Last time on Sonic the Hedgehog, Sally after being forced to split away from a still injured Rosie begins to realize just how desperate was becoming. In a fit of anger at herself for pushing Rosie too far, the warrior princess dispatches a pursuing squad of Egg Robos, now running to go and find her friend. Rosie meanwhile, after surviving being forced through a few walls, stumbles upon the children she read to being harassed by the robots, forcing her to jump into action. Unfortunately for her, this may have been a costly mistake…
Sally cuts down more of the robots, sending energy slashes out of her blade as she gets closer to where she hoped Rosie would still be. Her impatience and desperation was shining through as she sliced through the robots, caring less and less if the Mobinis got caught in her attacks.
Sally: "I swear to Gaia, if Rosie is dead because of all of you robots, I'll slice all of you to pieces!"
A nearby Egg Robo starts to radio in to the Wing Fortress, calling for backup.
Egg Robo: "Squad Isaac 383 Delta requesting backup. I repeat…"
Sage: "Request acknowledged. Standby."
The Egg Robo gestured for more robots to move in and retrieve the Chaos Emerald. Two Rollers charged in and tackled Sally down before a Ball Hog tossed a bomb in her general direction. The princess is knocked aside by the bomb, slamming onto the wall of a nearby building.
Sally: "Urgh… Ch-Cheap…shot…"
Sally grits her teeth as she slowly rises to her feet. The Egg Robo starts shooting at her, but she backflips away, leaving her sword where she stood. A Roller attempted to tackle her again, but she reels back a leg and slams her foot into it. The kick sends the robot flying into the Egg Robo, destroying both of them in a single shot. Ball Hog prepares to toss more bombs at Sally, but the quicker chipmunk lunged at her sword and grabbed it, sending an energy wave at the pig bot and destroying it.
Sally: "Huff… Huff… Huff… Stay out of my way, you dirty cans…"
As Sally continued her fight, Sage began to see this mild entertainment of a rebellion as a genuine threat to her and Dr. Robotnik's plans.
Sage: "Strange. This kind of power is not natural to the princess. And her emotional state has fluctuated greatly. Perhaps it is time for me to send in the prototype heavy weapons."
Sage turns to two gigantic robot models, both wielding hammers and wearing helmets of different shapes - one was an axe shaped helmet, the other was a spiked mohawk helmet. Both of their eyes glowed to life, ready for battle.
Sally runs into the area where she last saw Rosie and starts to dig in the rubble, desperation filling her eyes as they started becoming bloodshot.
Sally: "Rosie? Where are you? Please be alive… Please, Gaia, let her be alive…"
Sally continued to search through the rubble; her breathing got faster, hyperventilating as the thought of her leaving Rosie alone may have killed her friend. The thought that the robots found and dumped her body somewhere made her grit her teeth as she searched more frantically, tearing through her gloves as she continued digging. Her survival instincts kicked in suddenly, like a dam collapsing from a build up of water. She jumped out of the way of something impacting the ground, but the shockwave caught her, sending her flying with dirt and dust. Multiple buildings collapsed from the impact, turning the surrounding area in a ten yard radius into nothing but building debris. Once the dust settles, Sally comes out of the rubble and sees what had impacted the ground - two goliath sized robots wielding equally large hammers. One of those hammers having slammed in the exact place where Sally was standing. Sally stared wide eyed as more thoughts filled her head. Was Rosie truly dead now? Was it her fault? And worse, her kingdom was truly destroyed now. Gritting her teeth, she stands with her sword drawn and screams out angrily.
Sally: "You BASTARDS!"
Sally ran at the titan robots, slashing at them. But she found her blade did nothing to their type of hard metal; in fact, the slashes bounced off harmlessly. The robot turned to her, its eyes glaring at her before reeling its hammer back for a swing. Sally jumps back from the incoming swing, but once again got caught by the shockwave coming from the impact.
Sally: "Ugh… I can't slice through their metal hides…?"
The other robot began to approach her, its stomps shaking the ground as it approached. Sally quickly sent energy slashes at the robot, but to no avail. None of her attacks could even pierce their armor, let alone dent it. Sally's expression of anger turned to fear at the very real danger she was in. The robot reeled back its hammer before swinging, hitting Sally with a batting swing, sending the warrior princess flying to the city walls, leaving a sizable crater into it.
Egg Hammer 1: "Subject is heavily weakened."
Egg Hammer 2: "But not dead. Crush the subject and retrieve the Emerald as Sage instructed."
Both robots began to approach Sally, who laid against the wall, battered and bleeding. She looked up at the robots, but her mind was clouded. She almost submitted herself to her fate, feeling it was her fault that everything fell apart.
Sally: "Rosie… I'm so, so sorry… I shouldn't have pushed you as hard as I did… I was so worried and desperate to save my father I… just ignored everything… My people… My subjects… I may have 'saved' them… But I never did it because I cared… I… wasn't acting like how I should have been… Mom…"
A vision of Sally's mother, Queen Alicia, reaching out her hand towards her daughter appeared to the girl. Sally attempted to reach out, but the vision vanished as the robots stood in front of her.
Sally: "...No… I can still make up for my mistakes… For my actions… I refuse to die like this… Not after everything me and Rosie went through…"
The princess then felt a surge of energy course through her as the Emerald in her pocket glowed. As the Egg Hammer swung its weapon at her, her sudden burst of energy allowed her to get out of the way, going through the robot's legs. As the robot destroys the wall, Sally kicks the robot on the behind, pushing it forward and falling over.
Sally: "Huh? Wait… Where'd this sudden energy come from?"
As Sally looked at her hands, she did see some glow come off her. It was a cyan glow, almost matching her eyes. But her thoughts are cut short as the other robot aims a baseball swing at her with its hammer. She jumps over the robot, seeing it swing over and over again before getting dizzy. She quickly takes advantage and dive kicks into it, causing it to fall over. The robots quickly got back on their feet, their eyes glowing brightly with something resembling fury as they approached her slowly. Sally then notes that their helmets fell off when they tumbled down.
Sally: "I can't pierce their armor… But I wonder if they can…"
Sally then smirks as she gets an idea. She continues to play the dodge game, avoiding swing after swing from them. She even lands on top of one of the hammers just to taunt the robot before backflipping off of it as it attempted to slam her to the ground. Once they were thoroughly concentrated on her, she runs between them as they reel their hammers, ready to crush her. She jumps between them as they swung; through a risky maneuver, she grabs and swings off the stick of the hammer ahead of her, passing under it as both robots slam their hammers into each other. With a loud 'BONG!', the robots shivered from the impact… before crumbling into pieces from their attacks hitting each other. Sally sighed before the energy left her body. That was when the wave of pain shot through her, forcing her to vomit chunks and blood in a mix from the pain she was experiencing.
Sally: "Sh… Shit… My ribs must've… taken that last impact… too hard…"
Voice: "My my, that was rather impressive."
Sally hears clapping as a figure walks up to her from the barren wasteland that was part of her city. It was the one who started this invasion in the first place…
Sally: "N-No way… Doctor Ivo Robotnik… The mad doctor…"
Robotnik: "In the flesh, my dear Sally Acorn. And I see my name precedes me. Or… Perhaps you heard of my name in passing from your father."
Sally's eyes were wide, but she quickly got into a stance, ready to fight the doctor if she had to.
Robotnik: "Oh I'd quit with the theatrics if I were you… You wouldn't want this one to perish too soon… would you?"
An Egg Robo steps from behind Robotnik, holding an injured and unconscious Rosie hostage. Sally's eyes widened once more, but tears began to stream out as she viciously shouted at the doctor.
Sally: "Let her go!"
Robotnik: "Ah ah. Come any closer and your friend may drop a few pounds in an instant."
The Egg Robo placed a laser gun to Rosie's head, forcing Sally to comply as she growled.
Robotnik: "That was quite a show you gave me just now, princess. Destroying two of my most powerful Badniks like that is no small feat. For that, I'll admire your strength and allow you and your friend here to leave… If you hand me the Chaos Emerald."
Sally looked down at her pockets before pulling out the item in question. But she then turned back to Robotnik with a glare.
Sally: "Why are you collecting the Chaos Emeralds? What do you intend to use them for?"
Robotnik: "Hmph. Fine… I'll give you some details… I intend to bring this world back to zero. All life on the planet… gone. In an instant. And in its place, a brand new utopia that I intend to rule over, of my own design. One in which I shall be celebrated as the greatest mind to ever live! ROBOTNIKLAND!"
Sally could only scoff at the idea. Despite all his power, this man was truly pathetic if he thinks there is anything to gain by building such a thing. But she steeled her tongue and approached Robotnik slowly, handing over the Chaos Emerald to him. The doctor looked at the gem, admiring its beauty like a gem collector would.
Robotnik: "Very nice. Very nice indeed. …By the way…"
Robotnik then grabbed Sally by the throat and started choking her, smiling as he did.
Robotnik: "I lied a little. I'll let your friend go, but you? I have a personal vendetta against your father… For taking everything from me. My credibility as a scientist… And for rejecting my attempt to save that damned girl… I think I'll take everything from him too! Starting with you!"
Robotnik then started letting out a maniacal laugh as he squeezed his hand harder around Sally's throat. Sally could feel her neck struggle to keep straight, like it would break at any second. As the doctor began to enjoy himself with his victory, a small ball rolled up to his feet, catching his attention.
Robotnik: "Hm?"
The ball then let out an electrical discharge, causing both Robotnik and the Egg Robo holding Rosie to fall over. Strangely, Sally and Rosie were unaffected by the discharge. But Sally was losing consciousness quickly. The last thing she sees is a woman approach. Sally could make out some kind of lab coat the lady wore, but not a lot else as the princess fell unconscious.
Elsewhere, in a green mountainous region with rivers and palm trees, something fast sped by the palm trees, almost taking them out of the ground from the force. This something, or someone, comes to a stop as a pair of red and white shoes stand by a cliff.
Voice: "Boy, what a run! Green Hill is THE place to get my legs stretching!"
Standing at the edge of the cliff was a blue hedgehog with a cocky smirk - Sonic the Hedgehog - as he overlooks the area ahead of him and, unknown to him now, his own adventure…
To be continued…