Level 3: The battle of Spring Yard Act 2: The fall of Knothole base
Sonic the hedgehog was powerless, having dealt a blow by loosing so many to Robotnik and having Shadow beat him so badly Sonic the Hedgehog was in a slump and was just plain Maurice again.
Worst of all his emerald was gone along with the ones Amy and Tails had.
This was all just a bad dream and Maurice wanted to wake up. But he tried to wake up and still found himself brown and slow.
Maurice was very down and with good reason.
Tails came up to him, he felt bad for this former hero.
"Are you okay Sonic?"
Maurice smiled "you can call me Maurice now kid, Sonic is no more"
"You are still Sonic to me" Tails said with a smile "you are my hero no matter what you do"
Maurice smiled "thanks Tails, but my hero days are over"
Sally then came forward and said "okay everyone we have a mission to do!"
She pulled out Nicole and from the end of the tablet came a light that emitted a hologram.
"We are heading back to Knothole base" she said "we are going to get the last of the supplies but we know it won't be easy, for this I want Amy, Rotor, Bunnie, Antoine and myself to go Tails you say here and keep Maurice company. I don't want to leave you both out but its best you stay here"
Tails nodded "I get it you want me here to make Sonic feel better"
"And what about me" Knuckles spat "You my friend are staying here to guard everyone" said Amy "teach you some manners!"
"look I am sorry okay I am just not used to other people!" Knuckles spat "Still best you stayed here" said Sally "you don't know the base do you?"
"I only know so much about this island" said Knuckles "I knew where this tunnel is but only because my people built them. Knothole base is only partly my peoples technology you did things to it afterwards"
"Well then you stay" said Sally "you know how to follow orders now right?"
Knuckles nodded "as long as you stop slamming me around I will do as you ask"
"This is not a game you know" said Amy "no extra lives or continues!"
Knuckles shrugged "no more games from me, I am a man of my word"
Sally nodded "thank you, everyone prepare to move out!"
Sally and her team began to prepare. Bunnie came up to Tails and said "this unit needs a new ring, used up quite a bit of power and I still need my recharge"
Tails nodded as he gave her a ring and she placed it in her chest "how much power drain did you have?"
"8% with each shot, this unit was almost down to 20.1% by the end"
Tails nodded "well here take this" as he gave her a small container with a ring symbol on it.
"It's my ring generator, it can generate up to ten rings given time"
"And what happens if it goes over ten rings?" Bunnie asked "Never tested it" said Tails with a shrug "guess you are going to be my case study"
Bunnie nodded as she walked off.
"You have lots of toys in that thing I bet" said Knuckles "Mostly prototypes, I have several of these things in my pouch"
He pulled out more things and said "these are brief power ups but may help us"
He pointed at one of the item boxes with stars in front of it and said "this one is brief invincibility, it lasts about 15 seconds."
He then pointed at another with a shield on it "this is the shield, it is an energy barrier that will protect you until hit. I am working on this one a bit as I have other shields in mind"
He then got out one last box with static on it and said "this one I don't know what I will give it"
"Why not speed shoes, I can use that right now" Said Maurice "Not a bad idea, just be careful as its only brief and won't give you your powers back"
"Well work on it, give you something to do right?"
Tails nodded "anything for you Sonic"
Antoine grabbed the invincibility power up and Bunnie grabbed the shield as Tails said "once I can get the time I will make duplicates of them, but for now take care of those they are prototypes after all"
Sally nodded "we will keep them safe"
Amy nodded "okay guys lets do it to it!"
The group did the fist pump with each other and then headed out.
On Robotniks carrier Shadow Rouge and Fang watched as a large battalion of Badniks were assembled by the new slaves Robotnik had acquired.
Like a deranged assembly line they worked endlessly and tirelessly on the attack force.
"So that is our future" said Rouge "are you sure it's a future you want for us?"
Shadow shrugged "it's not up to me, I only work for the big guy"
"I think its rather interesting" said Fang "turning someone into your robot slave seems like a useful power"
"But you would be a slave yourself" said Rouge "don't think that would be any fun"
Fang shrugged "well they don't seem to mind it"
Shadow laughed "they have no choice, the roboticizer robs you of who you are"
"But it does make you better" said Robotnik as he came to join in "you would all be perfect beings without the flaws of your organic bodies, even you Shadow will benefit from the process"
"So what are you going to do to all these slaves next?" asked Rouge "Put them in the Scrap Brain experiment" said Robotnik "the next phase of their robotic lives"
"What is this Scrap Brain you speak of?" Fang asked "Glad you asked, Scrap Brain is where all the workers will be linked together in a collective mind. Not only will my programming keep their original personalities in check but those personalities will be linked together in a uniformed mind. Right now they only act together because of command but soon they will act together because they are linked to the same mind. The Scrap Brain is the first study case in this so that when I Roboticize more it will serve as a test bed."
"But it will take a while to capture more would it not?" Rouge asked Robotnik nodded "that is why I am working on my roboticization cannon using the emeralds, for now its been one at a time as my artificial emerald technology but soon I will be able to mass roboticize. The first test for that weapon is going to be used on Star Light City but it will take a few days to hook up my weapon"
"And I guess that is why you want the other emeralds, to make the weapon bigger"
Robotnik nodded "for ten years I have been working on such a weapon using my slaves and until recently I have not been able to do what I wished, but then I started getting the emeralds with the first one you stole Rouge and the others followed."
"You have been waiting a long time for this have you?" Rouge asked "believe me dear that time is far longer than you can imagine" said Robotnik as he watched his slaves work "Well we are going to head out now" said Shadow "see you soon"
"Take your time my friends, I will wait here" said Robotnik "Say what about that bike I was promised?" Shadow asked "Its ready" said Robotnik but its no use on this mission"
"Well you could borrow my bike" said Fang "You have a bike?" shadow asked "Sure do" Fang replied "though its more of an air bike, I call it the marvelous queen"
"Huh, kind of lame. I will probably call my Bike the dark rider"
"Talk about a lame name, besides are you supposed to be the ultimate lifeform why do you need to carry a gun and ride a bike for?"
"Just sounds cool" Said Shadow "You guys are hopeless" Rouge chimed, the three then went down and headed towards the base.
For the last few hours Amy's team were gathering supplies from Knothole base and were nearly done "Okay we got some supplies here" said Sally "About five more days worth at least" chimed Antoine "It's going to be just enough" said Rotor "I just wish we didn't have to dump this base" replied Amy "Well don't worry about food for me" said Bunnie "this unit doesn't need food"
"Good point" said Amy Soon though an alarm went off signaling intruders "Here they come" Rotor said with disdain "Okay we will get the supplies downstairs it will take them a bit to get in here, they are probably going all over the base" said Sally "We need to take the emergency stairs" said Antoine "ze elevators are not safe"
"The only place with only one access point inside is the command room" replied Sally "we need to take the elevator for that one"
"This unit will help defend anyone who will go up there" said Bunnie "Amy and I are going" said Sally "we know the pass codes to self destruct this base"
"We will give it ten minutes" Amy replied "plenty of time to ditch this base"
"Well we are going to face resistance so Rotor and Antoine I want you to take the secondary tunnels, the main tunnel is probably crowded with robots by now but the emergency tunnels no one else knows about except us. Rouge might have given Robotnik some tips but she did not know of the emergency tunnels" said Sally "Hey it's a chance to live to say the least" said Amy Sally nodded "Nicole I want you to set up the self destruct process and give Bunnie access to authorization"
"Granted Sally" chimed Nicole "We still need to go to the command center" said Amy "the main destruction must be initiated there"
"Better be prepared for anything" replied Sally "This unit was born prepared" chimed Bunnie The others nodded and soon Amy, Sally and Bunnie headed up on the elevator.
Back in the cave near the Labyrinth Tails was almost done working on his new item box, he fished the last bits of its internals and said "there, its finished"
A pair of sneakers appeared on its front and Tails said "power sneaker power up complete!"
"Looks cool to me" said Maurice "can I try it?"
Tails nodded as Maurice grabbed the power up.
Without warning his blue fur came back, he felt fast again.
Sonic the hedgehog seemed to be back!
He raced around feeling his speed come back to him.
However, in 30 seconds the power wore off and Sonic was Maurice once more.
"Oh great" said Maurice "can I have that again please?"
Tails shook his head "it needs to charge up and doping too much of it may be bad for you"
Outside a storm was brewing and without warning thunder struck outside Tails was startled, he curled up in a ball and said "oh no not thunder!"
"Huh the kid is afraid of thunder eh?" Knuckles mused "Leave the kid alone" Maurice scolded "Sorry" said Tails uncurling "I was struck by lighting once"
Maurice looked at him "you were?"
Tails nodded "I was like five or six, I nearly lost my life to it if it were not for the emerald"
"Well glad you are here Tails I don't think I could take this jerk alone" Maurice said with a nod "Hey I don't do friends that well, never need them on the Island as I was the only one"
"What happened to your parents?" Tails asked "They died when I was five in an accident on the island, from there in I was raised by my grandfather until he died about a few years back"
"Sorry to hear that" said Tails "Its fine, I mainly learned to take care of myself over the years" Knuckles shrugged "suits me just fine I was a bit of a loner even with my grandpa around"
"You needed to get out more" Maurice teased Tails nodded "he isn't wrong, even a genius like me got a friend or two"
Knuckles shrugged once more "well I am not staying here long, I am only after the emerald" "Well how do you know that, you could be with us longer than you think" Maurice spat "Shows what you know slowpoke I know where Robotniks emerald is at"
"Where is it then?" Tails asked "On board his ship, I can sense its location we Mystics can do that you know"
"huh and you know where the rest are that Robotnik doesn't have?" Maurice asked "Yes sure do except one"
"The seventh emerald" said Tails Knuckles nodded "that one is the tricky one, that is why most say there are only six emeralds but I know for sure there are seven"
"Can you at least give us a hint oh where it might be?" Maurice asked "I can try" said Knuckles "there are three places I know where it is known to appear, first is the Mystic caves on West side island, the second is in Marble Garden on my island and the other is on this island… In the labyrinth"
"And we are going there next" said Tails "That is why I am here, if I can figure out where and when the seventh emerald will appear then we have a new emerald to add to our side" Knuckles replied "Which is zero right now" Maurice said "We will get the others soon" said Tails "we have to try to get them."
Maurice nodded as mis mind was worried about those at Knothole base.
Shadow, Fang and Rouge were in the undersea tunnel on the way to the base being escorted by a battalion of robots.
"When we get to the base I want to look around at the barracks first and see some things" said Shadow "You curious where Sonic used to live here?" Rouge asked "Why not" Shadow said with a shrug "we have time to take this base over might as well enjoy some of it"
"And what about our foes?" Fang snarled "If we see them we will fight them, but I will do it on my terms"
"You show no worry that is why I like you" said Rouge "I would be flattered if I was able to feel such things" Shadow replied "You seemed lively to me the other day" said Fang "Fighting is the only thing that makes me feel anything" said Shadow "and giving that Sonic a pounding certainly got my blood pumped so to speak"
"You don't have blood?" Fang asked "Well I would not call what I have inside me blood" Shadow replied "You just keep on getting more interesting don't you?" Rouge said musingly "Robotnik did a lot of work on me" said Shadow "Yeah but really why did this to you when he can have his robots?" Fang asked "He made me as a precaution, a creature capable of its own free will but is willing to serve Robotnik"
"I got it, he made you to deal with anyone who may have come in contact with the emeralds" Said Rouge "Exactly" said Shadow as they reached the elevator "were here"
The group began to head upstairs to the barracks and then to the command center.
They got up to the barracks and Shadow looked at each one eventually coming up to a room with the name "Sonic" on it Shadow opened its door and looked inside.
He looked about and was immediately disappointed the room was barren with little there to tell him Sonic once lived here.
"Bummer" he said "Disappointed are you?" Rouge asked "I was expecting more character in here" said Shadow with a shrug "Well Sonic was new here" replied Rouge " he probably didn't have much time to make this room his own."
"Well this place has no interest for me" said Fang "I was tagging along"
"It was just a matter of curiosity" said Shadow "lets go to the command center now"
The other two nodded leaving behind Sonics now vacant room.
Just outside Knothole base Rotor and Antoine saw a whole army of robots ahead of them, too many in fact to take on without some help.
"Going into that is just asking for trouble" said Rotor "Oui" replied Antoine "but Monsieur Tails gave me that power up"
"Just be careful" said Rotor as Antoine charged in.
Antoine drew his sword as Rotor gave him covering fire.
He swiped and sliced each robot in his way, he jumped and darted like a ninja slicing and chopping his way through.
Antoine used utter calmness in his attacks, striking when needed.
He was very good at conserving his energy, making sure to take calm breaths between each blow.
He never lost his breath and always calmly placed each sword blow.
But he knew he would run out of steam soon if he were not careful.
He then finally used the invincibility power up to recover some of his energy, the robots all tried to crash into him but were met with the energy that surrounded Antoine.
For the next few seconds each robot that got into range got destroyed but soon the power up faded.
The two were able to clear a path and carefully made it back to the cave.
Maurice, Knuckles and Tails waited in the cave, the first ones to come were Rotor and Antoine with the supplies.
"You guys made it!" said Tails "Wasn't easy" said Rotor "Sacrebleu mon amie" Antoine said with a sigh Maurice nodded "well glad you see you back but where are the others?"
"Still at the base" said Rotor "They are coming soon right?" Tails asked "Hope so" said Antoine "I will go out and get them here" replied Knuckles "Wow doing something nice for once" Maurice teased "Hey I am still a guardian in the end!" Knuckles spat "Whatever you say" Maurice shrugged Tails came up to Knuckles and said "here take the power sneakers power up and Antoine give him the invincibility"
"Tails are you crazy?" Maurice cried "are you sure you want to hand those power ups over to that guy?"
Tails nodded "take these as a token of friendship and when you come back I want you to be nicer to Sonic and the rest of us"
"Whatever you want kid" said Knuckles as he took the power ups and went outside Sally Bunnie and Amy were at the command center control room, they were all active at arming the bases self destruct mechanisms Bunnie Pulled down two levers and then a nearby panel opened, Sally went over to the panel and inside there was a bunch of keys and four cylinders. Sally pressed in a sequence and then grabbed four nearby keys, she screwed in each key and pulled out each cylinder.
Inside each cylinder there was a button that needed to be flipped, Sally toggled all of them and said "Nicole initiate first check, authorization Alicia Acorn. Destruct sequence 001 code 1 1X"
Amy then followed "Nicole initiate second check, authorization Princess Sally. Destruct sequence 002 code 001X 2Y"
Bunnie came in lase "Nicole initiate final check, authorization Bunnie Rabbot. Destruct sequence 003 code 001X 2Y 3"
"Initiating destruct sequence upon final command" Nicole chimed "Nicole activate silent countdown" Said Sally "Awaiting final code" Nicole replied "Nicole code 001 destruct 1" Sally chimed "Destruct sequence is now in effect, you now have 10 minutes to reach minimum safe distance"
Amy sighed "well there it goes, does anyone have any last words?"
"No" said Sally "but I will miss this place nonetheless"
Amy nodded as they prepared to head to the emergency stairs But behind them the elevator doors opened and Shadow, Fang and Rouge came out.
"Well lookie here" said Fang "they have returned home"
"And only three of them, such a shame" said Rouge "Indeed it is" said Shadow "so where is your friend Sonic at, too afraid to play?"
"Quiet you!"Amy spat "Sonic might not be willing to hurt another person but I am willing bash your head in!"
"My dear Princess such anger, you got to learn to control that temper of yours"
Sally stepped forward and said "this is no time to fight, we put this base into self destruct. If you want to live you better start leaving now"
Shadow laughed "you really don't know about me do you?"
"We really don't care" Amy spat Shadow smiled "I cannot die, that is why I am the ultimate lifeform. Part machine, part organic and fully immortal"
Bunnie stepped forward and said "I guess this unit is the only real threat to you then"
Shadow nodded as Bunnie said "the rest of you get out of here, I will hold them off"
"But Bunnie!" cried Amy "It is okay Amy unit I don't plan to go out here but I will buy you time"
Amy nodded as she and Sally ran to the emergency stairs.
Shadow then turned to Rouge and Fang and said "leave me be with this one, I have been itching for a fight"
The two nodded and headed for the elevator as Bunnie looked on at her foe.
Her internal timer now said "9 minutes and counting" as she gave Shadow a large smile
Sally and Amy were now outside, Sally charged her pistol as Amy prepared her hammer Even with most of the robots taken care of by Antoine and Rotor there were plenty of robots to contend with.
"Not a fun predicament is it?" said Amy "No it's not" replied Sally Amy nodded "if we don't make it then I want you to know that you are my best friend Alicia Acorn"
Sally returned her nod "and you too Princess Sally"
"Okay is game time!" cried Amy as she threw her hammer at some robots Sally gave her covering fire when needed Amy smashed apart dozens of the Badniks pounding each one into oblivion, she was obviously mad that her home for the last few years was gone now.
Knothole gave her safety and security but now it was soon going no longer there to provide it.
Robotnik had beaten them again and Amy was furious, her temper flared with each blow giving her an extra rush of energy with each hit.
Still, she wanted to be careful and not wind up like poor Maurice unable to fight and she never again wanted to feel weak.
No she wanted to be on top of her game and strong as an ox.
But the two were soon flanked by more robots and were soon cut off from their escape route "Great, just great" Amy spat But then Knuckles came out running as fast as Sonic would, he had just used the power sneakers power up.
He raced around each robot sending it into a tizzy as he threw the invincibility power up to Amy "Use it!" Knuckles spat Amy nodded and found herself invincible, the two plowed though the robots and made their way back to the tunnel.
Tails smiled "Sally, Amy you are back!"
He ran over and gave both Sally and Amy a hug "We missed you too kid" Amy said rubbing his head Maurice came up and said "well is Bunnie with you?"
The two shook their heads "She is with Shadow" Said Sally with a sigh "Oh no" said Maurice as he then worried deeply for his teammate
Bunnie and Shadow were alone in the control center, for Bunnie she kept her eye on her internal clock and it was now down to 8 minutes.
Shadow stared at her and said "well are we going to fight or what?"
Bunnie shrugged "there is no logic to it, fighting you would be pointless"
Shadow laughed "well you are an interesting one aren't you, a roboticized rabbit with its own mind and personality yet you still talk and look like a robot"
"And you are a creature who serves Robotnik even without being a robot"
"We are quite the pair you and I" Shadow mused "but it will give you no favor I plan on fighting you until you are nothing but scrap metal"
"Suits me" replied Bunnie "but this unit is not a sacrificial lamb!"
Bunnie then charged at Shadow and opened a volley with her palm cannon, still keeping her ring generator on hand Bunnie was not afraid of the power drain.
Shadow dodged her and then gave her a shot from his gun, it stunned her as he came in giving her a few punches.
"I know why you are fighting me" said Shadow "you hope to get out of here and show the others how I fight"
Bunnie gave him a few blasts and said "affirmative"
"Quite amusing" Shadow spat giving her a few punches "but who says I am letting you escape!"
Bunnie then struck a blow on Shadow, Shadow then reared backward a bit in surprise "You really are studying me" he said Bunnie nodded ands fired a few more palm blasts, she then gave him a kick to the belly knocking the wind out of him.
Shadow fell to the ground as Bunnie mused "so much for the ultimate life form"
Shadow laughed "well I still have weaknesses I admit"
He then returned Bunnies kick and she went backwards a bit herself "Must say I am admiring your courage" said Shadow "we can do this until the base blows up and I won't hold a grudge at all with you"
Bunnies inner timer read 7 minutes Bunnie then changed her tactics, this time using her extending body parts to her advantage.
She also used the jets on her feet using them as charging weapons.
She tackled Shadow to the ground knocking him senseless, Shadow countered with a strong blow from his pistol using it sparingly as he wanted to fight her head on.
Bunnie gave him another good kick and said "why don't you stop this and join my team, given time we could be great friends"
Shadow laughed "thanks for the offer but I will have to decline, you understand I'm sure"
Shadow gave her a kick and said "maybe you should be the one joining us, Robotnik can make you a general while keeping you free"
Bunnie returned thew laugh "now you are just teasin me, this is not very nice"
Bunnies inner timer now read 6 minutes
Back in the cave the others were really beginning to worry about Bunnie "Oh man this is not good" said Maurice "she's not back yet"
Amy nodded "she has to leave there soon, she has less than seven minutes by now"
"I am sure Bunnie will make it out okay" said Sally "I hope she does, I love her too much" Antoine said sadly "Bunnie is a strong girl" said Tails "the upgrades Rotor and I made sure of that"
Rotor nodded "still she is not indestructible, Worker-bots may be physically stronger due to their bio metal but they are not immune to the type of explosion the base will cause"
"How big will the blast be?" Knuckles asked "We will see it from here" said Amy "Knothole base will take out the forest above it, it will be quite loud too"
"What about anything nearby?" asked Maurice "The radius only goes so far" replied Sally "It won't hurt Green Hill if you are wondering" said Amy "but Green Hill will have a front row seat"
"I see" said Maurice "Is Green Hill your home?" Tails asked Maurice nodded "well it was my home until Robotnik came in"
"Oui it was the first village on South Island to be taken by Robotnik" said Antoine Maurice nodded Knuckles came in and said "homesick are you?"
Maurice nodded once more Knuckles laughed and said "well you are a big softy are you, but you know I understand it's your home just like my Island is to me"
"Huh that was both sweet and insulting" Maurice said with a chuckle "Well I am doing my best here" said Knuckles Amy then peered at her watch and said "Bunnie is now down to 5 minutes"
During the last minute both Shadow and Bunnie traded blows, each one keeping fairly matched.
But Bunnie imagined if she was still normal she would not fare as well as Shadow was deceptively strong.
Being roboticized did seem to have its benefits, her body was able to take this kind of punishment for quite some time.
She knew how she was built, her body was not made of an actual metal but more of a semi organic metal that was able to self repair even when taking a few hits.
Shadows gun seemed to do minimal damage to her metallic skin and anything that did hit her insides was absorbed to make repairs with.
It was almost a shame Robotnik was using this technology to just enslave people he could help so many with this technique.
Bunnies timer had ticked down however and she knew she had to head to the emergency stairs soon.
She lured Shadow to them plotting a strategic retreat and with each blow he gave she repelled backwards.
The two fought their way downstairs, and Bunnies timer ticked down to the last remaining minute.
Bunnie knew she could no longer make it outside in time so she stopped stalling, she prepared her shield power up and hoped it would work.
Soon her timer ticked down to the last seconds.
"10"
Bunnie took a pot shot at Shadow keeping him at bay "9"
She gave him a kick to the belly "8"
He gave her a return volley from his gun "7"
Bunnie countered with a blast of her own "6"
Bunnie prepared to use the shield "5"
Shadow gave her a hard blow to the chest "4"
Bunnie gave him a blow backward "3"
Shadow knocked her back with a tackle "2"
Bunnie blasted him back with her hand cannon "1"
She then hit the shield…
"0"
The blast then went off sending a shock wave all over destroying the forest and knocking many Worker-bots inside the Green Hill factory off their feet.
In the cave Maurice and the others heard the blast go off.
With a deafening "Kaboom!" The group then went outside to see the large explosion go off.
But Bunnie was nowhere to be seen.
For the next few minutes they waited to see if she survived.
Those minutes then turned into hours "Bunnie" said Maurice "she is gone isn't she?"
Amy nodded with a tear in her eye "she was so brave"
"Mon Cherri" Antoine said as he burst into tears "We will remember her sacrifice for us" said Sally "She was a really cool robot" said Tails as he too cried "Poor girl" chimed Rotor "Now y'all are not crying for little ol me now?" came a voice Then from the darkness came Bunnie Everyone yelled out a larger cheer "Bunnie!" cried Antoine "we thought you were gone"
Bunnie nodded "I was under the ground for a while and needed to dig myself out, being both a rabbit and a robot does have its perks. Sorry I worried yah"
Amy nodded "we are just glad you are safe"
Outside something was digging itself out as well, a robotic hand came out of the ground along with the rest of Shadow the hedgehog.
He coughed a little and looked up at the sky.
He slowly got up untouched by blast with only his gloves the casualty due to him digging himself out.
"Ouch" he said with a laugh, he walked off and tried to find a carrier back up to Robotniks command ship.
End of Level 3