Quick author note: This is my favorite ACHR chapter because of the gigantic, nail-biting cliffhanger at the end. Enjoy! (big, crazy, evil grin)(maniacal laugh)


Chapter #19: Escape

The heroes played some more board games with Buck until dusk. When the clock chimed 8:00, Sonic, Ratchet, and Spike crept out of the house into the growing darkness. They sneaked over to the station and hid in some bushes, where they found an "X" written on the ground in the thicket; Porter had marked this spot to be the hiding place for the agents. Sonic and Spike left Ratchet in the bushes and went to Nookington's and the Post Office, and found the Animal Alliance agents ready for them. They hid in the secret rooms with them and waited for the train to arrive.

Ratchet, obviously, was the first to see the train pull in. He remained silent, knowing that some robot guards were coming to pick up the supplies. Sure enough, a squad came with boxes of robot parts, burnt wood, and other rubble from the bombing. They took the provisions without much talk and left. Later, the wolf leader came by and reminded Porter of his other errand. The monkey nodded his head nervously at his words, and promised that he would deliver the parts, the rubble, and the supplies to the recycling plant safely. As soon as they were gone, Ratchet contacted Tortimer, who was at the Post Office.

"Tortimer, this is Ratchet. We have a green light."

"All righty! We'll be right over!"

In minutes, the mayor, Spike, and fifteen Allies reached the bushes, and they waited for Porter to open the cargo car, which was a sign that it was safe to come. When he did, groups of five agents crept out of the thicket and went inside the car at a time, and the primate helped them into some boxes. When all but Tortimer, K.K. Slider, and the two heroes were packed, Ratchet called Tom Nook over. The process repeated itself, and all the crates of supplies became packed with Allies. Spike went back to pick up the other heroes and Buck, and they packed the horse in, too. The only people that weren't packed were the eight heroes. When everyone was ready, Porter went into the locomotive car and started the engine. With a blast of the whistle, the train left AnimaCity with its hidden cargo.

For a while the heroes sat and talked in the darkness of the cargo car. Eventually the sea creatures, Jimmy, and Tails fell asleep, and Sonic, Ratchet, Clank and Spike talked about the robbery, which they had each rehearsed in their minds. They had unanimously agreed that Copper and his gang of "robbers" would switch the track so Porter had no choice but to go near Pine Ridge. Then they would pull guns on him, beat him up a little, and steal the crates carrying the Allies. The boxes would be loaded onto a dump truck and taken across the border, where the agents would be taken out. Spike said the plan was foolproof, but Clank insisted that no escape plan was ever 100 perfect. Although he never said anything to the others, Sonic had a bad feeling in his gut that something would go wrong in the plan. Ratchet just shrugged it off and checked his weapons out of habit.

Suddenly the train stopped, and there was shouting.

The voice of Porter was heard. "What the…?!"

"Don't move! This is a hold-up!"

The second voice was easily recognizable; it was Copper. The heroes couldn't see it, but he and his partners (who were all dogs) were playing their part well; they wore identical black suits and ski masks so no one could identify them. One grabbed Porter, handcuffed him and gagged him. When the monkey attempted to fight, two of them beat him up. He sank to the ground in defeat.

The dogs unlocked the cargo car and started opening crates to see what (more like who) was in them. When Copper saw Tortimer in one box, he closed it back up and ordered for it to be carried out. Soon all the crates carrying Alliance agents were removed and placed in the back of a dump truck. The boxes were tied down with rope and covered with a tarp. Several of the gang hopped into the truck bed with their booty, and the vehicle drove away down a path out of sight.

Copper had stayed behind to inform the heroes. After they woke up the sea creatures, Jimmy, and Tails, he led them out of the car into the forest. He turned to them with a smile and said, "You guys had a pretty good idea, and it worked! Everything is going well as planned! The truck is headed for the border, and I've got another car comin' to take the rest of us outta here! We've got nuthin' to worry about now!"

I hate to say it, but that was a jinx.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when they heard a train whistle, and it wasn't from theirs. They ducked into a thicket and waited to see if the train would pass.

It didn't. It, in fact, was following Porter's train. It was a cargo train just like Porter's. But its cargo was an entire division of Secret Police soldiers.

Copper groaned and held his head in his paws. "Oh great, I've been jinxed…again!" Spike shushed him.

The train stopped behind Porter's, and a sea of robots flooded out of the cargo car and surrounded the locomotive. The wolf leader and a certain cloaked figure stepped out of the engine car.

This caused Ratchet to also groan. "Not him again. Why does he hafta ruin everything?!"

"Shh!" whispered Spike.

"Ratchet, please, do not reveal our current position to the enemy," Clank pleaded also in a low tone of voice.

The Secret Police Chief trotted over to Porter's train and discovered the monkey lying on the floor, cuffed and gagged. He had a robot officer remove the cuffs, and he took out the rag in the primate's mouth. Then the wolf bombarded poor Porter with questions.

"What happened here? Why did you take the wrong way? Where are the supplies?"

"I'm…sorry, sir," panted the monkey conductor. "Some robbers forced me onto this track and they took all the supplies for the factory except the robot parts. They loaded them onto trucks, I think. There were too many of them! I couldn't stop them!" He got down on his knees in front of the Chief and whimpered, "I beg you to forgive me!"

The figure only folded his arms. But the wolf spoke for him. "We will if you tell us what they looked like."

"They all wore black suits and ski masks, so I can only tell you they looked like dogs."

He curled his lip. "I heard that that mongrel Copper and some others escaped this way; maybe he did it. Officer #465!" One robot with the corresponding number marched up to him and saluted. The wolf barked, "Take your men and search the area! Follow any tire tracks you see and report to me your findings every ten minutes!"

The soldier saluted again, and then began relaying orders to the rest of the army. Soon the robots were divided up into units, and they went in all directions.

Copper realized what danger he and the heroes were in and began to panic. "We need to get outta here! They'll find us if we just sit here!"

Sonic asked, "Where do we run?!"

"Pine Ridge isn't too far from here! We can make it on foot if we move quickly and quietly."

Ratchet stood up and exclaimed, "Then let's go!"

"Shh!" Spike said again.

In return the Lombax glared and snapped, "Would you cut that out?!"

"I would if you would quit bein' so loud!" the red-haired human retorted angrily.

Thankfully, Sonic broke up the quarrel by shoving them towards the forest and whispering loudly, "Guys, just shut up and move!"

They darted away into the thick forest, hoping no one heard or saw them. Unfortunately, Officer #465 did.

"Moving life-forms detected. One identified as canine species."

"It's Copper! Get them!" the wolf bellowed.

Realizing they were being chased, the gang ran faster along a hidden path they had found. They suddenly came to a river.

"Oops, must've taken a wrong turn," said the police dog.

"How are we gonna get across?!" Jimmy asked, nervously glancing over his shoulder.

In reply, Tails pointed at something and said, "Hey! There's a log over there! Let's cross!"

The banks of the river rose up to great heights and became a small canyon, and at one point there was an old log lying with both ends on each side; that's what Tails had pointed at. But Sonic wasn't enthusiastic about crossing.

"I dunno, Tails, it looks unstable…" he said, shifting on his feet.

Ratchet folded his arms. "Sonic, would ya rather be caught by the ACSP or fall into a river trying to cross it?

The hedgehog cupped his chin in one hand and pretended to think hard. "Hmm…let's see…"

"Sonic!" everyone yelled.

"I'm just kidding! I'd rather take my chances with the river!"

They ran to the crossing and carefully walked across the log one at a time. When it came to be Sonic's turn, however, he hesitated.

"Come on, Sonic! You can do it!" Tails encouraged him.

Spike shouted, "Hurry before the robots come!"

"Don't be such a scaredy-cat and cross it!" Ratchet said impatiently.

"Just don't look down!" advised Jimmy.

Upon being called a scaredy-cat, the blue hedgehog began the crossing. However, he had waited too long; some of the robots had caught up. One saw Sonic and fired at him with its blaster. He had enough sense to get down, and he held onto the log tightly. He happened to glance down at the swiftly flowing river below him, and felt woozy.

"Guys! I'm lookin' down!" he yelped.

Ratchet brought out his N90 Hurricane and called out, "Hang on, man!"

The Lombax returned fire to the robots, hoping that he could keep them occupied until Sonic crossed the river. Suddenly one robot did an unexpected and probably foolish thing: it stepped onto the log bridge, putting its full weight on it. There was loud snap of wood, and the log broke in two and fell into the river.

But it took Sonic with it.

"Sonic!" Tails screamed in horror, but only a loud splash answered him.

Ratchet destroyed the remaining robots, and Copper pulled out his binoculars to search the water. "I see him!" he exclaimed. "He's grabbing onto a piece of wood!" But then he groaned. "The current is pulling him into the rapids!"

"Clank, do you think you can use your Thruster Pack and take me down there?" Ratchet asked.

His robot partner turned around as far as he could from his spot on the commando's back and replied, "I could, but I am uncertain if I could remain balanced if you attempt to pull him out of the water. And I do not know if I can handle both of your weight."

"Well, we've gotta do something!" He looked around, hoping for inspiration, but then he realized something. "Where's Tails?"

The others shrugged; in their panic, they had not noticed him slip away. But then the fox's voice in the canyon answered him.

"I'll save you, Sonic! Hang on!"

They turned and saw him flying into the canyon, calling for his best friend desperately. Copper exclaimed, "He can probably carry Sonic! He'll handle it!"

Tails flew as fast as he could go directly for Sonic, who was beginning to lose his grip on the log. When he came right above him, he held out his hand. The hedgehog grabbed him, and his sidekick began pulling him out of the water. Suddenly Jimmy noticed something.

"Aaah! More robots!" he cried.

Copper saw the reinforcements and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Sonic, Tails, look out!"

Unfortunately, they heard their friends' warnings too late; shots whizzed by their ears, barely missing them. But one blaster shot hit Tails' hand, and he lost his grip on Sonic, causing him to fall back into the water. Then another made impact with one of his tails, and he also fell.

Ratchet slapped his forehead. "Oh great! Now we've got to rescue both of them! C'mon, Clank! We'll have to risk the weight limit!"

Before they left, Copper handed him a radio so they could hear each other, and the Lombax handed out his N90 Hurricane and Annihilator to the others so they could hold off the robots. Then Clank nodded grimly and activated his Thruster Pack, which used jets instead of rotors like his Heli Pack. Ratchet dove down into the canyon and scanned the water for Sonic and Tails. He saw the latter first and snatched him out of the water, and returned with the waterlogged fox in his arms. Spike slammed his back several times, and Tails coughed up the water.

"Thanks, Ratchet and Clank. Did you get Sonic?" he asked between coughing fits.

"No," the robot replied, "but we will right now."

The galactic duo soared back into the canyon and searched the river. There was no sign of Sonic anywhere.

"I wonder if Tails was being literal when he said Sonic sinks like a rock," Ratchet mumbled.

"I hope not," his partner said.

"Me neither. I don't wanna hafta swim in these rapids."

Copper suddenly cried out; he had spotted Sonic further down the rapids. Ratchet saw him as well and rocketed forward, calling the hedgehog's name. He found him clinging to another piece of driftwood, but he was weaker than before; it was an effort for him to reach out and grab Ratchet's hand. But before the Lombax could lift him out of danger, there was more gunfire from the enemy, and a shot hit Sonic in the arm. He cried out and disappeared under the river's surface.

Ratchet threw up his hands in frustration. "Oh come on!"

"Ratchet, hurry! You don't have much time!" Copper yelled over the radio.

"For what?!"

He was answered by the sound of roaring, and it was growing louder by the second. With horror everyone realized what it was.

A waterfall.

Tails frantically shouted Sonic's name, and soon Ratchet joined him. Copper saw him again and said, "There, Ratchet! By the large rocks!"

But they were too late this time. Before Ratchet could even reach him, Sonic disappeared over the falls without even a cry for help.

The Lombax hung his head and returned to the gang. Even Patrick was silent. Tails only stared toward the waterfall with a distant look on his face, mumbling his friend's name.

Copper saw this and whispered to the commando, "He's in shock. We'd better find a place to hide and calm him down."

Their moment was interrupted by more blaster fire and more robots. Everyone ducked behind trees or into bushes…all except Tails. Without a word, he suddenly snatched up Ratchet's N90 and held the trigger button down, letting out a devastating barrage of fire at the soldiers. None of them survived. When the last one was obliterated, the fox dropped the weapon, fell on his knees, and wept.

Clank shook his head sadly. "They were such close friends. If Ratchet were killed, I would do the same thing."

"Uhh, Clank, robots can't cry," Jimmy pointed out.

"I forgot that, but you understand what I am trying to say."

SpongeBob sniffed and blubbered, "Poor Sonic…who knew water could be so cruel?!" Then he too became a waterworks. Even Patrick joined in.

The others quietly shuffled away to give them room, and Jimmy began wiping his own eyes. Ratchet didn't look at anyone and stiffly watched the river with a frown, inwardly wrestling with guilt; after all, he figured in his head, it was all his fault.

Copper, who was also a bit shaken, was the first to cast aside his sadness and took charge of the situation. "Look gang, I know this is bad and all, but we can't just sit here and bawl; we still have those robots after us. We should make for Pine Ridge. My friends are there, and there's food and shelter."

The gang of heroes nodded their heads, and Ratchet, who was feeling guilty for not reaching Sonic, gestured for Copper to lead the way. Tails felt too weak to walk, so Spike had to carry him on his back. They walked on for about ten minutes before they saw the lights of a town. They walked faster and were about to run out of the forest when Clank detected robots very close by. They stopped for a moment, crept to the very edge of the forest, and got a perfect view of Pine Ridge and the horrible scene that was taking place.

The ACSP had gotten to Pine Ridge first.

The town was crawling with robots; the entire division (minus the soldiers the gang had destroyed) was searching in every building and taking arrested animals to Porter's train, which had come into the station with the Secret Police's locomotive. The prisoners were being loaded like cattle (some of them actually were cattle) into the cargo car, and the Chief and the wolf looked on, the latter wearing an evil grin.

Copper bit his lip. "I hope Booker, Tortimer, and Nook are okay."

"Most of us are," said a familiar voice. The gang whirled around to see Tom Nook walking towards them. His business suit was torn, wrinkled, and stained, and there was a great amount of worry in his eyes.

"Nook! Where is everyone else?" questioned the dog.

"Most of them are safe on the other side of the border. But I can't find Tortimer, Booker, or my boys. If they were caught…" he shivered and held his head in his hands, "I won't be able to live with myself…"

"Wait a minute…your boys?!" exclaimed Spike. "You tried smuggling out Timmy and Tommy?!"

The raccoon hung his head. "I did. I was worried about their safety, you see, and I didn't want to leave them at home."

Ratchet inwardly kicked himself for not remembering the Nooklings; he had seen them climbing into one box back in AnimaCity, but the detail hadn't registered in his mind.

Spike gently put Tails down and said, "Jimmy and I can sneak into town and look for them, Mr. Nook. We can't let those robots find them!"

"What about the rest of us?!" SpongeBob asked, biting his lip.

"You guys can stay here and keep an eye out for Tortimer and Booker."

Copper nodded. "Good thinking. Go on, Nook, find your boys. We'll stay here."

"Th-thank you, Copper," Tom stammered. Then he followed Spike and Jimmy back into the forest.

Only moments after they left, something new was happening back in the town square. The cargo car was sliding shut, having nearly been filled with prisoners, when Officer #465 called out to the Chief and the wolf.

"Delay deployment! Imperial Enemy #1 is in custody!"

The wolf opened his mouth to speak, but a different, more sinister voice beat him to it. "Bring him forward."

This drew the gang's attention (since they were well within hearing range), and they watched as a dozen robots came out of the shadows in a box formation. Someone was between them, struggling, but they couldn't see who it was.

Copper, however, had a suspicion. He moaned and buried his face in his paws. "Tortimer was called the most dangerous animal in the country; that's gotta be him."

"We must be certain that it is indeed the mayor," Clank insisted. "Utilize your binoculars."

The dog did just that, and focused hard…

…And caught a fleeting glimpse of the prisoner.

His face turned several shades lighter, and he let the binoculars fall back onto his chest (he had put the strap around his neck).

Everyone stared at him with deep worry, and Ratchet asked, "What's wrong?"

Copper gulped. "…It's not Tortimer."

"What do you mean it's not Tortimer?"

Clank got off his partner's back and zoomed in with his own binocular vision. When he saw what Copper had seen, he too froze. "Oh dear…"

In the square, the Secret Police Chief also saw whom his robots had brought in. He chuckled evilly and sneered in his low, sinister voice…

"Well, well, well, look what we have here! We meet at last…

"…Sonic the Hedgehog."


(eye twitches) Hee hee hee...betcha didn't see that comin'. (really loud, insane laugh)(has heart attack and faints)