Hearts of Steel by K.C. Cotton Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters are copyrighted by Sega of America, Inc. Bookshire Draftwood and Commander Packbell are copyrighted by David Pistone David Prower is copyrighted by Shawn Wolski (If I credited the wrong person or if I spelled any of your names wrong, feel free to yell at me.) CHAPTER 1 A few days after Doomsday... The sun's life-giving rays shone down upon the ruins of what once must have been the control tower, revealing a motionless figure trapped underneath a huge steel beam. Slowly, as the sun warmed his metal skin, Mecha-Sonic began to stir. He groaned and shoved the beam off of him, then climbed to his feet, swaying slightly. Pressing a few buttons, he decided to run a system test to assess the damage that had been done to him. **MAIN SYSTEMS OPERATING** Good. That meant that he could still function normally, even if he had taken quite a beating. A quick exterior evaluation found nothing more serious than a few dents and scrapes. Amazing, considering what he had been through. But if all his systems were operating normally, then why did he feel so strange? It felt like he had been released from some sort of bond that he had towards someone or something. But what? He couldn't seem to remember anything about what had happened before the explosion; despite the fact that his memory chip hadn't been damaged, it was like everything before the explosion was a huge, black void. Suddenly, it began to come back. He was the creation of someone named Dr. Robotnik, who had modeled him after a hedgehog named Sonic. Mecha-Sonic was supposed to have powers identical to Sonic's: his super speed and strength, plus other added equipment such as jet power and laser blasters. However, there were a few flaws. For one, no matter how hard he tried, he could never quite attain Sonic's speed and therefore couldn't catch him. He had found this out when Robotnik had sent him into the Stardust Speedway to capture Sonic. He shook his head violently. That was NOT something he wanted to remember. That had almost gotten him sent to the scrap heap, and only by means of the most eloquent pleading did he escape that fate. Robotnik decided that he was no good for capturing Sonic, but he found other things for Mecha-Sonic to do, such as getting rid of that meddlesome echidna and his friends. But he had messed that up too. Robotnik had been furious, and threatened to send him to the scrap heap for sure this time. However, after he had given it a second thought, he gave Mecha-Sonic another chance. This time, his job was to patrol the planet after the Doomsday Project, and finish off anything still alive. This was something that he couldn't mess up, for once. The day the Project was scheduled to begin, he had been waiting in the Control Tower, eager to begin his job and show Robotnik that he was NOT worthless. Suddenly, something had gone horribly wrong. "It's that blasted hedgehog!" Robotnik had yelled. "Mecha-Sonic, go destroy him!" Mecha-Sonic had obeyed, and was rushing through the corridors followed by a patrol of Swatbots, when suddenly everything started to explode. His instincts told him to drop and cover his head, which he did. Then, everything went black... He had been under Robotnik's control all that time, which explained why he hadn't realized that Robotnik was so evil. Why had he obeyed him? He couldn't believe that he had been used for such evil purposes. But now that Robotnik was gone, he was free. What should he do now? His only life that he could remember had been spent doing Robotnik's evil work. Robotropolis was the only home he knew. Then he had an idea. There had been other robots like him living in the city. If he could find some of them, maybe they would let him stay with them. It was worth a try. He stood up and started walking away from the ruins of Robotropolis, thankful that he didn't need nourishment. Something made him head towards the forest on the edge of his vision. Shrugging, he vanished into the bushes. CHAPTER 2 Back in Knothole Village, all the Freedom Fighter leaders had gathered for a celebration and to decide what to do next. Lupe and Ari had come, and even the usually reclusive Knuckles was there. After the serious part of the gathering was over, everyone went outside to celebrate. Although there were many activities going on, the main spectacle that afternoon was the race between Sonic and Knuckles. Everyone was placing bets on who was going to win and shouting encouragement to the runners. There were cries of "Sonic, Sonic!" as well as "Knuckles, Knuckles!" "The race will begin in five minutes!" Rotor yelled through a megaphone. Sonic walked over to Knuckles, who was chatting with a group of admiring vixens. "See you at the finish line, slo-mo!" he grinned. "Not if I see you there first!" Knuckles laughed. "There you are!" Rotor said. "You better get over to the starting line. The race is about to start!" The two racers walked over to the starting line and crouched down. "On your mark...get set...GO!" Rotor hollered. Sonic and Knuckles disappeared almost before Rotor said go. Knuckles hung back at first, saving his maximum speed for the last hundred yards. The course they had set was a long one: through the Great Forest, into the Great Unknown, around the ruins of Robotropolis, and then back to Knothole. Sonic took the lead from the beginning and quickly settled into an easy lope. It seemed to him like Knuckles wasn't even trying; he hadn't made any attempts to pass or even catch up to him. He just stayed about fifty yards behind, waiting for the right opportunity. When they were only a few hundred yards from Knothole, Knuckles made his move. He quickly sped up till he was at his max, hoping to catch Sonic off guard so that he could speed right past him for an easy win. Sonic, however, saw this coming. He attained maximum speed in a matter of seconds, shooting forward to catch up with Knuckles. He crossed the finish line a hair's breadth ahead. He hardly had time to slow down before that same group of vixens that had been chasing Knuckles attacked him, asking for his autograph. Knuckles chuckled, walked over to where Princess Sally was sitting and sat down next to her. "Whew, what a relief. That bunch was chasing me all afternoon. They don't seem to understand when you say you aren't interested." He laughed and leaned back. "Am I ever glad that you don't do that." Sally smiled. "That was an awfully close race," she said, changing the subject before Knuckles started flirting with her. "Yeah, it was, wasn't it?" he asked languidly, not really listening to what was being said. He seemed more intent on watching something in the branches of the tree they were sitting under. Sally sighed. "Boys," she thought. "They're all the same." CHAPTER 3 Mecha-Sonic could hear the festivities even before he reached the village. Not sure how everyone would react to him, he hid in a clump of bushes and watched what was going on. He saw many other robots walking around, as well as normal creatures. Some of the creatures there he recognized, like Sally and Knuckles. Knuckles was attempting to flirt with Sally, who wasn't even remotely interested. She was relieved when Sonic walked up. "Come on, Sal, let's go get something to eat." He took her arm and started walking. Then he turned around and shot a deadly glance at Knuckles, who returned it with equal hatred. Mecha-Sonic shrank back into the bushes. Sonic! His sworn enemy! He had to get out of here before Sonic saw him, or he was done for. Even if he said he meant no harm, Sonic wouldn't trust him for an instant. He took a step backwards and tripped over a tree root sticking out of the ground. He fell backwards with a loud crash. "What was that?!" Sonic, Sally and Knuckles said simultaneously. "It came from behind those bushes," Sally said, a bit shakily. "You two stay here. I'll go check it out," Sonic said confidently. He started walking over towards where the sound had come from. Mecha-Sonic didn't move, his eyes wide in panic. Now he had really done it! Great job, he told himself. You just let the whole village know that you were here. He sighed. He really didn't want to have to fight, but it looked like he might have no choice. Silently he removed his laser gun from his belt and held it ready to shoot if necessary. He heard the bushes rustling, and then suddenly Sonic's head poked through. The two looked at each other for a second, then they both yelled and backed up. Sonic recovered in time to realize who was in the bushes and took off running after him. Mecha-Sonic turned and ran with a speed he had no idea he could reach, heedless of where his flying legs were taking him. All that he knew now was that he had to run, and fast, for the hedgehog was gaining on him no matter how fast he went. He broke through the edge of the forest, only to find himself on the top of a tall cliff with no way down. He turned and saw Sonic come running up and stop a few feet in front of him. "You," Sonic said in a voice almost a growl as he started advancing on him. "Sonic, please," Mecha-Sonic said desperately, surprised at the way his voice sounded. It had lost that mindless, robotic quality and was beginning to sound more like a normal creature's. "Please, have mercy!" "Why, after all you've done to me and my friends? I ought to just push you over the edge..." Sonic was stopped by a feminine voice. He turned to see Sally coming up behind him. "Sonic, wait. I need to talk to you!" "But..." He could see that it was no use. He walked over to her. "What about?" he asked in a low voice. "Mecha-Sonic," she said quietly. He sighed. "Why am I not surprised? Just let me go over there and finish him off.." "That's what I want to talk to you about!" she hissed angrily. "I don't want you to do that. Give him another chance, Sonic." "Say what!?!?!" he asked, not believing what he had just heard. Sally calmly repeated what she had just said. "Please, Sonic," she added. "For my sake." "Well...all right. If you insist." Sonic sighed. "Come here, Mecha-Sonic," Sally called. "We won't hurt you." Mecha-Sonic put his gun away and walked cautiously up to them, still very much on guard. Even though they said they were friendly, he still didn't trust them, not after all they had done to him. The group stood and stared at each other for awhile until Mecha-Sonic broke the silence. "Why should I trust you?" he asked softly. "Aren't you going to attack me, Sonic, or are you too chicken to fight?" Sonic made a noise that sounded like a challenging growl, and was about to charge until Sally grabbed him. "Easy, you two," she said in a gentle but firm voice. "Mecha-Sonic, what are you doing here?" "I wanted to join you," he answered, glad that for once someone was listening to him. "The explosion of the Doomsday Project freed me from Robotnik's command, but now I don't have anywhere to go, since Robotropolis was destroyed. And I've been thinking... I wanted to apologize for everything I did while Robotnik held sway over me. But certain people," he glanced at Sonic, "don't seem to want to accept that or even listen to me." "Join us?" Sally asked, somewhat taken aback. "But..why?" He shrugged. "I have nowhere else to go, and besides, I saw other robots here and was hoping you wouldn't mind one more?" Sally thought for a second, then said, "Mecha-Sonic, can you excuse us for a moment?" "Sure." Sally led Sonic back to the edge of the forest. "Sonic," she whispered, "I say we let him join us. What have we got to lose by having another robot on the team?" "Have you gone nuts, Sal?! He's not just another robot, he's one of our worst enemies! And now you want him to join us...this has gone too far. He was with ROBOTNIK, for heaven's sake." "So was Uncle Chuck," she pointed out. "But that was different! One, he didn't want to be, and two, he still had his free will!" "What if Mecha-Sonic didn't want to be with Robotnik?" That stopped Sonic in his tracks. He could think of nothing to say to that, so he just hmphed. Finally he spoke. "I still think this is a bad idea, Sal. What if he turns on us?" "Rotor can handle that. Come on, Sonic, give him a chance. He could come in handy sometime, you never know." "Okay, but I still don't trust him." She laughed. "Whoever said you had to?" They turned back to Mecha-Sonic, who seemed to be admiring the view from the cliff. At the sound of his name, he turned around. "It's decided, Mecha-Sonic. You can stay." Sally said. Mecha-Sonic's eyes widened, and then he smiled. "Thank you." CHAPTER 4 A few weeks later, Mecha-Sonic was helping Rotor fix the elevator. "Could you lift that up a bit for me?" "Sure." Using his incredible strength, Mecha-Sonic lifted the elevator easily. Although it had been difficult at first, everyone gradually began to accept Mecha-Sonic, and even be friendly to him. But despite all the effort he went to, Mecha-Sonic still couldn't get Tails to like him; the little fox would always run and hide behind someone if Mecha-Sonic tried to talk to him. He had talked to Sally about this, and she said that it was just a phase and that it would pass eventually. Aside from that, however, most of the other Freedom Fighters treated him like they would anyone else. It was a beautiful spring morning: the sun was warm, the birds were singing, and there was a slight breeze. Suddenly a red blur swooped down, nearly knocking Rotor and Mecha-Sonic off their feet. Knuckles turned a few mid-air loops and somersaults, then landed perfectly and walked over to them. "Have you seen Sally?" he asked, panting. Apparently he had come a great distance in a very big hurry. "I need to talk to her-it's urgent." "She should be in her hut," replied Mecha-Sonic, who was still holding up the elevator. Knuckles was another Freedom Fighter who still didn't trust him. No matter what he did, Knuckles still remained cold and distant. "Thanks," said Knuckles, and ran off at top speed. He reached Sally's hut in a matter of seconds and knocked on the door. "Come in," she called, and looked quite surprised when Knuckles walked in. "Knuckles! What a nice surprise! But what are you doing so far from home?" "Never mind that, I've got bad news-about Snively." "You mean..." "Yup. He's still alive, and he intends to conquer Mobius singlehandedly!" "But you don't think he can actually do it, do you?" "I don't know, Sal." She was so absorbed in thought that she didn't even notice that Knuckles had used her nickname-an infraction which would normally have gotten him an icy glare or something worse. She hated it when he called her that; and no matter what he might think, she was NOT his girlfriend! Finally she spoke. "How did you find this out?" "It's a long story. You see, I had returned to Robotropolis to see if there was anything salvageable-namely, deroboticizer parts. Suddenly a door opened in a nearby building, and something came out. I ducked behind a pile of rubble to avoid being seen... I didn't want to fight in unfamiliar territory." He paused for a second. "Quite understandable. Go on." "Well, it took me a second to realize that it was Snively. He was wearing this ugly outfit and talking to a group of Swatbots. Fortunately, I was near enough to hear what was being said. He said something about being glad that Robotnik was gone so now he could run things himself, and that he planned to eventually conquer all of Mobius!" "Did you hear exactly how he planned to accomplish this?" "No. When I heard him say that, I moved around a little to hear better, and accidentally knocked something over. Snively heard it and sent the Swatbots over to investigate. I got out of there as fast as I could! I didn't want to let him know that I had been spying on him." "Thank you very much for going out of your way to bring this information to us, Knuckles." He was still sweating and breathing hard. "You look exhausted. Would you like for me to bring you something cold to drink? If nothing else, at least you need a rest." "That would be wonderful, Sally. Thank you." As she rummaged in the refrigerator for something cold to drink, a thought briefly crossed her mind. Maybe Knuckles isn't that bad after all. CHAPTER 5 The next day, Sally called a meeting to discuss what she had learned from Knuckles, who had agreed to stay so that he could tell them exactly what happened as he saw it. "One thing's for certain," Uncle Chuck said, "this doesn't look good..." "But why should we believe him?" Mecha-Sonic asked. "He probably made the whole thing up, knowing what a liar and a trickster he is!" "Oh, so you're looking for a fight, eh?" asked Knuckles, raising his fists in a fighting stance. "Knock it off, you two!" Sally said, clearly annoyed. "This is no time to bring up old grudges. Right now we have a serious problem at hand. Snively is a very real threat to us all, so right now we have to concentrate on fighting him instead of each other!" "Yeah, but I still don't believe him," Mecha-Sonic muttered under his breath. "I heard that!" Knuckles rose to his feet. "If everyone is going to insult me, then I'm leaving!" He stomped out, slamming the door behind him. Sally sighed. "Oh, Mecha-Sonic. Don't you two ever stop fighting?" Mecha-Sonic mumbled a "sorry". Uncle Chuck interrupted. "I think you ought to go apologize to Knuckles, Mecha-Sonic." Mecha-Sonic started to protest, but when he saw the looks on everyone's faces, he sighed and went out the door. He looked around and, not seeing Knuckles anywhere nearby, walked up to the top of a hill and looked around. He spotted Knuckles on another hill a few hundred yards away, pacing back and forth. He started the descent down the hill, walked across the valley, and was halfway up Knuckles' hill when he saw something that made him stop in his tracks. On the other side of the hill, behind a clump of bushes, crouched a Swatbot with his laser gun fixed on Knuckles! "Knuckles, look out!" Mecha-Sonic yelled. "Huh?..." Knuckles turned around to see who was talking to him. Just then, the Swatbot fired! Knuckles gave a yelp and crumpled to the ground. Drawing his laser gun, Mecha-Sonic raced up to the top of the hill and stood over Knuckles, ready to protect him if the Swatbot should fire again. Just then, Sally walked up. She had come to see what was taking Mecha-Sonic so long. "Guys?.." When she reached the top of the hill she stood there, staring in horror. She did not see the Swatbot vanishing into the bushes. She only saw the limp form of Knuckles lying on the ground, with Mecha-Sonic standing over him, holding a laser gun. CHAPTER 6 "How could you?" she asked, her voice hoarse with disbelief. "What have you done?" The others came running up the hill and saw Knuckles and Mecha-Sonic... Recovering quickly, Sally said, "Sonic, Rotor, grab him!" "But...I...I didn't..." Before he could explain, Sonic and Rotor had grabbed his arms and were awaiting orders from Sally. "Take him back to Knothole and lock him up in that old cage. We'll decide what to do with him later." She shook her head and walked over to Uncle Chuck, who was examining Knuckles. "Is...is he...?" Uncle Chuck looked up. "Dead?" he finished for her. "No, but he's badly injured. We ought to get him to Bookshire immediately." Dulcy arrived in a flurry of dust. "Look out!" She wound up in a grove of trees about a hundred yards away. When she returned to the hill, Sally said, "Can you take Knuckles to Bookshire for us?" "Sure, Sally. It's no problem." With that, she carefully placed Knuckles in her pouch and leapt into the air, winging her way towards Knothole. Later that evening, Sally went over to Bookshire's to check on Knuckles. The older raccoon let her in quietly. "How is he?" she asked, once they were inside. "He's doing better," Bookshire said, "but he isn't out of the woods quite yet. It will be some time before he is completely well again." "But he'll live?" "Yes, if I have anything to say about it." Sally sighed. "I'm just so sorry that Mecha-Sonic did this. We all thought he had changed...he had the makings of a great Freedom Fighter. But I guess that once you're under Robotnik's influence, you always will be-no matter what. I just thought....." she trailed off, then glanced at a clock on the wall. "Goodness, it's after 10:30. I'd better be going now. Thank you for taking care of Knuckles, Bookshire. I don't know what we'd do without you." "You're quite welcome, Princess. After all, this is part of my job." Bookshire smiled as he escorted Sally to the door. "I'll check in on Knuckles sometime tomorrow; is that all right with you?" "That's fine, Sally. Goodnight." "Goodnight, Bookshire, and thanks again!" "You're quite welcome." He shut the door, leaving Sally alone on the dark porch. As she walked down the path to her hut, she thought she saw someone following her and became rather nervous. Finally she could stand it no longer, so she called out, "Who's there?" "Yeeah!" A dark figure jumped in front of her and she gave a short scream. Then she heard someone laughing-Sonic! "Sonic! That was incredibly immature and irresponsible! Oooh...you are just the most annoying person I have ever met!" "Yeah, but you should have seen your face, hahahahahaha!" "Will you cut it out?! This isn't funny!" The tone of her voice silenced Sonic instantly. "I'm sorry, Sal, I didn't know that you'd react like that." he finally ventured. "That's all right; I guess I'm still upset about this afternoon." "Oh...yeah. I hate to say it, but I told you we couldn't trust him. I knew he'd do something like this as soon as he got the chance." "I guess I kind of knew it too. I should have known better..." "But if you didn't trust him either, then why did you let him join us?" "I don't know, really. You see, part of me really wanted to believe that he had changed, even though the rest of me didn't. I just hoped so much that I was right.....but now I see that I wasn't. I guess that there's no changing him. He's evil through and through, and there's nothing we can do about it, no matter how hard we might try." "I'm afraid you're right, Sal. But you know, I was kinda hoping that he'd changed, too. I'm really sorry that happened." He took her hand gently. "Come on-I'll walk you home." CHAPTER 7 Mecha-Sonic sat forlornly in the corner of the old wooden cage that had once been used to hold Uncle Chuck while they tried to fix the deroboticizer. Sally had ordered him to be locked up while they tried to decide on an appropriate punishment, so he had been there for a week now while they deliberated. Sighing, he moved to the back of the cage and sat on the small cot that had been placed inside. He had tried to explain to everyone that he was innocent, but it was his word against Sally's. Naturally, everyone believed Sally, not him. The cage was protected by the overhanging roof of the storage shed, but rain still blew in, making him wet and miserable. He shivered and huddled closer to the wall, wishing that he had never come to Knothole. If only he had stayed in Robotropolis... But he had no life there anymore. He didn't belong there. But he didn't belong in Knothole, either. He buried his face in his arms, wishing that he could find someplace to call home. "I just don't know what to do with him," Sally sighed. "I don't want to do anything too drastic, but if he's allowed to roam free, he's a threat to everyone." "I'm sorry, Sally, but I think that keeping him locked up is the only choice. Rotor might be able to reprogram him so that he would be on our side, but we have to do something with him until then." Uncle Chuck said calmly. The small group had met in Bookshire's hut, so that Knuckles would be able to participate in the discussion and tell them for the 5 millionth time exactly what had happened. After a week Knuckles was able to get out of bed for a while, but he still wore a soft bandage around his side where the laser had wounded him. Suddenly Sally looked at him. "Tell us again, please, exactly what happened?" she asked. Knuckles sighed and answered, "I already told you, I don't remember. It all happened so fast, I didn't get a chance to see whether it was Mecha-Sonic or not." Sally sighed. This was getting them nowhere; after a week of deliberating they were still right where they had started. "All right then, meeting adjourned." Everyone, including Sally, left Bookshire's hut so that Knuckles could rest. She walked down the path slowly, unable to shake this strange feeling that she had. Something inside her told her that somehow, Mecha-Sonic was innocent. Nonsense, she told herself. Everyone saw him standing there, gun in hand. And if he didn't do it, then who did? But the thought persisted, nagging until she finally got fed up with it. Suddenly, she thought of something that she had ignored before. The video monitors. Why hadn't anyone checked them? she wondered. I may as well; then we'll have proof against Mecha-Sonic, she thought. She walked up to the control room and unlocked it. Groping around until she found the light switch, she flipped it on, walked over to a chair, and sat down. Quickly she keyed up the menu and selected REPLAY SECURITY VIDEO. When it asked for the date, she put in April 7, and fast-forwarded until it reached the part she wanted. She watched it all the way through, and when it was finished, she was stunned. Rushing out of the control center, she almost collided with Sonic. "Whoa, what's the big hurry, Sal?" he laughed. "Are you trying to break my speed record or something?" "Sonic, we've made a terrible mistake! It wasn't Mecha-Sonic's fault at all!" "What?" Sally quickly explained what had really happened. Sonic looked shocked, but then said, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go release him before he does something crazy!" The two ran off towards the storage shed, unaware that it was already too late. Mecha-Sonic was growing more and more restless as he paced back and forth. Being trapped in this cage was really starting to get to him, and finally he was unable to take it anymore. Eyes glowing bright red, he looked around desperately for a way to escape... Finding none, he reached for his laser gun, thinking that he could blast the bars and escape. Then he remembered that they had taken it away. Thinking quickly, he unsheathed his razor-sharp claws and lashed out at the wooden bars, sending splinters flying. Driven by his insane desire to be free, he hurled himself at the bars again and again, gouging them deeply with his claws until they finally splintered into a million pieces. He stood there for a moment, unable to comprehend the fact that he was free. When his eyes stopped glowing and he returned to normal, he looked at the remainder of the cage. Had he really done all that? Well, it didn't matter now. He was free, and that was the important thing. Without looking back, he turned his jet power up to max and blasted away towards Robotropolis. CHAPTER 8 Sonic and Sally came rushing up to the cage and stood, surprised. Pieces of wood were scattered everywhere, the cage was completely demolished, and Mecha-Sonic was nowhere to be found. "Oh no, we're too late!" Sally said, upset. "This is awful! He could be on his way to Robotropolis, for all we know, and that would be a disaster!" "Man, he sure knows how to make an exit," Sonic said, surveying the wreckage. But Sally wasn't listening. Instead, she knelt and examined a piece of wood. "Look at this," she said, handing it to Sonic. "These are something's claw marks..." She trailed off in awe. "You mean to tell me that Mecha-Sonic did all this with his claws? I find that hard to believe." "Well, you're going to have to, because if he didn't do all this, then who did? Who else has claws powerful enough to splinter wood like that? Even if it wasn't him, the fact still remains that he could be heading to Robotropolis as we speak!" And that was exactly what Mecha-Sonic was doing. Relying purely on instinct, he was now nearing familiar territory on the border of Robotropolis. He slowed down and approached cautiously, knowing that he might not be welcome because of his association with the Freedom Fighters. Melting into the shadows, he slunk quietly towards the control tower, keeping a watchful eye out for Swatbots. In Bookshire's hut, Sally was telling everyone what had happened. "We've got to find him before something terrible happens!" she said... "Rotor, get the ship ready." Knuckles swung himself out of bed saying, "I'm coming too! I'm not about to let you guys have all the fun." He winced at the pain it caused him, and said, "Ouch.....maybe not." "You are staying right here, Knuckles the Echidna. I don't want you to get hurt even worse than you already are." Sally was firm, but Knuckles eventually got his way. "I wanna come too!" said Tails. "Oh, Tails, I don't know..." Sally began, but stopped when Tails put on his saddest face. "All right, you can come, but be careful! This is a serious mission." "Thank you, Aunt Sally!" Tails yelled as he rushed out of the hut. Sonic, Sally, Tails, and Knuckles ran to the clearing, where Rotor was getting the stolen Swatbots' ship ready. "All set?" Rotor asked, after everyone had piled inside. "Ready to go, Rotor!" Sally answered. "Then let's step on it!" The ship lifted off the ground and rose slowly upwards until it was barely above the treetops. "I'm going to fly low, because we don't know if Snively still has a radar or not," Rotor explained. The hovercraft made its way slowly towards Robotropolis, with everyone inside scanning the ground for any trace of Mecha-Sonic. "Does anybody see him?" Knuckles asked. "Nope," answered Tails. "We're almost to Robotropolis with no sign of him at all. I hope that this doesn't mean what I think it does." Sally sighed deeply. "What do you mean?" Tails asked her. "I mean that I'm afraid he's already reached Robotropolis. If he has, there's nothing we can do now." "Well, let's give it a quick look." With that, Rotor continued on to Robotropolis. Mecha-Sonic flattened himself against a wall when he saw the ship approaching. Swatbots! That was the last thing he wanted; he would rather confront Snively and Packbell unexpectedly. Hopefully they were just passing through on their way to the control tower. However, as they continued to do a wide circuit of Robotropolis, he became more and more convinced that they were looking for someone or something. Someone like him. Was it just his imagination, or was someone in the ship calling his name? He decided not to find out, but stayed hidden in the shadows. "MECHA-SONIC!! WHERE ARE YOU?" Sonic and Knuckles yelled, as loud as they could. Sonic turned back to Sally. "It's not working," he said. "I don't see him anywhere." "Keep trying," Sally replied. "We can't give up." When the hovercraft turned and headed the other way, Mecha-Sonic decided to take a chance and run for it. Just then, however, Tails spotted him. "There he is!" he yelled. Rotor turned the craft around and tried to pursue the fleeing robot, but kept losing him. "This is ridiculous. I'm going to go knock some sense into that idiotic robot," Knuckles said, opening the door. "Knuckles, what are you doing?! Are you crazy?!" Sally exclaimed. Knuckles smiled. "Probably," he said, and jumped. Going into glide formation in a split-second, he drew up behind Mecha-Sonic. "Sorry about this," he said, grabbing Mecha-Sonic's shoulders. Quickly Knuckles shoved him roughly to the ground and pinned him there. "Why you little..." Mecha-Sonic growled. "Let me go!" He struggled fiercely, but did not actually attempt to hurt Knuckles, who held him firmly. "No can do, Mecha. Now just be a good little robot and HOLD STILL!" Up above, Sally had watched all this from the window. "Knuckles got him, Rotor! Land over there," she ordered. "Hang on, we're coming in for a landing!" Rotor warned them. The craft dropped abruptly and came to a rather bumpy landing in a small clearing. Sonic jumped out almost before they touched the ground, and ran over to Knuckles and Mecha-Sonic. Mecha-Sonic appeared to be venting his rage to Knuckles, who clung on determinedly. "What the heck do you think you're doing?! You better let me go, you stupid echidna, before I decide to get nasty!" Mecha-Sonic was so mad his eyes were glowing bright red. "In your dreams, bud!" Knuckles was just as mad. "Don't you think that I won't actually hurt you!" "Cool it, you tin can!" Knuckles snarled back. "Make me." "That's it! I've had it with you!" Knuckles raised a spiked fist, preparing to hit Mecha-Sonic HARD. "Hey, break it up!" Sonic had arrived. "Well, he started it." "Did not!" "Did too! You actually think that you can go around attacking people like that?!" "I had to stop you." "No you didn't!" Mecha-Sonic retorted. "I was doing just fine ON MY OWN, thank you! I don't need any of you! I can take care of myself." "Not if you're that careless you can't." "What is going on here?" Sally walked up. "Knuckles, good job. Now let me handle this." Knuckles reluctantly got off of Mecha-Sonic, who made a face at him. "Jerk," he muttered. "I'm sorry about that, Mecha. Now will you please listen to me?" Sally calmed him. "Fine, but make it quick!" Mecha-Sonic had clearly no patience left... "We wanted to apologize for not believing you." "What?" Mecha-Sonic couldn't believe his ears. "I said, we're sorry that we didn't believe you. About Knuckles, and the Swatbot-you know." Sally took his hand in a gesture of friendship. "We should have trusted you more." "How did you find out?" "It's a long story." Sally paused for a moment, and then said, "Mecha-Sonic, we would be honored if you would join us as an official Freedom Fighter." "The choice is yours, Mecha. You can go back to Snively if you want; no one's stopping you." Rotor said. Mecha-Sonic smiled and said, "Offer accepted." "Hooray!!!" everyone cheered, and turned to leave. "Well, well, well, what's wrong with this picture?" a voice came from the shadows. "Mecha-Sonic with the Freedom Fighters. How very amusing." "Packbell?" Mecha-Sonic growled. "You are astonishingly perceptive." The android stepped out from behind a pile of rubbish. "I see you've lost no time in endearing yourself to the other side." Mecha-Sonic bristled and bared his teeth, but controlled himself enough to answer. "What do you want from me?" "Nothing much. I only ask that you rejoin Snively and I. You see, Robotnik never recognized your full potential; but, my old friend and partner, we know better. Think about it. I'd restore you to your old position, and it would be like you never left." Mecha-Sonic stood silent, thinking it over. For one horrible moment, the Freedom Fighters thought that he would betray them and join Snively and Packbell. Finally he answered. "No, Packbell. I'm sorry, but you don't seem to understand that I've joined the Freedom Fighters. I am no longer your friend or partner, but your enemy!" Packbell's eyes narrowed to slits, but he shrugged and said, "Very well, if that is what you want." He turned and walked away for a few steps. "Alright Mecha-Sonic!" Mecha-Sonic turned to see the Freedom Fighters running up to him. "You really told him off!" laughed Sonic. "Yeah, that was pretty good, pal." Knuckles smiled. "That was very brave of you, Mecha-Sonic!" Sally said, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. Mecha-Sonic's legs felt weak and he sat down suddenly. Everyone laughed, including Mecha-Sonic. "C'mon, let's go back to Knothole and have a celebration in honor of our newest Freedom Fighter, Mecha-Sonic!" Sonic proposed. Everyone agreed and started to head towards the stolen ship; but before they reached it, Packbell intercepted them. In one swift movement he grabbed Tails, threw him on the ground and held a laser gun to his head. "One move," he snarled, "and I'll shoot!" Mecha-Sonic's eyes glowed bright red, indicating that he was furious... "Packbell, leave him alone! What has he ever done to you?!" he said angrily. Tails whimpered, which made Mecha-Sonic even angrier. Before Packbell could pull the trigger, Mecha-Sonic went into a flying tackle; he knocked Packbell away from Tails, who got up and ran over to Sonic. Mecha-Sonic pinned Packbell to the ground and drew his laser gun, but Packbell reached up and knocked it out of his hand. It skidded 15 feet away into a heap of rubbish, leaving Mecha-Sonic defenseless. Swiftly Packbell kicked Mecha-Sonic off him, drew his own gun and pointed it at the robot hedgehog. Mecha-Sonic rolled to the side to avoid the blast. Reaching out with his foot, he tripped Packbell and retrieved his gun. Packbell looked up from the ground into the barrel of a laser gun. "Come along quietly, and I won't shoot," Mecha-Sonic said, backing up so he could keep his gun trained on Packbell. Not watching where he was going, he backed into a pile of scrap metal. He started to walk forward, but found that his back plate had caught on a piece of wire and was coming loose. Now he was in a bad position. If he moved forward, the wire would pull his back plate completely off, exposing his delicate internal engines and computers; and because of the scrap metal, he was unable to move backwards. He struggled for a minute, but to no avail. He was definitely stuck. Packbell realized that Mecha-Sonic was in trouble, so he stood up and started advancing on Mecha. Before he could pull the trigger, Packbell snatched the gun from Mecha-Sonic's hands and aimed it at him. Mecha-Sonic took a chance and lunged forward, freeing himself from the wire but pulling his back plate loose. He knew that one shot in his exposed engines would destroy or badly damage him, so he was careful to make sure that he kept his back facing away from Packbell as he circled him. "Give it up, Packbell. I'm obviously stronger and smarter than you," he panted as he circled Packbell, attempting to get to where he could reach Packbell's discarded gun. "Foolish robo-rodent. You actually think that you are a match for Commander Packbell?" he sneered. "You're even more mixed up than I thought. That Doomsday incident must have really scrambled your computers." Packbell noticed what Mecha-Sonic was doing and started around from the other side, trying to cut him off. Suddenly, Packbell sprang! Mecha-Sonic was caught off guard and slammed to the ground, Packbell's hands reaching for his main power cable. He struck out with his claws, but Packbell held on grimly. There was a sharp, grating sound as his claws found their mark on Packbell's side; but as he drew his hand away, he saw that he hadn't even scratched his foe. Packbell reached around, grabbed Mecha-Sonic's main power cable, and pulled hard. Mecha-Sonic yelped as he felt the cable snap, cutting off the power supply from his engines to his computers. **SYSTEM FAILURE!!! COMPUTERS NO LONGER RECEIVING POWER!!! SWITCHING TO EMERGENCY POWER SUPPLY** Packbell released his grip when he saw Mecha-Sonic start to fade. Mecha-Sonic fell back to the ground and lay still. Satisfied that he had finished Mecha-Sonic off, Packbell turned and started walking; but as soon as Packbell turned his back, Mecha-Sonic pulled himself to his feet and jumped at Packbell. Packbell saw this coming, turned, and delivered Mecha-Sonic a flying kick in the ribs. This sent Mecha-Sonic hurtling into the rubbish heap next to his gun. **EMERGENCY POWER USED UP. SYSTEM SHUTDOWN IN 5 SECONDS** Seeing the gun, Mecha-Sonic reached over and grabbed it. **5...** With a great exertion he lifted it, aiming at Packbell. **4...** He squeezed the trigger. The blast hit its target, and Packbell fell to the ground. **3...** Mecha-Sonic gasped as Packbell got up and ran, leaving the Freedom Fighters staring after him. **2...** Mecha-Sonic's eyes were dimming as he relaxed and slid to the ground, not having enough power left to do anything else. **1...** He was dimly aware of the Freedom Fighters rushing up to him just before everything went dark. **SYSTEM SHUTDOWN** His eyes flickered briefly and then went out. The Freedom Fighters reached Mecha-Sonic and stood, gape-jawed in shock. Rotor knelt and examined him carefully. At last he looked up. "It doesn't look good," he sighed. "His main power cable is severed, and his internal computers and engines are badly damaged." "Can you repair him?" Sally asked. "If I had my tools and workshop, I might be able to. However, the chances are slim that he will ever function normally again, or even function at all. I don't have the kind of equipment that Snively does. His specialty is robots; mine isn't." "Well, standing around isn't helping anyone. Let's get him back to Knothole," Sonic suggested. "I'll get the ship ready." Rotor ran to the ship. Since he was made of solid metal, it took the combined strength of Sonic and Knuckles to lift Mecha-Sonic and carry him to the hovercraft. Night was falling as the lone ship took off, heading silently towards the Great Forest. CHAPTER 9 The next morning, Rotor was working on Mecha-Sonic in his workshop. The robot was lying face-down on the work table with his back plate open; everyone gathered around to watch as Rotor began the delicate repairs. "Sally, can you boot up Mecha-Sonic's schematics for me?" he asked. "Will do, Rotor," she said, and pulled out Nicole. "Nicole, boot up schematics of Mecha-Sonic." "Processing, Sally," Nicole said, and in a few seconds a hologram of Mecha-Sonic appeared. "Thanks a lot." Rotor examined the schematics carefully before setting to work. He turned around and addressed everyone milling about the workshop or peering in the windows: This will take a few hours, and I need total concentration for this job, so I must ask everyone to leave." That dissipated everyone instantly. Sonic and Sally walked outside and sat under a tree near the stream. Presently Sally spoke. "Oh Sonic, this is all my fault. I-I should have trusted him more, and now look what's happened." "Come on, Sal, you didn't know that this would happen. It wasn't your fault." "Don't blame yourself, Princess. No one could have prevented this." Knuckles limped up and sat down next to Sally. "Oh, hello, Knuckles. Feeling better?" Sally asked. "Yeah, I guess so." The trio sat in silence for a while. Finally Sonic sighed. "I'm having a hard time accepting the fact that he's changed. I mean, I'm so used to fighting him that it's almost like an instinct." "I know it's hard, Sonic, but we all have to get over our feelings about robots." Sally said. "It's just like how Tails had to learn to accept David. When you think about it, Mecha-Sonic is almost like a brother to you..." "Oh no. I see what you're getting at, but that will be the day when I make Mecha-Sonic my brother! He's so...so, well, different. I just don't think I'm ready." "That's fine, Sonic. It was just a suggestion; but think about it." "Oh great," Knuckles groaned, "next you'll want to make me a robot brother. Well, I already have enough problems without having a robot to worry about." "We weren't originally planning that, but now that you mention it, it is a good idea..." Sally teased. "Aww man!" Knuckles pretended to be exasperated, then laughed. "Say, since we're on the subject of robot siblings, I can just imagine a robot sister for you, Sally!" "Oh no...one of them is plenty!" Sonic chuckled. "Sonic Hedgehog, I'll get you for that!" "Will you, now?" Sonic took a running start and dove off the bank into the pond. "Last one in is a worker-bot!" Sally and Knuckles soon joined him, laughing and splashing happily as the sun rose high over the treetops. CHAPTER 10 Later that afternoon, Rotor finished the repairs on Mecha-Sonic. Sonic, Sally, Tails, Knuckles and Bunnie all gathered around, each one praying silently that it would work. Rotor was about to hit the switch that would turn Mecha-Sonic back on-if it worked. "Here goes nothing," he said, attempting to sound confident but failing. He flipped the switch. Nothing happened. "Mecha?" Sonic asked quietly. There was no response from the robot, who still lay motionless on the table. "I'm sorry, guys. I did the best I could, but I guess it wasn't enough." Rotor looked like he was about to cry. Sonic turned away sadly, tears in his eyes. No one there had dry eyes; some, like Tails, wept out loud, while others (like Knuckles) just turned away. Nobody seemed to notice that Mecha-Sonic's eyes had flicked back on. He raised his head, looked around at everyone crying, and asked, "What happened? Who died?" "Mecha-Sonic!" Everyone stared at the robot hedgehog. "What did I do?" Mecha-Sonic looked confused. Before anyone had a chance to explain, he was jumped on and hugged by everyone; but the one who seemed the happiest to see him was Sonic. This surprised him, because it had hardly been a month since Sonic had refused to let him join the Freedom Fighters. Everything had changed so much since he had first arrived, but he had a feeling that it was for the better. "Mecha." He turned around to see Sally addressing him. "This isn't easy for me to say, but I was wrong about you." Mecha-Sonic felt a pang of guilt, remembering everything that he had done to them. He didn't deserve this! "Yeah. Thanks." He sighed; then, suddenly wanting to be alone, he slipped out quietly. Walking to the Power Ring pool, he sat down and watched the reflection of the sunset in the gently rippling water. It had been so much easier when he had been Robotnik's mindless slave. He didn't have to cope with a barrage of complicated emotions; he simply had to obey his master's command. Having a mind of his own turned out to be a little harder than he expected, and he was so absorbed in sorting through his feelings that he didn't hear Sonic approaching behind him. "Mecha-Sonic? I...um, you see...well, I was wondering if..." He paused, unsure of how to word it. Finally he just blurted it out. "Would you be my brother?" Mecha-Sonic just stared, his sensors unable to comprehend what Sonic had said. No, he thought. We've been enemies for so long, it just isn't possible...but it was clear that Sonic meant what he said, so Mecha-Sonic supposed he would give it a try. "Yes," he answered quietly. "C'mon then! I'll race you to that tree over there, bro!" Sonic grinned. The words were like music to Mecha-Sonic's ears, and he paused for a moment to let them sink in. He had found some great new friends and a new home all in one day. He was happier than he had ever been. He looked around, thinking, "This is more than I ever could have wished for..." His eyes sparkled with happy tears for a moment before he reached up to brush them away. "Hey Mech, are you coming or not?" Sonic called. Mecha-Sonic answered confidently, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be!" "All right then. On your mark...get set...go!" The two hedgehogs, one metal and one not, shot off towards the distant tree, laughing and joking as the sun set on the Great Forest and its inhabitants. THE END