- Chapter 4 -

Rumble in the Mystic Jungle

Mobotropolis, Royal Hills Zone

Robotnik was soon flanked by Swatbots as he faced Max and Alicia down, a smirk on his face.

"Why are you here, Julian?" Max demanded.

"First off, address me as Dr. Robotnik," Robotnik said sharply. "Second, I seek your kingdom's resources to find one thing: the Chaos Emeralds."

"Chaos Emeralds?" Alicia questioned. "But they-"

"Were scattered to the winds when the ROCC exploded," Robotnik cut in, waving a hand in the air a bit before clenching his fist and slamming it into a wall. "So that means you're going to find me a new set of them. A complete set this time."

"And what makes you think we'll go along with this?" Max shot back.

Robotnik snapped his fingers, and the Swatbots powered up their blasters as they aimed at them.

"If you don't, I kill your wife, and your daughter." Max flinched at the terrible ultimatum, all while Robotnik drummed his fingers together with a vile grin. "So... do we have a deal?"

Max was genuinely conflicted for a good minute, his gaze flicking between his family and Robotnik. However, in the end, there was only one choice to make.

"Fine. You win."

Robotnik gave a massive, toothy grin at that. "Excellent."

Mystic Jungle

As Sonic left the Spring Yard Zone behind, he soon found himself in the Mystic Jungle, a blocky mountain landscape with layered soil similar to Green Hill. The region was covered in lush tropical trees with round tree crowns, grass and fern-like bushes, and there were both rushing rivers and calm lakes that ran between the mountains. Scattered among the trees were ancient ruins with glowing yellow runes/murals, most of which were overgrown with plants.

Sonic stood there, closing his eyes and listening to the sounds of nature around him, only for the sounds to be cut off by a loud explosion. His eyes snapped open, and he hurried off through the jungle in the direction of the blast, stopping short and hiding behind a tree as he spotted several robots amongst numerous holes in the ground. Several of the robots were small living bombs with legs, and these particular robots retracted their legs before flashing and exploding, blasting open more holes, while a unique Trooper with golden armor and a Swatbot with Army Green camouflage coloring watched over their progress. The Swatbot turned to the Trooper.

"Brutus, perhaps we should move on," it tried to suggest. "We've been at this spot for hours now."

"Perhaps you're right, Arsenal." Brutus admitted. "It's clear the Chaos Emeralds aren't here."

Sonic's jaw dropped at the mention of the Emeralds, taking a step back.

"Chaos Emeralds?" he thought to himself. "No way I can let Robotnik get those!"

He'd heard enough to know he had to do something about this, and fast. With that, he casually stepped out behind the tree.

"What?" he asked, getting the Badniks' attention. "You're having a party and I wasn't invited?"

Brutus and Arsenal both whirled on him at that, scowling. "The hedgehog. What brings you here?"

"Just passing through." Sonic stuck his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his feet slightly. "Then I heard you're looking for the Chaos Emeralds. Can't really let you get them, can I?"

Arsenal scoffed before raising his hand, two metal blades popping out of his arms. Sonic just yawned out of boredom.

"Please. I've been busting up bots all day. What makes you think you have a chance?"

"Because we are of the Special Badnik Service," Brutus replied, manifesting a ray gun from his right hand. "We are Dr. Robotnik's elite, and you've never faced anything like us."

Sonic just gave a flippant shrug. "If you say so."

Brutus scowled before rapid firing lasers, which Sonic dodged left and right to avoid. He charged forward at full speed before throwing himself into a flying kick, slamming both feet into Brutus' chest. The Badnik barely flinched, before sending Sonic flying with a flick of the wrist. The hedgehog slammed into a tree with his back before sliding down, shaking his head to clear it.

"I meant what I said, hedgehog," Brutus gloated. "I'm a whole different game from the other Badniks! I'm too tough for you to handle!"

Sonic wiped his chin before getting up. "Even the strongest metal has some chinks in it. I'll find a way!"

Arsenal scoffed, scraping his blades together menacingly. "Why don't we test that theory?"

With that, he swung at Sonic, forcing him to leap to the side before lashing out with a Spin Attack that had little effect.

"What are you two made of?" he demanded.

"Funny you should ask," Brutus replied. "Ever hear of Megatal?"

"Should I have?"

"It's the strongest metal on Mobius," Arsenal boasted. "Super strong and indestructible. In simpler terms, of course, this means 'you can't win.'"

Undaunted, Sonic cracked his neck. "I'll just have to try harder."

He revved up a Spin Dash before darting right at Arsenal, his spines grinding harder and harder on the armor. Arsenal just stood there, bored, as Sonic kept attacking, and with him distracted, Brutus leveled his ray gun at him.

"If you were stronger or more clever, then maybe you'd remember to watch your back," he said condescendingly.

He fired at that, but Sonic was more observant than he realized and darted out of the way just in time for Arsenal to take the blast in his stead.

"And if you were smarter, you'd watch your aim!" Sonic retorted.

"You idiot!" Arsenal snapped. "Who's side are you on?!"

"Maybe you should've ducked!" Brutus shot back.

The two robots bickered for a while, Sonic standing there awkwardly before he got bored.

"Hello?" he cut in. "We're still fighting. You gonna wrap this up, or do I have time for a nap?"

Brutus just shot at Sonic again, prompting him to speed out of the way. The hedgehog's dodging game continued for a while, and eventually, Arsenal lost his patience.

"Enough of these stupid games!" he shouted, a rectangular missile launcher emerging from his shoulder. "Eat THIS!"

With that, he fired a slew of missiles into the air, all of them locking onto Sonic. Sonic thought fast, spin jumping towards the missiles and knocking them back. The missiles returned to Arsenal, each one cracking his armor and knocking him back. With that, Sonic turned to Brutus.

"You still don't realize how outmatched you are?" Brutus scoffed.

"Oh, I know how tough you are, buddy," Sonic assured. "So it's time for the less direct approach!" He began running around Brutus at high speed, whipping up a tornado as he went. Eventually, Sonic grabbed onto Brutus' cape and gave a strong yank, the momentum sending Brutus spinning through several trees. "To quote a movie I saw when I was little: NO CAPES."

Brutus tore through the underbrush and slammed into a wall, which partially collapsed on impact. Behind it, something shiny caught Sonic's eye.

"What in the…" He went over to the wall, quickly using his spin dash to break away the rest of it. His jaw nearly became unhinged at the sight of a giant floating ring, previously hidden to the world. "A giant Power Ring? Just when I thought I'd seen it all."

Suddenly, a fist hit him in the back of the head. Sonic dropped, and Arsenal picked him up by the scruff of his neck.

"That's why you don't drop your guard in the middle of a battle, kid," he boasted before throwing him at the ring, causing him to mysteriously disappear. After a minute of surprise, he shrugged. "Oh well, he's gone."

At that, Brutus pulled himself out of the rubble, looking around.

"Where is Sonic?" he demanded.

"Threw him in there," Arsenal replied flippantly, gesturing to the ring. "He vanished."

"And why are you just standing there and not following him?"

Arsenal turned to him, blinking in surprise. "Hey, that ring sent him far away from here. I think we can safely assume that-"

"We can assume nothing!" Brutus cut him off sharply. "Dr. Robotnik wants him dead, and we can ill afford to make mistakes. One way or another, we're bringing him Sonic's body." He pointed at the ring. "Now get in there."

"Fat chance." Arsenal scoffed. "You wanna go after a dead hedgehog, be my guest."

Brutus sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I don't think you understand the situation, Arsenal, so let me be clear..." He got in his partner's face. "I outrank you, and report directly to the doctor. I can decide your fate with a single word. So either follow Sonic and ensure his demise... or I inform Dr. Robotnik of your negligence and have you sent to the scrap heap."

Arsenal gritted his teeth. "Fine… but I'm taking full credit for it."

With that, he jumped into the ring, disappearing as well, and leaving Brutus alone.

Author's Note:

Another one bites the dust. And to clarify, I've merged the Jungle Zone from the Game Gear version of the first game with the Mystic Jungle from Sonic Forces.

Brutus is from the Fleetway Sonic the Comic, while Arsenal is my own OC.

And to my reviewer Void Reader; I'm done with this. I've asked you repeatedly to stop pestering me about updating faster and posting multiple reviews about it. I am not a goddamn robot, and I have other projects I'm working on. From here on out, every time you post a review pestering me to update faster, I will delete it without hesitation, and if I knew how, I'd block you from posting reviews completely.

Now that that's over, here's the voice cast for this chapter:

* Brutus - Kevin Michael Richardson (Principal Lewis from American Dad!, Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012, Gantu from Lilo & Stitch)

* Arsenal - Steve Blum (Spike Spiegel from Cowboy Bebop, Starscream from Transformers: Prime, Wolverine from several X-Men games and cartoons)

Next chapter: we find out what happened to Sonic.

Please R&R. Until next time!