Freedom Fighters X
A/N: Now if you don't like the idea of me making Knuckles Australian/Downundian you might as well skip this chapter then because Knuckles Aussie accent is going to be shown off a lot in this.
And for those of you wondering why I'm doing this in the first place well…for several reasons. 1 is to make the cast a bit more "vocally" diverse (Everyone sounds the same regionally) and add a bit more personality to them. Another is that it makes sense since real Echidna do come from Australia and while Mobian Echidnas are native to Mircia (Mercia?) instead of Downunda they did have a colony there for long enough for future generations to develop an accent and Angel Island was a part of Downunda originally. Also Knuckles was originally going to be Jamaican or Australian which is the explanation for his color scheme.
Also, please leave reviews with an account so I can actually reply to them, and for one anonymous reviewer, I meant some characters from Underground will appear, such as Manic and Sonia, no they won't be royalty, or even nobility, just a respected family.
Also, Also, for those wondering why Sally can use Power Rings and has a sort of super speed. When she and Sonic shared the power of the Deep Power Stone to destroy the Doomsday Machine in the SatAM portion of my cannon some of Sonic rubbed off on her giving her the ability to use Power Rings and semi-super speed. So while she is still nowhere NEAR as fast as Sonic, she is still faster than any normal Mobian can hope to become. She is somewhere between 25 and 50% Sonic's speed. She can't even run on water and running up or along vertical surfaces drain her very quickly.
And Lastly, Mobian physiology for my story. First, All mobians including Hedgehogs have two separate eyes. Second Mobian body proportions are similar to humans, or the Primes of Las Lindas. Third their high is dependent on species. Small woodland critters like Hedgehogs, Chipmunks, Foxes and so on, at adulthood grow to an average of 4 foot 5 to 5 feet tall, Middle sized animals such as wolves, deer, dogs, goats, anything near the size of a human grow to human like heights. And larger animals such as Horses, Elephants, Crocodiles, Rhinos, Tigers, Lions, all grow to be between a head taller to three times bigger than the average human. There are exceptions though, such as Cream's freakishly tall mom Vanilla who is tall even by human standards.
And finally all civilized Mobians, both male and female wear clothing.
One more thing, PLEASE send a review with an actual accounts so I can reply! Until then I'd like to thanks the anonymous reviewers for pointing out by…terrible grammar oversights.
Chapter 5: Red vs. Blue: A Battle Between Power and Speed
(A/N: Oh yeah, PLEASE leave a review I can actually reply too! I appreciate any review but I like to respond to them sometimes, but I can't do that if you don't have an account! Come on people! It free!)
It was night time in Station Square, late enough for the normally busy streets to be nearly abandoned. A gust of wind picked up and garbage was strewn across the roads until a recent newspaper found itself stuck on the red leg of a certain Echidna sitting on a trashcan.
Knuckles collected the paper and decided to read it, but upon seeing Sonic and his friends fighting Eggman again he growled in frustration and let the wind reclaim the offending paper.
"Typical Sonic…" Knuckles growled as the wind whipped his dreads around. "We're stuck on this strange planet and all he can do is inflate is ego."
"As if he'd do anything else." A similar voice came from the ally behind Knuckles. The echidna turned around just in time to see Eggman appear from the shadows. "Hello Knuckles."
"Eggman!" Knuckles shouted before her hoped of the trash can and entered a stance. "What the hell do you want? You have five seconds to give me a really good reason not to bash your face in!"
The scientist just smiled at the Mobian's temper. 'This'll be too easy.'
"It's Sonic's fault we're stuck on this planet." He declared simply.
"Tell me something I don't already know chrome dome." Knuckles growled and he clenched his fists. "If he didn't push you to use your new toy I wouldn't be stuck here while the Master Emerald is at risk!"
The madman was unphased stroking his mustache in an almost cartoonishly evil way. "True, but I said he's the reason we're stuck here." He emphasized.
Now he had Knuckles attention as a confused expression came to his furry face. "What are you talking about?"
Eggman didn't even try to hide his smile widening to a grin. "I want to go home to Mobius as much as you do Knuckles. I've done too much there to just drop it all and restart here. I want the Chaos Emeralds now to build a new machine that could send us all back but Sonic won't have it." He came closer to Knuckles, who back away, leaned against the ally wall. "He told me the day he snatched the Green Emerald from me that he didn't want to go back, that he wants to stick around here for awhile and that we all will stay here until he says so."
"Why should I trust you, you bloody psycho? It wouldn't be the first time you lied to me. I remember what you tricked me into doing on Angle Island and I remember it was you that burned down a third of my jungles!" Knuckles raged.
"True." Eggman conceded the point. "I'm not exactly the most trustworthy man in the world. But you and I know Sonic the Hedgehog. He'll do anything to get his next adrenaline fix..." He smiled as he thought of what will surely win Knuckles over. "After all, he did abandon his friends and family back in the Acorn Kingdom to chase after me, and dragged along poor Tails just so he can keep being the hero instead of helping his countrymen rebuild. Who's to say he wouldn't keep everyone pinned here so he could become this "Earth's" new hero?"
Knuckles growled and clenched his fists in anger. He didn't want to believe it but it did make sense, in the four years he had known Sonic he had always ran around looking for some kind of adventure and he was never short of sarcastic quips and never seemed to take the situation seriously. He wouldn't be surprised if what Eggman said was true.
"That bloody wanker!" Knuckles exclaimed as he pounded a fist into his palm. "I should have known that bloody jack-in-the-box would get us into trouble like this! When I find 'im he's gonna wish he never sent us here!"
"Then, I dare assume, we have an agreement?" Eggman said slyly with a grin on his face and his hand out as if expecting a handshake.
Knuckles growled but he took the despot's hand and shook anyway. "For now." He stated.
-FFX-
In Chris' room we find Tails, Rotor, Chris, and Chuck all gathered around a containment unit designed by the fox and walrus the green Chaos Emerald secure inside glowing softly.
"So this is a Chaos Emerald, huh?" Chris asked rhetorically. "And this little thing and its sisters are what brought you guys here from another dimension?"
"Yup!" Tails replied with an inquisitive smile. "No one knows much about them, where their from or how they work, all we know for sure is that the ancient Echidna tribes were connected to them somehow. But except for Knuckles they all vanished with nothing remaining but empty ruins"
"Fascinating, simply astounding!" Chuck exclaimed as he typed on a terminal attached to the E.C.U. "None of my equipment can so much as scratch this thing and the energy reading are of the charts, I can't even tell what type of energy it emitting, one second it looks like electromagnetic energy the next it gamma rays and then it's something my scanners don't even recognize. "Chaos Emerald" seems to be the perfect name for these gems." The scientist couldn't be more baffled by the little green stone if it grew legs and ran away.
"No kidding." Rotor agreed with the eldest human in the house as he too analyzed the scans. "I've seen a lot of strange things while we fought Robotnik but this takes the cake."
*KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!*
Suddenly, a loud knocking came from the floor door followed by a voice with a Hispanic accent (and not that racist over the top one 4Kids used). "Christopher, Open up! You haven't cleaned your room in three weeks and I'm declaring marshal law as of now!"
"Oh no that's Ella!" Chris exclaimed softly. "Quick, hide!"
Quickly as possible Rotor dived and rolled under the bed and Tails collapsed against one of the beanbag chairs and pretended to be a stuffed animal.
And not a second to soon as it was at the exact moment Tails sat still that Ella, a Hispanic woman with curly brown hair and an overweight figure, opened the door and came in.
Not even bothering to acknowledge Chris and Chuck, Ella immediately began to vacuum the floor whilst complaining about how much work is thrown at her. That is until she saw Tails and a confused look came to her face.
"Is that your doll Chris?" She asked curiously. "Aren't you a bit old to be playing with animal plushies?"
Chris scratched his head with an embarrassed look. "Well you see, it was a gift you see and I didn't want to hurt my friend's feeling by rejecting it."
Ella seemed to have bought that explanation but she continued to examine Tails curiously. "Well it is a very impressive doll, it almost looks real." She said as she got within inches of Tails face.
Involuntarily Tails' eyes shifted and he looked at her, causing her to start in surprise.
Thinking fast Chris grabbed Tails and ran out of the room with Chuck yelling. "Well I guess me and Grandpa will go play, see ya!"
Ella had a confused look to the door as Chris and Chuck slammed it shut before getting to work.
"Oh no." Rotor lamented underneath the bed.
-FFX-
The three burst out the slider door to the backyard, Tails riding on Chris' shoulders, laughing away the stressful moment just a minute ago.
"That was a close one!" Chris laughed out with Tails chuckling in agreement.
"Pulled the wool right over her eyes!" G. Chuck exclaimed with a chuckle of his own.
On the balcony above them Sonic cracked an eye in annoyance at being woken up, Sally sitting in a chair next to him reading a book she found interesting, it was a small book with a picture of a young human girl with a lantern gazing as a large serpentine dragon through giant bronze doors.
"Can't I nap in peace?" The hedgehog grumbled irritable.
Sally looked up from the book and gave her boyfriend an exasperated look. "All you seem to do is nap these days Sonic. How anyone as hyperactive as you can be so lazy I'll never know."
"What can I say; running at super sonic speeds wears a hedgehog out." Sonic replied with a bit of snark.
"You are so full of crap." Sally shot back with a chuckle as she returned to her book and gasped as she read a particularly intense moment in the story.
Sonic raised a brow at her in curiosity. "You've had your nose in the book for a while now, what is it?"
"It's a story about a young girl in a country here called China, it's kind of like Dragon Kingdom back on Mobius, she was a slave to the Imperial Dragon Keeper who feeds and manages the last two Dragons in the world for him, but one of them dies and she is sent on the run with the last one with a large purple stone and discovers that she is the real Dragon Keeper as she can understand the dragon, now she is fighting an evil necromancer to get the stone back." Sally explained as she got more and more engrossed by the book.
"Sounds pretty cool." Sonic commented as he relaxed and began to fall back asleep.
Sally shook her head before continuing her book, the heroine and her dragon now continuing their journey to the ocean.
Meanwhile Chuck was being dragged away by Mr. Tanaka after being…"persuaded" to take a nap.
Tails and Chris watched the display with confusion when Amy came out of nowhere and barreled into them, nearly causing them all to fall to the ground.
"Amy, what are you doing out here? Someone might see you." Chris half-asked half-chastised the young hedgehog.
"Oh never mind that!" Amy semi-ignored the question. "There a news report about a weird energy spike right now!"
Chris, Tails, Amy and now Bunnie sat together in the living room watching the report the pink hedgehog mentioned.
"…a strange magnetic disturbance, similar to the one caused by the energetic gemstone just a day ago in Station Square Central, has been reported in Silver Valley a few miles west of the city, all traffic to the area has been prohibited until the authorities can find the cause. In other news…"
"Well that sho' was fast." Bunnie commented whilst leaning back lazily on the sofa. "At this rate we'll be home in two shakes of Cheese's tail."
"I don't know…" Tails doubted with a hand to his chin. "Something doesn't seem right, Chaos Emeralds don't usually surface so soon after the last and while powerful their distortion fields aren't usually so widespread as to affect an entire valley, the green emerald only affected half a city block."
"Still don't you think we should check it out?" Amy asked somewhat pressingly. Secretly she was hoping to use this as an opportunity to get Sonic away from Sally and be alone with him to talk.
"It couldn't hurt Sugah." Bunnie agreed trying to coax the dubious Tails.
"I suppose it's better to be safe than sorry, chances are Eggman knows about this as well." Tails relented.
Without a word Amy and back out to the yard and looked up at Sonic snoozing on the balcony. "Sonic did you hear the news!" She called.
"Huh…?" Sonic mumbled out as he cracked an eye open, Sally putting her book down to listen out of site of the hostile (to her) hedgehog.
With a smile Amy began to explain. "A Chaos Emerald has been detected in Silver Valley; we're going to go find it." Now her smile was more flirtatious and she half closed her eyes to amplify her meaning. "You should come too we can have a picnic together." She added coquettishly.
"Nah, I've already been there." Sonic shot her down whilst picking his ear disinterestedly.
A shocked, almost scandalized look came to Amy's face. "You went without me!?" She half-shouted as Sonic before calming down. "Oh you must have went by on one of your runs right?" She concluded.
"Kinda." Sonic said cryptically before clarifying. "Me and Sal went by and decided to have a date there a while ago." Out of sight of Amy and the others Sally face palmed at her boyfriend's total lack of tact and was ruing the tantrum Amy was sure to throw.
"I…see…" Amy strained out and it was obvious she was trying NOT to throw that tantrum Sally feared. "Well…I hope you two had FUN!" She shouted at the end before stomping back into the house.
"Crap…" Sonic muttered as he realized his folly.
"Oh you are so smooth Casanova. Really the suavest of the suave couldn't have done it better." Sally mocked as she rested her cheek on the heel of her hand with an amused/annoyed look on her face.
"Yeah, yeah, you don't have to rub it in." Sonic dismissed, rubbing his face in a tired and irritated manner.
Sally sighed as she shut her book and got up with a stretch. "Well, I think Amy had the right idea about that picnic. How 'bout I make us some lunch and we can relax under the tree in the yard until they get back. If they do run into any trouble Tails will call us and we can get there before he can turn the radio off."
Sonic shrugged with a smile and said. "Sure, you want some help in the kitchen?"
Sally let out a laugh and said teasingly. "No thanks, I remember the last time we let you cook. The kitchen ceiling back in Knothole STILL had chili stains on it."
"Hey, I've improved since then." Sonic replied with mock hurt. "And I've expanded my menu to more than just chilidogs."
Sally just giggled in response and waved the hedgehog off as she entered the house. Sonic resumed his nap.
Back with Amy, Bunnie, Chris, and Tails the human asked a question they hadn't yet considered.
"How are we going to get there?"
The two Mobians looked at Chris was dumbfounded looks.
-FFX-
Several minutes later Chris was now on a bus with Amy and Tails sitting motionless beside him as dolls. The boys looked more than a little embarrassed as the other passengers stared at him, one woman commenting about him being too old to have plushies.
Bunnie used her rocket feet to follow from above and land gently on the roof of the bus.
"There all staring at me…" Chris whispered to his furry friends.
"Just hold on a few minutes we're almost there." Tails whispered back stone faced as possible.
"Don't talk they'll hear you." Chris mumbled out as quietly and subtly as he could.
"Chris…?" Amy said quietly, her eyes on the verge of tearing up. "I really, really need to blink." She whined, her eyes starting to turn red and bloodshot.
Before Chris could respond a little girl began to tug on Amy's ear. Jabbering excitedly to her mother and begging for a "doll" like Amy. It didn't take long before Amy got fed up with the obnoxious little girl and while no one was looking she kicked the girl away and sent her tumbling toward the back of the buss.
As the mother scrambled to sooth her crying child Amy signed in relief and closed her eyes while no one was looking. The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful.
-FFX-
Back at the Ranch with Sonic and Sally, the two have just finished their lunch and are now cuddling on the blanket beneath the tree on the verge of falling asleep when.
"You think we should have gone with Tails and the others to get the emerald?" Sally asked as she laid her head on Sonic's chest.
"Nah, Bunnie's with them and I think it be best to stay far away from Amy for a while." Sonic replied.
Sally sat up and stretched her arms over her head, moaning slightly as the tension in her muscles released. "I guess you're right." She agreed.
Sonic sat up as well and began to rub his hands into Sally's back, earning another moan from the chipmunk.
"Oooh, riiight there, that feels gooood" She moaned out as more tension left her muscles.
Sonic let out a playful whistle of amazement. "I'm surprised you can move like you did when we got the emerald." He teased. "Your muscles are so tense you should be a statue."
"Comes with being your girlfriend, ooomph, Big Blue." Sally teased back through her moans of relief and pleasure. "Any girl that has to, mmmm, deal with your massive ego on a daily basis, oooh, would be knotted up too."
Sonic simply chuckled as he continued to work his fingers into Sally's stiff muscles. "Or…" He started. "Maybe you forgot how to have fun while I was gone?"
Sally pouted at that and sent a mock glare and the cobalt hedgehog. "I know how to have fun." She argued childishly. "I just don't head butt my way into trouble like you do!"
They continued to playfully argue back and forth but were interrupted by the sound of a small thruster coming toward them. The couple looked up to see a strange little robot hovering toward them carrying a TV as big as him. By the look on his face he was having a bit of trouble holding it.
"Badnik!" Sally shouted in alarm as she scrambled to her feet an entered a martial stance.
"Sally, relax." Sonic said with a hand on her shoulder. "It's just Bokkun. He's Egghead's messenger." With that he called to the little black robot. "Hey squirt! What do you want now!?" he shouted.
"Message from Dr. Eggman!" The little bot cried before he closed the couples picnic basket and pleased the TV on it, crushing the basket in the process. Bokkun ignored this and switched the screen on.
The screen *schzzzz*ed softly with static before it cleared up and an extreme close-up of Knuckles' face became visible on screen, and he did not looks pleased.
"Sonic, I'm sick of your selfish actions and disregard for the consequences of them." The Echidna said angrily, much to the duo's confusions. Neither of them noticed Bokkun slowly slinking away. "You've gone too far this time and we are going to settle it today in Silver Valley. Meet me there is an hour or I'll track you down myself!"
The moment the message ended the screen began to spark and smoke, thinking quick Sonic grabbed Sally and jumped away from the TV just before it exploded, taking the picnic with it and Bokkun giggled madly as he flew away.
After the smoke cleared Sonic got up, helping Sally as he did, and he was none too pleased with Knuckles' message. "I don't know what's going on in that thick skull of his, but if Knuckles wants a fight; I'll give him one."
"What was he talking about anyway?" Sally asked as she dusted off the dirt and soot from her clothes and fur.
"Pheh, Knuckle-Head has been breathing down my neck ever since I helped him kick Eggman off his island and rescued the Master Emerald. Never liked the way I got things done." Sonic explained as he adjusted his hoodie, gloves, and shoes.
Sally crossed her arms, cocked her hips, and gave Sonic a look that said "I can relate". When Sonic caught that look his grinned and scratched the back of his head.
"Okay, I'll admit I tend to follow the "Leap Before You Look" strategy, but it's not like I'm being entirely stupid about it, and more often than not it work out okay." He defended himself.
"You must have done something to set him off." Sally argued, shifting her weight from one hip to the other.
"Nothing current." Sonic said as he started to think about it. "I haven't seen him since we stopped the half-cooked omelet's first attack on Station Square." Then he had an epiphany.
Sally got a similar look on her face. The couple nodded to each other, Sonic scooped up Sally, and the two bolted toward Silver Valley.
-FFX-
Meanwhile we find Chris, Amy, Tails, and Bunnie relaxing by the lake finishing their own picnic.
"Well this sho' was a wild goose chase, Sugahs." Bunnie said after finishing one of Creams delicious donuts.
"Yeah, the reporters must have gotten their facts wrong." Tails agreed while still nibbling on his own donut.
"So what should we do while we're here?" Chris asked, completely done with his meal.
"We could go swimming in the lake, or hiking." Amy suggested still in the middle of her sandwich.
"How about none of the above?" A familiar voice sneered behind them.
The quartet quickly spun around just in time to see a device land on Bunnie's chest and give her a merciless shock, temporarily decommissioning her cybernetics.
"Aunt Bunnie!" Tails shouted as he held her up, her legs no longer able to hold her weight.
While they were distracted by Bunnie's plight a large shovel-like arm scooped them up and trapped them all inside a huge capsule shaped robot with a reinforced glass or plastic body.
"Off on a little camping trip are we?" Eggman said as his pod floated into their view, his disguised robotic arms opened to reveal a launcher of some that no doubt was used to knock out Bunnie.
"Eggman, we should've known you were behind those false reports!" Tails said as he helped prop up the slightly dazed and immobile Bunnie.
"Let us out!" Chris shouted angrily.
"I'll get us out!" Amy exclaimed as she whipped out her hammer and bang on the glass furiously, but is didn't take long for her to wear herself out, not even scratching the surface.
Eggman chuckled as he adjusted his glasses, sunlight flashing off of their tinted surface. "I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere." The despot said. "You are my aces in the hole if Knuckles fails to hold his end of the bargain."
"Knuckles?" Amy echoed in confusion. "What are you talking about? Knuckles would never work with you again!"
Eggman raised a finger and waggled it disapprovingly. "Ah but it's not very business-like to reveal specifics about a contract to outside parties. You'll just have to wait and see."
Unknown to the two parties below a figure was watching the exchange from a tall tree a dozen meters away. "Didn't think I'd see them on this planet." The figure said whilst stroking his chin, his focus on Eggman, Tails, and Bunnie.
-FFX-
Knuckles sat on a small bolder atop a peninsular outcropping overlooking the forest, arms folded and eyes closed. "He's late, where is that ratbag?" The echidna grumbled despondently.
"You rang?" Sonic greeted mockingly as he suddenly appeared in front of the guardian.
"It took you long enough, got sidetracked?" Knuckles growled as he stood up.
Sonic looked up with a mock wistful look. "Well…"
-A few moments ago-
Sonic and Sally were strolling through the forests of Silver Valley as they came up with a strategy.
"Why don't we just tell Knuckles he is being fooled?" Sally asked as she pushed aside the odd pine branch.
"Because he's a knucklehead." Sonic replied lightly. "Once he has his mind set on something there are only two ways to change it." He held up a fist and brought out a finger for each point he states. "Prove him wrong or beat some sense into him."
"So what should we do?" Sally asked deciding to let Sonic take the reins for this 'op'. "He's your friend, so it's up to you."
"Simple." Sonic said with his trademark grin. "I'll be partaking in Way 2 while you look for Eggman for Way 1."
The two stopped and Sally gave her boyfriend a deadpan look, her arms crossed and her hips cocked.
"What?" Sonic asked awkwardly.
Sally just sighed and began walking in another direction to search for Eggman. "Nothing, nothing." She dismissed with an arm raised. "We'll meet up at the lake once one "Way" or the other works out."
There was a gust of wind and Sally's eyes widened as he felt (and saw) Sonic giving her a nice big kiss on the lips. He backed away with a cheeky grin before saluting her and blasting off toward Knuckles' location.
Sally huffed with a blush but she smiled in his direction. "The things I put up with for him." She said to herself before she used her own semi-super speed to traverse the trees with her parkour and free-running skills.
-Now-
"Let just say I had other obligations to meet." Sonic said cryptically.
Knuckles growled at Sonic's attitude but decided to get strait to business. "I'll make this simple Sonic, give me the Chaos Emerald."
"Why, what do you want the Emeralds all of a sudden?" Sonic asked with confusion. "And why are you working for Eggman, I didn't think you'd trust him after the stunts he pulled on Angle Island."
"I wouldn't trust that fruit loop as far as I could throw 'im." Knuckles replied hotly. "And I wouldn't give him the Emeralds if I had a choice, but what he said about you makes sense. I wouldn't put it pass an adrenaline junkie like you drag us all to another world just for shits and giggles and I need him to find a way back to Mobius so I can continue my duties as Guardian."
Sonic sighed irritably, crossed his arms and shook his head. "And you think Egg-Salad will keep his end of the bargain?"
Knuckles suddenly charged forward with a fist cocked back. "I'll make 'im keep it!" He shouted before punching at Sonic.
"Whoa!" Sonic exclaimed as he dodged to the left then quickly retaliated with a left kick to the Echidna's side.
Knuckles took the hit and grabbed onto the blue blur's leg, he spun Sonic around twice before throwing him into the trees.
Using agility he has honed through years of guerrilla warfare and adventuring, Sonic grabbed a low hanging branch swung around it until all his momentum was gone and he was hand standing off of it. He gave Knuckles and upside down cheeky grin and shouted. "Catch me if you can!" And bolted through the forest.
"Get back here!" Knuckles yelled and gave chase.
-FFX-
Sally was now jumping and swinging from branch to branch as she looked for any sign of Eggman's presence. "The lake is probably a good place to start. If Bunnie and the others are still here Robotnik is probably causing them trouble." She grimaced a little as her thought continued. "That brat Amy did say they were going to have a picnic." She shook her head at her own tone. "I shouldn't be like that, Aurora knows I was testy those times Sonic flirted with other women before we became a couple."
It was at the moment Sally reached the last tree before a clearing and gasped as she saw what lay before her. "Oh no…" She whispered.
Eggman was sitting in his Egg-Mobile mocking her friends who were trapped inside a massive capsule like robot, and Bunnie looked like she was on the verge of unconsciousness.
"Crap, what can I do?" Sally asked herself. "It's just to open and bright to be stealthy and rushing him could cause him to do who knows what to the others while they're inside that thing."
"Princess!" A voice quietly shouted to her from below.
Sally jumped and nearly fell out of the tree, after regaining her balance the chipmunk looked down to see a familiar and friendly face. "Sir Charles!" She cried out softly as to not alert the armored madman ahead of them.
Charles "Chuck" Hedgehog grinned through his big bushy mustache at the girl he has considered his niece for many years as she slid down the tree to meet him. "Now I thought I told you to call me Uncle Chuck? Everyone else does." He teased the girl.
Charles had changed much in the years since Sonic left Knothole. While he did still run his café back in the village (which is more like a city now) he also retook his station as the R&D chief, so if he wasn't wearing his chef outfit or R&D uniform, he was wearing his dark green turtle neck brown leather jacket, and blue jeans like he was now. It actually looked similar to Chris' grandpa's outfit but more formal. Not to mention he was among the number of Robians that mysteriously vanished only to reappear the next day with their organic state completely restored.
Sally hugged the elder hedgehog around the neck affectionately. "What are you doing here? I thought only the people near Eggman's base got sent here?"
"Eggman?" Charles said confusedly.
"Robotnik's new nickname." Sally explained with a smile.
Charles chuckled as that but he decided to answer the princess' question. "Well, as far as I can gather that white dome of Chaos Energy did stop at where ever you found Robotnik's base, the dome spread all across the continent, maybe even the planet until it washed over Knothole."
"So we aren't the only ones that could have been sent here?" Sally concluded getting a nod from the older Mobian, her expression soured slightly. "Meaning my father is probably here too." She said; her voice as sour as her expression.
Charles nodded awkwardly before replying. "Possibly but I wouldn't bet on it, as far as I can tell only a few people have been sent to this planet, otherwise we'd be seeing a lot more Mobian wandering around."
Sally sighed in relief; she loved her father very much but was not ready to deal with his political crap or his ranting about Sonic. Then she remembered the situation at hand and looked back at the clearing with Eggman and her captured friends.
Seeing this Charles followed Sally's line of sight and saw "Eggman" in his pod and armor gloating over the captured Amy, Tails, Bunnie, and Chris, though he didn't yet know the name of the human boy or pink hedgehog. "You have a plan princess?" He asked.
A Sonic-like smirk crossed the chipmunk's muzzle. "I think so."
-FFX-
"You can't run forever!" Knuckles shouted as he and Sonic climbed and ran up a cliff face.
Obviously Sonic was the first one to clear the cliff and ran up a tree to get a quick view before Knuckle caught up. "Oh man look at that view, I should bring Sal up here!"
"Only if your legs still work!" Knuckles roared as he cracked the tree from its roots with a single punch, making it fall out with Sonic still on it.
"What the hell are you doing Knucklehead!?" Sonic shouted angrily, after living in a forest for most of his life he took needless destruction of trees and wildlife personally.
After landing Sonic did a quick U-turn toward Knuckles, catching the echidna off guard. He slid on the ground, swiping Knuckles' legs from under him, and quickly an uppercut to his jaw to keep him in the air and a spin kick to the side, sending him flaying into the foliage.
"RRRAAH!" Knuckles raged as he burst out of the bushes with furry in his eyes and began to do rapid fire punches.
Sonic dodged and back pedaled away. 'I don't think Way 1 is going to work, looks like I better lead him toward the lake for Way 2.' The hedgehog though before he suddenly jumped over Knuckles head and shouted. "Race ya!" and shot off toward the lake.
"When I catch you I'm going to break. Your. LEGS!" Knuckles raged as he gave chase.
-FFX-
"I think Sonic's idea isn't…going as planned." Sally said dryly as she saw the trail of dust and falling trees in the distance, Eggman cheering Knuckles on from his pod in the background.
Currently she and Charles were putting their plan into action. She would sneak around the clearing using the trees until she could get behind Eggman while Charles distracted him, pretending to stumble upon him and the others.
It was after Sally's comment that Charles came out of the brush on the opposite side of the clearing seemingly confused and lost.
"Who is-Charles?" Eggman said in surprise at the sight of his former colleague.
"Robotnik?" Charles responded looking surprised himself, and it was slightly genuine, while he did Robotnik was here and could see him, he didn't get a clear look from where he and Sally were and the mad doctor looks much different from five years ago. Over weight but not morbidly obese, and his cybernetics seemingly replaced with flesh and blood.
"Well, it seems Chaos Control's area of effect was wider than I anticipated." Eggman surmised but then another thought came to him. "Unless you were snooping around my base."
"I don't even know where your base was Julian!" Charles denied as he pointed at the Overlander. "But I should have known that wall of white light scouring the planet was your doing!"
Meanwhile, inside the capsule robot Tails and a now fully-conscious, though still immobile, Bunnie were smiling excitedly at the sight of the older hedgehog. "Uncle Chuck!" They exclaimed happily.
Charles looked both happy and worried as he looked up to Bunnie and Tails. "Kids, are you okay?" He asked, happy to see that they were okay but worried that they were captured.
"We're fine but Bunnies limbs are shot, and the glass is too strong for any of us to break!" Tails replied back.
"Now, now." Eggman tsked as he snapped his fingers and suddenly Tails could no longer by hear through the glass. "It's rude to interrupt when the grown-ups are talking."
"Fuck!" Tails cursed, and then blushed when he saw the disapproving look Charles gave him, obviously he could read lips.
"Who is that?" Chris asked, confused at the sight of another blue hedgehog, though older than Sonic with a LOT of facial hair/fur. "He looks like Sonic but…older."
"That's Sugah-Hog's Uncle Chuck." Bunnie explained while Charles and Eggman conversed
"Sonic's…uncle?" Amy repeated uncertainly. 'Sonic never told me he had any family…' She thought to herself, confused and upset that her knowledge of her love was showing to be more and more limited.
"But how is he organic again?" Tails asked Bunnie, adding to Amy's confusion and frustration. "Did you guys figure out how to reverse Roboticization while Sonic and I were gone?"
"It was the strangest thing Sugah." Bunnie began to explain. "One night all of the Robians all across the planet just vanished, all at once! Then the next day they all reappeared normal Mobians again, even Sonic's ma and pa." She then looked sadly at her robotic arm. "Sadly Ah wasn't one o' them."
Tails gave Bunnie a small hug to comfort her. "Wow…" Chris said in awe. "You guys have been through a lot haven't you."
"We sho' have Sugah." Bunnie confirmed. "We spent nearly our whole lives o' our lives fightn' Robotnik, and Tails nevah got a normal childhood because of it."
"I can't believe you and Sonic never told me about this Tails!" Amy shouted, angry at being out of the loop for so long, how much did she really know about Sonic and Tails. Not as much as she thought.
Tails looked down and rubbed his arm awkwardly. "It's…not a subject we like to talk about." He said. "I mean, how do you bring the fact you were a child solider up in conversation?"
It was at the moment that a familiar face popped out from above them. Sally had managed to sneak onto the robot while Charles distracted Eggman.
'Oh no, not her!' Amy screamed in her mind but chose to keep quite this time. As much as she hated Sally for "stealing" Sonic from her she knew now wasn't the time to spurn her help.
Sally pointed up, showing that she was going to try force the robot to open up.
"Okay…" Sally whispered to herself as she hung off the inactive robot head and took out NICOLE. "Let's crack this egg-bot open."
Pulling out a cable from the bottom of NICOLE's handheld she plunged the computer into the robot. "NICOLE, see if you can open up this robot and let the others out."
[One moment Sally…] The A.I responded as she started her hacking algorithms.
"I don't think so." A familiar, nasally voice spoke up behind her.
Before Sally could react a mechanical claw grabbed her and pulled her away from the robot, along with breaking NICOLE's cable.
The claw turned Sally around and she saw none other than Snively Robotnik. "Hello Princess." He greeted mockingly.
"So you got sent here too." Sally stated with a growl.
"Yes I have, and I had a heartwarming reunion with my dear Uncle Julian not a few days ago." The dwarf explained, still with a mocking air in his high-pitched nasally voice before calling to his uncle. "Sir, it seems we have another uninvited guest to our little venture in the woods."
Eggman turned toward his nephew and saw Sally in the clutches of his pod's claw. A smirk crossed his face at the sight. "Well done Snively, I knew you'd come in handy."
He turned back to Charles who had a horrified look on his face. "That was a cleaver attempt Charles but it'll take more than distractions to beat me." He snapped his fingers and the robot's cyclopean eye lit up. "E-47, collect our new guest."
Carefully the robot opened its capsule-like body just enough to fit the new occupants through as Snively placed Sally inside and E-47 took Charles. After Sally and Charles were secured inside the robot Eggman and Snively looked toward the mountains, watching what they could of the battle between Sonic and Knuckles.
-FFX-
Meanwhile, Sonic was jogging down the mountain with Knuckles hot on his tail and knocking down trees trying to get to him.
'I gotta lead Knux away from here before he tears down the entire forest!' He thought to himself as he hoped onto an old log and used it as a catapult when a tree fell on it to land on another tree top that Knuckles was knocking down. As it began to fall over Sonic tucked into a spin dash rammed into the Echidna Guardian, sending the both of them tumbling down a steep slope into a river…
"Oh Walkers no!" Sonic screeched frightfully as he attempted to keep himself afloat. "Somebody help!"
He continued to flail until he noticed the "river" was more of a shallow, shin-deep stream. He looked at Knuckles, who was watching him with mild amusement, then to his soaked. "I guess this is the kiddie pool?" He rhetorically asked with a mocking shrug before he flipped out onto the bank opposite of Knuckles.
"I've had enough, it's about time we ended this!" Sonic boasted, entering a stance.
Knuckles was also in a stance. "Agreed, after this we'll be back on Mobius weather you like it or not!"
-FFX-
"That's right Knuckles!" Eggman shouted over the lake. "Beat him and we'll be back on Mobius in no time!"
"Take him down!" Snively egged on.
"Do they have to fight now?" Amy complained as she watched the two duke-it-out. "Can't they help us first?"
"I knew it wouldn't be that easy." Sally sighed with her arms crossed. "One of these days he's going to have to learn that speed is no substitute for common sense."
Amy turned to Sally looking pissed. "Don't talk about Sonic like that! He's great!" She argued with the princess.
"That doesn't mean I won't call him on his bullshit." Sally responded much more calmly. "I don't know about you." She continued, pointing at Amy. "But just because I'm his girlfriend doesn't mean I'm going to stroke his ego, his it has inflated enough."
"Um…guys?" Tails said trying to defuse the situation before it escalated further. The girls turned to him to see him kneeling next to the central part of the robot opening a panel.
"You're pretty handy aren't you?" Chris commented as the kitsune opened up a panel to expose the wiring and circuitry.
"It's nothing really; I used to help Rotor a lot back in Knothole." Tails explained as he examined the wiring. "Now we just have to find the right wires and…"
"We don't have time for that!" Amy shouted as she whipped out her Piko Hammer. "We need to get out of here now, and help Sonic!" She raised her hammer high above her head.
"Amy, no!" Everyone inside shouted but it was too late. With a yell Amy smashed her hammer into the circuitry. At first it seemed nothing happened but after a second the central body began to spark and it exploded, breaking the glass and filling the capsule with smoke.
-FFX-
Sonic heard the explosion and he looked out over the lake to see a pillar of smoke wafting from a robot on the shore. Eggman yelling at it angrily with…Snively of all people next to him!
"Oh no!" Sonic exclaimed to himself quietly.
To Knuckles' surprise Sonic took off toward the lake without warning. The echidna grew angry and gave chase. "Get back here you wuss!"
Still running; Sonic turned his head and scowled as Knuckles. "We'll settle this later!" He said before vanishing into a streak of blue light.
Back at the lake the Mobians and Chris were trying to get some fresh air through the hole in E-47's side. "We have to get out!" Amy coughed out.
"But the glass will tear us apart." Tails pointed out.
"What have you done!?" Eggman roared. "How dare you do this to my glorious machine?!"
A low rumbling could be heard and everyone looked to see a streak of light headed toward them. The light zipped across the E=47's legs and a second later the exploded causing the robot to topple over.
Sonic then appeared beside the robot. "You guys oka-Uncle Chuck!?" He exclaimed as he saw the lighter blue and older hedgehog through the glass.
"Hey, Sonny-boy…" Charles groaned out lamely, having landed on his back.
"What are you doing here? Why aren't you a robot anymore?" Sonic began shoot of questioned like a machine gun but was cut off by Snively.
"Do not ignore us rodent!" The short Overlander shouted.
"Oh, hey Snotly, long time no see!" Sonic greeted mockingly.
"It's Snively you pest!" Snively corrected indignantly.
"Slimely?" The hedgehog asked jestingly.
"Snively!"
"Smigely?"
"Snively!"
"George?"
"GAAAAH!" Snively screeched irately as he pulled on what little hair he had left.
But Sonic's game was interrupted by Eggman.
The tyrant raised his fingers. "No more fooling around you ingrates! E-47 is not done yet!" He snapped his fingers and suddenly the E-series got back him, flipping over so that it "arms" became its legs and a new cyclopean head came out of what used to be the bottom section. Several turret barrels sprung out of the robot's sides and began firing at Sonic!
Sonic dodged left and right, having little difficulty avoiding the bullets. Eventually though the sheer amount of bullets were becoming too much and Sonic was forced to find cover behind a rock.
The high caliber rounds began to chew through the rock but luckily for Sonic, Knuckles showed up and busted in one of the turrets, forcing E-47 to stop.
"Stay out of my way Eggman! This fight is between me and Sonic!" Knuckles shouted at Eggman.
"Grrrh, enough!" Eggman sneered impatiently as he snapped his fingers again. The robot acknowledged the command and rocket jumped to the other side of the lake. "I'm terminating our contract Knuckles, now we're doing this my way!" Eggman announced before focusing on Sonic.
"I know about your inability to swim, Sonic." The mad scientist stated as he pointed gestured toward the lake. "E-47 is filled with explosives, so meet my demands or I'll blow your girlfriend to flaming, bloody chunks along with your uncle and friends." He raised his hand, showing a detonator. "And this time, I will be able to push the button. Bring me the Chaos Emerald!"
Sonic looked down and shadow seemed to obscure his eyes, as if he was hesitating. But he looked up and a determined, confident look on his face. "No." He said simply and in a tone that left no room for argument.
"What!?" Eggman and Snively shouted in unison, and Knuckles looked at Sonic with a shocked expression.
The Blue Blur pointed a finger at Eggman defiantly. "I know how you work Eggman, even if I did give you the Emerald you'd never keep your word!" Then that classic smirk spread across Sonic's muzzle. "Besides, I don't need to swim or go around!"
Before Eggman or Snively could say anything Sonic ran straight toward E-47 and ran on the water! The lake waters shot up around him in a massive wake that was able to soak the two mad scientists' in their pods and shorting out the detonator.
Even the robot couldn't react before Sonic once again knocked it over, this time allowing its captives to crawl out.
"You guys okay?" Sonic said as he approached the group. Tails, Chris, Bunnie, and Amy were already out with the latter on her knees. Sally and Charles were still inside the pod and Tails was supporting the still immobile Bunnie.
Sonic approached the hole in E-47's side to help Sally and Charles out but as soon as he got near Amy she let out a pitiful moan and jumped onto him, letting out some sobs.
"I knew you'd come and save me!" The pink hedgehog cried as she looped her arms around the taller hedgehog's neck.
"Amy, calm down!" Sonic complained as he tried to gently push the girl away, only for her to tighten the hug.
At this point Sally and Charles were able to get out of the robot on their own and were able to see the display. Sally was none too pleased with the younger girl obviously trying to "woo" Sonic from her and was about to pull her off of him, again, when E-47 started to get up again.
"E-47, engage all weaponry!" Eggman commanded and in response the robot opened all turrets guns and missile tubes. "Fire!"
Instantly the area became Bullet Hell as bullets and missiles flew in every direction imaginable. Acting fast Sonic picked up Amy and Bunnie and the rest quickly followed as he headed for cover behind some rocks.
"We're pinned down!" Tails shouted over the gunfire as bullets and missiles missed them by mear inches.
Suddenly Knuckles slid back into the scene, standing between them and the swarm of projectiles like a bulwark. "Well take care of Eggman and his flunky!" He proclaimed.
Sonic looked up and simply smirked at the Guardian.
Knuckles charged the robot, somehow managing to dodge the bullets and missiles. Once he reached E-47's feet he used his fist-spikes to climb and damage it at the same time until he reached its head. Once there he used the robot's head to launch himself higher into the air so that he could reach Eggman and Snively.
"Oh crap…" Eggman muttered as he saw the Echidna cock his fist back.
"You bloody wanker!" Knuckles exclaimed before he uppercut the scientist so hard it sent him and his pod flying through the air and then spun around to do an upward axe kick to do the same to Snively.
He then let gravity retake its hold on him, as he fell Knuckles raised a fist and slammed it into E-47's head as he landed. A huge fissure cleft the machine in two, effectively destroying it.
Unfortunately though, it seems that some of the explosives inside E-47 detonated from the circuitry shorting out and a concussive blast with the force of a small hurricane burst forth from the capsular robot forcing the Amy, Chris and the Freedom Fighters to brace themselves, but Knuckles was not so lucky and was sent flying through the air to his likely death.
Thinking as fast as his feet, Sonic leapt into action! Moving faster than the blast could propel the echidna Sonic quickly climbed up a tree and caught Knuckles by the arm just before he flew out of reach. He then braced himself and the two rode out the last of the wind from the explosion.
A couple minutes later Sonic and Knuckles were now standing next to the tree Sonic used to save Knuckles, brushing the dirt and foliage out of their clothes but otherwise fine.
Knuckles and Sonic gave each other hard looks as they studied one another, but after a minute they both gave each other good natured smirks.
"Are you guys okay?" Tails shouted as he and the other came running toward them, and Bunnie's limbs were finally working again, Charles must have used Tails tools to fix the short in them.
Sonic was about to reply when-"Sonic!"…Amy cried as she approached the group.
"Oh Chaos…" Sonic cursed to himself as he saw Amy come barreling toward him. Thinking quickly he swerved around her hug and that she semi-gently bumped into the tree behind him and slid his way next to Sally, wrapping his arms around her waist in the process.
"You okay Sal?" Sonic asked his girlfriend and rubbed his hand gently up and down her the curve of her waist and hip.
Sally smiled up at Sonic for his concern. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just my pride's a little bruised from having Snively of all people sneak up on me." She reassured him.
Amy was about to ruin the moment, again, when Knuckles suddenly started to walk off toward the forest. Deciding to ignore Sonic and Sally for the moment she chased after the echidna. After she caught up she walked beside him with her hands behind her back.
"I bet you want to apologize to Sonic for letting Eggman trick you like that, huh?" She asked curiously, and also trying to score some points with Sonic. She wasn't. "And I bet you want to thank him for his help but you too proud?"
"Shut it, sheila!" Knuckles barked at her irately but the girl was not offended by the tone and simply leaned toward him with a knowing smile. Knuckles looked back at the group with a smirk that was returned by said group. He turned his back to them with a wave. "Later, mates."
After Knuckles left, Amy spoke up. "How are we all gonna get home?"
"The Tornado has a remote control." Tails spoke up. "I'll call it over so Amy, Chris, and I can ride home. Aunt Bunnie can carry Uncle Chuck, and Sonic can carry Aunt Sally."
"Works for me!" Sonic agreed as he scooped up Sally, who squeaked in surprise, and then blasted off.
"He could have waited until the Tornado got here." Amy said grumpily, disappointed that she didn't get to have Sonic carry her or to talk him.
END
-FFX-
(A/N: Well FINALLY! I'm not to happy with how I ended it but that was all I can think of without dragging this out another five pages. And for you Amy fans, YES, I know I'm making Amy a bitch, but that's because she's pissed about Sally "stealing" Sonic from her. It won't be for a little while but I am going to eventually redeem her in future chapters. So calm your tits she's not going to be a bitch forever.)