-Chapter 102-
Ice-Cold Reception
Egg Utopia
Robotnik looked down at his niece, who was standing in the doorway, looking more than a little upset. She had her arms crossed as she met her uncle's eye..
"What did you mean by that, Uncle?" she asked. "What did you do?"
Robotnik sighed, realizing there was no way out.
"Alright," he began. "During the Westside Island incident, I attacked Shēngcún Village and enslaved the population to work on board the Death Egg. When Sonic brought it down on Angel Island, I, well…"
It didn't take a genius for one to figure out what he was getting at.
"I can't believe you!" Eggatha screamed. "Do you have any idea what you've done?! You've labeled yourself a psychopath, a bloody maniac on a killing spree! Aurora, no wonder Sonic's gone dark! You pushed him past his breaking point with that!"
"I was tying up loose ends!" Robotnik tried to defend. "They'd worn out their usefulness!"
"No, what you did was make yourself way more enemies when you could've avoided it and put yourself on GUN's radar!" Eggatha snapped. "And even if they were loose ends, you could have used them as hostages! Or bargaining chips! There's always a better option than killing people!"
She took several deep breaths, then turned away. "I'll be in my lab."
She walked off, the door slamming behind her. Robotnik just stood there in silence, unsure what to do to placate Eggatha or make it up to her.
Southern Baronies
At Southern Baronies General Hospital, Kat sat in the waiting room, talking on the radio.
"A sonic… saxophone?" she asked.
"Couldn't make it up if I tried," Keith confirmed. "Glasses are completely shattered and I didn't think to bring a spare."
"Man, Eggman must be really scraping the barrel with that one," Kat mused.
"So, can I count on you?" Keith questioned.
"Absolutely. I'll find an optometrist and see about your glasses once I'm done with the emergency room."
"Arm?"
Kat nodded. "Arm."
At that moment, the door to the main area opened as a nurse stepped out.
"Winters!" she called.
"That's me!" Kat turned to the radio. "Gotta go. Good luck."
She stood up, following the nurse to the doctor's office.
Music Plant
Meanwhile, Keith stowed his radio.
"Alright, I've got glasses en route," he reported.
"You really need 'em that badly?" Bunnie asked.
"I'm not totally blind without glasses, Bunnie," Keith replied. "I can see enough to get around without crashing or tripping over things. But I'll do a lot better once I get a new pair."
"And we'll need everyone in peak condition," Sonic added. "Speaking of, Hope?"
Hope closed a panel on Bunnie's arm, smiling. "All fixed. I'm just glad that I was able to snag some tools from the fair."
"What's the next Zone?" Chris asked.
"The Ice Paradise," Bunnie answered. "Kinda like the Frozen Zone on South Island, only more... big city."
"Ah," Sonic nodded. "I don't suppose any of us were smart enough to-"
Chris dropped his backpack, revealing coats and scarves. "Yep. There's been at least one cold Zone on every mission we've gone on. I came prepared."
Everyone raided the backpack, bundling themselves up in coats, scarves, and hats.
"You think of quite a few things, don't you?" Antoine pondered.
"Tekno's rubbing off on me," Chris said with a shrug.
"Speaking of thinking of something, do you have Sonic's ice cleats?" Keith asked.
"Even better," Chris smiled. "Ever been skating, Sonic?"
Sonic raised an eyebrow. "You made me ice skates?"
"Of a sort."
Chris held out what looked like replacement soles for the Power Sneakers, which Sonic took, slipping them on.
"Those soles have extra grip for better traction on ice," he explained. "And that's not all. Tap your feet together."
Sonic did so, and ice skates immediately popped out of the shoes.
"For when said extra grip won't cut it," Chris concluded.
"Alright," Sonic grinned. "This is gonna be fun."
He stowed the skates for now, then they all began heading towards Ice Paradise.
Ice Paradise
Before long, they found themselves in a snowy region, a sizable city reminiscent of Station Square within. What really got their attention was a local ice rink, where a hockey team seemed to be practicing.
"Looks like a team's practicing," Hope mused.
Bunnie looked out at the rink, her eyes narrowing. "That's odd. Those are penguins. Penguins don't come this far north."
They went to get a closer look, and stopped when they saw the penguins were in fact robots.
"Badniks," Antoine sighed. "Of course."
"Penguinators, to be more specific," Hope clarified, getting a look. "Eggatha told me about some of the models in the horde."
"Seriously, how has she not gotten caught yet?" Keith pondered.
"We reroute emails through Snively's systems," Hope said simply.
Keith nodded. "Ah, that explains it."
"So... why are Badniks playing hockey here?" Chris asked.
"My guess?" Sonic began. "The Music Plant isn't the only money-making scheme Eggman had planned here."
"So what are we gonna do?" Keith questioned. "Challenge them to a hockey game for use of the rink?"
"No," Sonic shook his head. "We're just gonna go down there and smash them."
"Simple, yet effective," Hope smiled. "I like it."
"Let's get it done," Bunnie insisted.
Egg Utopia
Robotnik knocked on Eggatha's door, getting nothing but silence.
"Agatha, my dear, open the door," he said quietly.
"Go away!" Eggatha snapped.
Robotnik recoiled at the anger in her voice.
"Agatha… I made a mistake, I admit that," he told her. "I thought I was ensuring the elimination of potential threats, but you're right. It was a foolish decision."
There was silence on the other end.
"If it makes it any better, it was a one-off thing," Robotnik went on. "I haven't done something like that a second time, nor do I have any intention of repeating it."
The door hissed open as Eggatha revealed herself.
"You promise?" she asked.
"Of course," Robotnik assured. "Why do you think I ordered all the Floral Forest villagers captured alive? I've got enough enemies as it is."
"I'm gonna hold you to that, Uncle," Eggatha told him. "No more massacres."
Robotnik nodded. "You have my word."
Ice Paradise
Sonic and co. headed down to the ice rink. Sonic casually strolled out onto the ice, getting the Penguinators' attention.
"Game over, guys," he told them.
"Alert!" one Penguinator declared. "Hedgehog, Priority One!"
He raised his hockey stick, slapping the puck at Sonic with all his might. Sonic smirked, clicking his heels and activating his skates. He then zoomed across the ice, avoiding the puck. One by one, the others began going out onto the ice, rented ice skates on their feet. Keith remained on the outside of the ice, not wanting to risk it with his impaired sight. They suddenly heard beeping, and turned to see the puck that the first Penguinator had slapped at Sonic flashing red rapidly before exploding. They recoiled, looking at the charred ground in surprise.
"Puck bombs," Hope said flatly. "Why am I not surprised?"
Keith grabbed some hockey sticks off a rack, holding them out. "You guys might need these!"
Sonic darted over, snatching one. "Yoink!"
The others grabbed their own as well, facing off against the Penguinators
"Looks like you'll get some hockey action after all, Keith," Bunnie mused, slapping the face of the stick against her metal palm, "once we send these clowns to the penalty box."
One Penguinator sent another puck bomb at Sonic, who caught it before slapping it back. The penguin let out a squawk before trying to dodge the puck, only for it to blow up in his face.
"Ooh, it's a three-pointer!" Sonic declared.
Keith grinned, and for laughs, turned on the scoreboard, giving the home team three points. The game wore on for a while, the Freedom Fighters dodging puck bombs and returning what they could. One by one, the penguinators exploded, clearing the field.
"Woo!" Chris cheered. "Now this is fun!"
"The fun's over, kids!"
They turned to see a new bot, clearly the goalie, skating into the rink. This one was a Penguinator as well, but at least twice the size as the others, towering over Sonic and the others. Rather than a hockey stick, he was wielding a hi-tech gun.
"Mon dieu… (1)" Antoine managed.
"You the head honcho?" Sonic asked. "What kinda steroid oil has Egghead been feeding you?"
"If you think you're going to leave this rink alive, you've got another thing coming, hedgehog!" the goalie declared.
"Oh gee, I haven't heard that one before," Sonic deadpanned. "Except every blasted time a Badnik has tried to kill me and gotten scrapped."
"Ah, but where they failed, I'll put you on ice!"
He aimed his blaster, and the Freedom Fighters immediately took off skating as a freezing blue ray was fired at them.
"Not good!" Hope exclaimed.
"What are we gonna do?!" Chris demanded.
Sonic dodged around the ice blasts before skating in, darting around the goalie at full speed before stopping. The goalie raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
"Were you supposed to be doing something, or…"
Sonic smirked. "Give it a minute."
At that moment, the goalie lost his footing and fell through a perfectly round hole Sonic had cut through the ice around him. He sighed, seemingly resigned to his fate.
"You, hedgehog, are a real pain in my a-"
He sunk under, the rest of his words cut off by burbling and bubbles.
"What was that?" Sonic taunted. "You gotta finish your sentence!"
As he taunted the sinking mechanism, he saw something glowing in water. "Huh. Hey Bunnie, you mind?"
Bunnie launched her extendo arm, grabbing the glowing object and retracting to reveal it was the cyan Chaos Emerald.
"Another Emerald?" Chris asked.
"It must've been powering the goalie's freeze ray," Hope deduced.
"And that's another one for us," Sonic remarked. "Keith! What's the score?"
"The Freedom Fighters win the game by a landslide!" Keith declared.
Everyone cheered, sharing high fives.
"Where to next?" Antoine asked.
"Next up is the Sky Canyon," Bunnie answered. "After that, it's the end of the line. It's safe to assume we'll find Eggman's base past it."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Sonic demanded. "We've got people to save!"
Egg Utopia
Meanwhile, at the Egg Utopia, the Eggpod containing Knuckles finally arrived. He was released, soon faced with Robotnik.
"Ah, Knuckles," the doctor greeted. "So nice of you could join us."
"Cut the niceties, Eggman," Knuckles snapped. "What do you want from me?"
"I advise you to watch your tone. Unless you want a certain redhead to undergo the Robotomy Treatment."
Knuckles froze, his fist clenching, but he controlled his temper.
"That's better," Robotnik said. "Now, lucky for you I have one simple mission for you. I want you... to kill Sonic the Hedgehog."
Knuckles' eyes widened at that.
"Poison him. Drown him. Bash him in the head," Robotnik went on. "I don't care how you do it, as long as he's dead by dawn. Once you do so, the Winters brat is free to go."
"You promise?" Knuckles asked.
Robotnik nodded.
"Once Sonic is gone, I'll have no further use for her. You'll be free to take her and get out of my sight. But, only once Sonic is dead."
"Fine," Knuckles caved. "You win."
Robotnik grinned.
"I knew you'd see things my way," he led him over to a nearby vehicle. "I even went to the trouble of preparing a specialized mech just for you to do the job."
Knuckles looked up at the machine, feeling more than a little nervous and sick about what he had to do. The mad doctor merely slapped his back, grinning maliciously.
"Happy hunting!" he declared.
Steeling himself, Knuckles went to board the machine…
Author's Note:
(1): French for "My God".
Oh, no! Knuckles has fallen for the trap! Can he be stopped from killing Sonic and realize his error before it's too late? Tune in next chapter to find out.
Please R&R. Until next time!
