Sonic reached the others as they neared the edge of the scrapyard. "The angry lady and the robots are right behind me."

Rotor pointed to his hut near the center of the scrapyard. "I set up a couple of traps just in case the robots tried to come for me."

"Cool!" Sonic held up the plasma cannon he had taken from Raza. "You look strong enough to use this thing."

The walrus took the weapon and slipped the shoulder strap over his head. The long nails on his hands made is difficult to wrap his hand around the handle and trigger, but he managed. "Never fired a gun before, but this thing doesn't look like it depends too much on aiming. Let's go!"

The four Mobians ran for the hut and reached it as Raza and her remaining robots ran out of the jungle. Raza pulled a large laser pistol from her belt as she stopped at the edge of the scrapyard. She knelt down to aim as she yelled for the machines to continue pursuit.

A laser bolt flew close enough to Sally's head to singe a few of her red hairs. "What is the plan?"

"Just inside the doorway is a large lever. Pull it and it will activate the traps I set up. I'll see if I can shoot down those wasps."

"Mister Rotor, sir." Antione gasped. "Do you by chance have any water in your home?"

"There is an old gas container in the back that should be full." Rotor climbed onto the wooden deck that was around his hut and kicked over a small table he had made out of scrap to stand behind.

Sonic ran around the hut to try and flank the machines as the approached it. Sally helped Antione into the hut and found the lever. Letting go of Antione, she gripped it and pulled it. She could hear a series of pullies and gears turning under the hut. "I hope this enough."

Outside, the crabs easily climbed over the piles of junk as the approached the hut. One stepped onto a large flat piece of metal. As soon as its full weight was on it, a massive spring underneath it was set off and launched the crab skyward. It landed on several metal poles that had been stuck upright in the ground and sharped into points. Two other crabs fell victim to similar spring traps. The wasps flew over the yard and fired at the hut. Rotor ducked down to avoid the first assault. He stood and open fire with the cannon. He had to tighten his grip as he nearly fell over from the vibrations the rotating barrels produced. He managed to destroy two of the wasps before the robots got wise and started to avoid his fire.

Sonic managed to find of Rotor's spring traps on the opposite side from which the assault was happening. Sliding under it and pulling on one of the sides to angle it so it would launch him over the hut. Sonic jumped on top of it and had to jump a few times to trigger the spring. He curled into a ball as he soared over the hut. With a flash of blue light, he crashed into a wasp and bounced between three others like a pinball, destroying each one. As Sonic dropped back towards the ground, he was shocked to see a crab waiting for him. "That ain't good."

Issuing a war cry, Sally ran from the hut, wielding a large chunk of metal as a club. The robotic crab was so focused on catching the falling hedgehog, it failed to notice the chipmunk. She smashed the chunk of metal on top of the crab, crushing its body under repeated blows. Sonic landed on the ground near her and waited a few seconds for Sally to stop beating on the now nonfunctioning machine. "Remind me not to make you angry."

"Just tired of these things making me feel helpless."

A laser bolt struck Sonic in the right shoulder and caused the hedgehog to drop to the ground. Sally grabbed his leg and drug him behind the remains of the robotic crab as more shots flew past. "Sonic!" The fur on his shoulder was singed and smoked a bit, but Sally couldn't see any more damage. "How is it?"

"Hurts more than anything. I'm just lucky that the energy from my Chaos Emerald makes me a bit tougher than most." He flexed the fingers on his right hand and tried to move his arm. The fingers seemed fine, but he winced considerably as he moved the arm. "Ok, no high fives for a while."

Sally stuck her head out from behind the robot's body, but quickly pulled back as a bolt nearly hit her. "The pistol of hers isn't very accurate at long range, but she is coming closer." A metal on metal scraping sound coming from their left told both modians that one of the crabs was moving towards them. "Any chance you can take that thing out?"

Sonic grunted in pain as he curled into a ball and spun in place to pick up speed. He shot forward and smashed through the crab while dodging a few shots from Raza. He crashed into a pile of junk and uncurled. He rubbed his injured shoulder as the act of curling up forced him to tighten it. "That hurt."

The armored woman turned and took aim at the downed hedgehog. "Got you."

Before she could pull the trigger, Sally dashed out from behind the cover. The chipmunk landed a strong kick to the back of Raza's left knee. It caused the woman to drop to her knee. Sally landed a spin kick to the hand holding the laser pistol and it flew out of Raza's grasp. Raza growled and responded to the attack with a punch to the right side of Sally's face. The blow knocked the mobian back, but she remained on her feet. Raza stood up straight and Sally tried not to let the size difference intimidate her. Not easy to do since Sally was only about four feet tall verses Raza's near six feet. Plus, Raza's combat armor easily added to the equation.

"You want to be first?" Raza grabbed the combat knife that was sheathed on the back of her belt. "Fine, I'll let the hedgehog watch as I skin you."

"You have some issues."

The armored woman shrugged. "Yeah, I do."

She lunged at Sally who had to jump back to avoid the blade. Raza was quick despite her armor and it was all the mobian could do to avoid getting cut by the blade. Sally's heart sunk when her back hit a pile of scrap. Raza charged, but Sally managed to slide between her legs before the blade could hit.

"Hang on my princess." Antione charged out of the hut, holding one of Rotor's makeshift chairs over his head. "I will protect you."

The coyote's eagerness caused him to not see a large rock on the ground. He tripped over it and fell face first into the ground. The chair flew from his grasp and landed about a foot away from Raza. This distracted Raza long enough for Sally to find a length of rusted pipe. As the human turned back towards the mobian, Sally struck her in the back of her head. Raza slumped to the ground, out cold.

Sally sighed with relief and sat down while leaning against an old girder. "Thanks Antione."

Antione coughed up some dirt. "Glad to be of service my princess."

"How about you Sonic?"

"A bit embarrassed, but I'll be fine." Sonic pushed himself to his feet and looked around. "Looks like the party is over." The scrapyard was devoid of all sound save for the occasional sound of falling metal. The robots had all been destroyed by either traps or the actions of the mobians. Sonic noticed that small animals climbed out of the remains of the damaged robots. "That is still weird." He waved to Rotor with his good arm as the walrus walked up. "Nice shooting. You're a real natural with that thing."

Rotor had an embarrassed smile on his face. "I'm just glad we survived." He looked around. "So, any idea on what to do next?"

"She has to have a ship somewhere on the island." Sally motioned towards the downed Raza. "I'm sure she won't mind if we barrow it." She pushed herself up and brushed of her pants. "But I can't help but wonder where Snively disappeared to."

Sonic chuckled a bit. "Baldy was here?"

"Yeah. He was in a cave not to far from here. Apparently someone if using the junk barges to smuggle gold ring enhanced items out of The Acorn Kingdom. Snively is the one picking them up and taking them someplace."

"First, he destroys the old ruins, then tires to kill me and Sally, and now this. He is certainly getting around."

"He could also show up at any minute." Antione began to look around nervously. "Perhaps we should be leaving before he does."

Sally nodded. "No argument here." She turned to Rotor. "You should probably come with us. We might be able to find out where your herd is."

"Sounds good to me. I was getting tired of rummaging through all this junk."

Sonic gave him a light punch to Rotor's arm. "Those traps were way cool. If we get a chance, I should introduce you to a friend of mine at Knothole Village."

"Sounds fun."

Opting to leave Raza on the island, rather than risk her breaking free from whatever bonds they could bind her with, the four mobians search the island and found her shuttle pod resting on a beach not far from where she had set her trap. Sonic had retrieved Nicole and his survival bag from the tree had hid them in before rescuing Antione. Figuring there was a way to recharge the hand unit, Sonic woke Nicole up. It took the AI only a moment to hack the shuttle's door and let them in. Sonic sat in the pilot's chair and hooked Nicole up to the shuttle's computer.

"Think you can fly this thing?"

"I believe so, Sonic." Lights began to turn on in the shuttle and everyone could hear the engines starting up.

Sally couldn't help but me amazed. "Your incredible."

"Thank you, Sally." The hand held flashed and a hologram of the archipelago that made up the majority of The Acorn Kingdom. "Using the records I found in the shuttle's database, I was able to determine our location. We are on a currently uncharted island at the edge of the kingdom. We have enough fuel to reach the main island, but just barely. If we run into trouble, it is possible the shuttle won't be able to make it."

Sally took a closer look at the hologram. "There should be a few air bases between here and home. A stop over wouldn't be a bad idea. But which one?"

Antione tapped Sally on the shoulder. "Jango would be a good idea. It is our biggest airbase. We could get an escort to take us the rest of the way."

"Treetop Village!" Sonic pointed to one of the islands. "We should go to Treetop Village."

Antione gave Sonic a puzzled look. "But it is just large trading post."

"He is right." Sally used her finger to trace a flight path from where they were, to Treetop Village, and then to the main island. "It is closer and there is a small military base there as well. Good call, Sonic."

The shuttle vibrated as it rose into the air. The hologram changed to reflect the path the shuttle would take to Treetop Village. "Setting course." Nicole beeped a few times. "We should arrive in about five hours."

"That should give us a chance get some sleep." Rotor said with a massive yawn. "I'm beat."

"Same." Sally headed towards the back. "But first let's see if we can find a med kit for Sonic's shoulder.

"Sonic?" Nicole's voice stopped Sonic from going to the back to search with the others. The computer lowered her voice so only he would hear her. "How did you know about the village? I don't recall father talking about it."

The hedgehog scratched his head. "Not sure to be honest. But I had to hear about it from somewhere."

The room was dark save for the twin beams of light shinning down from the ceiling. In one beam stood Raza. The other Snively. The short bald man had picked Raza up just as she woke up from the blow she had received. They had to meet with their employer about their failures. A pair of glowing red eyes in the darkness was the only indication that said employer was in the room. A voice as dark as the room they were in echoed.

"Explain!"

Snively made some whining sounds and even started to hiccup.

Raza rubbed her eyes. "A hedgehog interfered with the roundup of the village. He could move as incredibly fast speeds."

"A hedgehog?" The voice began to grow angry. "A single rodent managed to defeat a squad of highly trained and heavily armed troopers. A single rodent destroyed not one, but two assault vehicles and several of my robots."

A large screen appeared in the air in-between the two humans and the glowing eyes. It showed an aerial view of the island they had just come from.

"And to add to your success, my smuggling operation has been exposed." Several explosions went off all around the island to hide the evidence.

Snively finally managed to speak past his hiccups. "But I did manage to save the last shipment."

The voice sneered. "And that is why you will get another chance." A clear tube of plastic dropped from the ceiling and trapped Raza. "But I will have someone pay." Raza pounded on the glass. "A pity, you were a useful agent." The voice sounded remorseful. "But you will still be a useful tool."

Light composed of black, yellow, and white energy filled the tube. Raza's screams were muffled by the plastic tube. Her exposed skin began to turn pale and took on a metallic sheen. When the light finally vanished, Raza looked like metallic statue of herself. Snively nervously backed away as the tube retracted into the ceiling.

The Robotizer. A terrible device that could transform a living being into a machine. When used on mobians, it turns them into obedient slaves. When used on humans however, it made them into machines, but they couldn't move or act. Like they had no power source or operating system. This flaw didn't stop his employer from using it on them. The robotized human's body served as the base for his battle robots. The process however would make it forever impossible to return the human back to normal.

"I hope you won't disappoint me again, Snively."

"I won't, Lord Robotnik!"