THE PRODIGAL SOLDIER
By Brian Sapinski, Sonic Whammy
Disclaimer: This story uses characters created and copyrighted by Sega of
America, Inc. and Archie Comics. (This is with the exception of my own
characters, which have created and copyrighted by me.) This story may also
contain elements that are featured in the Street Fighter video games and are
therefore copyrighted by Capcom, Inc. Downloading and distribution of this story
is permitted and welcomed under the conditions that (1) you don't pass this off
as your own story, (2) no changes to the story are made without my expressed
written (not e-mailed) permission, and (3) no attempt is made to profit from
this story. If any of these rules are violated, it will be considered a
violation of copyright law.
Author’s Note: And the hits just keep on coming. Over the past year or so, I’ve
had so much on my mind about the Sonic universe that it’s driving me crazy, and
not all in a good way. You can read my editorials for more on that.
Picking up from the last story, you probably noticed a significant
rewrite of an old concept. Well, that was meant to be. I have set these stories
to take place during the Saturday AM universe. Specifically, my entrance comes
around the time between the episodes "Dulcy" and "The Void". In so doing, I have
felt the need to rewrite an angle or two from the series in order that it pays
more of an accurate homage to Sonic’s beginnings in the video games. Such was
the case with Knuckles and the Little Planet appearing in the last story. (Yes,
remember the Little Planet is where the Time Stones were in the Sonic CD game.)
Not to mention that when Knuckles was left off the Floating Island in "Blast to
the Past," it felt incomplete to me. Will there be any other rewrites? That
remains to be seen.
On a final personal note, it seems that someone chose to flame my last
story on fanfiction.net without having read it, calling my story a Mary Sue
because I am using characters from the Saturday AM universe instead of the
traditional Sega Sonic universe. While I favor this world over the others, I in
no way condone this type of disrespect. I ask that everyone who reads this and
any other stories judge them by the quality of the writing, not the choice of
characters. Remember, in the end, we’re all still fans of the same blue
hedgehog, so let’s stay together.
That’s it from me this time. So as always...
Stay Way Past Cool!
On a beautiful late spring day in Knothole, a whistling could be heard
coming from Antoine’s hut. The fox was just putting the finishing touches on his
daily cleaning routine. Opening his closet, he made one final check of his
uniforms, all neatly pressed, hung, and arranged. Satisfied, Antoine breathed a
sigh of content. "Ah, perfect," he thought to himself. "Another magnificent job,
Antoine. It iz nice to be having everything in its proper place. All so much
better than when Soneec was here last winter."
He mentally spat out the last part of his musings. Sonic. The very
thought of him and that experience made Antoine seethe inside, almost to the
point of vomiting. For all their lives, Antoine had been teased mercilessly by
the hedgehog on everything from his neatness to his clumsiness and cowardice in
battle. And in the times where he did do something right, Sonic usually seemed
to be the last person to thank him. "What I would not be giving to make Soneec
see zat I am not ze wimp like he iz making me out to be to everyone," he
muttered.
The last part of that sentence made Antoine stop for a moment. Sonic
made him look like a fool a lot just for laughs. But attitude aside, Sonic had
his reasons. After all, Antoine hadn’t exactly been the greatest help when it
came to their missions, if he was any help at all.
Sighing, Antoine looked back at his closet again. The uniforms that hung
there were similar to his father’s. He remembered well how his father, General
D’Coolette, was King Acorn’s most highly decorated and trusted member of the
Royal Army. And it pained Antoine to feel as though he had not lived up to his
father’s expectations.
"Why can I not be brave as you were, father?" he spoke out loud into the
mirror inside the one closet door. "I wish so much to be making you proud of me,
yet I am being more worthless than ze troi Mobian bill."
A loud yell broke Antoine’s thoughts. He turned to look outside his
window to find Bunnie training at her bag hanging beside her hut. She had been
doing this quite diligently since Brian had left Knothole over a month ago. If
one didn’t know better, she seemed to have a gleam in her eye every time she
struck the bag, almost as though her sense of discipline had reached another
level thanks to her new competition.
Other furries may not have noticed, but Antoine sure did.
"Mademoiselle Bunnie has it right," he said to himself. "She has become
inspired, and her heart burns with ze fire it has nevair had before. I must be
starting anew myself, and show ze Princess and Soneec zat I have zat same fire.
And now, I must figure out how to do it."
"I’m sorry, Antoine, but I have so much planning to do with the Freedom
Fighter list my father gave me last week," Sally said. "I have no time to help
you."
"But my Princess, what am I to be doing? You are my leader," Antoine
asked.
"I’m sure you will figure something out. But my hands are tied now. I’ll
talk to you later, all right?"
"Oui, my Princess," Antoine sighed.
Antoine slouched off as he left Sally’s hut. While his goals were clear,
how to reach them was not. And with Sally as busy as she was, he was even more
confused. "I had ze feeling she would be too busy. But if she cannot help moi,
zen who?" he wondered.
Antoine took a deep breath as he considered his options. He knew that
Bunnie would not be able to help him. While her martial arts ability was awe-
inspiring, it was lost on him, as he had proven when he tried to learn it
himself.
Sonic was definitely out, too. Little needed to be said as to why.
Besides, he was too busy helping Sally with trying to find ways to reach the
other Freedom Fighter groups given to her by King Acorn during their unexpected
trip to the Void.
Then there was Rotor. Antoine had seen him in his workshop many times.
The walrus was definitely good with mechanics. But Antoine still had horrible
memories of that one time where Rotor’s housekeeping robot, Ro-Becca, developed
a crush on him. "I definitely do not wish to live through that again," he
thought.
Unable to find an answer, Antoine paced throughout the village. As he
rounded a tree, he failed to notice Tails coming from the other direction. The
two collided and fell to the ground.
"Why do you not watch where are going?" Antoine asked angrily.
"Sorry, Antoine," Tails replied. "But you could do the same thing, you
know."
Antoine sighed. "You are right, Monsieur Tails. I did not mean to be
getting upset at you, but I have a lot on my mind."
"It’s all right, Ant. I’ve been a little bummed myself. Everyone’s so
busy, and no one wants to play Capture the Flag with me. I hate how I’m always
left out on my own like this."
Antoine was about to reply, but he stopped. He began to think about the
situation before him. While everyone else had some kind of belief about him,
Tails did not. Sure, he listened to a lot of what Sonic told him, but he was
just a kid, and could easily be influenced. This made Antoine smile, as he
realized that Tails might be the one who could help him.
"If you would be liking, I would be glad to play," Antoine said.
"Really? All right!" Tails said, jumping up excitedly. "But wait. Won’t
it be tough to play with just the two of us?"
"We will have to have ze one-on-one duel. A sort of game of ‘hide-and-
sneak’, no?"
"I think you mean hide-and-seek," Tails corrected. "I guess it could
work, but it would still be more fun if everyone played."
Just as Tails spoke, a noise came from afar. The two of them looked to
see Rotor flying the Jet Sled into the clearing. He had been taking the Sled to
and from Bluebrook during these last several weeks of teaching Brian how to fly
it. Seeing the others, Rotor landed.
"Hey, guys, whatcha doing?" he asked.
"We were about to play a game of Capture the Flag, but we weren’t sure
how to do it with two players," Tails told him.
Rotor pondered the situation. "Hey, you know, I might have some things
in my workshop that could help. You want to help me field test them?"
Tails quickly nodded. Antoine showed a little hesitation, but ultimately
agreed as well.
A half-hour later, the three were in the clearing, along with Dulcy, who
had assisted Rotor in bringing the equipment there. Everyone was amazed at what
Rotor had assembled, resembling an obstacle course of oddly shaped pillars and
mounds.
"So what in the world is all this, Rotor? It sure did weigh a lot to
carry here," Dulcy asked, stretching her back for emphasis.
"It’s a little exercise in target practice I came up with, as well as
some new weapons I’ve wanted to use in our raids."
"So how does this work?" Tails asked.
"I’m going to be up there," Rotor said, pointing to the lookout tower.
"I’ll be firing my water balloon gun at you as you make your way to these
barriers. At each barrier, there’s a weapon that you’ll fire at me to try and
hit the target. You have to hit that target before I hit you. Simple enough?"
Antoine and Tails tentatively nodded at the idea. "Don’t worry, guys,"
Rotor chuckled. "You’ll figure it out. Dulcy, you want to stick around and
watch?"
"Nah," she replied. "I have to keep practicing my landings. Those
kneepads you gave me have been helping me out a lot."
"Glad you could use them. We’ll see you later, Dulcy." The others all
waved as Dulcy flew off over the Great Forest. "OK, guys, who’s first?"
"I am thinking that Tails should be going first," Antoine called out
almost immediately. Rotor laughed a bit at that, but Tails looked all the more
eager to go first. He took his place at the starting line as Rotor climbed to
atop the lookout tower.
"Ready, Tails?"
"Ready, Rotor!"
"GO!"
Tails immediately began running for the first barricade, and Rotor fired
the first shot from his gun. The shot whizzed right in front of Tails before
splashing on the ground to his left. Tails skipped a beat in reaction to the
shot, but then raced quickly to the barricade before Rotor could fire again.
At the barricade, Tails found a crossbow resting on a ditch in between
the walls. Picking it up, he ducked low and pointed it towards the target as
Rotor fired two shots over his head. He fired the bow, but the arrow sailed very
low of Rotor’s target.
Resting the crossbow down, Tails started running towards the next
barricade. Rotor fired a balloon directly at him, and Tails had to jump the shot
to avoid it. He stopped to let another shot fly past him, but made it to the
second barrier. This larger barrier had an equally large gun waiting there.
Tails tried to pick it up, but it was bigger than he was. In trying to get his
balance, he hit the trigger, causing the rocket attached to the gun to sail up
through the sky into the trees.
Tails detangled himself from the weapon after his misfire, and made it
to the third obstacle after dodging two more balloons from Rotor. There was very
little room to hide there, with a wide space between two connected pillars.
Between them stood a cannon-like gun on a post, and it was currently pointed at
the ground. Tails was very still behind one of the pillars as Rotor continued to
shoot, getting a balloon in the gap. Reaching for the long handle underneath the
cannon, he pulled it down, turning the nozzle up toward the target. Rotor
quickly fired when Tails stuck his arm out, and the balloon connected with the
fox’s forearm before he could pull it back.
"Gotcha!" the walrus called out.
"Aw, man," Tails groaned as shook his now wet arm off. He came out from
behind the barricade to look up to the tower. "Those balloon were coming at me
really fast, Rotor."
"They should, Tails. We have to remember that when we’re in the field,
those SWATbots’ beams are just as fast, if not faster, than this gun. If we’re
not quick and careful at all times, it could spell disaster."
Tails nodded in reply. A few minutes later, Rotor had his gun and all of
the clearing’s weapons reloaded. "OK, Antoine, you’re up!"
Antoine stood at the starting line shaking like a leaf. After seeing
Tails’ attempt, he was more nervous than if he had gone first instead. Before he
could give it another thought, Rotor yelled, "Go!"
Slowly stepping onto the course, Antoine kept himself behind the second
barrier where he couldn’t be hit. When Rotor didn’t fire, he crept out into the
open. Sensing the nervousness, Rotor took a high shot. Antoine screamed at the
sound and dashed as fast as he could. Rotor made another shot, but Antoine dived
low and made it behind the first barricade as the shot missed him high.
Now, Antoine was completely beside himself. "I must be out of my mind
here," he thought aloud. "What am I to be doing now?"
"Grab the bow and shoot it, Ant!" Tails yelled from the sidelines.
Realizing that he’d been heard, Antoine saw the bow over his shoulder.
He took a deep breath, forced himself to stop shaking, and reached for the
weapon. Looking to the target, Rotor fired another balloon, causing Antoine to
duck down once again. He slowly rose back up, immediately fired the bow, and
ducked back behind the wall just as quickly. The arrow went straight, barely
hitting the base of the tree.
Antoine waited for Rotor’s next shot before running to the next
barricade, fear being his sole motivation. Rotor lined up his gun, and scored a
direct hit on Antoine midstream. Rotor laughed in the moment. "You made it too
easy, Antoine," he called down. "Gotta be watch where you’re going."
The fox shivered in place as he was dripping wet. "Zat is not funny, and
zat is very cold!" he shouted. "I am not liking zis game!"
"Chill out, Ant," Tails said to him. "You just have to be more careful
next time."
"I am hoping you are right, Tails."
Tails and Antoine continued to practice Rotor’s obstacle course for
another half hour. In that time, Tails had managed to score a hit on Rotor’s
target with the small pistol that was waiting at the fourth barricade, but
Antoine was still unsuccessful up to this point. Now on his fourth run of the
course, he had made it all the way to that same fourth barrier as Tails, but
shot the pistol too far to the left.
Now continuing to face Rotor, Antoine peeked out from behind the barrier
a tiny bit, and zipped right back when Rotor’s next balloon whizzed by him. "Zat
was close," he thought. "They come faster the closer I get."
Peeking out to lure another shot, Antoine ran a few steps and dove for
the corner of the final barricade. Midway through his dive, he tumbled upside
down and broke into a roll. Rotor shot as he rolled, but Antoine was so low to
the ground that the shot missed him high.
Now safe, Antoine found no gun waiting there, but three sparkling balls
to throw at the target. Picking one up, he reached around the barrier and flung
the first ball, and Rotor responded with a shot of his own. Antoine ducked back,
but let the ball go, weakly hitting the tree below Rotor and exploding in a
burst of glitter. Antoine grabbed the second one and peeked out, but this time
he didn’t throw. Rotor took the bait and fired. Antoine dodged and then threw
the ball with all his might. This time, the ball struck the target in the lower
corner, which dumped a bucket of water on Rotor for the second time that day.
"All right, Antoine, you did it!" Tails cheered.
"I am winning?" Antoine asked.
"Yep, you finally beat me," Rotor said, hopping down from the tower to
reload his gun.
"At last," Antoine sighed, "I am finally getting ze hang of zis game."
Suddenly, during their conversation, a plasma blast hit the ground at
their feet. The three turned to find a platoon of SWATbots led by Snively
advancing on the clearing. "Take cover!" Rotor yelled, grabbing his gun and
ducking behind the nearest barricade.
Tails stayed behind another barrier, but the pistol there was still
empty. Antoine took the last grenade that was by him and threw it at the
SWATbots. It hit one in the chest, and that bot turned and fired a shot back at
Antoine. Antoine ducked the blast and dove into the nearby bushes.
"There’s too many of them," Rotor called. "Tails, get to my bag, I’ve
gotta reload!"
Tails nodded and raced for the bag near the tree. Before he could take a
step, a SWATbot grabbed him from behind.
"Tails!" Rotor called, turning to fire at the new bot. Without warning,
a plasma blast from the oncoming army exploded into the barricade, throwing
Rotor and his gun back onto the ground. Another pair of SWATbots quickly moved
in and grabbed him as well.
"Excellent, we have them," Snively beamed. "Take them back to
Robotropolis. Dr. Robotnik will be most pleased with their capture."
The SWATbots complied and dragged the still struggling duo back to the
nearby hover units, which quickly flew off, unaware of the third Freedom Fighter
still out of view.
After several moments passed, Antoine slowly rose from his hiding place
in the bushes. "Zis iz a disaster," he thought aloud as he saw the empty
clearing. "Snively has captivated them, and now I must save them before they are
roboticized. I must inform ze Princess about zis."
Antoine jumped out of the bushes and began to run for Knothole. But
after a moment, he stopped himself. "Wait a minute. If I am telling Sally about
it, she will send Sonic after the SWATbots. Zen he will be ze big hero, and I
will have nothing again. But I cannot be doing zis myself. What am I to do?"
After deliberating for several moments, Antoine took a deep breath. "Ze
Princess iz always telling Tails about using good judgement and making ze
intellectual decision," he said. "I know now how I must do ze same."
Quickly looking around the remains of the course, he spied the bag of
grenades. He reached in and grabbed as many as he could fit in his pockets
before turning for Knothole as fast as his feet could take him.
As soon as he got there, he immediately bypassed Sally’s hut and went
straight to Bunnie’s. He explained the situation to her, and got her to help in
convincing Sally to bring Antoine along on the rescue mission. "But," Sally
said, "we still need to bring Sonic with us. We have no idea how long we have
until Robotnik does something with them."
Antoine sighed at this prospect, but he knew that Sally was right. When
the trio found Sonic and explained to him what happened, Antoine was also
prepared for the hedgehog’s reply. "Point the way, Sal, and the three of us will
bring them back in no time!"
"I am going, also," Antoine spoke up.
"C’mon, Ant, you can’t be serious. This is a speed mission. You’re no
good at these, don’t you get it?"
"No, you are the one who will get it, Soneec!" Antoine yelled, actually
startling everyone. "I am ze Freedom Fighter, am I not?"
"Well, yeah, but--"
"No buts. I am one just like ze rest of you, and Rotor and Tails are my
friends, too. I know I am messing up a lot, but I am deserving to help. If you
cannot be accepting zat, zen perhaps you are the one who is no good to us."
Sonic stood speechless at what Antoine had to say. He had never seen him
that upset before. "I think we had better hurry if we want to rescue the
others," Sally spoke up, dragging Sonic along as the others followed behind them.
"What’s gotten into Ant, Sal?" Sonic whispered. "He’s never fired back
at me like that."
"Antoine’s been pushed around for a long time, Sonic," Sally replied. "I
think he wants to do something about it."
"Fine time he picked. I really don’t feel good about this."
"If we can save Rotor and Tails, that’s all that will matter."
From inside Robotropolis, Tails and Rotor stewed inside their cell
within the prison complex. Tails was shivering, in part from the cold and damp
air in the cell, and the other part in fear of what would happen next. Rotor,
however, didn’t feel a thing from the cold. Inside, though, he was no less
nervous as he was trying to determine a way out.
"What’s gonna happen now, Rotor?" Tails asked nervously.
"I’m not sure, but I don’t like it here any more than you do," Rotor
replied, trying to mask his own nervousness.
Several moments later, the door at the center of the corridor opened.
Robotnik entered the room flanked by four SWATbots. He slowly made his way to
the cell where his captives sat.
"Well well, we meet again, Freedom Fighters," he said smugly. "What a
pleasure this day is."
"What do you want from us, Robotnik? You know that Sonic is gonna save
us from this!" Rotor shouted back.
"You are overconfident to the point of naiveté, fat one. In fact, I am
especially happy that you are here. I have wanted a little payback from our last
meeting on the Floating Island. As the Freedom Fighters’ inventor, you are a
threat to me. Therefore, I want you roboticized as quickly as possible. Ah, it
will be nice to crush this little piece of the resistance, and you made it so
easy for me by being out in the open like that."
Rotor’s blood began to boil even more as Robotnik revealed his
intentions. "You want me, then you got me! But let Tails go, he has nothing to
do with this."
"Mistaken again, my friend. He will have the pleasure of viewing your
roboticization firsthand... and perhaps his own as well. After all, why waste
the opportunity?" Robotnik laughed at his statement while Tails hugged Rotor for
safety from this nightmare he was in.
Robotnik proceeded to open the cell, ordering his SWATbots to seize his
two prisoners. "Snively," he called on the intercom beside the cell, "prepare
the roboticizer at once. I want it ready immediately."
"Right away, sir," Snively said through the crackling speakers.
"Proceed," Robotnik commanded. The SWATbots complied, marching out of
the chambers with a firm grip on Rotor and Tails.
Sonic had quickly brought the others into Robotropolis. From their
starting point in the junkyards on the outskirts, the four of them made their
move from alley to alley as they approached the roboticization complex that
they’d ventured into many times before.
As they paused in one dark corner, Bunnie noticed Antoine was shaking a
little, which wasn’t unusual for their missions. What was unusual was how he was
going toward the edge of the building and quickly peeking past it before they
moved on to the next alley. "Say, Antoine, why you do keep doing that?" Bunnie
asked. "What’re y’all lookin’ for?"
"I got a better question. Why are we sitting here waiting like this?"
Sonic asked. "If we don’t juice, Tails and Rotor are as good as roboticized."
"There’s still too many of them, Sonic," Sally replied, pointing out the
SWATbots standing guard and patrolling close to the main complex. "We’re not
close enough to make our move to get inside, either."
"If that’s your only problem, then leave it to me."
"Sonic, no!" Sally hissed, but in a flash, Sonic raced off and charged
right for the doors of the headquarters. The SWATbots noticed him immediately
and began firing in his general direction. "Great," she muttered. "Now we need
to get around all this blaster fire."
"I might have a way, my Princess," Antoine replied, peeking around the
corner as he had done before.
"Antoine, what are you doing?"
Antoine didn’t listen as he studied the view from outside the alley
before ducking back into it. Then, taking a deep breath, he reached into his
pocket and pulled out one of the grenades from Rotor’s stash. Reaching around
the corner again, he found the nearest SWATbot, and hurled the rock high. The
grenade hit the bot squarely in the eye sensors, exploding in a burst of glitter
and causing the bot to stagger from its sudden loss of vision.
"Yes! Zis way, ladies," Antoine cried out as he looked around the corner
again before making a break for the next alley. Sally and Bunnie followed,
surprised at Antoine’s bold move. Along the way, Bunnie saw the impaired SWATbot
turning towards them. She quickly laid a jump kick into its chest to topple it.
"Good work, Bunnie," Sally said, "and that was an excellent shot,
Antoine."
"Thank you, my Princess," Antoine replied. "I remembered when ze
SWATbots attacked us, and they did not fall when I was throwing one of those
grenades at their body. So I felt ze only way to make them work was to go for ze
head."
"Good thinking. And that just gave me an idea, because we still have a
little more distance to go. Let me have one of those grenades, Antoine."
Antoine nodded and handed Sally a pair of them from his pocket. Sally
took one in each hand, and then peered around the corner herself. She spotted
the next SWATbot further away toward the next alley. "Get ready," she called to
the others before dashing out toward the SWATbot. Bunnie and Antoine watched as
the bot spotted Sally and fired at her. Sally anticipated the shot and rolled
underneath it, then fired a grenade in reply, easily hitting the visor.
Seeing their opening, Bunnie and Antoine ran into the open. They rushed
toward Sally, but Sally waved them off, pointing in the direction of the next
alley on their side of the road. Quickly, they turned for that passage as Sally
dropkicked the SWATbot’s legs out from under it before she snuck behind her
alleyway nearby.
The splitting up worked well, as the trio was able to take out the next
pair of SWATbots in their paths. But just as Bunnie felled her SWATbot, the
remaining one in the road turned fire on her. Bunnie barely ducked the shot, and
struggled to get away from the subsequent shots. Antoine searched madly in his
pocket for another grenade, but couldn’t get it out.
Suddenly, the bot was totaled, parts scattering everywhere. Bunnie
turned to find Sonic coming out of his spin attack where the bot once stood.
"Just in time, Sugarhog. Thanks," she said.
"No prob, Bunnie," Sonic replied. "Where are the others at?"
"We’re right here, Sonic," Sally called as she and Antoine emerged from
the shadows. "Did you take care of the ones ahead?"
"It’s all clear. Now let’s go get the others."
"Wait, Sonic. Antoine, do you have any more of those grenades?"
Antoine was still fumbling through his pockets. "Zis is my last one,
Princess," he said as he finally pulled it out.
"Keep it ready in case we need it. Let’s do it to it, everyone!"
The others nodded, making their chain behind Sonic as he raced into
Robotnik’s headquarters.
Almost immediately as Robotnik and his captives entered the
roboticization room, the sirens went off in the room. Snively quickly went over
to the surveillance videos to find the problem.
"Sir, the other Freedom Fighters are in the building and making their
way toward us," he called to his uncle.
"Then they’ll be just in time to witness their friends’ roboticization,"
Robotnik replied. "Throw them in."
"YES, MASTER," the SWATbots droned as they placed Rotor and Tails onto
their respective platforms.
"You’re too late, Robotnik," Tails cried out. "Sonic’s here now and he’s
gonna save us!"
"They are the ones who are too late, small one. Observe as I roboticize
your friend. Snively--"
"Hold it, Robotnik!" Rotor called out. "Are you sure you want him to hit
that button?"
Robotnik halted his command to eye the walrus. "Stop trying to delay the
inevitable," he said.
"I’m not, Iron Lips. It’s just a shame that you if you roboticized me,
you would be giving me exactly what I wanted."
"What do you mean?"
Tails was even shocked at Rotor’s statement, and turned to listen to
what he had to say.
"I was able to build a deroboticizer, but its effects were only
temporary," Rotor said to Robotnik. "But if you roboticize me, Sonic can restore
my free will with his power rings, and once I understand my new metal body, I
would have the knowledge to make the deroboticizer’s effects permanent."
"You’re bluffing!" Robotnik shouted.
"Try me if you don’t believe me, Robotnik. But it’ll be the mistake that
ends your rule over Mobius."
"Enough!" Robotnik shouted. "Out of my way, Snively!" he yelled, shoving
his nephew to the floor as he pressed a button on the panel. Slowly, the glass
over Rotor’s chamber began to rise. Robotnik immediately walked up to him and
grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, lifting him to eye level.
"I don’t believe you for a moment, you miserable pest," Robotnik
growled. "But it’s no matter, because if you’re no good to me roboticized, then
you would be better off dead."
Rotor’s gulped at Robotnik’s words. "This wasn’t what I hoping for," he
thought to himself. "C’mon, guys, where are you?"
"Prepare to meet your fate, Freedom Fighter," Robotnik said, fixing his
grip around the walrus’ neck.
Rotor closed his eyes and prepared himself for the worst.
In a moment, there was the sound of a crack.
"AARGH!"
Rotor winced, and then fell in a heap to the floor. He stirred on the
ground, but then opened his eyes. "Hey, wait a sec, that scream didn’t come from
me," he thought.
"Sonic! Antoine!" Tails cried out.
Rotor looked up to find Robotnik was covering his eyes, screaming in
agony. Around the doctor’s eyes, Rotor could see glitter was everywhere. He
quickly turned the corner to find Sonic and Antoine standing from where Antoine
had thrown the grenade.
"Cows-eye, Robotnik!" Antoine called out.
"That’s bulls-eye, you fool!" Robotnik yelled. "GET THEM, SWATBOTS!"
"Time to juice," Sonic said, grabbing Antoine and pulling him out of the
way of the plasma fire. He ran behind another panel and set Antoine behind it.
"OK, you wait here, Ant. The rest of this one’s on me. Deal?"
"You are having a deal, Sonic," Antoine replied, giving a thumbs-up.
Sonic returned the gesture and reached for his power ring. In a flash of
light, he dashed back out into the open to face the SWATbots. The fight didn’t
last long, and the four bots were reduced to scrap metal one short spin later.
While Sonic was taking care of business, Snively crawled back over to
the roboticizer’s controls. "The hedgehog thinks he’s going to win, but his
friend will still lose," he said, as he prepared to hit the button for Tails’
chamber.
"HI-YA!"
Before he could hit the button, Snively fell over in a heap for the
second time in minutes from the force of Bunnie’s flying kick. "Ain’t no way
you’re turnin’ him into a robot, sugah!" Bunnie said.
Sally rushed up to the panel and pressed the release button on Tails’
chamber. Tails ran from the pedestal as soon as the glass rose and joined the
others around Rotor and Sonic in the middle of the room.
Robotnik wiped his eyes to see all the carnage that lay around him. "No,
I don’t believe this!" he yelled. "You will pay for this, hedgehog!"
"Put it on our bill, Robuttnik," Sonic replied. "We’re outta here!"
The boom echoed throughout the room as the chain of Freedom Fighters
sped out of the building. Robotnik threw his fists to the sky in a rage, cursing
their escape and the fact that he couldn’t take his anger out on his still
unconscious nephew.
Later that night, the Freedom Fighters were gathered by the power ring
pool taking in all of the day’s events.
"Man, I was really worried you guys weren’t gonna make it," Rotor said.
"I was glad I stalled Robotnik for just long enough."
"Yeah, but I couldn’t believe what you said to Robotnik," Tails replied.
"You really made him mad."
"I know, maybe too mad, Tails. I’m gonna have to be careful now, or next
time he might keep his promise."
"We’re just glad you’re still here, Rotor," Sally said.
"Yeah, and that reminds me," Sonic said, turning to Antoine. "Sal told
me what you did back there, Ant, and even I have to admit that was pretty cool."
"Thank you, Soneec," Antoine replied. "Do you consider me as ze Freedom
Fighter now?"
"You always were, Ant. You always were."
"Well, as good as it is to see the team back together, it’s time we
called it a night," Sally said. "Antoine, it’s your turn for the night watch.
Are you gonna be all right out here tonight?"
"But of course, my Princess," he replied with a salute. "I am ready for
anything zat iz coming my way."
A second later, a spider came down from its web and dangled in front of
Antoine’s face. "AAAHH!" he screamed as he turned to run away, only to trip over
his own feet and fall with a splash into the power ring pool.
"Ha ha ha!" Sonic laughed as Antoine surfaced. "You may be a Freedom
Fighter, but you’re still the same old Antoine."
The others started laughing at what Sonic said. Antoine tried to scowl
at Sonic for having fun at his expense, but ultimately couldn’t hold it as he
started laughing himself while still floating in the pond.
(
geocities.com/televisioncity/satellite/6616/sonic) (
geocities.com/televisioncity/satellite/6616) (
geocities.com/televisioncity/satellite) (
geocities.com/televisioncity)