- Chapter 20 -

Crude, yet Effective

Robotropolis

Robotnik's spy cameras captured the Freedom Fighters making it out of the Wood Zone, heading straight for the next area. Snively noticed this as he surveyed the area.

"The Freedom Fighters have made it out of the Wood Zone, sir," he reported. "They're headed straight for the Oil Ocean Refinery. My guess is they'll be in Robotropolis by sundown."

Robotnik came over, a deadpan look on his face.

"Really, Snively?" he said sarcastically. "I had no idea. Idiot."

Snively reeled back in fear. "S-so sorry, Uncle. W-what would you like to be done?"

"Double our forces at the refinery, and tell them to prepare my arrival," Robotnik ordered.

"Truly, Doctor?" Grimer asked.

"If you want something done right, you need to do it yourself," Robotnik decided.

Oil Ocean Refinery

Around that time, the Freedom Fighters had arrived in the Oil Ocean Refinery. The entire area was a sea that had been blanketed by oil, and was being overcast by an orange sky with a lit horizon. Only some clouds and the obscured sun could be seen in the sky. The areas with solid footing consisted exclusively of a network of metallic oil platforms and factories emblazoned with Robotnik's decal, most of which were disposing oil into the sea. Along the roads were sections in purple and green with strange-looking ornaments. Sonic shook his head in disgust at the sight.

"Nasty," he remarked.

"Just when you thought he couldn't sink any lower," Tails remarked.

"I'll bet my tusks this place is providing fuel for the Death Egg," Rotor theorized.

"All the more reason to take this place out," Sally agreed.

"Cut the juice, and the Death Egg's useless," Sonic said. "Just gotta find the fuel lines."

"Leave that to me," Tails declared.

"So, should we get to smashing?" Sticks asked.

"Not at all," Porker cut in. "The last thing we want is the refinery blowing up at the moment."

"Right," Tails nodded. "We have to be cautious about this."

They went along, doing their best to keep their footing on the oil-slick platforms. It wasn't long before they were surrounded by Badniks resembling seahorses and octopi.

"Anyone else hungry for sushi?" Sonic quipped before promptly dashing at some of the Badniks, destroying them.

The group made quick work of them, but it wasn't long before Swatbots and Troopers showed up. Sticks threw her spear through one of them, while Antoine, Johnny, and Bunnie also jumped into the fray, putting their respective sword, staff, and robotic limbs to good use. Tails easily flew above them before using his spinning tails to knock a robot to the ground. Eventually, only one Swatbot remained, held at laser-point by Shortfuse.

"Enjoy your little victory, Freedom Fighters!" The bot boasted defiantly. "When Dr. Robotnik arrives, you'll wish we killed you!"

Sally perked at that. "Robotnik is coming here?"

"Finally decided to show up, eh?" Sonic asked. "Well I say bring it on!"

"Thanks for telling us," Shortfuse told the Swatbot before casually blowing its head off.

"Robotnik coming here?" Tails pondered. "This just made things really difficult."

"Not necessarily," Sonic pointed out. "We can cut the fuel lines to the Death Egg and take him out at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone."

"As long as we do this right," Sally cut in.

"First things first," Johnny said. "Shut down the oil pump. Any idea where the switch may be?"

"Gimme a minute," Tails told him.

He whipped out the Miles Electric. Searching around for a bit, he soon got a reading at a nearby building in the center.

"Chaos Emerald reading from that building," he reported. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Robotnik's using it to power this place."

"I'll take that bet," Sonic agreed.

"And all we have to do is survive countless robots and Robotnik himself to claim it," Antoine mused. "No pressure."

The group made their way to the building, entering to see numerous Swatbots and Troopers roaming about busily. In the center of the room was a massive engine-like device, in which the grey Chaos Emerald was encased.

"And bingo was his name-o," Sonic declared. "Let's go make some noise."

Before anyone could stop him, Sonic jumped down into the dead center of the room, getting the robots' attention.

"What?" the blue blur taunted. "You're having a party and I wasn't invited?"

"Hedgehog detected! Priority One!" the bots intoned. "Destroy with extreme prejudice!"

"Prejudice, huh?" Sonic asked. "Good thing I'm an equal opportunity bot-basher!"

With that, he began zipping around the room. The Swatbots and Troopers all attacked at once, but Sonic fought them off quite well. Eventually, however, one managed to tackle him to the ground, upon which every remaining bot dogpiled on top of him.

"Sonic, no!" Tails screamed.

After a tense moment or two, the bots were all flung back, Sonic standing tall.

"Need something, buddy?" he asked.

With the bots smashed, Sonic stretched his muscles out, cracking his neck and joints while his friends rejoined him.

"You are so reckless, you know that?" Sally criticized.

"Got the job done, didn't I?" Sonic shot back.

"In the future, you need to wait so we can work out a plan!" Sally snapped.

"I already have a plan, Sal," Sonic retorted flippantly. "I plan to win."

"What a coincidence. So do I."

They whirled around in the direction of the new voice, seeing Robotnik on the upper levels.

"It's the Eggman!" Sticks exclaimed.

Robotnik blinked. "Is that what you call me?"

"Eh, I say it fits," Sonic said with a shrug. "Wouldn't you… Eggman?"

Robotnik gritted his teeth in annoyance before composing himself.

"Call me what you want," he spat. "But you should know one thing. Even if you do yank out that Chaos Emerald and cut off the fuel lines, it doesn't matter. I'm afraid the Death Egg will be quite operational by the time you arrive in Robotropolis."

"Tough talk, pal," Sonic shot back. "But I've kicked your mustachioed butt before. I'll gladly do it again." He perked. "And speaking of the Chaos Emerald…"

He casually walked over to where it was kept, smashing the glass capsule encasing it with his elbow before pulling it out of the engine. "Oops."

Robotnik snarled in response. "The time for talking is over, Sonic! It's time to push buttons!"

He raised his right hand, revealing a controller-like device on the palm of his glove. He pressed several buttons on it, and the group heard the sounds of water rippling and splashing.

"That can't be good," Bunnie let out.

The Freedom Fighters ran outside just in time to see several bridges being crushed and ripped apart by metallic pink tentacles, before a massive version of the octopus Badniks they faced before emerged from the oily sea.

"Yup," Sonic agreed. "Definitely not good."

"Good luck fighting the Mega Octus, Sonic!" Robotnik taunted. "I doubt oil makes a suitable running surface!"

The group was forced to hit and run, attacking the octopus whenever they could as it smashed more and more platforms, firing on them with bullets and lasers as they went. Soon, they were cornered. After a minute, Rotor dove into the sea, wincing in disgust at the sliminess before attacking it with his Drill Rush. Shortfuse took to the skies, firing on it as well. As this went on, Tails ran over to Bunnie, looking over her arm.

"Let me see this for a minute," he insisted.

Bunnie just nodded, and Tails got to work, fiddling with the arm. After a few minutes, Bunnie's arm turned into some kind of cannon.

"What in tarnation?!" Bunnie exclaimed.

"Seems like you're equipped with onboard weapons," Tails mused.

"Handy," Bunnie mused.

Bunnie aimed the cannon, supporting it with her organic arm as she focused. After a minute, lines of power spread down her arm before a laser blast fired, connecting with one of the Mega Octus' tentacles and destroying it.

"Well, alright then."

She and Shortfuse continued firing on the Mega Octus. As it sunk down, Rotor shot out of the water, smashing through its head. The Mega Octus hoisted the white flag and shorted out before sinking into the water, completely destroyed.

"Oh, yeah!" Sonic cheered. "I'm the man!"

The Freedom Fighters exchanged high-fives and cheered before Robotnik cleared his throat, getting their attention.

"It's not over until the fat lady sings, Sonic," he told them.

"Please tell me you're not referring to yourself," Sonic said, getting a growl in response.

"I happen to have a trick or two up my sleeve," Robotnik declared.

With that, he ripped his glove off to reveal his robotic arm. They all recoiled at that.

"...That's new," Sonic said after a minute. "When'd that happen?"

"When, you ask?" Robotnik repeated, glaring at him. "You little punk, this is your doing. The result of you crushing my hand while hopped up on dark Chaos energy!"

Sonic winced at the reminder of his dark persona, but quickly recovered. "I'll be sure to send an apology card."

"That won't be necessary," Robotnik shot back, pressing buttons on his glove controller. "Because you're about to go down in flames."

The Egg Mobile floated in at that. Robotnik immediately boarded, giving the Freedom Fighters a big, toothy grin as he snapped the fingers of his cybernetic hand, creating a spark that fell straight for the oil below them.

"Everybody move!" Sonic shouted.

They scrambled away from the edge as the oil ignited.

"Burn in Hell, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Robotnik mocked, laughing wickedly as he flew away.

"That bastard!" Sonic swore. "When I get my hands on him, I'll-!"

"Not now, Sonic!" Sally cut in. "We need to stop this fire. If it reaches the Wood Zone, it'll burn everything from here to Emerald Hill."

Sonic nodded. "Right…"

"Whatever we're gonna do, we better do it fast!" Sticks shouted.

Tails looked over the blazing oil, wracking his brain for a solution before it hit him.

"Sonic, I've got an idea!" he exclaimed. "Can you whip up a Blue Tornado around the fire?"

"Well, yeah," Sonic replied. "But won't the wind and all that just make the fire bigger?"

"Just trust me!" Tails insisted.

Sonic nodded and began running around the fire. Before long, the fire was slowly sucked in by the vortex Sonic had created, eventually putting it out completely. With that, he stopped before Tails, a questioning look on his face.

"It's simple, really," Tails began. "By running around the fire, you were able to create a vacuum that prevented air from reaching it. Flames need oxygen to burn, and without it, the fire was snuffed out."

"Nice," Sonic mused.

With that, Tails pulled out the Miles Electric, pressing a few buttons.

"Looks like the last Chaos Emerald is in the direction Robotnik was headed," he noted. "Somewhere in Robotropolis."

"Swell…" Antoine sighed.

"Then we need to find it before he does," Sally insisted.

Rotor looked to the sky nervously."What Robotnik said... if he's telling the truth, the Death Egg is almost complete, if it isn't already."

"Meaning the pressure is really on now," Sonic noted. "No matter what, we can't let that thing get off the ground."

Robotropolis

Robotnik arrived back in the lab, just in time to see the security footage of Sonic putting out the fire.

"Why am I not surprised?" he grumbled.

"Death Egg at 87% completion, sir," Snively informed him.

"Double production speed immediately," Robotnik ordered. "Sonic and his friends will be in Robotropolis soon."

He clenched his robotic fist. "And when they do, they'll be the first to witness the firepower of my fully armed and operational battle station."

Author's Note:

Oh, noes! It's a race against time to get to Robotropolis! Will the Freedom Fighters get the Chaos Emeralds, stop the launch of the Death Egg, and win the day?

Stay tuned to find out.

Please R&R. Until next time!