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 3: Relentless Pursuit
What had been once massive shock to the Freedom Fighters had just been multiplied tenfold. For just yesterday, Sonic the Hedgehog had seemingly gone rogue and attempted to murder Princess Sally Acorn only for that attempt to be somewhat foiled by Tails and right now, the Freedom Fighter's greatest enemy, Dr. Julian Ivo Robotnik, was standing in the doorway of the hut the Freedom Fighters and the Wolf Pack were gathered in and he wasn't alone for this invasion for he had brought fleets and fleets of SWAT-bots with him and he had, quite possibly, one of his greatest weapons he had ever built, an Automaton Sonic. Everybody was petrified with fear to see Robotnik standing before them all with his face twisted into a smile that could please a demon. How on Mobius did Robotnik manage to find Knothole? He didn't know where Knothole was so how did he manage to find it? It seemed that they would soon find the answer for Dr. Robotnik was about ready to exposit to everybody.
"I bet this comes as a bit of a surprise doesn't it Freedom Fighters?" crooned Robotnik darkly "I, Dr. Julian Ivo Robotnik, am now standing before you in your very place of dwelling and am ready to take over this village."
"It comes off as more than a bit of a surprise Robotnik!" retorted Rotor Walrus "How the heck did you manage to find us?!"
"I didn't manage to find you at all, somebody was more than willing to relinquish that kind of information to me." crowed Robotnik "And he is standing right here on my right hand side now."
He motioned over to Drago Wolf who was stand by the doorway on Robotnik's right hand side (since the Freedom Fighters and Wolf Pack are facing Robotnik, he's to their left hand side. Understand?). Drago just stood there with a grim expression on his face as if he wasn't all that happy about what was going on now. Everybody stared at Drago in astonishment, Lupe looking the most visibly horrified at all of this given how he was a member of her own pack.
"Drago…you told Robotnik…where Knothole is?!" gasped Lupe, unable to believe that one of her own pack members was a traitor to them all "Does that mean…?"
"Yes chief, it means I'm working for Robotnik now." said Drago with a scowl on his face.
"That explains why you kept wondering off…mused Lupe as she thought back to the days he kept disappearing without official leave.
"You traitor…how could you do this to us?!" demanded Tails in a rather fierce tone of voice, a tone of voice that was seldom used by the young fox cub.
"Yeah, how could ya'll sell us out like that ya big bad wolf?!" yelled Bunnie Rabbot, pointing an accusing finger at the treacherous wolf that stood beside Robotnik.
Drago's face fell and he looked back at everybody guiltily. It seemed he had regrets over doing all of this.
"I had no choice to betray you all!" blustered Drago, throwing his arms out to the side in disdain "Sometime ago, Dr. Robotnik captured me and threatened to roboticize me! I begged for him to spare me and he agreed on the condition that I reveal the location of Knothole and participate in the plot to frame Sonic and get him out of the picture! I'd never have done this intentionally!"
That statement made the Freedom Fighters and Wolf Pack look at each other in wonder. Drago had been blackmailed into doing this? How terrible! Lupe's expression quickly shifted from shock to sympathy.
"Oh dear…" she said pityingly "Why didn't you tell us any of this Drago? We could have helped you."
"It wouldn't have done any good." sighed Drago "Robotnik stuck a small bomb on my back…" he paused for a moment as he turned around and lifted up his shirt, revealing a small black sphere that seemed to be fixed to his back. He lowered his shirt and turned back around to face everybody.
"…that bomb has an attached speaker to it so Robotnik could hear my every word and if I dared to double-cross him, he'd set the bomb off and blow me to pieces!" exclaimed Drago "And the bomb's programmed to go off if any attempt to remove it is taken so I HAD to do as he pleased or be blown up!"
"Exactly." purred Robotnik in a slithering voice "So as you can see, I got this poor simpering fool to swear fealty to me and thanks to him, I've found Knothole and I may begin my takeover. And since Drago has served his purpose, he can join you all in annihilation!"
Just the mere mention of the word "annihilation" made the Mobians shudder in worry. What did Robotnik mean by "annihilation"? Was he just going to carpet bomb the village or something? Seemed a bit extreme for Dr. Robotnik to do something like that but then again, he is insane in the brain so it was totally in his character to do something that crazy. As for Drago, he looked like somebody had just stabbed him in the gut with a sword.
"WHAT?!" shrieked Drago in horror "Robotnik, you promised me freedom once I did what you told me! Why am I joining the others in annihilation?!"
"Drago you poor, miserable mutt, I never keep my promises…I BREAK them!" cackled Robotnik "Why ever would I set an agent of mine free once he's served his purpose? That'll give the agent a chance to double-cross me and I do not give people such opportunities. SWAT-bots!" he barked to the SWAT-bot fleet outside the hut "Take this no longer desired agent away!"
A pair of SWAT-bots strode into the hut and they both grabbed Drago by his arms. They dragged the horrified wolf out of the hut and out into the village centre. Drago squirmed and struggled as he was dragged away, unable to believe that Robotnik had lied to him about being set free once he had done what he had been blackmailed into doing. Once Drago was dragged out of the hut, Robotnik faced the Freedom Fighters and he folded his arms. His face was narrowed down into an evil glare that could make even the most courageous of people feel faint.
"As for you Freedom Fighters, it's time I gave you all your punishment for daring to defy my laws and orders and try to overthrow me." he crooned menacingly "And what better punishment could I give out…then having you get curb-stomped by my marvellous Automaton copy of the prodigious Sonic the Hedgehog?" he added, patting Auto-Sonic on the head as if he was really pleased with him.
Auto-Sonic stepped forward and clenched his fists. He was about ready to start beating up all the Freedom Fighters. Auto-Sonic wore Sonic's trademark snarky grin on his face.
"Ready to do it to it Freedom Fighters?" he sneered in a perfect rendition of Sonic's voice and personality.
The Freedom Fighters all gasped at Auto-Sonic. Such a perfect copy of the real thing it was! All the way down to his personality, it was a perfect copy! This just proved that the theory Uncle Chuck and Tails started coming up with was correct! At least they wouldn't have to go to Robotropolis and find proof of a fake Sonic since the real thing was standing before them right now. Still, it was quite scary to see such a perfect Sonic copy standing before them and getting ready to unleash all hell on them all.
"Zut Alors! It is an Automaton Sonic?!" shrieked Antoine, his trademark blonde hair just about jumping off of his head in alarm.
"So my theory WAS correct!" exclaimed Tails "Dr. Robotnik made an Automaton Sonic to frame the real Sonic for the attempted murder of Aunt Sally!"
"And to think we all thought even for a minute that the real Sonic did it!" cried Rotor in disbelief "I can't believe we all fell for that! I feel like such a dunce for believing for a second that Sonic would intentionally try to kill Sally!"
"You sick twisted maniac…you framed my nephew just so you could get him out of the way didn't you?!" snarled Uncle Chuck furiously "You did all this to get Sonic out of the way so he can't stop you from taking over Knothole! And to think you succeeded too since he's being shipped off to Devil's Gulag as we speak!"
"Well what can you expect? I am evil after all." sneered Dr. Robotnik in a rather conceited manner "Yes Freedom Fighters, I framed Sonic for the attempted murder of your precious princess just to get him incarcerated and prevent him from foiling my latest and greatest scheme ever! I couldn't have done all of this without my agent, Drago Wolf, though since he told me what your plan was and I set everything up for the framing of Sonic. And it all worked perfectly…ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha…"
His dark, evil laughter rumbled around the room and made everybody feel a chill down their spines.
"And I don't think Sonic will even make it to Devil's Gulag since I sent a fleet of SWAT-bots to shoot down the plane escorting him there." crowed Robotnik, his evil grin so wide now that it practically popped out of the sides of his face "Thanks to Drago Wolf, I knew about that plane and it was taking Sonic to Devil's Gulag so I sent the SWAT-bots to shoot it down. And I'm willing to bet that they've shot it down right about now and Sonic is now lying dead in the wreckage of the plane. Your magnanimous hero won't be around to save you now…"
What followed that dark speech was a loud, gloating cackle that echoed around the hut like a haunting cackle from an evil ghost that stalks the haunted hallways. That made everybody feel like they were just about ready to drop dead in shock as they began to get nasty images of the plane escorting Sonic to Devil's Gulag lying wrecked on the ground somewhere and blazing away with Sonic's dead body inside. If Dr. Robotnik's guess was right then Sonic is dead and their once good friend was no more. The Freedom Fighters all decided to attack Robotnik and save Knothole in Sonic's name. Rotor whipped out the power-drill that became his giant bazooka, the Party-Hearty Quadra Sonic Rock n' Roller, and he aimed it at Robotnik.
"You monster! You're going down!" yelled Rotor, firing a shot at Robotnik.
Robotnik however held up his roboticized arm and activated an energy shield that defended him from the blast. After he'd done that, he pointed a robotic finger at Rotor's weapon and he fired a laser beam from it. The shot hit Rotor's bazooka and destroyed it instantly, blowing Rotor off of his feet and reducing his weapon to scrap. Rotor just stared at the remains of his amazing weapon in disbelief. Robotnik smirked at Rotor triumphantly.
"Your technology is most impressive your rotund little walrus…but ultimately inferior to my genius intellect." he crowed "Now I think it's time I let Auto-Sonic have some fun with you all as I prepare my Ultimate Annihilator. Auto-Sonic, crush them!" he bellowed.
After giving that order, Robotnik ran out of the hut since the last thing he wants is to be in the middle of a Sonic robot clone curb-stomping all of Sonic's friends and rendering them incapable of defeating him and foiling his plan. Auto-Sonic curled up into a spiky ball and he spin-dashed towards the Freedom Fighters. The Freedom Fighters all dodged as the Automaton copy of Sonic hurled towards them but Auto-Sonic just uncurled from his spin-dash, bounced off the wall feet first and spin-dashed back towards them…
Meanwhile…
Half an hour had passed since the plane crash and Sonic was resting away quite peacefully in the cave he had run into for cover. The past day had been quite stressful for him. He'd been accused of trying to murder the woman he loved and nobody believed that he didn't do it and now the plane escorting him to Devil's Gulag had been shot down and he was on the run from SWAT-bots. He thought he'd destroyed them all but one survived and had called for back-up while following Sonic to the cave so Sonic was soon going to have more SWAT-bots to deal with but as of now, he didn't know that. Sonic was so deep in sleep that right now he was beginning to dream. Unfortunately though, this dream wasn't a very pleasant dream. In fact, it was more like a nightmare. Sonic tossed and turned in his sleep and he mumbled under his breath as he began to dream away.
"No…must…save…Sally…urm…huh…uh…um…Sally…please…don't…um…" mumbled Sonic rather mindlessly as the nightmare continued to torment his brain and distress him while he was sleeping.
In this nightmare right now, Sonic was running around the pinnacle of the command center in Robotropolis and he could hear the sounds of Sally Acorn crying for help. Desperate to save his girlfriend, he ran on and on until he eventually found her being held over the edge of the building by what appeared to be himself. Sally was squirming furiously in the grasp of the other Sonic, fighting to get free and prevent herself from being thrown over the building. She looked over the other Sonic's shoulder and instantly guessed that the Sonic she had spotted over his shoulder was the real Sonic.
"Sonic! Please! Help me!" begged Sally as she fought in the grasp of the other Sonic.
"Hang on Sal! I'm coming!" cried Sonic, running over to Sally and the other Sonic.
The other Sonic turned around and glowered at the real Sonic. His eyes seemed to be like cold, steel optics watching his every move emotionlessly and his sights were so fixed on the real Sonic that he almost appeared to be scanning and monitoring him as the real Sonic ran towards him.
"Let her go you impostor!" ordered Sonic "Nobody hurts my girl and threatens her life like this!"
"You want her so badly Sonic?" sneered the other Sonic "Then try and catch her!"
With that said, the other Sonic threw Sally off the building, her screams echoing around Robotropolis as she began to plummet down to the ground below.
"SOOOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIIIIICCCCCCCCC!" screamed Sally as she was sent hurling down from the top of the command center.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed Sonic as he reached out to catch Sally, only to miss her completely for she was much too far away from him and he couldn't reach her.
Sonic watched helplessly as Sally fell down towards the ground, screaming in anguish for there was no one to save her and she was surely in for a ghastly fate. Sonic closed his eyes and looked away as Sally's fall finished and a sickening crunch sound was heard. That crunch was the sound of bones breaking and Sally's screams were immediately silenced by that crunch. Sally was dead and Sonic had been too late to save her. This was the ultimate strain on Sonic's heart and he fell down to his knees in defeat, his eyes welling up with tears. He thumped the banister in upset rage and he wailed for his beloved princess. The other Sonic just cackled menacingly at Sonic, clearly pleased with what he had just done and clearly getting sadistic pleasure in watching Sonic wail for the world over poor Sally. The other Sonic then seized Sonic by the neck and held HIM over the side of the building! Sonic struggled in the grasp of this Sonic copy he was up against but it was no use, he couldn't get free from the other Sonic's grasp. Sonic glowered into the other Sonic's eyes and he clenched his teeth furiously.
"You murdered her! You murdered the love of my life!" ranted Sonic "I'm gonna kill you for this fake me!"
"Oh I'm not a fake you Sonic…" sneered the other Sonic "I am your worst enemy…"
With those cryptic words being spoken by the other Sonic, he then suddenly began to shape shift and he transformed into the familiar appearance of Sonic's number 1 arch-enemy…Dr. Robotnik! Sonic's eyes widened and his heart nearly stopped beating in panic.
"Dr. Robotnik?!" screeched Sonic, unable to believe he was being held by the throat by his number one arch nemesis and staring death right in the face at his hands.
"That's right hedgehog…" hissed Robotnik sinisterly "I killed your princess…and now I am going to kill YOU!"
Sonic's life flashed before his eyes as Robotnik drew his arm back and thrust it forward, letting go of Sonic and sending him hurling down from the command center and down below. As Sonic was falling, the only thing the hedgehog could do now was scream in disdain as the ground began to catch up to him.
"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Sonic woke up in a cold sweat and his hand shot over onto his pounding heart as he came out of his sleep and his nightmare ended. Sonic gasped and panted for breath. He sounded like he had just completed a 24 hour marathon and was deathly tired because of it. Sonic looked around and realized that he was still in the cave and he wasn't falling or anything. Everything was totally alright. Sonic wiped sweat off his forehead and he slumped against the wall, sighing with relief and calming down a little.
"Oh sweet merciful heck…what a killer nightmare that was!" blustered Sonic, breathing heavily as he calmed down from the bad dream "That was one mondo bad dream that was! But it's alright…it's just a dream. Sally's still alive, but in a coma, and I'm alright. The hedgehog still lives to run another day…sigh…"
He breathed heavily as he began to relax and shake of the frightening nature of his terrible nightmare.
"Well…I'm all rested up from my nap so now I think I should trek on to Robotropolis and find proof that I didn't kill Sally so I can clear my name and everybody will except me back into the village." said Sonic "I sure hope Robotnik's ready for this because I'm not holding back on this one."
Sonic got up onto his feet and stretched ever so much as he got his body to finish waking up. He bent over backwards to stretch his back out a little and he bent down forward and touched his toes. His body began to feel ready for action as he did some stretching and he smiled to himself.
"Oh boy do I feel good now!" he declared to himself "Princess Sally, you hold on for me for your handsome hero is about to find out who REALLY tried to murder you!"
But his ambitions were rudely interrupted by the sound of pounding feet. The marching sound echoed through the cave ominously and they sounded metallic. Sonic listened carefully to the eerie sound of clanking, metal feet marching through the cave towards him and he instantly worked out that the feet obviously belonged to robots. And probably…Robotnik robots no less.
"Seems I'm not alone here." murmured Sonic "Looks like robots are coming my way! And I'll bet they're SWAT-bots too! But how did they find me? No matter, I'll just smash them all for time is of essence here and I can't afford to be hiding from SWAT-bots."
With that said, Sonic ran into a hole in the cave wall and he crouched down inside it, making sure that he was invisible to the SWAT-bots as he crouched deep down in the hole. He stared ahead of himself as he waited for the SWAT-bots to show up. The sound of clanking feet was getting closer and closer as they were heading towards his location and Sonic could feel his stomach tingling as he waited to leap out and attack the SWAT-bots. Then suddenly, the marching stopped and the cave fell into an unsettling silence. It wasn't silent for long though for a voice soon echoed around the room and confirmed to Sonic that his unwanted guests were indeed SWAT-bots.
"Wait here troopers. I will scout ahead and see if the hedgehog is around." droned the SWAT-bot that was leading the troops "If he leaps out and attacks me, you must come in and fire your weapons at him."
"Yes Unit 8643." droned the other SWAT-bots.
Unit-8643 was the only one who had survived Sonic's earlier onslaughts after the plane had been brought down by the earlier troopers and he was leading this back-up of his. Unit-8643 strode forward, keeping a cautious eye out for Sonic as he trekked carefully through the cave and scanned his surroundings. Unit-8643 went on for quite a while and still found nothing. He began to think that it might be safe for the others to come out and continue looking for Sonic. But then just as Unit-8643 began to feel it was safe, Sonic erupted from out of his hiding place and he slammed Unit-8643 against the wall. Instead of destroying him though, Sonic decided to spare him for he had something to ask him instead.
"OK butt-bot, why did you and a bunch of SWAT-bots shoot down the plane containing me and how did you come to know about me being flown off to somewhere?" demanded Sonic furiously.
Unit-8643 just glowered at Sonic with his red visor and refused to speak.
"Answer the question or I'll rip out your electronic brain!" repeated Sonic angrily, putting his hands around the SWAT-bot's neck and threatening to yank his head off.
"We were sent to shoot down the plane because Robotnik wants you dead." droned Unit-8643 in defeat "And we came to know of you being flown off because Robotnik found out you were being taken away in a plane thanks to an agent of his."
"Figures the fat buffoon wants me dead." muttered Sonic "Who's Robotnik's agent?"
"Unknown." droned Unit-8643 "All I know is that Robotnik had an agent help him set up your framing as well as find out you were…"
"Set up my framing?!" interrupted Sonic "I KNEW Robotnik framed me for the attempted murder of Sally! What's the big doofus up to now?"
"He has built an Automaton version of you just to frame you for the attempted murder/murder of Princess Sally Acorn." answered Unit-8643 "He is doing all of this so he can get you out of the way for his ultimate plan. As of now, he is probably taking over Knothole and setting it up for his ultimate plan."
Sonic thought his quills were going to fall off as Unit-8643 told him all of this. Robotnik had some kind of plan and he was subjugating Knothole?! What was he hoping to do?! And since Knothole was being taken over…that meant that his friends were in danger and Sally was probably going to be killed for real this time! Since she was in a coma, she'd have no chance if Robotnik was hoping to finish off what he started!
"That scum-heap…what's his ultimate plan?" asked Sonic furiously, jamming his face threateningly into Unit-8643's metallic face.
He didn't receive an answer for Unit-8643's back-up could hear all the commotion and they had arrived to help their leader. The whole platoon of SWAT-bots all arrived at the location Sonic and Unit-8643 were in and they began to open fire at Sonic with their laser rifles. These rifles were not like the usual laser rifles for when the shots hit something, it disintegrated instantly. Sonic yelped in shock as parts of the ground disintegrated in front of him as the shooting SWAT-bots tried to hit him but to no avail. Sonic whizzed off frantically, keen not to get hit by a disintegrating laser blast.
"Yikes! Those SWAT-heads have disintegrators!" cried Sonic "I'd best run for it before I become nothing but atoms!"
He rushed through the cave with the SWAT-bots running after him as fast as they could possibly run. They were desperate to shoot Sonic and kill him just like Robotnik had ordered them to so they ran after him and tried as hard as they could not to lose him and to actually shoot him. But they'd never hit Sonic for he was just too fast for them. Sonic ran on through the caves, fighting hard not to lose momentum for the rocky ground made it a little harder to run on than most surfaces he ran on. Sonic looked over his shoulder and saw that the SWAT-bots were trailing hopelessly behind as he sped away from them. Sonic could barely resist the urge to stick out his tongue at them as the SWAT-bots trailed behind. But Sonic's winning streak wasn't going to go on for long for he ended up reaching the end of the cave and he screeched to a halt as he exited the cave and found himself on a ledge with a roaring waterfall beside it and a VERY long drop down below! Sonic managed to stop just on the edge of the ledge and he looked down at the ground, which was a very long way down from where he was, and he gulped.
"Oh man…I'm at a dead end and there's lots of water down there!" he wailed "Oh how I wish for once in my life I could swim! But I can't turn back, I'll get disintegrated if those butt-bots hit me. I guess the only way to go is down…"
With that said, Sonic took a deep breath and he threw himself off the ledge. Sonic plummeted down to the ground like a falling stone as he leaped from the ledge. He was falling beside the waterfall as he plummeted down to the ground.
"OK, let's see if this works!" cried Sonic as the water at the bottom of the waterfall began to catch up to him.
Sonic moved his legs as furiously as he could as he fell. His legs moved faster and faster until they became nothing but blue and red blurs flailing around underneath him. Then his legs became the usual blurry wheels they became when he ran at his fastest. Sonic held his breath and prayed that his idea was going to work as he came down with a splash into the water. Because Sonic was moving his legs at supersonic speed, he didn't go down into the water. He just simply ran across the surface and rocketed forward! Sonic let out his breath and he looked at his feet, amazed to see that his plan had worked and he was rushing across the water like he hoped he would do. Sonic whooped with joy and immediately ran onto the land beside the river. He didn't stop though. He kept on going and going until he was far away from the cave and even further away from the SWAT-bots. He had run so far away from the cave that he couldn't even see it anymore and he had managed to get that far in less than five minutes too. As for the SWAT-bots, they had arrived at the ledge at last and they all looked around for any signs of Sonic the Hedgehog. He didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. Sonic was gone and they had lost him. Unit-8643 looked down at the river below and came to a conclusion.
"Sonic the Hedgehog is not around. He must have fallen off the ledge into the river." he deduced "Nobody can survive a fall like that. Sonic the Hedgehog is finished at last. Mission accomplished."
The other SWAT-bots seemed a little uncertain about that deduction but then again, what could they conclude? They had no idea where Sonic was and there was nowhere to go but down so he must have either jumped into the water to evade them or he fell into it by accident. Either way, Sonic was likely to be dead. Satisfied with the conclusion, the SWAT-bots all left the cave and marched off away from the ledge.
Over to Sonic, he had come to a stop and he began to talk to himself.
"Whew…can't believe I survived that." he said "Well, I wasn't going to know unless I tried it of course. So glad I did survive though. So now I can get back to Knothole and save my friends!"
His face suddenly fell as he realized something.
"But…Robotnik might have lots of SWAT-bots with him." he realized "And he has an Automaton Sonic with him. That's NOT going to be easy to defeat. I may need some backup for this. And I know JUST who to call for said backup…"
So now Sonic had an idea, he ran off and headed off to a location that he had been to before. A mysterious place known only as…Angel Island…
Meanwhile, back at Knothole, the Auto-Sonic was completely flooring the Freedom Fighters and the Wolf Pack as if they were nothing, not surprising considering it's a clone of Sonic and is just like him in everyway, even down to the personality. Dr. Robotnik stood by and laughed gleefully as Auto-Sonic beat up all the Freedom Fighters. At the end of this day, the Freedom Fighters wouldn't have enough strength left in them to so much as twitch a finger. Perfect for making sure that they cannot foil his plan. Despite Auto-Sonic's battle prowess, the Freedom Fighters and the Wolf Pack were determined to defeat it and they fought on as much as they could. Bunnie Rabbot ran in and uppercut Auto-Sonic in the face with her robot arm. Auto-Sonic took the blow and he retaliated with a kick to the gut and then an uppercut to the face of his own. Bunnie staggered backwards but Auto-Sonic wasn't done with her yet. He whizzed around behind her and drop-kicked her in the back, sending her hurling forwards onto her face. Auto-Sonic then ran up to Bunnie and pinned her down onto the ground by putting his foot on her back. Bunnie just deployed her arm cannon, aimed over her shoulder, and blaster Auto-Sonic off of herself. Auto-Sonic was a pretty well built machine so he took the shot as if it was nothing but he did stagger off of Bunnie after being blasted so the Rabbot was able to get back up onto her feet. She blasted at Auto-Sonic again but Auto-Sonic dodged the attack and he whizzed towards Bunnie. He clenched both of his fists and threw them upwards, walloping Bunnie in the face with them as he ran into her. That blow was almost hard enough to take her head off. Bunnie was thrown onto her back and she grimaced in pain. Auto-Sonic just laughed at the Rabbot.
"What's the matter guys? You're barely putting up a fight here!" he taunted "I'm just getting warmed up out here!"
Tails was next to fight. He flew towards Auto-Sonic and he tail-whipped him directly in the head. Auto-Sonic wasn't effected much by the blow and he just retaliated by spin-dashing Tails down into the ground.
"Come on! Is that all you got?" he sneered, pinning Tails to the ground and grabbing him into a chokehold "I think Robotnik's SWAT-bot army could take you on no sweat! I don't think I'm even needed for this battle!"
"Auto-Sonic, stop gloating and focus on the battle!" bellowed Robotnik "We can't afford to mess this one up!"
Auto-Sonic obeyed and he shut his mouth. Amy came running up towards Auto-Sonic with a large stick in her hands. You could probably consider that as like her weapon of choice before she comes to use the Piko-Piko hammer years later. She smacked Auto-Sonic with it but the stick just promptly broke when she hit him with it. That made Amy tremble with fear and Auto-Sonic smirked mockingly at her. He then picked Tails up by his neck and threw him into Amy. The two kids were sent sprawling across the ground after that and they moaned ever so loudly for the pain that swept over them was excruciating. Auto-Sonic advanced on Tails and Amy but as he was about to grab them, he heard Antoine running towards him.
"Impostor! I will unleash my king-fu on you and make you sorry you dared to impersonate Sonic and frame him for the attempted murder of ma Princess Sally!"
Auto-Sonic just narrowed his eyes and his mouth curled up into a gloating smirk as he watched Antoine coming towards him. He then reached out and grabbed Tails by his tails, earning a rather shocked expression from the fox. He then swung Tails around like a baseball bat and walloped Antoine with him. Tails cried out in pain as he was violently smacked into his friend's body and Antoine yelped in surprise as he was knocked off his feet by the Freedom Fighter youngster. Antoine was thrown down onto his side after that attack and Auto Sonic advanced on him, still holding Tails by his tails. He raised Tails above his head and then smacked him down onto Antoine as if he was a roll of newspaper being used to swat a pesky fly that won't go away. The two screeched in anguish as Tails was smacked onto Antoine and Auto-Sonic rose Tails above his head again, poised to make another slam. But that slam never came for Rotor lumbered towards Auto-Sonic and fisted him in the side of his head, making him drop Tails down beside Antoine and sending him hurling down onto his side. Auto-Sonic picked himself up only to receive another hefty punch from Rotor. Rotor then uppercut Auto-Sonic in the face and nearly took his whole head off. Auto-Sonic retaliated with a punch to Rotor's flabby gut and then he roundhouse kicked Rotor onto his side. Rotor tried to get back up but Auto-Sonic elbow thrusted him on the top of his cranium. That blow made Rotor feel very light-headed and left him with a splitting headache. You'd feel exactly the same if you got elbow-thrusted on the head by a robot. Auto-Sonic then decided to do this: he grabbed Rotor by the arm and hauled him onto his feet, the walrus still recovering from that elbow slam on his head.
"The fox kid was a good club, let's see how much better YOU are!" he chortled.
He saw Antoine and Tails running towards him with their fists bared. Auto-Sonic smirked at them and he swung Rotor around. He walloped the coyote and fox with the walrus and then let go of Rotor, sending all three of them sprawling in a heap across the ground. When you're as heavy and large as Rotor, you will seriously be a hard, heavy club if someone swings you into them. Being hit by Rotor was almost like being hit by a bowling ball only not as hard. After that had happened, Bunnie flew in and punched Auto-Sonic directly into a nearby hut.
"Stop throwin' mah friends around like that ya creep!" screeched Bunnie angrily.
Auto-Sonic just picked himself up and spin-dashed towards Bunnie. Bunnie smacked him away with her robot arm but Auto-Sonic just bounded back towards her and he spin-dashed her in the side, knocking her down onto the ground. Auto-Sonic grabbed Bunnie by the ankles and he swung her over onto her back. Then he threw her up and kicked her into a nearby hut where she burst straight through the wall and left a hole in it. Auto-Sonic was about to run into the hole and add insult to injury but Lupe and the Wolf Pack charged in and began bombarding him with punches and kicks. Lupe roundhouse kicked Auto-Sonic in the head and then tripped him up with a kick to the legs. Auto-Sonic wasn't down for long though for he jumped back up onto his feet and he jumped towards Lupe. He grabbed her by the shoulders, flipped himself over her while holding onto her shoulders, and then he threw her over onto her stomach just inches in front of himself. Lupe groaned as she fought the pain in her body. The other Wolf Pack members tried to grab Auto-Sonic but the Automaton Sonic clone whizzed around them all and walloped them as he ran past them. He jumped up to one wolf and kicked him down onto the ground. Then he ran past another and punched him in the gut. He kept this up until he had all the Wolf Pack members down on the ground, groaning in pain and trying to get back up. The Freedom Fighters ran into help the Wolf Pack but Auto-Sonic spin-dashed them all and brought them down onto their backs. He stood before the defeated Wolf Pack and Freedom Fighters with a gloating smirk on his face.
"Well that was a satisfying work out." he sneered "Thanks for the exercise everybody."
The Freedom Fighters just glowered at Auto-Sonic but they remained down for they couldn't fight anymore. They were too weakened from Auto-Sonic's beat down to keep fighting. Dr. Robotnik cackled with delight at this and he stepped forward to congratulate his prodigious invention for winning this battle.
"Excellent, excellent." he purred gleefully "Well done Auto-Sonic. You sure gave those Freedom Fighters a run for their money didn't you?"
"Thanks doc. I sure did." gloated Auto-Sonic.
"Indeed." said Dr. Robotnik "Now my SWAT-bots, restrain the Freedom Fighters!"
With that said, all the SWAT-bots that had come with Dr. Robotnik and were standing by waiting for orders marched forward and they seized the defeated Freedom Fighters and Wolf Pack. They handcuffed them all and forced them into a sitting up position on their knees. Robotnik stood before the defeated Mobians and he smiled gloatingly at them all.
"How does it feel Freedom Fighters? To be totally defeated and to have no hope left for your freedom?" crowed Robotnik mockingly "You've all been defeated and you have no Sonic to help save the day this time. Bet it feels most terrible doesn't it?"
"You bet it does Robotnik!" snapped Tails "But I've not lost hope! I'm still betting Sonic's alive and your attempt to kill him has failed! He'll show up and save us all, just you wait!"
"I wouldn't hold your breath for that little Tails." sneered Robotnik "For even if the hedgehog lives, he will be too late to stop me. For my "Ultimate Annihilator" will soon be in place. And once it is…the Freedom Fighters will be nothing but a memory to all of planet Mobius and I will reign supreme as Dr. Robotnik, Ruler of Mobius and unopposed by anyone!"
He proceeded to laugh gloatingly at the very thought of this. His plan was coming to fruition and he'd soon be launching it any minute now. The Freedom Fighters couldn't help but wonder what exactly Robotnik was planning but they instantly guessed it was bad from what he had said. What was the Ultimate Annihilator? And what was it going to do once it was in place…?
Knothole's been taken over and Sonic's out of the way...will Robotnik survive? Or will Sonic get back home in time to save the day?