Based on the original comic book story written by Ken Penders, Kent Taylor, Mike Gallagher and Karl Bollers for Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog Issues 47-50 and published by Archie Comics.
This re-write is intended for entertainment purposes and is also intended for those who feel the original Endgame story was lackluster and could have been better. No offence is intended for anyone who enjoyed the original story.

Part 2: Sonic the Fugitive

The next day in Knothole dawned, dull and grey and pouring with rain. One would say that this is a fitting atmosphere for a dull occasion. And the reason this is a dull occasion was that the people of Knothole had gathered around the village square, many of them wearing raincoats or holding up umbrellas to keep themselves dry from the rain, to vote on the punishment of Sonic the Hedgehog. Princess Sally Acorn had been thrown off the building, supposedly, by Sonic himself and almost ended up dying until Tails caught her and interrupted her fall, giving her a much less fatal impact when she crashed down. As of now, Sally was lying in bed in a deep coma and was slowly but steadily resting and recuperating from the fall. The Freedom Fighters had witnessed the whole thing with their own eyes and, although they couldn't believe it, they were horrified by the whole incident. Tails the twin-tailed fox was torn over if he should believe his heart or his eyes whereas Amy Rose, Sonic's little pen pal and a citizen of Knothole after she was rescued by Sonic from Metal Sonic some time ago, whole-heartedly refused to believe this for she was more loyal to Sonic than anyone and was sure that he was innocent. Because of this, Amy was among the crowd of citizens and she was in the front row. Her eyes were streaming with tears that just ended up making her face wetter than it already was due to the rainfall. The crowd had formed in a circle and in the middle of the circle was a shackled up Sonic the Hedgehog, who was know wearing ankle shackles to go with the shackles on his wrists so he couldn't run away, and Geoffrey St. John. Geoffrey had his arms behind his back and he was addressing the crowd in a most prompt and upper-class manner. He was loyal to the king after all and being as King Max was still crystallized from his time in the void and still recovering in the hospital, he was filling in for him to deliver the verdicts.

"People of Knothole Village." announced Geoffrey "You have gathered around here to deliver the traitor of Mobius, Sonic the Hedgehog, his well-earned penance. He has been found guilty for the crime of attempted murder and treason and since our majesty the king can't be the one to give him his sentence, I am leaving it up to the people of Knothole Village to decide what his penance should be. So villagers? What do you think his penance should be? Execution? Or incarceration?"

"Or how about they pick neither because I didn't do it!" retorted Sonic "Honestly, why won't anybody believe me?!"

"Because witness statements prove that you did do it you blighter!" snarled Geoffrey "The very comrades of Sonic the Hedgehog witnessed what he did!" he suddenly yelled out, turning back to the crowd "As a matter of facts, if the Freedom Fighters wish, would they like to come up front and tell the crowd what happened during that sabotage mission in Robotropolis?"

Tails refused to move for he really didn't want to hurt Sonic any further by being against him. Rotor and Bunnie weren't really sure if they wanted to testimony against Sonic either since they were beginning to have doubts of their own two but Antoine was all too happy to do this since he had secret jealousy and disliking towards Sonic. Antoine stood forward, holding an umbrella that was coloured like the French flag high above his head to keep the rain off, and he spoke his piece to the crowd without a moment's hesitance.

"I am very happy to be testifying against Sonic Commander St. John." said Antoine proudly "For I, along with the others, clearly saw what happened out zhere. We were sitting on a building, waiting for our dear princess to give us le signal and zen suddenly, Sonic grabs her be le throat and zen throws her of le building! I was seeing it very clearly I was and Sonic cannot dare to say it wasn't him for it clearly was him doing it!"

With that said, Antoine strode back into the crowd with his nose in the air in an uppity manner. Sonic was gobsmacked to hear Antoine say this and he began to think about something. If he was inside the base at the time then how did he suddenly end up throwing Sally off the command center? Unless...Sonic's mind finally clicked and he realized that Dr. Robotnik and played everybody for saps. He had set him up for this and his friends had fallen for it!

"Guys, guys, don't listen to Antoine, he's got it all wrong!" yelped Sonic desperately "I was inside the base when that happened! I couldn't have possibly thrown Sally off the base if I was INSIDE it! I bet Robotnik made a copy of me and had that try to kill Sally!"

"You would use any excuse wouldn't you mate?" scoffed Geoffrey "Dr. Robotnik maybe a genius but not even he can make perfect doppelgangers of anyone."

"Yes he can." said Tails, putting his hand up "Dr. Robotnik makes "Automatons", robots that can perfectly duplicate Mobians. I was fooled by one myself. It pretended to be a girl named Fiona and I honestly thought it was real but it was actually a robot."

"Nice try kid, but me and Sally and her Substitute Freedom Fighters took care of them." noted Geoffrey "The blighter hasn't got anymore Automatons and likely won't try making them again. Why try the same scheme twice after all?"

Tails tried to come up with a rebuttal to that but he couldn't quite think of a way to refute Geoffrey's argument. He did have a legitimate point. Robotnik wasn't one to repeat his schemes; he often liked to try something different every time. So maybe the idea of an Automaton Sonic wasn't plausible after all. Tails puts his hands behind his back and said nothing more. Geoffrey sort of smirked triumphantly at him and then looked back at the crowd.

"So there you have it folks, an eye-witness statement that proves Sonic's guilt and the traitor's claims have no weight behind them." he announced "So...what do you think his punishment should be?

The citizens of Knothole all began to murmur amongst each other and what they believed Sonic deserved for carrying out such a heinous crime.

If they vote for me to be executed then I really will go mental! muttered Sonic crossly in his thoughts.

After a minute of silent converse, the crowd all looked at Geoffrey and they all-except the Freedom Fighters-said aloud:

"Incarceration...at Devil's Gulag."

Geoffrey seemed to be satisfied with that sentence for Sonic whereas Sonic looked horrified. Devil's Gulag was a terrifying prison located atop a tall spire surrounded by a ring of active volcanoes. The ocean waters surrounding the prison were boiling too, at a temperature of 220 degrees Fahrenheit, which is probably why the prison was named as such. It was used by the Kingdom of Acorn to keep exceptionally dangerous convicts there and now Sonic was going to be incarcerated there. The prison was one of Sonic's childhood nightmares. His dad had often told him stories on how criminals and war prisoners were sent to the Devil's Gulag and now he was going to be sent there really made him worry. Geoffrey shot Sonic a particularly nasty looking glare.

"Yer lucky the crowd was so lenient on you." he said coldly "Had it been up to me, I would have voted execution."

"Yeah, that would be a great idea." muttered Sonic "Then once Robotnik attacks you all, I won't be able to help you because I'm dead. Yeah, that's a real good idea isn't it Geoffrey?"

Geoffrey decided to ignore Sonic's retort. He instead looked back at the crowd and addressed them all again.

"You have voted for incarceration." said Geoffrey "And I will grant you that wish. I shall now escort Sonic to the airport where he will be taken aboard a plane and be flown off to Devil's Gulag where he shall spend the rest of his life, hopefully regretting what he's done."

"I'm not regretting anything because I didn't try and kill Sally!" snapped Sonic "And besides, you're all making a big mistake locking me away! If Robotnik attacks, I won't be there to save you all!"

"We will defeat Robotnik without you traitor!" snapped Geoffrey "Some of us have functioned quite well without you, me and Sally included, so your loss won't be enough to bring us down."

Sonic just scowled at Geoffrey, unable to believe the skunk dared to say that to him. He was Mobius' only hope for Freedom and everybody knew it! How could he dare say that him being incarcerated won't be enough to bring the team down?! If he wasn't in shackles, he would be all too happy to whale on Geoffrey right now and give him a busted nose. As is, he couldn't do anything about it and he had to grit his teeth and bear Geoffrey's horrible attitude. Geoffrey grabbed Sonic by the arm and started to take him away.

"Take on last look at the traitor as I walk him away from here." said Geoffrey coldly "This will hopefully be the last we'll see of him."

The crowd all watched as Sonic was roughly taken away by Geoffrey and led off to an airport where Sonic would board a flight to Devil's Gulag and be taken off to the deadly prison. He was going to spend his life in there now and until his innocence could be proven, he would never walk free again. The Freedom Fighters watched with pitying glances as Sonic was taken away. Poor Amy was about to lose her mind with heartbreak as her precious Sonic was being led off to the airport. Even though justice was being served, the Freedom Fighters couldn't really get all happy about it. In fact, some of them were beginning to wonder if Sonic truly was innocent and that he had been framed after all given his testimony and theory on what really happened. Although Geoffrey had scoffed it off, Tails and Rotor began to wonder if Robotnik really was trying the same scheme twice.

Unbeknownst to anyone though, there was someone hiding out in Knothole and that somebody was somebody who was way out of his pack. Drago Wolf. He had witnessed the whole sentencing event from inside some thickly-grown bushes that masked his presence well and he had a communications device in his hand. He turned it on and spoke into it.

"Yo Robotnik, this is your agent Drago Wolf. I've got an important message for you..."

Later that day, Geoffrey and Sonic had arrived at the airport and Geoffrey handed Sonic over to a pair of guards who worked for the Kingdom of Acorn and were also skilled pilots.

"You are in charge of escorting this filthy traitor to Devil's Gulag." said Geoffrey "Make sure he doesn't try to get away."

"Yes Commander St. John." said one of the guards, taking Sonic firmly by the arm.

Sonic just gave Geoffrey a seething look of hatred as the guards took him onboard a large plane with a silver paintjob, a great wingspan and jet engines on the wings. The moment the guards got Sonic onboard the plane, the docking door closed up, preventing anyone from getting in or out of the plane and Sonic was taken to his seat. Sonic was placed on the third seat row from the cockpit and on the left side of the plane. Once Sonic was seated, the guards walked off into the cockpit and they took their seats. They started the plane up and the plane started taxing to the runway. Geoffrey St. John just stayed where he was and watched as the plane started preparing for take-off, his face still contorting with loathing. The plane lined up on the runway and then it started to speed off down it. It picked up speed until it finally raised its nose up and started to ascend from the ground and up into the sky with a roar of its mighty engines. The plane took off into the sky and left Knothole behind. Its destination: Devil's Gulag. It would drop Sonic off there and then it would return to the airport with no Sonic onboard. As Geoffrey watched the plane take off with Sonic onboard, his expression relaxed a little and he sighed to himself.

"It's done my love. The traitor's being taken away and he will never get the chance to finish you off." he said, thinking about Sally Acorn right now "You can rest easy now, knowing your attempted killer is going to spend the rest of his life behind bars for what he's done to you. I hope you come out of your coma soon so I can tell you that myself."

With that said, Geoffrey turned around and he headed off back into the village, pleased that the job was done and that justice had served its course. He just hoped that Sally would wake up soon so she could have the delight of knowing that justice had been served and Sonic was incarcerated for trying to murder her...

The atmosphere back in Knothole was bleaker than ever for the rain was getting harder, the sky was greyer than before and thunder was beginning to clap loudly, booming around the village ominously as it roared after the lightning strikes that preceded it. But nobody had to worry about the weather for everybody had gone back into their lovely, warm, rustic old homes to get on with their daily lives and try to move on from this morning's events. But the Freedom Fighters sadly, were having a bit of a harder time getting over the whole thing. They were still unable to believe that what had happened truly did happen and little Amy was still in denial and wailing her heart out over the whole thing. Uncle Chuck, who was still roboticized, had come over to lighten up the atmosphere but he just ended up sharing everybody's grief and he began to commiserate for Sonic since he firmly believed that his nephew would never do such a thing, try and kill the Princess of Mobotropolis like this. Antoine, Bunnie and Uncle Chuck were all sitting in chairs and talking to one another with Amy sitting on the carpet and joining in with them. Tails was with Rosie and the two were just standing by and offering input into the discussion. Rotor was just standing by the window and watching the rain pitter-patter on the windows and drip down into the panes, looking visibly melancholy about everything.

"So Uncle Chuck, ya'll believe Sonic could have tried to murder Sally-girl?" asked Bunnie.

"I certainly do not Miss Rabbot." said Uncle Chuck in a polite but firm tone of voice "I've known my nephew for years and I know deep in my heart that he would never murder an innocent Mobian at all, especially Sally Acorn since the two have a thing for each other."

"It is nice zat you are tinking out for Sonic Uncle Chuck but I am afraid that Sonic is le guilty." said Antoine, feeling sorry for Uncle Chuck since he understood how much Sonic meant to him "We all saw what he did, zhere is nothing that proves that he did not commit le crime."

"I know Antoine but a senile old man like me doesn't give up hope that easily." said Uncle Chuck grimly "No matter what anybody says, I still believe my nephew didn't do it."

"So do I!" yelled Amy in a shrill voice "I believe that Sonic's no villain! He's innocent and I know he is! Sonic would never attempt something like that!"

"Nice to see you still have faith in my nephew." said Uncle Chuck with a smile "And anyways, I believe my nephew's testimony I do. Part of the plan, which I helped you all put together, was that Sonic would find a way into the base along with Sally. Maybe Sonic found a way in and got inside but Sally didn't know he had and then while he was in there, something that looked like Sonic came out and attempted to do Sally in."

The Freedom Fighters all mused to each other, beginning to wonder if Uncle Chuck might be right.

"I believe Sonic's theory in that maybe a duplicate of him did it." said Tails "Dr. Robotnik is known for his deceptions after all. Remember when he made us think Sonic defied the council's orders and got himself roboticized? Turned out we were tricked then so I think this is another trick that Robotnik's pulled out on us. I know Geoffrey thinks Robotnik won't do the same thing twice but for all we know, maybe he did bring back the Automatons for this and used an Automaton Sonic to frame him."

"Well Tails, that is a very logical conclusion." said Uncle Chuck brightly "But we'll have to prove that first. We can't just say that and Sonic's name will be cleared, we need evidence first."

"I know." said Tails dully "We'll have to go over to Robotropolis and find the Auto-Sonic, if there is one, and then bring him back to Knothole so we can prove to everybody that Sonic was set-up by it. Heck, we could probably even get the Automaton to tell everybody for us, that will definitely clear Sonic's name."

"That all sounds like a good idea sugah." said Bunnie agreeably "So when do ya'll think we should go off to Robotropolis and start searchin' for the Automaton Sonic?"

"The moment Sonic arrives at Devil's Gulag." decided Uncle Chuck "Once we get the word that he's there, we'll get going and start searching for proof of Sonic's evidence. I sure hope that our theories are correct otherwise my nephew really is guilty."

The Freedom Fighters all nodded. It seemed that a bit of hope was coming back to them for they were beginning to believe Sonic truly was innocent. Tails could hardly wait for the mission in Robotropolis to begin for he was sure his best friend was innocent and he was eager to bring home some evidence to prove Sonic's innocence...

Meanwhile, the plane that was taking Sonic to Devil's Gulag was now flying over a stretch of land and heading off towards the ocean, which was several miles away still. The rain was still coming down hard and lightening continued to flash, claps of thunder booming after them as they flashed. Sonic was spending this entire trip sitting in his seat with his head rested on his hand and his elbow rested on his thigh, murmuring to himself and swimming in his thoughts for many of them were coming to his head.

I can't believe that nobody believes that I didn't try to kill Sally. Sonic moaned in his thoughts. Why ever would I wanna kill the woman I love? Didn't they stop to think about that for a minute? Probably not since me and Sally haven't officially announced our love for each other yet but anyway, I would never try and kill my friends...EVER! Heck, I don't even believe in killing unless it's necessary! Why didn't they take that in the equation?

He paused for a moment as he stared out the window to see if he could tell where the plane was flying over right now. It was still over the country he lived in right now but sooner or later, he would be over the ocean and off to Devil's Gulag. Sonic sighed to himself as he watched the rain splatter against the window.

I know, I just KNOW that Robotnik set me up somehow! declared Sonic in his mind While I was inside the command center, trying to arrest him and put an end to his tyranny for good, he must have sent some kind of robot duplicate of me out there to try and kill Sally and make everybody think that was me doing it. Cause after all, I can't be in two places at once, even if I am supersonic, and even if I was up there with Sal, I would NOT be trying to throw her off a building! I do hope my friends are taking in what I've said and are planning on finding evidence to clear my name. I'm sure they're starting to believe I'm innocent and are planning on proving it at some point...

As is right now, all Sonic could do was hope that was going to happen since his friends didn't seem to be on his side and he was now on the way to prison. If his friends could clear his name though, he'd be getting out of Devil's Gulag as quickly as he was flown off there and that's exactly what he wanted to happen since Sonic was a free spirit and he did not want to be locked up in a prison cell, he hated being locked up after all. It makes him feel anxious and trapped and that he can't run around as freely as he always does. If he was to spend the rest of his life in Devil's Gulag then chances are, he would be going mental and may even start developing claustrophobia. So Sonic was really hoping his friends would have enough faith in him to try and prove him innocent so they could get him out of the prison and he wouldn't have to suffer there. As for the pilots of the plane, they were pretty pleased at the fact they were having an easy flight and everything was going swell for the moment. They'd be at the Devil's Gulag and back home to Knothole in no time at the rate they were going.

"I've gotta say, I'm enjoying this flight." said one pilot "It's pretty relaxing at the moment and Sonic's not trying to get away."

"I don't think even Sonic will be foolish enough to try and escape from a moving plane." said the other pilot "He's not that foolish. If he tries to escape, he's got a VERY long fall down to the ground down below. Trying to escape from here is pretty much suicide."

"Yeah, I get ya." said the first pilot "Also, I think Sonic knows better than to try and escape custody. If he really is innocent like he claims he is, he won't try and escape."

"Yeah, that would just seal it for us that he's guilty." agreed the second pilot "Although the witness statements pretty much sealed it for us that he's guilty anyway..."

"Hold on pal, we've got a problem!" yelped the first pilot, pointing ahead of him with his eyes wide and full of fright "There's something coming this way!"

"Say what?!" cried the second pilot, looking in the first pilot's direction.

The two pilots stared ahead of themselves and they could see something that they were not expecting to see whatsoever. A fleet of SWAT-bots in hover-pods were flying towards them and they seemed to have hostile intentions for they had their weapons deployed and were coming towards the plane and fast! Drago Wolf had contacted Dr. Robotnik and had informed him that Sonic was being flown off to Devil's Gulag at this moment and Dr. Robotnik had the brilliant idea of shooting down the plane and killing Sonic. He knew that the ruse he'd set Sonic up for wouldn't last forever and the Freedom Fighters would eventually wise up and realize Sonic was innocent and have him freed from prison so in order for his ultimate plan to work and to make sure that Sonic couldn't get in the way of it, Robotnik ordered a fleet of SWAT-bots to shoot down the plane and hopefully kill Sonic so that the blue hedgehog will NEVER be a problem for him again. The SWAT-bots all flew around the sides of the plane and they aimed their weapons at the fuselage and wings.

"Fire at will!" yelled one SWAT-bot "Dr. Robotnik has ordered us to bring down this plane. Shoot it down and kill Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The SWAT-bots all obeyed and they began shooting at the plane. The pilots docked the plane to the left a little and then they raised up one of its wings by turning the plane to the other side. The wing of the plane smacked a few SWAT-bots and knocked them down out of the sky. They then lowered the plane's wing in an attempt to smack down some more SWAT-bots but the SWAT-bots wisely flew out of the way and dodged the wing. They began to shoot at the plane more and more furiously to make sure that they start damaging it. Their laser shots began to tear through the wing of the plane and the shots eventually tore the wing to pieces and caused it to come clean off! The plane docked sharply to the left for its right wing had been blown off and it began to spiral down dangerously to the ground below. The SWAT-bots all followed the crippled plane down to make sure that the inevitable crash ends up being fatal. The pilots all screamed in terror as the plane began to fall down to the ground, spinning most furiously as it did so. Sonic could feel himself being thrown around as the plane spiralled to the ground. The pilot's fought on the plane's controls and tried to bring it back up again. They managed to succeed and the plane rose up just enough for the plane to crash land sharply on the ground belly-first. The one-winged plane skidded to a violent halt and it lay in a huge mound of dirt as one of its engines burst into flames and was torn off by the skidding plane. The SWAT-bots all landed down on the ground and they cautiously stepped out of their hover-pods. They all wandered towards the wreckage of the plane and observed it. The fuselage had many dents and holes in it and it only had one wing left, which was now missing an engine. They had certainly done a decent amount of damage to the plane and they were quite pleased with their handiwork.

"Analysis: The plane's crash was quite violent and heavy. Conclusion: Sonic the Hedgehog didn't survive the crash." droned one SWAT-bot as it studied the wreckage.

"Negative: We must see a body first." noted another SWAT-bot "We cannot prove Sonic is dead unless we see his body."

"Very well: We will survey the wreckage inside and see if Sonic the Hedgehog is dead." droned the first SWAT-bot "SWAT-bots, find Sonic's body."

With that said, the SWAT-bots did as they were told and they all marched towards the wreckage of the plane. One SWAT-bot grabbed the door of the plane and ripped it clean off its hinges. It threw the door over its shoulder and it stepped inside, analyzing the scenery inside and taking note of what was inside. It saw the two pilots, lying unconscious in their seats in the cockpit, and it scanned them to see what their life-signals suggested.

"The pilots of this aircraft are alive, just unconscious." droned the SWAT-bot "Does that mean that Sonic the Hedgehog is alive too?"

"You bet it does butt-bot!" yelled Sonic, whizzing towards the SWAT-bot and kicking it hard in the chest.

The SWAT-bot was sent flying backwards out of the plane and it came down with a heavy clunk outside the plane. Sonic had survived the crash and the resulting impact ended up snapping the chain linking his shackles together so he was now fully capable of running again, not a good thing for the SWAT-bots at all. The SWAT-bots were all horrified to see this and they immediately began opening fire on the wreckage of the plane. Sonic came rocketing out of the plane wreckage and he ran past all of the attacking SWAT-bots, knocking them all off of their feet and sending them crashing down on their backs. Sonic jumped on top of one SWAT bot's chest and he glared at it.

"While I appreciate you bringing this plane down and unintentionally freeing me so I can prove my innocence, I'm not pleased at the fact you did this in the first place!" yelled Sonic threateningly "I bet you did it to try and kill me didn't you? If so then you just made a big mistake swat-head!"

With that said, Sonic jumped up and then stomped down on the SWAT-bot's chest, leaving a nasty dent in it with his feet as he did so. The SWAT-bot groaned in pain and Sonic then prepared to stomp on its head and kill it. But the other SWAT-bots intervened by shooting at Sonic. Sonic dodged the shooting SWAT-bots by running off but he did raise his hands and let the SWAT-bots shoot the broken shackles off of his wrists. He did the same with his ankles and the SWAT-bots shot the broken shackles clean off of them too so Sonic now had nothing on his wrists or his ankles much to his relief. They were hurting his wrists and ankles anyway so to get the shackles off instantly made Sonic feel much better. Sonic turned around sharply and he curled up into a blue spiky ball. He spin-dashed towards one SWAT-bot and destroyed it instantly, ploughing directly through its torso as he hit it. The SWAT-bot was brought down onto its back and it lay there with circuitry sparking in it and its parts littering the ground around it. The other SWAT-bots aimed their weapons at Sonic and they shot furiously at him. Sonic rushed towards one SWAT-bot and kicked it in the head. The kicked SWAT-bot fell over onto its back and it accidentally shot another SWAT-bot as it fell down. The shot made the stricken SWAT-bot double over in pain and wail a robotical wail of pain. Sonic ran over to the SWAT-bot that had accidentally been shot and he destroyed it with a single spin-dash. The SWAT-bot he had kicked earlier picked itself up and it blasted at Sonic but Sonic effortlessly dodged the blast and he spin-dashed that one to pieces. Two SWAT-bots began firing at Sonic in unison and they almost managed to hit him but Sonic's reflexes were too fast and he ended up dodging the shots before they could hit him. Sonic ran to the two SWAT-bots and he jumped up between them. He did the splits and kicked them both down onto their sides as he sailed between their heads. The two SWAT-bots were thrown down instantly and Sonic killed one of them by stomping on its head. That stomp smashed its head instantly due to how hard Sonic did it. The second SWAT-bot threw a punch at Sonic but Sonic grabbed its arm and threw it over onto its back. He then stomped on its head and destroyed it instantly, rendering the SWAT-bot deceased. There were only three SWAT-bots left and they all began to desperately shoot at Sonic, eager to kill him in the name of Dr. Robotnik. Sonic dodged all of their shots effortlessly and he finished the trio off with a spin-dash each. He ploughed through them all like a plough through snow and he destroyed them, leaving their remains scattered all over the ground as they were destroyed by Sonic. Sonic gasped and panted for breath as he finished off the last SWAT-bots and he wiped his forehead.

"Phew...that's all of them." said Sonic "Now then, I'd better find a place of sanctuary before anymore SWAT-bots come or anyone realizes that I'm free and they start looking for me."

Sonic revved up his feet and he ran off as fast as he could. Unbeknownst to him, there was one SWAT-bot that he had failed to destroy and that was the one he'd stomped on and dented its chest earlier. The SWAT-bot weakly picked itself up and it watched as Sonic was running away. It touched the side of its head and activated its com link.

"SWAT-bot...khsk...Unit 8643 reporting...khshk...requesting for back-up...back-up has been destroyed...khsshk...by Sonic the Hedgehog...need more units...to destroy hedgehog...khsshk."

This was not good for Sonic at all. The SWAT-bot was calling for reinforcements and once they arrived, they would start hunting for him and once they caught him, they would eliminate him just as Dr. Robotnik ordered them to and prevent him from being a problem for Dr. Robotnik as his master plan was coming along. To make sure that the back-up would arrive at the right place, the SWAT-bot staggered onto a hover-pod and started slowly following Sonic as he ran off to find a place of sanctuary. Once Sonic stopped, the SWAT-bot would report his location to his requested reinforcements and then they would have him...

As for Sonic, he hadn't been running for long and already he had managed to find a cave that would provide good shelter for him from the pouring rain and it would be a good place for him to hide in from SWAT-bots and anyone who might be hunting him down. The cave was huge and looked like it went on for a while given how dark it was inside. Sonic ran into the cave and went inside it for a bit until he went as far in as he thought he needed to go and then he settled down and leaned against the rocky wall of the cave. He edged down onto his bottom and lay against the wall, sighing to himself and relaxing a little as he prepared to have a little rest. He was worn out after all that and he needed to rest himself before doing anything else.

"So...I've been framed for the attempted murder of Sally Acorn and now SWAT-bots are after me." he noted to himself "I really do bet that Robotnik did all this to get me outta the way so he can commence with whatever evil plan he's concocting next and now to make double sure I can't stop him, he's sending SWAT-bots to try and kill me. That old tyrant is going too far now! Nobody tries to kill my beloved princess and blames it on me and then tries to kill me! Once I'm all rested up, I'm going to Robotropolis and I'm gonna kick his butt so hard that it'll have a permanent imprint of my shoe on it!"

The very thought of Robotnik getting his butt kicked quite literally by Sonic was pleasing to the hedgehog.

"Then once I've beaten Robotnik, I'm going back to bring him back to Knothole and make him tell everybody that he was behind all this and I really am innocent after all." he declared "Then HE'LL be shipped off to Devil's Gulag and he'll hopefully rot in there like he deserves to! But before I do all that...yawn...I need to rest myself. I'm pooped after that work out and all the stress I'm having to deal with now. I'll just nap in here and then I can clear my name and defeat Robotnik once and...for...all..."

Sonic's voice trailed off for sleep had finally overcome him and he drifted off into a peaceful nap. Sonic lay against the wall and started to snore away peacefully as he napped away. This nap was just the thing he needed to recharge and get back in the action and once he was awake, it would be time for some payback. But it seemed that there might be a little delay in all of that for the surviving SWAT-bot had followed Sonic secretly to the cave and it stood at the entrance, waiting for its back up to arrive. It had given its reinforcements its coordinates and was waiting for them to arrive. Sonic was in for a rude awakening once the SWAT-bot's reinforcements arrived and they began storming the cave, ready to kill him and bring his corpse back to Dr. Robotnik...

Back over in Knothole, the Freedom Fighters had called the Wolf Pack over to discuss their deductions and theories to them and exposit on the plan they had for once Sonic arrived at Devil's Gulag. Lupe and her pack had been all too happy to come over for this and they all gathered around into Rosie's hut. There was only one wolf missing though and that was Drago Wolf. Lupe wasn't pleased at the fact Drago had gone missing again but she decided to not bother with him. If Drago wasn't interested in this then so be it, he'd just have to miss out on this one. The Freedom Fighters and the wolves were all sitting around and talking to each other.

"So you think that Dr. Robotnik might have made a robot duplicate of Sonic the Hedgehog to frame him for the attempted murder of the princess?" asked Lupe.

"I do indeed." said Tails "That's just up Robotnik's street that is, to make duplicates and frame people for crimes they didn't commit. After learning that Sonic had been framed for going against the council's orders and getting himself roboticized, I've learnt that not everything's as it seems at times."

"Same here." said Uncle Chuck "So we've decided that we're going to sneak over into Robotropolis and find some evidence that Sonic's innocent. We're going to see if we can find an Automaton Sonic and if we can, we'll bring it back to Knothole and make it confess to everybody."

"That sounds like a very good plan." said Lupe "And given how I have faith in Sonic and I am a dear friend of his, I am all too happy to take part in this mission."

"I am too." said another wolf in the pack "Anything to avenge Sally's near-death and to clear Sonic's name."

"I'm glad you're all up for this." said Tails happily "Shows we're not the only ones who have at least some faith for Sonic left in us."

"Indeed." said Rotor "We're waiting until Sonic arrives at Devil's Gulag first before we carry out the plan though. And that might still be a while yet since the prison is a long way away from Knothole."

"I see." said Lupe "I look forward to when we carry out this plan."

"I don't think ANYBODY will be carrying out ANY plans whatsoever chief!" came a gruff voice that startled everybody.

Everybody jumped up onto their feet and they all stared in surprise at who said that. It was Drago Wolf, standing at the doorway with a big toothy grin on his face. He had his arms folded and his eyes were narrowed into an evil stare.

"Drago? You've decided to come at last I presume?" said a rather surprised Lupe.

"I have chief, and I bring news for you all." crooned Drago darkly "Knothole, as of today, is under new management..."

He then stepped into the hut and made way as somebody else stepped inside the hut. And that somebody was the one person the Freedom Fighters would never have expected to see in Knothole in a million years. It was none other than Dr. Robotnik! He strode pride fully into the hut with his fists on his wide, flabby hips and a devil's smile painted on his face that made him look very demonic and ominous. He wasn't alone though for behind him were fleets of SWAT-bots and Auto-Sonic. Auto-Sonic stepped into the hut with Robotnik and the Freedom Fighters all gasped in horror at the mere sight of him.

"Greetings people of Knothole." purred Robotnik darkly "Welcome to a new age...the age of Dr. Robotnik! Knothole is mine and your precious Sonic is incapable of saving you from me now..."

What followed that ominous speech was a loud, haunting, evil cackle that seemed to echo all around the room and rumble in everybody's ears, making them feel very nervous and making them tremble in fear as he cackled. Robotnik had found Knothole at last somehow and now he was here, he was going to expand his reign to it...

Sonic, on the run! Knothole, invaded! Dr. Robotnik, looking victorious! How will our heroes get out of this one...?