A/N: All characters are owned by SEGA unless stated otherwise.

Sonic: Volume 1

Chapter Two: Busted and Blue

Robotnik readied himself to lower the boot of his mech further as to crush the last breath out of the blue hedgehog beneath it. He snickered to himself as he tightened the controls, before suddenly something came crashing into the cockpit of his mech. Jumping in fright, Robotnik turned his bald, sweaty head to see a red-shelled armadillo gripping to the edge of the cockpit, smashing his fist into its metal framework.

"What in the name of..?" Robotnik muttered under his breath. From beneath the cockpit, he heard something clinging onto the boot that lay atop Sonic, banging and kicking against its hinges with unrelenting determination. With a growl, Robotnik leaned the mech back, raising the boot into the air and shaking it up and down in an effort to loosen the grip of the flying squirrel. Just then, the armadillo climbed further into the cockpit, grabbing the rocket launcher and pulling against it.

"You little pest!" Robotnik spat, taking control of the rocket launcher and rotating it to make the armadillo lose balance. It wasn't enough to deter him, though, and instead he gripped on with increased strength, balancing his feet against the bottom of the rocket launcher and pulling with all his might before it finally broke in half with a loud bang, blowing the armadillo to the floor.

And still, the flying squirrel would not let go of that damned leg.

"Mobians..." Robotnik snarled to himself. "Stupid, pest-like things... animals blessed with human capabilities, only they don't know what to do with them..."

As he made increased efforts to throw the squirrel off the mech's leg, the armadillo came back, this time crawling into the cockpit proper.

"You..." his voice trembled - it could have been taken for fear, only the expression on his face indicated such strong anger. Robotnik glanced at the armadillo, glaring at it over his glasses. He slammed his fist on a button labelled "EJECT" and the flying cockpit came loose from the legs, floating up in the air and causing the armadillo to wobble as he leaned on the edge.

"I don't remember you," Robotnik sneered. "You can't be one of Sonic's friends - are you?"

Just as Mighty drew his fist back, Robotnik took the controls and began to spin the cockpit in place, rotating it faster and faster with each turn. Mighty crouched and gripped onto the floor where he stood, and soon his legs gave way and dangled through the air behind him. Ray, realising that the pair of legs he was assaulting were inanimate, finally snapped out of his blind attack and saw the cockpit twisting with Mighty hanging on for dear life.

"Mighty!" Ray cried. He glanced back at Sonic - still lying down, but Ray could see his chest expanding with every deep, controlled gasp for air that the hedgehog took. He's alive.

Ray looked back at the cockpit. What was it that Sonic had done before? He'd never seen someone fight like that before. Ray might not be as fast as this mysterious hedgehog, but anything was worth a try. He climbed to the top of the mech's detached legs, which wobbled in place beneath him. He waited as the cockpit slowly came towards him. Ray plotted when to jump so not to crash into Mighty, and when the perfect moment came he took a short run-up and jumped towards the cockpit, curling into a ball mid-air and crashing into Robotnik's back.

The pilot let go of the controls, reeling from the blow to his back which, combined with the rapid spinning, only served to worsen his feelings of nausea. Ray pulled Mighty up by his hands and held him straight as the armadillo swayed back and forth.

"Mighty!" Ray gently slapped his cheek. "C'mon, pull it together! We gotta get outta here - and we gotta take Sonic wiv us! Y'hear?"

"Y-yeah," Mighty ignored the feeling that he might vomit. "Yeah, c'mon, quickly..!"

He hopped off the cockpit with Ray and they ran over to Sonic, who was in the process of pushing himself up off the ground onto his backside. "Sonic?" Ray bent down to speak to him. "How're you feelin'?"

"I've f-felt worse," Sonic winced a little before his eyes widened and he pointed between Ray and Mighty; up above them was a swarm of Egg Robos.

Robotnik gained control of the cockpit, more infuriated than before. "Get them!" he ordered bluntly as he put his shades back in place. "Listen to me! Get them!"

The hovering badniks obeyed and circled the three convicts. "We have to move," Mighty swept a winded Sonic up in his arms. "C'mon, Ray! Don't just stand there!"

Together, they made a break for the doorway they had been taking cover in while Sonic fought Robotnik solo. They rushed blindly down its corridor, the sound of energy pellets burning the ground behind them as the Egg Robos kept on their tail.

"Hey, hedgehog!" Mighty raised his voice to be heard over the gunfire. "How did you get here, exactly? You got a ship we can get to?"

Sonic shook his head. "Ran."

Mighty shot him confused glance, like he couldn't quite hear or understand the dazed hedgehog. He kept Ray's pace, although despite his somewhat strict training regimen Mighty felt that he'd soon be struggling to maintain this speed while carrying Sonic, who was something of a dead weight. Determinedly, the armadillo continued to make his best efforts to flee the mechanical onslaught behind them. "Keep running, Ray!" Mighty encouraged. "Keep going until we outrun them!"

Then, Mighty felt a hot burn on the back of his ankle - an energy pellet finally managed to snag him. While the pain itself wasn't that great, it was enough to startle him, sending him hurtling onto the floor, not before tossing Sonic out of his arms. Mighty wasted no time getting back on his feet, although the horde of Egg Robos had already caught up with him by that point. Now, Mighty could either fight or surrender himself.

Mighty delivered a swift uppercut to the Robo directly in front of him, punching up through its middle. The lights in its eyes turned off and its limbs went limp. Mighty kicked its deactivated body away whilst simultaneously snatching its weapon from its metal hands. This seemed to catch the other Egg Robos by surprise, and they began to wave their weapons in a panic.

"DROP YOUR WEAPON!" one screeched. Mighty knew these things were not allowed to feel that sort of emotion, but he could almost detect a trace of fear in its voice. "LOWER YOUR WEAPON, PRISONER. YOU ARE NO GOOD TO US WITH A HOLE IN YOUR HEAD."

"Get back!" Mighty threatened, waving the blaster at the remaining four Badniks. "I'll shoot! I'm warning you, this is your last chance!"

One of the Egg Robos readied their blaster, but it was too late. Mighty squeezed his eyes shut and pulled down on the trigger, roaring while he drained the weapon of its ammunition. Soon, no more blasting sounds were coming from the thing, and Mighty opened his eyes again. Miraculously, he somehow only managed to singe the ground before the Badniks, whose weapons were all raised and pointed at the armadillo.

"LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED," an Egg Robo commanded. Mighty turned away, ready to accept his fate. "OPEN FI-"

Then, the sound of metal being cut, framework being dented, blasters firing blindly at the walls and ceiling, before it all came to a stop. Mighty brought himself to turn back, where he found the Egg Robos piled up in a heap, with a half-recovered Sonic sitting on top. "Nice moves, sharp-shooter," he snickered. "Where'd you learn to shoot?"

"So you can fend for yourself!" Mighty remarked. "Geez, what did you make me carry you for? You're not a big guy by any means, but lord, you weigh a ton!"

"Hey, red - you ever had a robot mech pressing down on top of ya, squeezing every ounce of breath outta your lungs?" Sonic snided. "Nope, didn't think so!"

"I saved your life, hedgehog!" Mighty frowned.

"Please - you couldn't even save your own!" Sonic dusted his hands off as he walked past Mighty and Ray, who was standing there looking somewhat awkward. "Anyway, remember how I came breezing through that ol' courtyard and busted up those 'bots who were 'boutta turn you both into metal slaves? So I guess that makes you and I even, huh?"

"I wouldn't have even considered it if I knew you'd be such a smart-mouth!" Mighty muttered under his breath.

Sonic looked around the corridor. Its walls were a deep metallic blue, with little detail or life to them at all. The design of all the buildings was so artificial, so obviously built with a disregard for feeling. "A place run by robots, built for robots..." Sonic shook his head. He looked up at the top corner where the corridor turned and the wall met the ceiling. A security camera was fixed on the three Mobians, its red light blinking. Sonic grabbed the broken, displaced hand of an Egg Robo and chucked it at the camera with great force. The security device smashed - now, it was a useless stump sticking out from the wall.

"That egg-head Robotnik must have eyes all over this place..." Sonic thought out loud. "But I'm willing to bet that these cameras probably feed back somewhere... if we found that place, we might be able to take them out - that way, Robotnik can't trace our movements on the island!"

"What place? What are you talking about?" Mighty asked, bewildered. "Hey, you didn't answer my question before - how exactly did you get here? A ship?"

"Toldja, hip-shooter," Sonic mimicked running on the spot. "I ran!"

Mighty tutted, "C'mon, how 'bout you stop messing me around?"

"I'm fast, aren't I?"

"But not that fast."

"Are you sure? How could you tell?"

Mighty eyed Sonic with scepticism, but Sonic's sincerity was authentic. "I didn't come here by boat. Didn't come by plane, either. You see a pair of wings on my back? See any gills on my neck? Nuh-uh. Like I said, I ran - like skipping a stone across a lake, that's me!"

"I don't understand," Ray piped up. "How're you so fast in the first place?"

"I guess I'm just naturally gifted," Sonic stretched. "Anyway, what are we doing standing around for? You know Robotnik's gonna find out we're here at some point, right?"

Stopping him before he went to run, Ray asked Sonic, "Where are you planning on going? I don't understand. Why aren't we leaving?"

"You think I came here just to rescue your cell block?" Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Nuh-uh, Ray - I'm here to bust out every prisoner on this island! You think I stand a chance of doing that when that power-crazed punk is watching my every move? You think that any of your buddies from lockup are gonna get anywhere close to the shore when there's a dozen cameras on 'em?"

Mighty and Ray went quiet as they came to realise Sonic's ambition. "Look," Sonic sighed. "You two seem like alright guys - you ask a lotta questions, but you're alright. Here's the thing: you got two choices. You can go your own way and fend for yourselves while you try to find a way outta here - now, let me tell ya, me and Robotnik have got history. I know he's not gonna make it easy for you. Or, option two: you come with me, we find a security centre or a control centre or whatever, we shut everything down, save everyone, and maybe even beat Robotnik's butt while we're at it. It might be dangerous. You might get hurt. You're gonna have to fight, which mean's you're probably gonna have to try shootin' one of those guns again. But I'd say you stand as much of a chance at living as you would if you both went off on your own - but if you come with me, we might save ourselves plus everyone else on this island. I'm no ruler, I'm not trying to tell you what's good for you. If you wanna come with me, I'll be walkin' this way. If you don't, then you can do whatever you want."

Sonic began to stroll leisurely down the turning in the corridor. Mighty pulled Ray in to talk to him. "What d'you think of this guy?" Mighty whispered, watching over his shoulder as Sonic walked away.

"What? He seems nice," Ray glanced, "He's got a point. Our prospects ain't great either way, but he's out to save everyone. Ain't that what we should be aspirin' for?"

Mighty kept his eyes on Sonic. "Let's face it, we're already in one of the most dangerous places on Mobius. We're lucky to even be speaking to one another right now."

"So?"

"So... I guess you've both got a point. Let's bust this place open."

From behind Sonic came two sets of footsteps. The blue hedgehog turned and smiled upon seeing Mighty and Ray. "I guess not all criminals are bad people, huh?" Sonic remarked as the three paced down the hallway.

"We ain't criminals," replied Ray. "We ended up here by some fluke."

"What? You didn't read the signs on the way here?"

"Our apartment got raided," Mighty explained. "They didn't give us much of an explanation as to why. We arrived here yesterday evening."

"Robotnik doesn't need much of a reason," Sonic stared ahead as he walked. Before Mighty could ask him another question, a voice blared over the tannoy.

"Attention all prisoners!" Robotnik spoke urgently through the hiss of the speakers. "Divert your attention to the nearest screen. The three individuals you see there are now the most wanted people on this island! If anyone has information concerning their whereabouts, they will be rewarded not only with their freedom, but with a sizeable financial reward. All Badniks should be on the lookout for these three escapees. If you have information, alert the closest prison guard immediately."

Sonic, Mighty, and Ray rushed to find a screen. They stumbled upon what seemed to be some kind of kitchen or canteen, where Egg Pawns brewed pots of slop and sludge. They waved their arms in panic upon seeing the three Mobians and immediately rushed to attack. The two sides were perfectly matched, and despite the brutish aggression of the Egg Pawns they stood no chance against the fierce Mobian escapees. Ray pointed out a screen to the others - on it were blurry pictures of Sonic, Mighty, and Ray, taken from security footage.

"Robotnik, you sly ol'..." Sonic grumbled. "All the more reason to find a way of deactivating the cameras. As long as he's got a live feed on us, he's gonna be sending his goons his way, constantly givin' us trouble! But before we do that, I am starving!"

Sonic helped himself to a hot pot of barely edible gunk, grabbing it in fistfuls and gulping it down him. He visibly winced, but continued nonetheless. While Ray looked on in horror, Mighty questioned Sonic, "What did you mean before when you said you and Robotnik had history?"

Sonic licked his lips. "Huh?"

"Before. When you were talking to us in the corridor, you told us you had 'history' with Robotnik."

"I didn't date him, if that's what you're gettin' at," Sonic looked at Mighty, mocking disapproval. "Nah, me 'n' the old Doctor have history, alright. I guess you could say we knew each other once."

"You know where he comes from?" Ray asked. "I mean, I've never seen nothin' like him..."

"He's not Mobian," Sonic answered before shaking his head abruptly. "Look, I don't wanna get into it right now. We'll have all the time to chat after we've blown this island apart - that's if we don't get blown up with it! C'mon, you two - let's keep looking through this place!"

Sonic hopped off the kitchen counter, leaving a half-empty pot of food and dashing out the door. Left with no choice but to pursue, Mighty and Ray broke into a sprint.

-Busted and Blue-

A large metal, garage-style door raised from the ground. Robotnik piloted his mildly-damaged mech inside and parked it in place next to his other inventions. Deactivating the engine, Robotnik climbed out of the cockpit, revealing his skinny legs wrapped in black trousers. The doctor-turned-dictator lowered himself out of the mech and onto the ground, where he assessed the legs of the machine for any damage.

"Damned Mobians," Robotnik cursed under his breath. "Slippery, cunning, deceiving creatures..."

Robotnik's eyes wandered across the machine until they reached the bottom of the boot which pinned down Sonic. He was about to turn away when he noticed something sticking out of the bottom of it - something small, something thin, barely noticeable. Robotnik bent down and plucked it from beneath the boot of the machine, sweeping his cape behind him as he stood back up. With his free hand, Robotnik lowered his black shades and peered over them. Between his fingers he held a strand of ocean-blue fur.

Sonic's fur.

His fingers rubbed them together and a smile began to spread across Robotnik's face. "Sonic's fur..." he sniggered to himself. "Sonic's fur... yes! This, I think, will be particularly useful..."

Robotnik clutched the tiny lock of fur carefully in his hands before eagerly making his way out of the garage, chuckling and speaking under his breath all the while.