- Chapter 3 -

Spring Yard Shenanigans

After exiting the Marble Zone, Sonic found himself overlooking the Spring Yard Zone. Once a sprawling metropolis dedicated to the leisure industry, such as casinos and pinball machines, the area had been largely abandoned after the creation of more advanced and reputable tourist attractions, such as the Casino Night Club on Westside Island, or Casinopolis in Station Square. However, Sonic was surprised to see that fireworks were being shot into the sky, exploding over what should have been abandoned ruins.

"What the heck?" Sonic muttered to himself. "There's no way this place should be up and running. It's been closed for years."

He immediately ran in to investigate, stopping short at what he saw. The Spring Yard Zone was active and thumping. Neon lights filled the area as he saw such things as active roller coasters, a Ferris wheel, and several other rides. Sonic's jaw dropped in disbelief.

"Okay, something's definitely wrong here. I better get to the bottom of this."

-X-

In an office right in the center of the Zone lurked a trio of humans talking to Dr. Robotnik on a computer screen. These were the Marxio Brothers, Grouchio, Chicio, and Harpio, a trio of electricians and businessmen who had entered a deal of business with him. All three were short, middle-aged men with different appearances.

Grouchio, the oldest brother, had dark brown curly hair, and a mustache shaped like two hearts coming out of his nose. He wore red overalls with a yellow shirt underneath and brown shoes, and a white bowtie with pink polka dots. Chicio, the middle child, had a short black mustache and black hair hidden under his red cap, which he wore backwards, as well as blue overalls, a white shirt, and brown shoes. And Harpio, the youngest, had curly orange hair and a lazy expression constantly on his face, complete with green overalls with a blue shirt and brown shoes.

"I understand, Doc," Grouchio assured, his voice carrying a thick Italian accent. "I mean, do we look like idiots?"

"You don't really want me to answer that question, do you?" Robotnik said sarcastically before getting back on topic. "Sonic has most likely made it through the Marble Zone by now. He'll be in Spring Yard any minute. You owe me for giving you the resources to kick-start this place again, so make sure that blue spikeball doesn't make it out of the city alive. Fail, and I'll subject all three of you to my all-inclusive Robotomy Treatment."

All three Marxios recoiled, gasping in horror.

"Mama-mia!" Chicio cried out. "Anything but that!"

"Nobody could be that cruel!" Grouchio exclaimed.

Harpio said nothing, but merely held up a horn and honked it twice.

"You'd be surprised what I'm capable of. Take Sonic out and everything will be just fine. In the meantime, I have something else to take care of."

With that, he ended the communication, the screen going black. Harpio looked at a security monitor off to the side and his jaw dropped at the sight of Sonic on the screen. He rapidly tooted his horn, getting his brothers' attention.

"Look, big bro!" Chicio cried out, pointing at the screen. "Robotnik was right about that hedgehog! He's already there!"

"So do something about it!" Grouchio snapped. "Push a button or something!"

"Sure, boss! I'll push this one!" Chicio slammed his fist on a big red button off to the side.

-X-

As Sonic hurried through the Zone, passing multiple fast-food stands, he stopped short at the sound of familiar metallic whirring. He whirled around, seeing several Swatbots and Troopers emerge from beneath the roller coaster tracks, all brandishing their ray guns at him.

"Hedgehog, Priority One!" they recited.

"Of course," Sonic grumbled aloud. "Robotnik's involved with this!"

The robots began rapidly firing on Sonic, who dodged around left and right, before tucking into a ball and bouncing off several of their heads. However, even more showed up, crowding around him and holding him at gunpoint.

"Don't move, hedgehog!" one Trooper shouted. "Move one muscle and we blow the spines off your hide."

Sonic raised an eyebrow, suspicious. "Why would you want me to stay here? Unless I'm walking into-"

On cue, a trap door opened up beneath his feet, dropping him down a dark chute. "-A trap!"

The Swatbots and Troopers lowered their blasters as Sonic fell out of sight.

"You interfered with the doctor, hedgehog," one Swatbot mused with a hint of amusement. "The penalty is death... by pinball."

-X-

Sonic landed in a small circular pit on his feet. He slowly got to his feet, and looked up.

"Was that it?" he pondered before snorting and shaking his head. "Weak."

As soon as he said that, the ground suddenly began to sink. Before he could do more than register the fact, the floor shot up, propelling him into the air with great force. Sonic let out a yell as he was thrown about, looking down to find several star-adorned red bumpers and flippers; they had dropped him into a giant pinball table. On instinct, the hedgehog tucked into a ball, bouncing and ricocheting off the bumpers. After bouncing around for a while, he sprang off one of flippers, landing safely on the ground. He shook his head, clearing the cobwebs, and found himself standing on a walkway composed of brown blocks.

"Well, that was hectic," he muttered. "But at least it's over."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that!"

Sonic immediately whirled around, seeing the Marxio Bros. standing there. He blinked in surprise, looking them up and down. "Uh... who are you supposed to be?"

"We're the-a Marxio Bros.!" Grouchio declared. "Grouchio, Chicio, and Harpio!"

Harpio tooted his horn once and Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Ooo-kay. So, what exactly do you want from me?"

"We're getting paid a pretty penny by Dr. Robotnik to fix this place up," Chicio informed him. "Which includes-a taking you out!"

"Say what?!" Sonic shouted, glaring at them. "You morons! Robotnik's trying to take over the world, and you're helping him?!"

"It's just business," Grouchio replied. "Nothing personal. Now let's see how you handle this!"

A loud, metallic buzzing reached Sonic's ears and he whirled around, seeing a massive Buzz Bomber flying overhead. It had a black head with four red eyes, a small mouth, a pair of orange spikes on its forehead for horns, and a white collar around its neck. It also had an orange thorax with six orange and black legs with red claws, an orange and black-striped abdomen with four engines attached to it, and a massive black stinger. On its back were two pairs of yellow insect wings.

"Oh, crap..." Sonic muttered, just as the Buzz Bomber jutted out its stinger and descended at him at high speed.

He quickly darted out of the way as the Badnik's stinger jabbed into the block where he was standing mere seconds before. It rapidly flapped its wings and pulled up the block, smashing it.

"Meet the Death Queen, hedgehog!" Grouchio gloated. "The queen of the good doctor's Buzz Bombers!"

"You'll meet a slow and painful demise at her stinger!" Chicio added.

The Death Queen placed its gaze on Sonic again before trying to dive-bomb him, zipping around and plowing through the ground with its stinger, shredding through it and narrowly missing Sonic each time. After a bit, it fired numerous laser shots from all six of its legs, forcing Sonic on the defensive once again. Eventually, one hit him in the left shoulder, knocking him back.

Hissing in pain, Sonic's hand went to his shoulder, wincing as the Death Queen hovered overhead. He clenched his free hand before tucking into a ball and charging at the Queen, ramming into its chin before bouncing off and landing a rapid barrage of Spin Attacks, shredding through its wings and dropping it to the ground. With that, Sonic jumped up, planting both feet on its head before jumping up, curling up, and shooting down at high speed, plowing into the Queen's head and smashing it to pieces.

After a minute to catch his breath, he stopped, looking around to see the Marxios crowding around him, all three brandishing random objects like pipes and wrenches. He sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Guys, I just tore apart a massive bee-bot by myself," he reminded them. "And you're just three electricians with pieces of rusty pipe. If you attack me... what exactly do you think is gonna happen?"

The Marxios soon lost their bravado. With a single glance at Sonic and each other, they dropped their weapons and ran away.

"Thought so," Sonic said with a smirk.

Mobotropolis, Royal Hills Zone

Within Castle Acorn, King Max was talking to General Armand D'Coolette, his top general. Armand was an elderly Mobian coyote with graying blonde hair, a matching beard, and blue eyes. He wore the standard uniform of the Royal Army, a blue jacket with red trim, gold pads on the shoulders, blue-and-red pants, and red boots. He listened patiently as Max and Alicia outlined the situation.

"Mon dieu..." he said at last, almost in disbelief. "Is it true? Julian is-"

"I'm afraid it is, Armand," Max confirmed, looking away in regret and remorse. "Julian has turned evil. He's begun a sinister plot to conquer our planet, starting with South Island."

"Sir Charles' nephew is on the island at the moment, doing his best to intervene," Alicia added, "but we must be prepared."

Before they could say anything else, they heard the sound of a massive jet engine, and the sound of a commotion outside. They hurried out, gaping to see a massive station-like aircraft flying overhead. It was mainly gray in coloration, with a hemispherical construction. The front of the ship resembled the face of Robotnik himself, possessing a long and pointy rocket booster in the middle that resembled Robotnik's nose, a massive round and red window on each side of the rocket booster that looked like Robotnik's glasses, red hatches below the rocket booster that were shaped like a smiling mouth, and a three triangular panels on each side that together resembled Robotnik's mustache. On the back of the ship were also several antennas.

"What in the world?!" Max exclaimed as the ship flew overhead, headed for the castle.

Eventually, it landed before the castle, the "mouth" opening up and unveiling a ramp. After a minute, Robotnik himself came out, holding his arms behind his back.

"Hello, old friend," he greeted Max casually. "We have a lot to talk about."

"Julian..." Max managed, looking him up and down. "I heard the news, but to see it with my own eyes..."

"The name is no longer Julian, Your Majesty. I... am Robotnik."

Author's Note:

Can I just say what a pain in the ass it is to adapt the levels from the first game into a narrative form? That's part of the reason these chapters have been taking so long, and why they keep ending up as short as they are. And once again, Void Reader, please stop bugging me to update the next chapter; I have other fics I'm working on, as I said before, and you doing so is literally doing nothing but annoying me and making me not want to get it done faster.

Anyway, the Death Queen was taken from Sonic Forces, while the Marxio Brothers are taken from Fleetway's Sonic the Comic, a parody of both the Mario Bros. and Marx Brothers. Their running the Spring Yard Zone and whatnot is what they do in the comic as well; they ran both the Casino Night Zone and Carnival Night Zone as well.

And it looks like the Acorns are in trouble! What's gonna happen? You'll have to wait till next chapter to find out.

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Armand - John Cleese (Several characters in Monty Python, Nearly Headless Nick from the Harry Potter movies, King Harold in Shrek 2 onward)

* Grouchio & Chicio - Charles Martinet (Mario, Baby Mario, Luigi, Baby Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and Toadsworth from Super Mario, Orvus from Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Paarthurnax from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim; Grouchio uses his Wario voice, and Chicio his Waluigi voice)

Next chapter: Sonic arrives in the Mystic Jungle, and gets his biggest fight yet.

Please R&R. Until next time!