Chapter #24: Rescuing Sonic
The gang of heroes recognized the cloaked figure immediately, and they all had different reactions. SpongeBob and Patrick were terrified…well, SpongeBob was anyway.
"It's The Chief!" the sponge exclaimed, backing up in fear.
Patrick put on his goofy face, held out his hands, and said, "Arrest me!"
Ratchet, Copper, and Tails went into commando mode in seconds, with the dog's pistols, the fox's N90 Hurricane (borrowed from Ratchet), and the Lombax's Dual Vipers ready to fire at the first sign of hostility.
"Freeze!" the police dog ordered, his teeth bared in a snarl.
"This thing's loaded!" Ratchet said with a wild grin. Part of him hoped the Police Chief would attack, that way he could rid the world of one wicked villain.
Tails also gave a warning. "Don't come any closer or we'll shoot!" He wanted to demand to know where Sonic was, but he bit his tongue and waited.
Suddenly Patrick bolted towards the Chief with his hands still stretched out and said, "Pickled sardines!"
The last three people mentioned had to lower their guns to grab Patrick and hold him back. Spike and Jimmy jumped forward with Stun Clubs in hand to keep up the defense. The cloaked figure seemed to stiffen when they did.
"What do you want from us?" Copper snapped.
Even though his eyes were covered, everyone felt the Chief's cold, scorning glare. He grunted, and then answered.
"My business is not with you or the hedgehog's buddies. It's with you two." A hand came up out of the cloak and pointed at Spike and Jimmy, who had also gone stiff upon hearing his voice.
"What would an evil police chief want with two kids?" Ratchet asked with a cocked eyebrow.
The Chief laughed, which sent shivers down everyone's spines. Spike and Jimmy tensed, hoping their suspicions about him were wrong…
But his next words proved them right.
"Spike, Jimmy, don't you recognize me?"
The Chief removed his hood, and what a shock everyone got!
The Secret Police Chief was a white monkey with deep crimson eyes. He wore a helmet on top of his head, but this one was unique; parts on the top of it were open, allowing his hair to flare out in spikes. He wore a set of red pants, as well as the cloak.
The gang stepped back in surprise; no one had expected the Chief to be a monkey. But the most surprised of all were Spike and Jimmy. They both gaped at him, their eyes as wide as saucers. But then the older one got into an attack pose and snapped, "Specter!? What in the world are you doing here?!"
The monkey gave a wicked laugh. "Isn't it obvious? I'm trying to rule Animal Crossing."
Copper scratched his head in confusion. "I thought Big Boss was doing that."
Specter cracked a secretive smile. "His plans are on a larger scale, if you know what I mean. If I help him, this land will be mine, and monkeys shall rule."
"Over our dead bodies!" Jimmy retorted angrily.
The Chief chuckled, his malicious grin growing wider. "Very well. That can be arranged."
Suddenly he pulled the hilt of a Stun Club out of his belt. He activated it, and it lengthened out into a red, double-bladed Stun Club. The boys took out their weapons again and prepared for battle.
"Spike, what in the name of Bogon is goin' on here?!" Ratchet yelled.
"Specter is our archenemy!" the teen replied. "And we're gonna take him down! You guys get outta here and find Sonic!"
With loud battle-cries, Spike and Jimmy ran forward. Specter waited for them to come with his own sword, and the three clashed together, beginning an amazing duel.
The rest of the gang raced past the trio on their original mission. They ran through many hallways and down corridors until they finally reached the nearest guard tower. But Specter had alerted the entire base about the heroes' presence, and they were greeted by hordes of robot soldiers. Ratchet had to give Tails his Hurricane again, and the group blew a path through the enemy to the entrance. They shut the steel door, and Clank tried to give them a break by locking the door with a new encrypted password. They took a quick break to get their second wind, and then they raced up a stone staircase winding up the tower. At the top floor, they found a set of jail cells and the guard's quarters. All of them were empty, but there was a steel door at the end of the jail, and two robots were guarding it. Without even a sound Ratchet knocked them out with his wrench. He leaned against the door to listen in on what was happening on the other side.
"Can you hear anything?" Copper asked.
The commando held a finger to his lips and nodded. "There's another robot in there, maybe two. Listen."
The conversation inside the cell grew to shouting, and everyone could hear it well. One robotic voice sounded evil and furious, and the other quite bored.
"I'm afraid he won't answer you, sir."
"Oh yes he will! Get up, you!"
There was a thud, and a groan in response; the gang guessed that the robot had kicked the person he was talking to.
"My patience has reached its end, you pathetic little rat! Tell me the names of all your friends and where they are!"
A recognizable voice answered.
"Make me."
Tails made a move forward, but Copper held him back. Everyone exchanged serious looks. They had found Sonic.
For a while all they heard were more punching noises, and a few grunts of pain from Sonic as he took the blows. Finally they ceased, and the evil robot said, "This isn't working. You're too stubborn for your own good, rodent."
"Technically I'm not a rodent; I'm an insectivore," Sonic shot back. Tails grinned; he could imagine the smirk on his face as he said that.
"Can it, smart-mouth! I don't see a difference! I hate biology anyway!"
Copper cocked his head. "Since when did Big Boss's robots start doing biology?" Clank rubbed his chin thoughtfully, but didn't say anything.
Sonic also took interest in this fact. They heard him say, "What, did ya fail in it?"
"I told you to shut up!" the interrogator barked. "Now you've forced me to use nastier interrogation methods! In fact, I know how to squeeze the information out of a hero like you. Bring me those two animal prisoners The Boss has up here!"
This last bit was an order to the other robot, who replied, "Right away, sir."
The hero gang looked at one another in surprise. There were other animals being kept in the tower? Tails bit his lip; Sonic would probably do anything to make sure the innocent people weren't hurt, even if it meant talking. But the sound of a door being unlocked reminded them of the other robot, and they scrambled for hiding places. Some hid under the cots/bunks inside the jail cells, and others ducked under desks and tables in the jailer's room. They heard the door creak open and someone coming out.
"Must these jail doors squeak?" the robot said. "I will have to oil them during my free time."
The footsteps faded away down the staircase, and the group emerged from their hiding spots. Copper scratched his head and said, "Never heard of a picky well-to-do robot before." Clank hummed thoughtfully once more, but still didn't comment.
Ratchet shrugged. "Never mind that. Let's just bust the door down." He took his N90 Hurricane from Tails, charged to the door, and kicked it open. The others quickly rushed in after him.
The room was bigger than the prison cells, and was used for interrogation. Most of the lights were off, and cold, sharp shapes of sinister contraptions could be seen in the shadows. But there were a few lights on at the other end of the room, illuminating a steel table similar to ones seen in the Dark Ages; it was set up in a slanted angle. (A/N: Like this slash mark /.) Sonic was lying on the table, strapped to it by metal cuffs on his wrists and ankles. Next to him was his interrogator.
He was no robot Copper or any Animal Crossing citizen had ever seen before. He was taller than the normal robotic soldier, and he was blue. The top half of his skull was light green glass, so you could see the mechanisms working inside. He had glowing red eyes that were filled with hatred and evil, and his hands had sharp claws.
The minute he saw the commando barge in, Sonic perked up and exclaimed, "Ratchet!"
The blue robot whirled around to face the intruders, and he stared at the Lombax leading them. Ratchet stared back, his mouth open in shock. The two pointed at each other and shouted, "You!" at the same time. Sensing hostility, Copper and Tails rushed forward to fight. But the robot didn't retaliate; instead he dodged them, shoved his way past SpongeBob and Patrick, and ran out of the room. Ratchet tensed, ready to give chase, but Clank stopped him.
"Now is not the time, Ratchet," he said. "He can wait. Sonic appears to be in bad physical condition."
They turned and saw Tails and Copper wrestling with the cuffs holding the blue hedgehog on the table. They first freed his legs, and then his hands. Much to their surprise, Sonic only slid off and collapsed at the foot of the table in a heap. The fox and police dog were at his side in an instant, and helped him to his feet.
"Sonic, are you okay?" Tails asked with a great amount of worry.
At first he answered, "I'm fine." But when he took a step forward, he stumbled, and the two helped him again.
"Liar," Ratchet said. "Looks like you got a good beating."
Indeed, the hedgehog had many bruises and cuts on his face and torso. His lower lip was bleeding, and his left eye was black and blue. Sonic glared at the Lombax, but then winced and touched the hurt eye.
"Okay, so they roughed me up," he admitted. "I'll live. Where are Spike and Jimmy?"
"They are locked in combat with The Secret Police Chief. He is actually their archenemy, a monkey called Specter," Clank replied.
He whistled. "Whoa. Speakin' of enemies, was that robot an enemy of yours, Ratchet?"
The robot nodded. "Indeed he is."
Ratchet clenched his hands into fists. "Back home in the Solana Galaxy, that guy is a mechanical quack called Dr. Nefarious."
Patrick, who had been good up until now, grinned and asked, "Is he a duck?"
The commando made a point of ignoring him. "He wants to turn all organic life into robots, but we've stopped him. I didn't know he came to the Milky Way."
"Milky Way?! I want some milk!"
He glared at Patrick and snapped, "Patrick, shut your trap." He socked him in the jaw, and the starfish fell to the ground, now quiet.
Clank sighed at their exchange, and then continued for his friend. "The other robot that was with Dr. Nefarious was Lawrence, his butler."
"Wasn't he supposed to bring some prisoners?" Tails said, recalling Nefarious's order. "We'd better check on him!"
They ran out of the top floor onto the staircase. They heard screaming and Dr. Nefarious shouting, "Leave them, Lawrence! Ratchet and Clank are here! Let's get out of here and reassemble with the team!" Nefarious and a robot designed to look like a butler came running out of a floor below them and raced down the stairwell. Ratchet fired a few parting shots from the Hurricane, but the shots missed, and the robots went out of their sight.
"They'll let in the robots to get us!" SpongeBob cried.
Sonic immediately took charge. "Tails and I'll deal with 'em! You guys go find those two prisoners they were picking on."
His sidekick frowned. "You sure, Sonic? You don't look strong enough."
He cracked his confident smirk. "I've faced worse things than that beating Nefarious gave me, buddy. C'mon!"
Before anyone could stop him, he raced down the stairs to meet the robots. With a sigh, Tails followed behind. The others went to the floor directly below the top one, which was one big cell. As soon as Ratchet opened the door, he was pulled into the room by a fist. He fought for his life and swung at his unknown assailant.
"Hold it! I'm Ratchet! I'm that robot's enemy! I'm your friend! Guys! Help me!"
Copper and Clank leaped into the fight, but SpongeBob and Patrick panicked and raced outside. "Sonic! Tails! Somebody's beating up Ratchet!" the sponge shouted.
In response, a blue blur rocketed past them and into the cell. Copper and Clank got out of the way, and Sonic knocked over Ratchet's attacker. He and the stranger wrestled on the ground while the Lombax got to his feet. But then something hard hit the back of Ratchet's head, and he fell to the ground, stunned. Copper went to fight with the new person, and Clank tried to wake up his partner. When he succeeded, Ratchet helped the police dog wrestle the second attacker to the ground. At about the same time, Sonic managed to pin down the first assailant.
"Is everybody all right?" Copper called to everyone in the darkness.
"I'm fine; nuthin' seriously hurt," Ratchet replied next to him.
"I am well," responded Clank.
SpongeBob said, "Not a scratch on me!"
Ratchet glared in the sea creatures' direction. "You didn't even join the fight!"
Patrick simply retorted with, "Pickled cheesecake!"
Suddenly a familiar voice broke in, "What's going on in here?!" The group turned and saw the silhouettes of two humans and a fox standing in the doorway.
"Spike, Jimmy, Tails!" Ratchet said. "You three are sights for sore eyes! Switch on the lights, would ya?"
The fox moved toward a light switch close by the doorway. At the same time, two new voices exclaimed, "Tails?!" The lights came on, and everyone got a shock.
The two attackers were familiar faces for Sonic and Tails. The hedgehog leaped off of the one he had been wrestling with, a wide grin on his face. "Knuckles!" he said.
The red echidna blinked his purple eyes at the sight of him. He was just as surprised to see him as vice versa. "Sonic?"
On the other side of the room, Copper and Ratchet discovered that the person they had pinned to the ground was a pink hedgehog wearing a red dress. Embarrassed, they released her, and she stood up, glaring at them as she wiped the dirt off her clothes. But the minute she saw Sonic, she shrieked his name and tackled him. Sonic, on the other hand, didn't look as happy to see her.
Ratchet grinned. "Is that girl who I think it is?"
Tails sighed. "Yep. That's Amy." The commando snickered.
"Amy, let go! You're choking me!" Sonic gasped. A little reluctantly, the girl hedgehog obeyed, and he caught his breath. Then he looked at both of his two friends and folded his arms. "Now, what are you guys doing here?"
"I wanted to come with you and Tails, Sonic!" Amy said. She folded her arms and pouted. "Why didn't you ask me to come?"
Sonic and Tails looked at each other nervously. In their preparing to travel to Animal Crossing, they hadn't bothered to ask any of their friends if they had wanted to come with them. Usually it was because Knuckles didn't like to travel much, and Amy got on Sonic's nerves.
Tails shrugged and said to Amy, "We're sorry we didn't ask you, Amy."
She acknowledged his answer and continued, "Anyway, I followed you guys here. But I got caught by some robots."
Sonic turned to Knuckles. "What about you, Knux?"
The echidna sighed. "I heard this place had some kinda dictator ruling it, and I thought I'd spare you guys the trouble of rescuing Amy and catch her before she got caught."
"And instead both of you got caught," Sonic finished, smirking.
He glared at him. "I'm not talking about it."
Suddenly they heard loud banging and blaster fire coming from the bottom floor. Ratchet cocked his N90 and ran downstairs. Spike and Jimmy drew out their Stun Clubs, but Copper stopped them by asking, "What happened with your duel, boys?"
"Specter just ran away from us," Jimmy answered. "He said something about 'regrouping with the team'."
Clank perked up. "Dr. Nefarious said something similar."
The boy cocked an eyebrow. "Dr. Who?"
"He is our enemy."
"Oh."
"Do you have any clues as to where they are regrouping?"
Spike nodded. "Specter mentioned 'the auditorium'."
The robot's eyes darkened as he viewed the map he had downloaded from the main computer, and then they returned to normal. "I know the way. Let me get Ratchet."
The boys, Copper, and Clank raced out of the room. Sonic turned to follow, but Amy grabbed his arm.
"Sonic, who are these people?" she asked.
"They're friends, Amy," Tails assured her. "We're helping them fight the robots."
Knuckles clenched his fists. "In that case, let's go."
They rejoined the group at the bottom, where Ratchet was finishing off the last of the wave of robots. He took point again, and they stepped over the metal carcasses of the robots down another hallway. Clank checked the map at every junction and gave them directions. After five minutes of constant running, they came to a set of double doors. They shoved them open and walked inside.
The auditorium was a large, open room with a raised platform at one end. The wall above the platform had a wide TV screen. There was a balcony above, as well. The entire room was silent, except for the echoes of the heroes' footsteps; it was also empty. The minute he saw this, Ratchet stopped in his tracks and held up a hand to halt the others.
"It's quiet…too quiet…" he muttered.
Knuckles rolled his eyes at the cliché statement. "So they haven't made it here yet. Big deal."
Sonic shot his buddy an irritated look. "Ratchet's right, Knux; this could be a trap."
Suddenly the doors swung shut behind them with a loud clang. A few of them jumped at the sound, and Copper, Spike, Jimmy tried to open them, but failed.
"Scratch that; it is a trap," the dog growled. "And we were stupid enough to fall for it."
A Quick Author's Note: I want to make a quick reply to a review I got from Shelby the Hedgehog a couple chapters back. She mentioned Emperor Tachyon, who is the newest Ratchet & Clank villain. Well, back when I wrote this story, Dr. Nefarious was the most current villain, so I had him here. It didn't occur to me to change it after the game came out...oops. But if you don't really like Tachyon, then that's good news for you, I suppose.
