Chapter 5

The assassin bot stared down its nose. Sonic bracing himself. It charged. The hero dove to the side. The robotic claws grazing his cheek. He jutted his leg out to kick it back. It staggered. Then rammed into the hedgehog. Sonic caught it's hands. A fruitless resistance skidding him back. "Damn. Strong. Play some football, my guy."

In a flash he curled into a ball. Rolling between the robot's legs. Their hands still attached. The robot was flipped over onto its back. Sonic leapt up and threw it against the wall. It's legs morphed to impale the surface it struck. There it pulled Sonic up to smash him into the ceiling. Then dropped to crush him into the floor.

It brought it's hand up. The fingers growing into daggers. A giant boomerang crashed into its head. Bouncing off and turning its head. It's hand penetrated an inch from the hedgehog's neck. Sonic kicked it off. Jumped up. Then spin dashed it down the corridor. It caught itself to jet back at the group.

Walt snatched up his boomerang. Stu rushed to Sonic's side. Bill pulled out some pellets and tossed them to the ground. In an instant smoke obscured the hallway. Sonic pulled Bill back. "That's not gonna work!"

The hero's hand grabbed the spiked fingers aimed for Bill's face. Then Stu rammed it from the side. Walt swung his boomerang to embed it into the robot's back. Bill then tossed another ball which exploded on contact. Acid sissled on the robot's armor. The assassin lunged at Bill.

Sonic kicked it's side. The robot twirled to kick the hedgehog as well. They both went flying. Sonic recovered first. Then spin dashed down the corridor to smashed the robot into the ground. Stu rushed forward. He stomped on the chest of the robot. The chest caving in. The droid shot up to its feet. Stu's foot stuck in the newly formed cavity. It grabbed the wombat's leg to snap it. Guru plowed into the robot's neck. The head flying off to bounce off the metalic floor.

The robot just stood there, sizzling. Then it collapsed. Bill grabbed Stu while Walt stopped the robot from falling on top of their friend. Walt lowered the remains on the ground while Bill observed the stuck appendage to wiggle it out unharmed. With a tug Stu's foot was released.

Sonic kicked the remains. "So… Did you all have fun?"

Walt seized, his head throbbing with veins as his knuckles turned white in his fists. "That fox nearly killed us and you're joking?!"

"That wasn't Tails, he was trying to warn us when we were locked in."

"How convenient!"

Sonic shoved a finger into the wallaby's face. "That's it! One more comment about my friend and I'm taking the eroded corroded and joining it with that stick up your ass! Got it!?"

"Fascinating." The group jumped at the deep voice vibrating throughout the ship. "The improvements were successful but could not undermine the numerical disadvantage. Its design was never devised to oppose such odds."

Sonic blinked. "Wait, why aren't there more then?"

"How presumptuous."

The ground shook. The earth below in a fit of rage. Thunderous cracks and roars of chaos pounded in their ears. The team slammed their hands over their ears to dull the noise, but then the floor warped, as if the hallway was sagging down. They all fell on their sides to begin rolling and sliding down the newfound slope helplessly.

Tails tossed his computer aside and rushed to the door. His eyes wide in a panic. Barby couldn't make heads or tails of the screen and chose to follow him out, yelling out to him. Trying to ask what was happening, but her words were a voiceless vacuum the fox's brain couldn't pick up.

Eggman's drones couldn't get passed what they thought was a shield repelling the scanners, but in reality the signals were picking up something solid. A wall, a shell, something massive constructed under the mountain. His tech dove through the shell with ease and what came back was a layout of an entire complex. One that was in constant fluctuation as if it were alive. The only thing that could mean was advanced technology, one Tails has never seen before. That very concept scared him the most. Was it experimental or were they dealing with a new threat never before seen? Maybe an alien race. The insistent hypotheses did nothing more than add to the endless panic devouring away his heart.

He didn't know what to do. He was contacting Sonic when suddenly the transmission was cut. He couldn't send any message nor hear anything. Barby noticed immediately and tried contacting the group to no avail. So it was no surprise when a strong hand snagged his arm in a death grip. The koala spinning him around so she could shove her face into his. "What the hell is going on!?"

Tails pushed away, "It was more than a trap. There's a huge command base inside the mountain. Someone's been creating it for years. Had to. There's abnormal structural behavior as well. I don't know what's happening. I'm just trying to-."

The ground trembled, nearly knocking the two over. The rocks cracked. The mountain shook like an erupting volcano. It convulsed, swelled. In an explosion, rock flew into the air, clouding the sky in boulders and soil. The ensuing shockwave pelting right for them. Barby's legs froze at the ferocity of tidalwaving debris rocketing toward them like an out of control land slide.

Tails snatched her off her feet and dashed toward the jet. The engines automatically kicking on and shooting off as he neared. The cockpit opened and he planted the woman in the back while he clambered into the pilot's seat. The continental torrent of rocks shredded the shack. The engines roared to life and barreled over the dirt and pelted into the sky.

Barby was throne into her seat. The g-forces pressing on her as if she were buried under concrete. Her breathing ceased and her eyes rolled back up into her skull. Then she keeled over, passing out. Tails stopped accelerating, looking back toward her. "Barby?"

No response.

HE looked back at her, seeing her slouching over and sliding off the seat. He cried out, jumping back to push her back in and buckle her in. She wasn't used to the forces of acceleration. The pressure must have rendered her unconscious, especially if her body couldn't properly circulate her blood. She could die any second.

He rubbed her shoulders, and activated a ray that beamed into her chest. The lifeless eyes blinking, then dragging around to look about the confined space. She gently pushed him off her and shook her head, coughing. "What… was that?"

"The strange complex must have come out of the mountain. Are you alright? It was an emergency, so I didn't have time to properly prepare you for the g-forces. It was probably faster than anything you've been through, so I almost killed you. I forget Sonic and I are outliers."

She rubbed her chest. "It hurts, but I'm fine." She looked up at the sky. Then her eyes widened, giving an audible gasp. She rounded on the fox, her hands clutching his throat. "What is that, fox!"

Startled he looked out into the sky and his jaw dropped open. A massive ship loomed over them, a sleek oval ship the dust was flying away from as if in terror. The prominent image on its side overwhelming in recognition. A shadowed head wearing a rounded hat. The symbol of the Mysterious Villain.

Tails looked back to her, waving his hands. His voice raspy under her iron-grip fingers. "I-I don't know. I never built that thing. I've never built a base under that mountain. I swear. I don't know what's going-."

The whole jet shook, explosions blowing up around them. They both looked up to see swarms of flying drones barreling down from the ship, firing upon the jet. Tails pressed his watch and the just careened out of the way and into the nearby canyon. The koala let him go and he jumped back into his seat. The drone flew in after them, firing away. The canyon walls blowing out and collapsing around them.

The fox flipped a switch unleashing a barrage of missiles behind him. The drones didn't try to dodge. They plowed through the blasts without any scorch marks scarring their plating.

With a curse under his breath he turned the corner and pressed a button. A box ejected out and planted itself on the canyon wall. The drones flew by and the box burst. A field of electrical energy coursed through the flying death machines. They convulsed and frizzled, but continued flying after the jet, firing all their arsenal ruthlessly.

One's gun burst, flames shooting out of the cracked shell. Its burners ingited, propelling it faster toward the jet. Tails managed to dodge out of the way. It embedded into the canyon wall. The wall exploded. Showering the landscape in dirt and irradiated heat. Tails instruments sounding off an alarm as radiation began pouring throughout the canyon.

The fox smashed his fist into the console before pulling up and flying into the sky out of the canyon. Barby looked around the seat. "What are you doing? We need the cover!"

"They're flooding the land with radiation! If I stay down there the river will become toxic and everyone downstream will die! We have to risk it!" He didn't like it either, he didn't understand what was happening. If this was his tech why were they knowingly and intentionally shooting at him. There would be no way they wouldn't know who was flying this jet. Additionally, he's never developed any tech that could do what that ship was doing. Logic states that it couldn't be his, but he didn't know anyone whose technological prowess surpassed his.

He flipped a switch and shouted. "Look at the camera feed. Try looking for a weakness it the drones. We'll have to wipe them out as quickly as possible."

The screen in front of Barby lit up and the drones behind them were in view. Throwing off the initial shock she leaned in to peer at the drones. It was unnerving working with the inventor of these insane machines, but she couldn't argue with him seeing as the machines themselves were trying to kill him. She had no clue what was happening or if she could trust him. But there wasn't a choice in the matter.

"I don't know, but it seems your last attack did something. I think I see sparks."

"Sparks? Then maybe… I'm going to try something. Keep an eye on them and tell me what they do. I just might have an idea."

Back on the ship Sonic was bouncing off wall to wall with his feet, keeping himself oriented and ready for anything to happen in front of them. The goofballs following, however, hadn't a clue how to behave on a slide. They were yelling, rolling, and bouncing off the sides in this pinball game they were stuck in. The hedgehog was concerned that their lack of control would smack into him and he'd go back to being tossed around.

The bottom was coming up on them. Sonic tried shouting that out to them, if they heard him over their own yelling hopefully they could do something about it. The hero rolled into a ball and bounced off the bottom and skidded into the room. It was wide open, basically a hanger that could house hundreds of commercial airlines, a few stacked on top of each other would fit as well.

The freedom fighters collapsed into a collective heap-pile, groaning. There were going to be several bruises by tomorrow. They clambered off each other, looking around aimlessly. As open as it was it was just as empty. It gave off more of an open arena than some storage room.

Walt rubbed his shoulder, rotating it to stretch out the kinks. "Where'd that blasted fox drop us off now?"

Sonic shot him a death glare, but didn't do anything otherwise. As much as hearing that ticked him off, he was mature enough to know the situation was too grave for that. Not to mention the robot corpse up above didn't slide down with them, for some reason. The only thing he does know, is whoever was responsible, they were testing the group. They weren't interested in wiping them out, but seeing if these improved robots were better than before. Everyone was just in some elaborate death experiment.

The wall beside them practically turned to liquid, flowing to the side as if a wave were pushing it. A massive shadow stepped out. A fist crashing down on top of them. Sonic grabbed Bill and Sue. He tossed them aside. His leg came out to smack into Walt. The wallaby went flying. Sonic rolled to the side as the fist smashed the ground he was on.

A massive Mecha Destroyer stared down at him. An undoubtable 4.1. The square-esc shape of the dreaded robot was gone. In its place was this oddly robust and rounded sleek design. A sort of marshmallow cyclops. Sonic would normally rush up its side to pounce at its eye, but the rounded arms and legs made that impossible. He would have no footing, and whatever footing he would find would more than likely cause him to bounce off. It was a vast improvement, one that irked him despite the fight not yet beginning.

The robot dashed forward to begin its endless onslaughts of attacks. Its fist dragged along the ground. A second fist came down. The first flashed swiped sideways. Second slid along the floor. A leg came down to crush. The second leg smashed against the wall. Laser firing from its eye. The first fist battered the ground. The first leg shook the floor. The second arm shattering the ground.

Sonic dodged every attack. A few nearly grazing him. It was so fast he couldn't think of any quips. He couldn't say anything at all. All he did was hold his breath. Straining so every modicum of focus could be on his muscles.

Walt rubbed his aching chest. He pushed himself up and waved to his teammates. "Get into position! I'm going to go for the eye!"

The two nodded and ran ahead. Walt pulled out his boomerang and tossed it with a war cry. Bill pulled out an orb and tossed it to Stu. The wombat caught it and ran over to the center of the room. Bill tossed another orb to Guru. The Emu lodged the orb at the giant robot. A large boom echoed out. The robot stopped to look back at the platypus. Bill turned, "Now!"

Stu lodged the orb into the air. The orb emanating a florescent light. The Mecha looked up at it. Just as a boomerang came whipping around and smashing into its… force field.

Just as the weapon was about to insert itself into the large red socket that was its eye, a strange transparent shield came up. The boomerang bounced harmlessly off it. Sonic sped up the side of a wall and leapt at it. Only to bounce off the same shield.

The mecha turned to the falling hero. It's eye glowing red to fire. A claw snatched the hedgehog's arm. Then it pulled him out of the way just in time. The laser melted the wall behind him. Bill put away his grapple. Then rushed away. Sonic rolled on the ground as the robot's foot smashed the floor.

Stu stopped next to Walt. "What are we supposed to do? That was our only strategy against those things."

Walt bit his finger with a growl as Bill and Guru came running up to them. "There's nothing we can do. We don't have our heavy arsenal and these things are clearly upgraded. Stay out of the way. Hopefully Sonic can deal with it. If we try to help we may make things worse."

Bill shook his head, glaring at the robot. "Damn it." He hated feeling helpless. Where was Barby?

Barby looked up from the monitor. "It looks like those drones are flying in a single file."

Tails threw a victorious fist in the air. "HA! Great! It worked!" Since they were sparking, he was hoping that would mean their internal processing would be dramatically slowed from the shortage. It would appear his theory was correct. With it drastically slowed, his superior computer would hack into them, no problem. He was ordering them to get into a line a few meters apart. Since that worked they were under his control, but he doubted they would remain under his control for long.

He typed into his consul and turned the jet to fly straight at the floating ship. "Barby, brace yourself! We're going in!?"

"WHAT?!" She tugged on the belts fastened to her, shrinking into the chair. This was insane.

The drones propelled past the jet, straight for the ship. They pelted against the side. Each exploding in ferocity at the hull. Tails pressed a button. The jet's wings folded along the side. The tip swirling like a drill. Just as the hull's open hole began filling back up with a liquid like metal. The jet burst through and slide along the floor. It stopped and the two of them looked up to see the stunned faces of the rest of their team.

With a unholy crash, Tails turned to see the 4.1 rushing after Sonic. The blue speed demon barley able to dodge the attacks. One even clipping the hero's arm, almost dislodging it. Tails pushed the button to open the canopy, but it only whilred and strained. The fox pressed on it, the glass beginning to crack. Fainally it popped off.

Barby leapt out and rushed to her team. "What's going on?!"

Walt stormed over, wielding his boomerang. He tossed it at Tails .The fox effortlessly caught it. "Hey! Knock it off! These aren't mine!"

"Like hell they're not!"

Bill pulled out his orbs, but Sue snagged his arm. "Let's not."

"Yeah." Guru nodded. "We don't even know why the little dude's here."

Barby stood out in front of the fox, her arms outstretched. "We just spent the past five minutes dodging drones trying to kill us. They're not his. Now tell me what's going on!"

Walt sneered, but stepped back. "Some sort of Mecha Destroyer. There's this shield around its head. Can't hit it in the eye."

"Tails!" Sonic cried out. "Little help! Dodging king losing his crown!"

Tails shook his head. "I-I've never designed that. I don't know-."

Barby's fist collided with his skull. He staggered back, holding the throbbing spot. The woman towered over him. "I don't care if you never designed it! How do we stop it?!"

"I-I don't know I need to see the-."

"Walt, get that shield up, pronto!"

The wallaby nodded, throwing his boomerang. It spun through the air and bounced off the shield covering the head. Barby crossed her arms, staring at the fox. "There. You saw it. What now?"

Tails rolled his eyes, but despite the rude change in the koala's attitude, it really was helpful. He turned to the wrecked jet and pried open the side panel. He pulled out a circular disc and began running toward the rampaging mech. "Sonic! Run this way!"

"INCOMING!" Sonic responded, pelting right for his buddy.

Upon seeing Tails, the 4.1 stopped attacking Soinc. Instead, it bee-lined straigt for the fox. It's laser going off. It's fist flying. Tails hardly dodged both attacks and threw his disc at the shield. It stuck on the shield, it remaining active. It turned it tried firing its laser at the fox again. The whole shield filled with red. The smoke cleared to reveal a headless robot. It didn't stop. It's fist came down to crush Tails. Sonic had to pull him out of the line of attack. The robot then pelted toward the two. Smashing down trying to get the twin-tailed canine.

Barby glared at the stunned wallaby. "Told you. Stu! Guru!" She tossed some orbs into the air. "Drop these into it's headless stump." They caught them and ran off. "Bill! Walt! You're both with me. Let's see if we can distract it or at least get its attention. It seems to know where they are despite missing a head."

They nodded and followed her toward the mech. Barby pulled out some discs and tossed them at the robot. They stuck to its surface and detonated. Walt threw his boomberang at the same location. Ebeding his weapon against its shell. Bill threw his spheres at it. Shattering on impact, the acid began spreading over the armor. Despite this attack the robot paid them no heed. It continued desperately trying to kill Tails. Only Sonic's sporadic dodging were keeping them both alive. It was too fast for Tails to do anything other than hold on to his brother for dear life.

Stu and Guru launched their orbs into the air. Arching perfectly into the robot's open wound. In two massive flashes, flames erupted from the inside. The robot seized, then collapsed. The junk pile skidding on the floor with loud shrieks of grinding metal. Sonic stopped, out of breath. He patted Tails arm, silently telling him everything was okay.

The fox pried himself off, patting himself down. His knees were quaking and he felt as if he were about to faint at any moment. His plan worked, but a strange circumstance occurred. The resulting explosion did nothing to damage the robot. That was a problem he was trying to resolve when he was the villain, but that weakness didn't have a resolution as far as he could tell.

He panted, pulling on his bangs. "What was that? I don't know what happened. It should have destroyed it."

"Calm down bud. You got it's shield down and we destroyed it." Sonic patted his shoulder. "I'm more concerned as to why it was trying so hard to kill-."

"Truly unexpected." The ravenous, disembodied voice sounded around the room. "A true testament to your superior intellect. A feat I had no doubt you'd accomplish, but surprising all the same."

The side wall opened up, a shadow form walking out into the open. A slim robot appeared, it's green eyes appraising them. "I have all that I need. Now you will all kneel."

Tails stepped back in horror. Sonic dashed at it without a second thought. The hedgehog's foot stopping suddenly as it sunk into the floor. Barby pulled out an orb, but tentacles came out of the ground to wrap around her wrists and ankles. The same tentacles aimed for the other freedom fighters. Walt, Bill, and Guru were snagged. Stu dodged out of the way and charged at the robot. The slim robot brought up the head of Crocbot, blocking the punch. Electricity scoured the wombat and he fell down. Tentacles came out and wrapped around the body.

Bill cracked something in his gloves. Acid burnt the tentacles off. He landed ready to attack. The remains of the tentacles still wrapped around him surged. They pulled all his limbs together like handcuffs. The loose ends then pierced his body. Blood splurted out. The platypus cried as he crashed to the floor. He sunk into it like it were a pool. With his face halfway in, he could barley breath. The slim robot just stepped over him without a second glance.

Tails fell to the ground, backing away from the robot with unbridled glimmering in his eyes. The robot stopped before the fox. "Hello, 'Master.' I would say it is a pleasure to see you again, but after your attempt to wipe us out I would be lying, and you designed me to never lie. So instead, allow me to voice my sincere displeasure at your current antics. They are very unbecoming of a true mastermind and I will ensure they are eliminated immediately."