Sally had chosen to break the group up into three groups, though Sonic had had some reservations about that. He, Victor, and Slade were group one; Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine were group two. No sir, Sonic didn't like it at all; particularly with how Robotnik had beefed up security.
"The SssWATbotsss I can deal with, Sssonic, it'sss those blasssted Combotsss that give me headaches," Slade said as he held a pilfered laser rifle in his hands. The snake's ability to wiggle his way through areas too narrow for normal Mobians had allowed him to pick the weapon up from a storage room, as well as one for Victor. Sonic, adverse to guns, had opted to remain "unarmed" as it were. Still the sheer number of guards was beginning to concern him.
"Sonic to Sally, Sonic to Sally, come in Sally," Sonic spoke into his wrist communicator. Immediately the Princess responded.
"What is it Sonic?" Sonic cringed inwardly at the tone in his friend's voice. The squirrel was most definitely on edge for this mission.
"We're running in to loads of SWATs out here Sally. I'm no chicken, but this is getting mondo dangerous, even for me. Maybe we should regroup and replan."
"NO!" Sally suddenly blurted. "I mean… falling back is not an option Sonic. No matter what happens, do your job and keep Robotnik from sniffing us out. Sally out." With that, Sally broke off communication, leaving a somewhat disturbed hedgehog in her wake.
"So, what do we do now, team leader?" Victor said as he moved carefully to avoid the grim of the building, his skin visibly crawling as he looked at it.
"We have our orders, let's move." With that, the trio zipped across the street, careful to avoid as many of the sentries as they could. Those they couldn't were destroyed with as much secrecy as possible.
"I'm gonna try to scout ahead, see if I can find us a road less traveled," Sonic said as he revved up his feet, only to be grabbed by the arm by Slade.
"Are you sssure that'sss wissse Sssonic. Sssally's ordersss were to ssstick together."
"I say go for it," Victor said. "The last thing I wanna do is get shot again in this filthy disgusting city."
"Okay, you two hang tight, and I'll be right back." With that, Sonic was off like a shot through the streets of Robotropolis. All around him SWATbots patrolled the streets in groups along with Spy Orbs and Stealthbots who reigned over the skies.
&Guess ol' Blubber-butt hasn't been able to fully replace 'em with Combots. Or maybe these are the super model he was workin' on,& Sonic thought to himself as he watched the robots patrol. &Either way this is some seriously bad news. I don't know what Sally's thinking of.& Quickly, Sonic began to zip back to his friends, only to be greeted by shouting and the sound of laser fire. Increasing his speed, Sonic made it back to the alley just in time for an explosion send him flying into the wall along with Victor. Quickly recovering, the hedgehog turned to the fox.
"What happened?"
"SWATs came. We tried to hold them off, but one of them got Slade's rifle. Ignited the power charges," Victor said. "I only just made it to the end of the alley before it exploded, but Slade couldn't get away."
"We gotta get outta here. That explosion's sure to bring some SWATbutts our way."
"But Slade…"
"I hate to say it, but if he didn't come out the way you did, he's more than likely toast by now," Sonic said in a somewhat defeated tone. He didn't like losing Freedom Fighters, nobody did, but he was very well aware of the fact that if he and Victor got caught, it would leave the other three wide open. Grabbing the fox's hand, he took off at top speed.
& & &
"Duck Antoine!" Bunnie yelled as she fired a laser from her mechanical arm at an incoming Spy Orb. The machine's explosion was strangled by the mega-muck it carried that quickly expanded out of its containment and fell in a glob to the floor.
"Zhere are simply too many for us to be handling," Antoine said as he used his sword to slice through the neck of a SWATbot.
"That's kinda the point Suger-Twan, we're supposed to be playin' distraction for Sonic and his group," Bunnie said. "But I must admit its getting' so a lady can't even stretch out her arms without finding one o' 'Buttnik's toys in her hand." Quickly she flipped up her communicator on her arm.
"What is it Bunnie?" Sally asked in a hushed tone.
"Well, I do hate to be a bother an' all, Sally-girl, but me an' Antoine are kinda getting our hindquarters handed to us over here. Are you guys gonna be much longer?"
"We're almost in position Bunnie, just make sure you keep those bots occupied."
"Um, any idea when we'll be able to leave."
"You'll know when we're done Bunnie, believe me. Sally out." Once more the squirrel Princess ended communications.
"Looks like we're on our own Twan."
"Do not worry, Bunnie, I will be here to protect you from zhese evil horrids."
"No offense Sugar, but I think we need to move this to a better location, they're coming at us from all sides here."
"Zhere is a warehouse only a few blocks down. Perhaps if we are leaving in there, zhe robots they will follow us."
"Sounds like a plan." With that, the two furries beat a hasty retreat through the streets of Robotropolis. Soon they arrived at the aforementioned warehouse, only to find that the door to it had been locked. Fortunately, Bunnie proved to make an excellent skeleton key as she ripped the door from its hinges with her metallic hand. "Come on, Twan."
"Right behind you," Antoine said. Inside, they found that the warehouse had been used to store tanks and tanks of fuel used for the variety of vehicles under Robotnik's command.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this," Bunnie said as she looked about at the various containers marked flammable. "Ant we can't stay here, one stray shot could… hmph." Bunnie never got chance to finish her speech, however, as a big hand clamped itself over her mouth and forcefully drug her back into the shadows of the warehouse, its mate repeating the act with Antoine. As their robotic pursuers entered the building, a black furred hand casually tossed an active grenade into the room. The SWATbots took a few seconds to analyze the situation, realizing their peril only a second before the incendiary exploded, igniting the stored fuel tanks and causing the whole warehouse to erupt in explosive fire.
& & &
"Good news Dr. Robotnik, reports say two of the Freedom Fighters detected in the city were wiped out," Snively said, a pleased look on his face as he turned to his uncle. "The rabbit and the coyote appear to have been vaporized in an explosion."
"I do not care about those miserable bit players, Snively, I care only for the hedgehog and the Princess," Robotnik replied in an irritated voice. "Without those two, the Freedom Fighters will fall like dominoes before my power."
"Not bloody likely you fat pig," Snively said under his breath as he turned back to the monitor.
"What was that, Snively?"
"I said, we'll have to work hard to fill an order that big," the short human answered, though it was apparent Robotnik didn't believe him for an instant.
"What is the status of the hedgehog and the Princess?"
"Sonic is still alive, apparently, but he's in the company of the fox… Victor." At this Robotnik gave an evil grin.
"Excellent, and the Princess?"
"We… uh… don't know where she is," Snively admitted sheepishly, yelping as Robotnik reached out and grabbed the back of his collar, roughly hoisting the little Overlander to him.
"WHAT?! How can you not know where she is?"
"Well we've been searching for her ever since we were told the Freedom Fighters were here, but she isn't with either group. It appears she's broken off for her own mission."
"Hmmm, Sonic's team was the distraction. The rabbit and the fool were supposed to destroy my generator. What target could the Princess possibly be after on her…" Robotnik's eyes opened wide as he realized something. "My computer system, of course. She obviously knows she has a traitor in Knothole. She's come to my Command Center, she wants to find out who it is." Realizing this Robotnik pressed a button on his chair, opening a compartment from which he drew his personal particle laser as he got up from said chair. "Well, let it never be said I was not an attentive host, eh Snively."
& & &
As Robotnik had guessed, Sally was indeed in his Egg Command center, though she was not going towards his computer consoles, but rather towards the roof. Despite Rotor's not all together unexpected refusal to go on the mission, her plan was proceeding very well. And with any luck it would continue to do so, so long as everyone acted the way she needed them to. Suddenly, the small handheld computer she forever carried with her chirped to life.
"Sally, I have just received the signal. Team 2 has been prepared."
"Excellent, and Team 1?"
"Following the plan precisely," Nicole said. The digital entity paused for a few moments. "Sally, once again I feel I must advise against this course of action. I understand your reasoning, but I can think of a multitude of ways this plan of yours can backfire. I can already see it starting to as we speak."
"I understand your concerns Nicole, but this was the only way I could think to do this," Sally said. "I'll make it up to them, I promise, but for now we have a job to do or everything is going to be useless."
& & &
Sonic and Victor sped with wild abandon through the city, alerting SWATbot after SWATbot to their presence. While this was what they had been ordered to do, it was seriously cutting into their ability to maneuver as the streets became more and more crowded.
"Sonic," Victor yelled. "Maybe we can lose them on the rooftops." The fox pointed to scaffolding that wound around one of the buildings being repaired. With nowhere better to go, Sonic took it. Unfortunately, while this particular building was nearing completion, the buildings surrounding it were not, a fact that became quite obvious to Sonic as he gazed out across the buildings to see none of them had any roofs too them yet.
"Well shoot, this was a bad idea," the hedgehog said. "Guess we're gonna have to fight our way back down and try this again."
"Sorry Sonic," Victor said as Sonic heard the sound of the fox's laser rifle powering up, "but I'm afraid that's not going to happen." Sonic turned back to Victor to discover that the fox had leveled his rifle directly at Sonic's stomach, a nasty smirk on his face. It took only the length of a second for Sonic's face to go from shock to grim understanding, and in that second, Victor pulled the gun's trigger, releasing a bolt of energy at Sonic at point-blank range. Fast though he was, even Sonic wasn't able to dodge the fire at that range, and the bolt sent him flying helplessly backward, over the side of the building, and into the darkness below. Calm in the face of what he had done, the fox unclipped a communications device from his hip.
"Victor to Dr. Robotnik, come in Doctor."
"Victor! What do you want?" the dark doctor's voice said over the airwaves.
"Thought you'd like to know I've eliminated your hedgehog problem," the former Freedom Fighter said nonchalantly.
"Sonic's dead? You're sure?"
"Unless he's laser proof at a range of about a foot, yes." There was a pause during which Victor could almost imagine Robotnik performing a private happy dance wherever he was.
"You've done very well, Victor, very well indeed, but your job isn't done yet," Robotnik said, his voice sounding almost giddy as he spoke. "There is still the Princess to deal with."
"Right, I'll truck over to Bunnie and Antoine's location and then I'll…"
"She's not with them," the overweight Overlander said. "No, I think she split off and is inside my Command Center. Internal sensors indicate a warm body heading for the roof… perhaps you should be there to greet her."
"Wait a minute Doc, I'm no Sonic, I can't move that fast."
"I'm hereby giving you the authority to commandeer one of the sky-bikes from the SWATbots. Use it to get here and then… I can watch you remove the last thorn from my side."
"With pleasure Doctor."
& & &
Sonic felt terrible to say the least. He'd woken up in a dumpster filled with who knew what kind of foul smelling trash Robotnik had that wasn't' metal, his gut hurting like he'd just taken a punch from Bunnie fired out of a cannon… which in a sense he had. The trouble was, after he'd taken that shot, he wasn't sure HOW he'd wound up in the dumpster. By all accounts, he should have been street pizza or worse… hedgehog shish-kabob. That was when a realization struck him.
"The others don't know about Victor," Sonic said as he sped away down the suddenly uncrowded streets.
& & &
Sally grunted as she lifted the grill off the ventilation exhaust that sat on the roof of Robotnik's Command Center. Suddenly, the sound of engines came to the squirrel's ears as she saw a hoverbike come in for a landing. Ready for a fight, she was quite relieved when Victor got out of the contraption holding the laser rifle.
"Victor, I'm so glad to see you," Sally said as she ran up to greet her friend.
"Me too, Princess," the fox replied.
"And I guess I make three, don't I," Robotnik said as he made his appearance on the roof of the building, particle laser in his hand. "Princess, you surprise me. What would your dear Julayla say, you leaving without so much as saying 'Hello?'"
"She'd say I can be excused for not wishing to be in such bad company," Sally spat back. "I'm surprised, Doctor. I didn't think you had the courage to challenge two opponents all by yourself."
"Oh, I can be quite brave, Princess. Particularly where such a beautiful prize as yourself is con…"
"VICTOR!!!" yelled Sonic as the blue hedgehog raced his way up the side of the building, anger in his eyes.
"Sonic?!" Robotnik yelped, startled at seeing the hedgehog he'd thought dead suddenly announcing his presence. Angrily he turned back to Victor. "You useless vulpine, you told me he was dead!"
"I did, and he will be, but first I have other business to take care of," the fox said as he grabbed Sally roughly. With Sonic around, time was always of the essence.
"What are you…?"
"It's nothing personal, Princess, but I don't want to live in a germ infested forest anymore," Victor said as he forced the smaller squirrel to the side of the building. Thus is was that the first thing Sonic saw as he finally made his way up to the roof was Victor successfully shoving his friend off the building.
"SALLY!" Sonic yelled as he raced over to the falling squirrel, only barely missing her fingers as she began her gravity assisted descent to the ground below. Unable to save the woman he loved, Sonic settled for the next best thing; revenge.
The blow was sudden and savage, as savage as the hedgehog himself felt, and it sent Victor roughly to the roof. Quickly the fox tried to bring his laser rifle to bear on his attacker, only watch Sonic roughly kick it from his hand and across the roof. Behind them both, Robotnik chuckled at his victory. Sally was surely dead by now and, even if Victor couldn't get the job done, Sonic would be dead soon too. The mad dictator lowered his weapon and smiled as he watched the battle between the two Mobians, not really caring who the victor was, only for the entertaining carnage it would bring. Victor may have been older and bigger, but Sonic was faster, more experience, and more skilled, and it showed when the hedgehog brutally slammed his opponent into the rocky guardrail that was used to prevent guards from falling over the edge, trying to push him over.
"What do you think you're doing?" a seemingly terrified Victor asked as he looked at the long way down the building.
"Tails is the only fox I know who can fly," Sonic answered flippantly, "so I figure you'll make a nice splat when you hit bottom. Serves you right you filthy traitor."
"Yes, yes, kill him, KILL HIM!" Robotnik chanted, egging his nemesis on with a hungry look in his metallic eyes. The insane doctor's glee was swiftly broken, however, as a loud series of explosions rocked the city. "What was that?"
"Off hand, I'd say those were the explosives Edgar's been placing taking out your loser generator," Victor said, suddenly much calmer even as Sonic held him down.
"Wha… What? But I thought you killed him, I saw the body…"
"Sonic let me go," Victor said to the stunned hedgehog, who absentmindedly obeyed. He, like the doctor, had also believed the big black bear to be dead. Seeing the confused looks, the fox decided to elaborate. "Sorry to disappoint you Doc, but I'm afraid you've been had. And in more ways than one." Suddenly, everyone became aware of the sound of engines getting louder and louder. Over the side of the building, a Stealthbot could be seen rising slowing into the air, Princess Sally Acorn reclining leisurely on one of the wings. In its cockpit, Slade could be seen piloting, a sneaky grin on his face as he looked over at his Overlander enemy.
"Why Doctor, you look like you've seen a ghost," Sally said in a snide voice.
"This was… this was all a trick," Robotnik stammered out in disbelief. "All a trick to get me to lower my defenses so you could destroy my beautiful generator."
"Well, I can't take all the credit. I had a really good instructor in the art of being deceptive," Sally taunted. "Sonic, Victor, let's go, we've got friends to get back to." The fox pulled the still stunned hedgehog into the fighter craft as Sally herself got in as well. Before she got in, however, the squirrel Princess turned back to Robotnik.
"And on a more personal not doctor, have a really rotten day." So saying, Sally blew the fat Overlander a mocking kiss as the corrupted Stealthbot left. On the roof, Robotnik's right eye began to twitch uncontrollably as his mind processed what had just happened to him. Finally, he could bear it no longer.
"I HATE THAT SQUIRREL!!!!!!"
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"So all this was a trick you, Victor, Slade, and Edgar came up with?" Sonic asked as he rubbed his still sore tummy. Night had fallen since the group had returned to Knothole and was now in the process of celebrating the great success of their mission, but Sonic, Bunnie, and Antoine had still been somewhat confused as to what had happened.
"Robotnik is so quick to believe the worst about others, I thought it'd be nice to give him a taste of his own medicine for once," Sally answered. "And I'll just bet you next time he'll be a lot less willing to trust someone who calls themselves a traitor."
"But why keep us in the dark, Sally-girl, didn't ya trust us?"
"I'm sorry about that, but I needed you all to act as normally as possible or Robotnik would have gotten suspicious," Sally explained. "If I hurt any of your feelings, I can only say I'm sorry."
"S'not a problem Sal. I mean, we did get Buttnik good." Sally laughed at the hedgehog's statement.
"That is an understatement. Without that generator, sixty percent of Robotropolis is now completely off-line. And I'm betting Robotnik's going to be so hot for revenge against us, there's no way he'll put enough resources towards fixing it any time soon. If we play this right, we'll have pretty much free run of Robotropolis for months."
"How nice for us," Rotor said, suddenly appearing before the celebrating Freedom Fighters.
"Rotor," Sally said. "I'm glad we met. I wanted to talk to you…"
"You don't have to explain, I heard everything and I understand." Sally smiled at this as she walked up to her tusked friend.
"I was afraid you were still mad at…"
"I said I understood, I didn't say I wasn't upset, or that I forgave you." At the walrus's words, the celebration seemed to die as the Freedom Fighters turned to the confrontation between Rotor and Sally. "The fact remains that you didn't trust any of us when you should have."
"I needed you all to..."
"Yeah yeah, I know. You needed us to 'act as naturally as possible.' Which probably says a lot about how much you've got us figured out, doesn't it? Never mind the fact that we were all worried about you, despite the fact that you weren't worried about us."
"That's not true…"
"I spent the entire day trying to understand why you were acting like such a jerk, making excuses for everything you said. Never once did it cross my mind that you were play acting to manipulate us," the walrus's eyes were narrowed in anger. "I could excuse being upset, I could forgive anger, but this?" Rotor turned and began to stomp off.
"Rotor, where are you going?"
"I'm going to take a look at my life and try to decide whether or not I can keep working with and fighting beside someone who obviously doesn't trust me." And with that, Tusker was gone, leaving a stunned group of Freedom Fighters and a much less cheerful celebration in his wake. Tiredly, Tails walked up to his female guardian.
"Is… Is Rotor going to leave us?" the fox kit asked with a yawn.
"I… I don't… No, no he's not," Sally answered, though with somewhat less conviction than anybody would have liked. Suddenly, she realized that the kit was indeed tired; not surprising considering that it was well past his usual bed time. Happy to have something to take her mind off this recent unpleasantness, even if only for the night, Sally knelt down to him. "Come on Tails its time to go to bed."
"Ah, but I'm not yawn tired," the fox managed to say unconvincingly as his small body was picked up by his "Aunt's" arms and carried away.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Some time later, Sonic had managed to get the celebration going again, though it was markedly less enthusiastic than before. The Hedgehog made a mental note to go talk to Rotor, and hopefully convince the walrus that the Freedom Fighters were still very much worth his time and energy.
Suddenly, the cobalt quickster became cognizant of a beeping sound coming from near his feet. Looking down, he discovered Nicole, whom Sally had placed on a nearby table to avoid damaging. The clever little computer had used her eject able wire ports to catch hold of one of Sonic's legs and pull herself towards the blue Mobian. Why was a question Sonic couldn't answer, particularly since, had he not noticed her quickly, he most likely would have crushed her beneath his feet by accident.
"Sonic, there is a problem," the little computer said with great urgency in her voice.
"What up Nicole?" Sonic asked as he scooped the little machine up off the ground.
"I just picked up on a transmission leaving Knothole."
"A transmission? Nicole, Sally was just play acting at having you monitor us," Sonic said incredulously.
"Yes, but that does not mean I don't look for patterns on my own. Robotnik has been known to place tracers on all of you in his attempts to discover the location of Knothole."
"Okay so disable the tracer."
"I don't think it's a tracer, Sonic. It's a full scale transmission… to Wing Fortress."
"Who's doing it?"
"There's only one person in Knothole with any connection to Wing Fortress, and he's currently all alone with Princess Sally," the computer said with great urgency. Realizing just what Nicole meant, Sonic's eyes widened as he suddenly revved up and sped away, tearing his way through Knothole.
&Oh please, oh please don't let me be too late,& Sonic thought as he came to a screeching halt in front of the hut belonging to Miles "Tails" Prower.
"Sally?" the hedgehog called, hoping to hear his girlfriend's sharp reprimand for daring to wake up Tails just as he was dozing off. When no reply came, Sonic's heart began to sink.
&Maybe, maybe she just fell asleep too. She's done that before.& Cautiously Sonic opened the door to his best friend's hut. Inside it was dark, but this was remedied fairly easily by the flipping of a switch. When the lights went on, Sonic let out a started gasp at what he saw. Hanging from the ceiling fan was Sally's blue vest, a note attached to it. Neither Tails nor Sally seemed present at all. Morbidly curious, Sonic reach up and plucked the note from the vest, never noticing the faint clicking sound that came as the door behind him closed.
"Hedgehog fall down, go boom," Sonic read, puzzled as to the almost infantile structure of the message. Sudden realization dawned on him as he notice the bomb the paper had previously been covering attached to the vest, a bomb that had only seconds left on its timer. Quickly Sonic ran back to the door, only to find it completely locked, a set of iron bars now crossing it. As if on cue, more bars slid down on the windows, barring his passage through them. "I really don't like that guy," Sonic said as he watched the timer finally reach zero. The explosion was deafening.
To Be Continued.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
There you have it, the next chapter of Prophecy and the return of Silver Fox… Can I please have my kitten back now? Hope you enjoyed it and didn't get too confused. I just wanted to do a story wherein one of Robotnik's little traitor schemes backfired on him. Anyhow, if you read, please review. See ya next update, say in 2010.