-Chapter 227-
Saved by Robotnik?
Even Thunderbolt's Troopers could only look on in shock as Sonic scooped Mina up, cradling her. Her torso was covered in electrical burns, and the corruption was spreading.
"Mina, I'm sorry!" he pleaded. "I-I didn't mean-!"
"Sonic, back up!" Tails ordered. "I've got just the thing to help!"
He pulled a small drone from his pouch, activating it. It hovered over Mina, bathing her in green light and slowly healing the corruption and wounds.
"My Medi-Bot works…" Tails mused in relief.
"I-It's okay…" Mina assured, giving a gentle smile. "It's not…your fault. None of this…is your…fault…"
She lost consciousness, falling back and seemingly dead.
"MINA, NO!" Sonic screamed. "Not like this!"
Everyone just looked on in horror and sadness at what just happened, only for the silence to be cut off by Thunderbolt laughing evilly. Now that Sonic was no longer Dark, she seemed to have regained her confidence.
"Ohhhh…this is perfect! Absolutely perfect! You idiots fought with everything you had! You stopped my death trap and beat me within an inch of my life! And I still killed her! I still win!"
"You…" Sonic growled, the Freedom Fighters furiously glaring at her.
"If I'd known she'd be willing to sacrifice her pathetic life for yours, I would've just-!"
Suddenly, a rock collided with the side of her head. She fell hard, a bruise forming as she held her head. She turned, seeing Kat coming out of a throw, still leaning on Hope.
"You…little…!" Thunderbolt screamed. "How dare you strike the mighty Thunder-!"
Instead of replying, Kat grabbed another rock, one much bigger than the first one, and threw it. Thunderbolt narrowly dodged as Kat scowled.
"SHUT UP! You heartless, petty, sawed-off little BITCH!" the redhead screamed. "How can you be so broken inside?! Cause all this trouble, all this pain and misery, and for what?!"
"You opposed Master Robotnik!" Thunderbolt snapped. "It's nothing less than what you deserve!"
"Why would you ever want to willingly serve Eggman?!" Sonic demanded. "He wiped out Shengcun Village! Flooded Station Square! All he does is destroy everything he touches and make people suffer!"
"SHUT UP!" Thunderbolt screamed. "You fools would never understand!"
She sparked, preparing another attack, only to stumble.
"Out of juice…" she spat. "Damn it! I wanted to kill them myself!" She took a breath. "Oh well, I accomplished my mission, so that's good." She raised her hand. "Shock Troop! On my mark, prepare to fire!"
"Yes, Boss Thunderbolt!"
The Egg Troopers pointed their weapons at the Freedom Fighters.
"No! You're not…" Sonic tried to charge her, only to collapse. "Shit…"
"Looks like I'm not the only one who's out of juice!" Thunderbolt taunted. "If you're gonna kill someone, kill 'em! Don't waste time with cat and mouse games! But don't worry. You won't have to live with the indignity for long."
Sonic could only growl as the Egg Troopers took aim.
"All troops!" Thunderbolt declared. "Open fire in three…two…one-!"
Before she could give the order, a shadow fell over them. All eyes looked up to see the latest Egg Carrier flying overhead. Thunderbolt's eyes lit up.
"It's him!" She cheered.
"Eggman…" Sonic let out.
A tractor beam fired down as Robotnik descended to the surface, looking incredibly furious.
"Thunderbolt!" he roared.
As he surveyed the damage, the Egg Troopers looked on in horror. The Freedom Fighters looked on in horror. The only person who wasn't looking on in horror was Thunderbolt, dancing happily like a giddy high school girl meeting her favorite boy band.
"Master Robotnik!" she cheered, happily running over to him. "You actually came! And just in time to see me wipe Sonic and his loathsome allies off the face of-!"
"Silence!" Robotnik snapped, slapping her across the face and knocking her into the remains of her suit. While the Egg Troopers winced in sympathy, Sonic and the Freedom Fighters just glared at her with hatred and spite. The doctor casually turned to them.
"Excuse me, I'll be just a minute," he said casually before advancing on Thunderbolt, who rubbed her head. She looked up at the outraged Robotnik in surprise.
"M-Master, wh-what's wrong?" she stammered. "H-Have I done something to displease you?"
"What's wrong?" Robotnik repeated. "What's WRONG?! What do you think is wrong?!"
"I-I'm sorry about the Surge Breaker! I underestimated how powerful the Freedom Fighters were! I promise, I'll fix it…I…"
"I don't care about that stupid hunk of junk!" Robotnik shouted. "I'm 'displeased' because my 'strongest, smartest, and most loyal subordinate' abandoned her post to attack a Mina Mongoose concert!"
"B-but Master, I don't understand!" Thunderbolt objected. "You went on Scrambler ranting about how you hated Mina's music and wanted her dead!"
"That wasn't me, you little, yellow idiot!" Robotnik snapped. "Cubot filmed that and posted it to his own account for a laugh! I never planned to carry out any of that ranting! That kind of petty cartoonish supervillainy is beneath the empire!"
"W-well, okay," Thunderbolt gulped, "B-but, she's still a Freedom Fighter! One of your sworn enemies! I was just doing my job, and I even brought Sonic and his rabble-rousers to their knees!"
"It doesn't matter," Robotnik hissed in a low, dangerous tone. "You abandoned your post. Wasted valuable Empire resources. And made me look like an absolute fool! You know what happens to minions who do that?!"
He made a fist and raised his thumb… as if he were holding a detonator. Thunderbolt and the troopers' eyes widened in horror, as did the Freedom Fighters.
"No!" Thunderbolt screamed. "Not the Crack Protocol! Anything but the Crack Protocol!"
"Eggman, no!" Sonic shouted.
"Stop!" Hope shrieked.
"Master, please!" Thunderbolt pleaded, getting on her knees. "Have mercy! I'm sorry! I promise, I'll be good! Please don't-!"
Robotnik "clicked" the detonator, causing Thunderbolt and all the Egg Troopers to spark with orange lightning and go ramrod stiff.
"There, that takes care of that." he sighed.
With Thunderbolt and the Shock Troop dealt with, Robotnik walked over to Mina. Chris immediately stood in his way.
"Stay back!" he ordered. "This is all your fault! You don't get to come within ten feet of-!"
Robotnik just pushed him aside before kneeling down and examining her, much to their surprise. After a few minutes, he stood up.
"She's alive," he reported, Sonic immediately sagging in relief. "Whatever you did treated the worst of her injuries and stabilized her, but if I were you, I'd get her to a hospital as soon as possible. Better safe than sorry." He cleared his throat. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to deal with my subordinate."
"Wh-What did you do to them?" Hope questioned.
"A little extra feature of my patented Crack Protocol: total system suspension," Robotnik grabbed Thunderbolt by her tail and held her upside-down. He then started poking and prodding her, but she didn't react. "The victim's implants lock-up, completely paralyzing them and suspending all bodily functions until I unlock them. It's what I did to Mordred after that little fiasco in Soleanna."
Johnny snapped his fingers and waved a hand in front of an Egg Trooper's face, but didn't get a reaction; while Porker tentatively poked another, causing him to slowly fall over.
"Wow..." the pig let out.
Hope looked around in horror, shaking as she clung to Kat.
"Anyway…" Robotnik pressed his com. "Agatha, I've subdued Shock Troop. Have Akhlut prepare the holding cells."
"Roger that, Uncle!"
Robotnik ended the transmission as the tractor beam began to pull up him, the Troopers, and what was left of Thunderbolt's suit.
"I really have to apologize for Thunderbolt's behavior," he said calmly. "She's a good soldier, but she can be a bit…overenthusiastic. What do you say we just pretend the whole thing never happened and do this some other time? Toodles!"
The Freedom Fighters could only watch as Eggman's ship departs. Once again, they only barely managed to get away by the skin of their teeth.
-X-
Back at the park, the rest of the Forget-Me-Knots waited anxiously for any sign of Sonic and the others. Sonia was trying to keep the others calm.
"Just relax, you guys," she soothed. "Sonic and the others have it covered."
"You mean like they 'had it covered' with that psycho orca and din-?" Sharps began, only to get slapped upside the head by Max.
"Shut up, you idiot," he hissed, pointing to Ash, who was sitting there anxious, doing his best to keep from panicking. Fortunately, they didn't have to wait much longer; Sonic and the others emerged from Pleasure Castle, Mina on Sonic's back.
"Mina!" Ash cried. "What happened?!"
"She took a hit from Eggman's goons," Sonic replied. "She saved my life. She'll live, but we're taking her to the doctor just to be safe."
"You all might wanna go to the doctor yourselves," Mach pointed out. "You guys look like you went through hell."
"Just about," Sally confirmed.
As the Freedom Fighters left the park, they passed by several cheering fans. Though they smiled and put up a strong front, inside, they were tired, weary, and most of all, afraid of what the future held.
Robotropolis
Three days later, Thunderbolt came to, finding herself in Citadel Robotnik and surrounded by Robotnik, Eggatha, and Akhlut, all of them visibly displeased.
"What's going on?" the chinchilla asked. "Aren't you gonna… kill me?"
"No," Robotnik replied. "I want you to understand what exactly you did wrong here, Thunderbolt. When I took over Breeze Media and changed Sonic Man, I also had a pragmatic reason for doing so: converting it into a Roboticizer and Badnik Processing Plant to boost my workforce. Now, can you tell me what you did at Twinkle Park?"
"Abandon her post and waste valuable time and resources trying to assassinate an idol singer in a futile, pathetic attempt to impress you?" Akhlut questioned bluntly.
Robotnik glared at him.
"I was asking her specifically, but… yes, that's about the size and shape," he turned to her. "If I just wanted Sonic dead, I'd carpet-bomb him using the Egg Fleet and be done with it. When I do kill Sonic, and it will be me who does it, it will be in the ultimate battle of good and evil. Not one of my generals going off on a tangent."
"With all due respect, Master, why don't we just shoot him?" Thunderbolt questioned.
"Simple, really. If we 'just shoot him,' we martyr him. Make him a legend, a saint. Someone for the masses to rally behind. But break him, humiliate him, and hold him up for the world to see? Then he's just a teenage punk, and hope dies with him, making Mobius ripe for the conquering," he adjusted his glasses. "In a nutshell, Thunderbolt, there's a right way and a wrong way to vanquish your life-long enemy. And you did it very, very wrong."
Thunderbolt nodded. "Yes, Master. So… what do I face for this oversight?"
"For now, you're merely suspended from field duty until further notice."
Eggatha gasped at that, while Akhlut scowled.
"She acted without orders, made you and your men look like fools, and that's it?!" the orca demanded.
"I have a few good reasons for that," Robotnik replied. "One: she may have acted without authorization, but she had enough sense not to seriously harm any civilians. That kind of thing will just provoke the Freedom Fighters and GUN, giving them more cause to come after us. Two: she managed to bring Sonic and his dream team to their knees. And three: she had an encounter with Dark Sonic and lived to tell the tale." He removed his left glove, showing off his prosthetic. "Which I consider punishment enough."
Recalling the tales he heard of Sonic's Dark form, Akhlut conceded. "Yes, very well then."
Thunderbolt bowed at that, grinning.
"Thank you, Master!" she said giddily. "Your mercy and wisdom is what I live for!"
"You're far too kind," Robotnik declared. "And at the very least, I don't have to worry about Mina's music being everywhere anymore."
As soon as those words were out of his mouth, Cubot came rushing in.
"Hey Doc, turn on the news!" he insisted. "You're not gonna believe it!"
With a shrug, Robotnik did so, revealing Scarlet Garcia on-screen.
"Three days ago, the Robotnik Empire launched a surprise attack on Twinkle Park, one the Freedom Fighters were hard-pressed to repel. Mina Mongoose, Mobius' latest teen singing sensation, was critically injured in the assault, and her band's touring is postponed until further notice while she recuperates."
Thunderbolt beamed with pride, which was soon wiped off her face as the report went on.
"However, all of Mina's fans have been showing their support and well-wishes, both in person and on social media," The screen showed pictures of massive crowds of people well wishing Mina, along with a picture of her in her hospital bed flashing a V-sign and a smile, surrounded by flowers and "get well soon" cards. "Also, as a show of support, as well as in response to a certain web video that recently went viral…" The screen briefly flashed Robotnik's rant on Scrambler, "several radio stations have exclusively been playing Forget-Me-Knot songs for the past few days."
The remote dropped from Robotnik's hand, while Thunderbolt scowled.
"That stinking hedgehog!" she ranted. "He just had to ruin everything! Now people love her music more than ever!"
"Hey, it was your fault in the first place!" Eggatha snapped. "You attacked her concert!"
"Shut up!" Thunderbolt snapped. "I don't need to hear that from you, you…"
"I'd save your energy if I were you, Thunderbolt." Akhlut informed her. "I believe you have bigger problems at the moment."
"What are you…?"
"Ohhh, Thunderbolt…" Robotnik let out in a singsong voice.
Thunderbolt stiffened. "Y-yes, Master?"
She turned to see Robotnik smiling madly while tapping a broom in his hands. The chinchilla started quivering in fear and sweating bullets as the doctor chuckled darkly.
"Rikachu, use Flee!" Eggatha ordered.
"I told you, I am not a-!"
"THUNDERBOOOOOLT!"
Robotnik furiously chased her around the lab, the chinchilla screaming and pleading…
-X-
Some time later…
It was tough work, but eventually, Robotnik managed to catch Thunderbolt, strapping her in a chair and placing a device on her head that forced and held her eyes open, a monitor set before her.
"Master, don't do this!" Thunderbolt pleaded. "I'm sorry!"
"Not yet, you aren't," Robotnik replied. "But after a few hours or so of listening to the Forget-Me-Knots… you will be."
He turned on the TV, closing the door behind him. Thunderbolt squirmed desperately as Forget-Me-Knots music videos began playing on a loop.
"No! Please! Stop! I HATE POP MUUUUSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIC!"
A horrified scream filled the room as Robotnik left her to her fate.
Author's Note:
And that's that. Thunderbolt's intro arc is complete. Astute eyes among you may recognize the Batman and Clockwork Orange references in regards to Thunderbolt's punishment.
Next chapter will be an actual breather; two straight arcs of Sonic and co. getting their asses kicked and only surviving because Robotnik has to reign in his psychotic rogue minions without a breather in-between is more than enough for me, thank you.
Please R&R. Until next time!
