All characters are copyrights of SEGA, DIC, or Archie comics. The "Rockies" are copyrighted by me, mecha_sonic2001, Mecha-Sonic (Fanfiction.net name) and GuGoomba (My AOL Name).

Author's Note: Due to my school starting this week, I have decided to put this fanfic up in two parts like my first one, just so you can have the pleasure of reading some of one of my better fanfics. I don't know when I'll get the other part up, but when I do, I'll add it to the chaptering system, so don't go looking for part 2 on the list of fanfics. Look for it in this story. My guess would be about two or three weeks to get the end part written, but who knows.

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Second Robot War

Two Hedgehogs, One Goal

Part 1: The Capture

It was a bright and sunny day in Green Meadow as two figures moved about the lush green grass. One was moving at extreme speeds while the other was flying close on his heels. Both didn't have a care in the world on this day. It was the perfect day as far as they were concern, and nothing was going to stop them from having fun. But it was then that a voice sounded off from a radio the flying person was carrying.

"What was that, Aunt Sally? I didn't hear you," said Tails into the radio that he was carrying. Sonic hadn't heard the radio. Even after Tails had stopped and landed he was still speeding around the clearing. The voice of Sally came over the radio clearly this time.

"I need you two back here on the double," said Sally's voice.

"Okay. I'll get Sonic," said Tails into the radio. He then tried to wave Sonic down, but he couldn't seem to faze the supersonic hedgehog's running. But eventually, he caught his attention.

"What's up, Big Guy?" asked Sonic as he skidded to a stop next to his best friend.

"Sonic, Aunt Sally wants us back in Knothole on the double," said Tails.

"Great. She probably wants us back there to work on things that wouldn't hurt to leave alone till tomorrow," said Sonic as he rolled his eyes. He shook his head and then turned to Tails.

"Get a grip, Tails," said Sonic as Tails grabbed Sonic around the waist. Sonic pulled a Power Ring from the pack he was wearing, absorbing the energy of the ring into his body. "Juice time!" he said as he blasted from the meadow with a supersonic boom.

**********

From on top of a nearby hill, out of sight from the two friends, sat a figure in a light tan cloak. He raised his head from his meditation, revealing a pair of red eyes. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a green gem that was softly glowing. He looked into the gem as an image of Sonic appeared in the gem's glowing core. Next to his image appeared that of a silver colored hedgehog.

"Your next challenge is close at hand, blue hedgehog. Only with the help of your greatest enemy will you succeed. And it is only through this experience that you will trust this individual when the time comes to join forces to fight the ultimate evil," said the figure. It chanted two words under its breath as the glow of the gem brightened. Then the figure vanished into thin air.

*********

Back in Knothole, most everyone was gathered in the center of the village with Sally standing on a stump in the middle. She about had the crowd silenced when a sonic boom sounded off, announcing the arrival of Sonic and Tails. Sally finally quieted the crowd enough to make her announcement.&

"I've just received a message from Sir Charles Hedgehog giving us some terrible news. A band of the Southern Freedom Fighters have been captured and the convoy carrying them is now on its way to Robotropolis. They are about 75 miles from here out in the Great Unknown," announced Sally. If anyone in the crowd was still talking, they became immediately silent.

"We have to help them. Any volunteers to assist in a rescue operation?" she asked. Everyone's hand shot up into the air. "There is more to the message. The convoy carrying the prisoners is guarded by no less than thirty Swatbots and ten hover-units." About a fourth of the hands retreated, most being people with families.

"One last thing. The convoy is also guarded by none other than...Mecha-Sonic," she finished. All but Sonic, Rotor, Bunnie, Dulcy, and Tails' hands retreated into the crowd. She knew this would happen. Nearly everyone had come to fear the robotic hedgehog after seeing how deadly he could be from his fights with Sonic.

"Very well. We leave immediately. Dulcy will carry Rotor and Bunnie while Tails follows. I'll go with Sonic. We'll meet about five miles in front of the convoy and wait for it to cross our path," she said.

"Sal, I used the Power Ring I had with me. Is that going to be a problem?" asked Sonic, angry with himself for using it without need to.

"I guess we'll have to go without one this time. We can't wait for the next one," said Sally.

"All right. You guys ready to go?" asked Sonic as he watched Bunnie and Rotor mount Dulcy. Both of them gave a thumbs up as Dulcy flapped her wings, taking off with a gust of wind. Tails then wound his tails and took off after them, both of them heading towards the direction of the convoy.

"You ready, Sal?" asked Sonic. Sally gave a nod and jumped into Sonic's arms as he revved up and blasted from the village.

**********

Out in the Great Unknown near some mountains, aboard one of the hover-units, sat Mecha-Sonic. He loved these capture missions, lots of fighting and violence, except for the part of returning. He hated this long waiting period between the capture and the actual Roboticization process of the prisoners.

"How much longer till we arrive in Robotropolis?" he asked the Swatbot driving the hover-unit.

"About three hours at present speed, sir," said the Swatbot. Mecha-Sonic let out a sigh as he leaned forward. This was pure torture for a robotic hedgehog designed for destruction. Maybe they would find some rogue Freedom Fighters out here. His mind laughed at that idea. No one had been spotted out in this region for months. But his thoughts were immediately halted by a sudden jerk from the craft.

"What was that?" he asked as he looked out the viewport.

"Sensors indicate a rock slide ahead," said the Swatbot. Mecha-Sonic let out a growl as he stood up.

"How long will it take to clear?" he asked.

"About seven minutes, sir," replied the Swatbot. Mecha-Sonic moved over towards the hatch.

"I'll supervise the clearing personally. I don't like sitting still for this long," he said as he opened the hatch and jumped out, activating his foot thrusters. He flew to the front of the convoy to find several Swatbots moving rocks aside to clear a path big enough for the convoy. But something didn't seem right. These rocks looked like they had been placed there. There were no scrap marks on the side of the mountain to show where they had fallen. But who would put those rocks there?

The answer hit him a split second before the timer on an explosive went off from within the rocks, destroying the Swatbots working to clear the path and spraying rocks all over the place. But before the other Swatbots could react, another explosion sounded from within the side of the mountain, covering half the convoy with rocks and creating a gapping hole in the side of the mountain.

"No! This can't be!" cried Mecha-Sonic as he surveyed the damage. He then noticed six figures rise from behind a nearby boulder. He recognized one of them immediately as Sonic. "That hedgehog will pay for this!" he yelled as he flew towards the group, laser arm extended.

**********

"All right! Way to go, Sal," said Sonic when he saw the explosives send the rocks tumbling down upon the Swatbots. He revved up and ran out of their hiding place, only to be shot at from the sky. He turned and looked up to see Mecha-Sonic flying right at him, laser armed and pointed right at him.

"Quick decision," said Sonic as he dodged to the right, avoiding another laser blast from the robotic hedgehog. He then leaped into the air and went into a spindash right at Mecha-Sonic, who continued flying at him at top speed. Both of them collided into each other, entangling themselves together as they went into a free-fall.

"I will destroy you, if nothing else!" cried Mecha-Sonic as he slashed at Sonic with his razor sharp claws. But Sonic easily dodged the swipes as they fell. Sonic then pushed Mecha-Sonic off him with his feet, separating the two of them just before they hit the ground. Both landed with a small thud, then got their footing back as the faced each other.

"Now you will die, hedgehog!" cried Mecha-Sonic as he ran at Sonic, claws ready to slash him.

**********

"Freedom Fighters, priority one!" said one of the Swatbots as it raised its laser rifle at Sally. But a blast of ice from Dulcy stopped the Swatbot dead in its tracks.

"I think you guys need to chill out!" she said as she froze two more Swatbots, turning them into robot ice cubes. Meanwhile, Bunnie had managed to blast three of the hover-units out of the sky with her arm blaster and was now taking out several Swatbots with her blaster and martial art skills. Rotor and Tails succeeded in throwing the two pilot Swatbots out of another hover-unit. They were now hunting down the six remaining hover-units.

Sally darted through the fight as she made her way to the prisoner ship, almost getting shot several times. But she didn't care. There were fellow Freedom Fighters on that ship, and she was going to free them no matter what. She reached the cockpit to find a lone Swatbot busy preparing to send out a message for reinforcements. If he sent a message, then this rescue operation would end in many deaths. She then said something she knew would get the Swatbots attention.

"Hey Swat-head! Over here!" she yelled, borrowing one of Sonic's usual attention getting sentences. The Swatbot turned towards her and stood up. Sally ran out, signaling Dulcy; who was circling the battlefield, freezing and burning robots left and right. The Swatbot ran out of the cockpit and started to chase Sally when Dulcy blew a blast of ice at it, freezing it.

Sally climbed into the cockpit and took Nicole off her boot. She then realized that the Swatbot had succeeded in sending out a request for backup just before she had caught its attention. A small problem, but it would still be a few minutes before they reached them. She reached down and took Nicole off her boot. She inserted the small computer into a slot on the main console.

"Nicole, access main security system," she said to the small computer.

"Accessing Sally," said Nicole, beeping as she talked. Her holographic image came online with a set of options. Reading through them, Sally found the one she needed.

"Open main doors to prisoner bay," said Sally as Nicole beeped a few times.

"Need authorized clearance code to open bay doors," said Nicole. Sally groaned. Snively had taken quite a number of precautions. Cracking a clearance code could take some time.

"Nicole, run decoder program and open the doors as soon as you break the code," said Sally. Nicole started beeping loudly as Dulcy stuck her head in the craft.

"How's it coming?" asked Dulcy. Sally turned towards her, shaking her head.

"It's going to take some time, Dulcy. Try to keep them busy until the prisoners are free," she replied. Dulcy gave thumbs and flew back into the air, looking for more Swatbots or hover-units to freeze or fry.

**********

Near the now hollowed out cave in the mountain, Sonic and Mecha-Sonic were still going at it. Sonic threw a punch at Mecha-Sonic, but he easily dodged it and countered with his own punch, sending Sonic flying back several feet. Sonic quickly got to his feet and dashed at the robotic hedgehog. Both his fisted connected with Mecha-Sonic's face, sending him stumbling to the ground. But he too, recovered quickly.

"You fight well, hedgehog. But this time, you are mine," said Mecha-Sonic as he raised his laser arm. But Sonic quickly jumped out of the way of the laser as it blew chunks of dirt from where he was just standing.

"Nice try, Bolt Brain!" taunted Sonic.

**********

Up above the two battling hedgehogs, Rotor and Tails were busy dog fighting one of the few remaining hover-units. One would shoot and then dive while the other would climb and then chase after the other one. It was a cycle that seemed to go on for quite a while. But eventually, one prevailed in hitting the other. Unfortunately, the one that was hit was the one the Rotor and Tails were in.

"We're losing power fast!" yelled Rotor over the warning sirens that blared around the cockpit as he tried to slow the rapid decent of the dying craft.

"Forget it! Come on, I'll carry you!" yelled Tails as the two made their way towards the exit hatch. Rotor and Tails locked hands as the hatch flew open. The air pressure sucked them out of the craft and sent them into a free fall. Tails immediately started rotating his tails as fast as he could, trying to slow them down. He eventually succeeded, leaving the two hovering as the now dead hover-unit plunged towards the ground below.

**********

Back in the prisoner ship, Nicole finally cracked the code as the doors to the prisoner bay opened. All the occupants began running out, attacking nearby Swatbots with unmatched ferocity.

"Come on! Let's show them a little southern hospitality!" yelled a tall, sliver furred wolf. He obviously was their leader, as many of the others filed in line behind him.

**********

"I think you're losing your touch," teased Sonic as he dodged another laser blast from Mecha-Sonic. Both of them were concentrating so hard on the fight that at first they didn't even notice the shadow that was growing rapidly just a few feet away from them. Finally, Sonic noticed the shadow.

He looked up just in time to see the hover-unit that Rotor and Tails had just bailed from come crashing to the ground right next to the two combatants. The explosion was tremendous, sending a cloud of smoke and fire three stories tall up into the air. The blast knock both Sonic and Mecha-Sonic backwards, into the gaping hole in the side of the mountain. The mouth of the cave then started to cave in from the shock wave the explosion had caused.

**********

"Oh my gosh! I hope no one was near that explosion," said Sally as she looked up in time to see the end results of the hover-unit's crash. She grabbed Nicole, climbed out of the cockpit, and started running along with the others as they fled from the battlefield, Swatbots strewn all over the place. They all climbed over the hill that had been their ambush spot as they made sure everyone was accounted for. It was then that Sally noticed something seriously wrong.

"Where's Sonic!?" she cried. She quickly ran over the side of the hill back towards the smoking remains of the prisoner convoy. But an arm caught her by the shoulders, stopping her progress. She turned around to see the sliver furred wolf looking her in the eyes.

"Is the one you call Sonic the blue hedgehog that was fighting the robot hedgehog?" he asked. She nodded. "Then I'm sorry to say that he, along with the robot hedgehog, were lost in the explosion of that hover-unit," he said, regret in his voice. He suddenly jerked forward, almost thrown to the ground by the forceful pull Sally suddenly exerted.

"Sonic! Sonic, answer me!" she shouted as she broke the wolf's grip on her. She ran towards the wreckage of the hover-unit looking around and calling desperately for Sonic, but finding no trace of him. She fell to her knees, tears forming in her eyes. She had lost so many friends of the last 11 years, but losing Sonic felt like losing a part of herself. By now, Bunnie had managed to catch up with her and was knelt beside her.

"It's okay, Sally-girl. There wasn't anything you could do," said Bunnie. Even though she was trying to comfort Sally, she was having a hard time holding back tears herself. They both knelt there, unwilling to move. The other Freedom Fighters all stood on the top of the hill and watched, each one having his or her head down, asking in their minds that the gods be with Sonic on his spiritual journey to the heavens. They remained like this until the sound of approaching hover-units caught their attention. When the backup for the convoy arrived, there was nothing left but wreckage.

**********

"It could have been a lot worse, Princess," said John, the silver furred wolf from the convoy. He was seated in Sally's hut with her a day later as they talked about the rescue.

"I know, that's what I keep telling myself. It's just that I never could have imagined Sonic dying from something as simple as an explosion. I mean, he outran explosions several times in Robotropolis," she said.

"You mean that Sonic is the one I've heard about who can run faster than anything on this planet!?" he asked with surprise. While he had been leading the escape of his friends, he had not seen Sonic displaying his speed, so he didn't realize who it really was.

"Yes. Sonic was our best Freedom Fighter and my closest friend," she said, tears starting to form in her eyes once again.

"I'm sorry, Princess. I didn't mean to make you upset," he said.

"It's okay. It's not your fault," she said, wiping her eyes. Just then, a white, female wolf entered the hut. She looked rather excited.

"What is it, Mina?" asked John.

"Sir! We've looked everywhere in and around the wreckage of the hover-unit for signs of Sonic, but we found nothing!" she said ecstatically. John and Sally both jumped up simultaneously.

"You mean he might still be alive?" asked Sally. Mina nodded.

"It is quite possible, Princess. Unfortunately, we discovered something else," she said.

"What?" asked John. Mina lowered her head.

"We didn't find any trace of robot hedgehog, either," she answered. Both John and Sally gasped. If Sonic had survived the explosion, then Mecha-Sonic surely survived as well, and he was probably in better shape than Sonic. But there was still hope, and that was what mattered.

**********

*Oh man! What in the world happened?* thought Sonic as he sat up from a lying position. He remembered arriving at the rendezvous spot and ambushing the convoy, then duking it out with Mecha-Sonic, but everything else was a blur. He then noticed that he was inside some kind of cell made out of solid granite carved into the side of a cave wall. The bars were made out of some kind of metal. *What in the world!? Where am I?*

"So you finally decided to wake up. Been out now for about two days," said a familiar voice from a separate cell on the other side of the small hallway in the cave.

"Mecha-Sonic!" said Sonic in alarm, but then he realized that Mecha-Sonic was in a holding cell much like his. Surely if Mecha-Sonic could reach him, he would've been dead. Sonic decided to at least figure out where they were.

"Where are we?" he asked his robotic double. Mecha-Sonic just shrugged his shoulders at the question.

"Can't tell. All my sensors can tell me is that we seem to be inside of a mountain," he answered. Sonic became immediately suspicious. Mecha-Sonic was being far too nice.

"All right! What 's going on? Why are you being so nice to me?" demanded Sonic. But Mecha-Sonic ignored him and walked up next to the bars of his cell.

"Do you know what kind of metal this is? It's solid titanium. One of the few things my claws can't cut," he said, flicking one of the bars with his claw, making a loud TING sound.

"Who CARES what kind of metal it is!" snapped Sonic, slamming a fist onto the bars. This was frustrating. Not only was he trapped inside a cell, his only company thought that the metal used on their bars was fascinating. It was then that he noticed two odd looking rocks by the entrance to the hallway. They looked like some kind of crudely carved statues holding rock spears. Each was twice as tall as Sonic and Mecha-Sonic.

"Yo! Mecha! What are those?" asked Sonic. Mecha-Sonic looked up at Sonic with a look of confusion on his face.

"What did you call me?" he asked. Sonic gulped. Mecha-Sonic didn't look too happy with that name.

"I called you...Mecha. Is that a problem?" asked Sonic. Mecha-Sonic's eye lights blink once, then twice. He looked to be in deep thought. This worried Sonic. Was he thinking of how to kill him for that remark? After what seemed like forever, Mecha-Sonic answered.

"There is no problem, but I must ask why you called me that name," answered Mecha-Sonic.

"It's called a nickname. To make a nickname, you can either call someone something that contributes to an ability or skill they possess. Or you can just shorten the name of someone. I chose to call you by the first name of your full name, or Mecha," explained Sonic. Mecha-Sonic appeared to think it through before answering.

"A nickname does hold some logical sense. It does make it easier to know which of us is really being spoken to by someone," said Mecha-Sonic.

"So, Mecha. What are those things standing over there by the exit?" asked Sonic. Mecha-Sonic looked over where Sonic was looking to see the two statues.

"Those would be our guards," said Mecha-Sonic, pointing to the statues.

"Our guards?" asked Sonic, wondering if he heard right.

"Yes. I will demonstrate," he answered. Mecha-Sonic started pounding his fists on the bars as hard as he could. But even with his robotic strength, he couldn't budge the titanium bars. Sonic thought he had lost it when he noticed one of the statues start to move towards the cell. It walked up to the bars, then poked its rock spear into the cell, almost jabbing Mecha-Sonic with it. But Mecha-Sonic fired his foot thrusters and shot out of reach.

"As you can see, they are quite alive. By what I can determine, they are made out of 100% granite," said Mecha-Sonic after the rock creature had returned to its post.

"So I guess you could call them Rockies," said Sonic. Mecha-Sonic couldn't help but chuckle a little. Sonic couldn't believe what was going on.

*Mecha-Sonic and I are actually getting along! What is wrong with this picture!* shouted Sonic's mind. Mecha-Sonic watched Sonic as he waved his arms and paced around his cell, wondering why the blue hedgehog was acting so odd. Sonic, on the other hand, tried desperately to get his thoughts together.

*Okay. First things first. Get out of this cell, then find a way out,* thought Sonic. He looked at the bars of the cell with consideration. Maybe he could saw through them with a spindash. Mecha-Sonic noticed what Sonic was preparing to do.

"It won't work, hedgehog. Even your little buzz saw trick won't work on that metal," said Mecha-Sonic.

"No harm in trying," Sonic shot back. He backed up a few feet from the bars and went into a spindash. He rushed the bars, his rapidly spinning quills striking the titanium bars. After about thirty seconds of trying, he gave up and slumped to the ground.

*Oh man. All that did was totally messed up my doo,* thought Sonic as he tried to put his quills back into place. Mecha-Sonic laughed as Sonic got to his feet.

"Told you it won't work," said Mecha-Sonic. Sonic ignored him and started to study the rest of the cell. The rock of the floor didn't seem to be very solid. Maybe he could dig out. Sonic moved to the middle of the cave, Mecha-Sonic watching with interest. Sonic then started to rapidly spin in place, the tips of his sneakers puncturing the ground.

As he continued to spin, he went deeper into the hole he was creating. Mecha-Sonic fired his thrusters and tried to look down the hole Sonic was in from the top of his cell, but he didn't see any sign of him. He then noticed a small crack forming on the floor of his own cell. He landed and knelt down to examine it. At that second, Sonic came spiraling up through the floor, almost knocking Mecha-Sonic over.

"Too far," was all Sonic said. Mecha-Sonic went into a fighting stance, ready for some kind of attack from Sonic. But instead of attacking, Sonic jumped back into the hole and started digging again. Mecha-Sonic leaned over and looked down the hole, but didn't see him.

Sonic then burst through the floor of the cave out in the hallway. The two guards finally noticed the jailbreak attempt and started to advance on Sonic. But Sonic went into a spindash and charged them, buzz sawing right through both of them, crushing them to pebbles.

"Poor guys, they just went to pieces," commented Sonic. By now, Mecha-Sonic had climbed out of the hole Sonic had made and was walking up next to him.

"Very effective, Sonic," said Mecha-Sonic, who was standing right behind Sonic when he spoke. Sonic nearly jumped out of his skin when Mecha-Sonic sneaked up from behind. He whirled around, expecting him to attack. But instead, Mecha-Sonic walked in front of Sonic and started to examine the remains of their guards. That was it. Sonic had to find out what was going on.

"All right! That's it. What's going on?" asked Sonic. Mecha-Sonic looked up from the guards' remains.

"Look, hedgehog, I don't really like admitting this, but I feel the only way to get out of this place alive is for us to form a temporary truce. Now I'm willing to do this just to get out of here in one piece, are you?" asked Mecha-Sonic. Sonic figured he could do just fine on his own, but something inside his gut told him that this alliance could have a purpose at some point in time.

"Okay. A temporary truce until we get out of here," said Sonic. Both of them shook hands, then started on their journey to escape their underground prison.

END OF PART 1