Sonic GeneX - The Series: Chaos Tournament!
Episode 8 - Race to Win!
Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.
Previously on Sonic GeneX...
I'm Omochao, and I'm here to bring you up to speed on the Tournament of Chaos, Sponsored by GUN! Designed by Illusi as a test of worthiness for the Chaos Relics, the first round of the tournament was a battle round, with 100 competitors duking it out to get to the second round! Some matches were funny, others pretty tense, and the audience was blown away when Sonic just up and dropped out rather than fight Tails! Round 2 has been announced as a road race, requiring the competitors to use vehicles in a 50-car dash to the finish line! Without Sonic, who will end up in the top 20 and moving on to the final round?
Now, let's begin today's story!
After the announcement that round 2 would be a road race, the week leading up to the event was a hectic rush to find vehicles. Fortunately, since the race was taking place in Station Square, Twinkle Park decided to help by loaning out Twinkle Circuit Karts to those who couldn't find a proper vehicle, as a publicity stunt for their amusement park. However, most wanted to find their own vehicles, hoping to gain whatever advantage they could. Vector, for instance, went searching high and low for anyone willing to loan out a vehicle. He was soon ready to give up when Big the cat raced past him on a green moped! He'd been knocked out during the battle tournament, so Vector decided to take a chance and ask him. "You mean I can't race since I lost the battle? Awww..." Big sighed, "Okay, I guess I'll cheer you on instead..." he said in agreement, hopping off his bike and handing Vector the keys. "Thanks, big guy. I'll have it back to ya in top shape!" he promised. Being quite the mechanic, several panicked contestants turned to Tails for a ride, including Blaze and Marine. Tails was prepared for this, and led the group to his garage. There were several racers lined up and waiting. "I got a few of our racers prepped for this event... Mine is the Whirlwind S12, the yellow car back there." he said, pointing out his latest iteration on the car he used to use for "drift-racing." The Speed Star, the Land Breaker, and the Tornado's car transformation were parked in his garage, too. Knuckles pushed past Blaze and Marine to rush to the Land Breaker. "My baby! With Sonic out of the running, we're gonna tear up the track!" he grinned. Tails looked from Blaze to the Speed Star. "Yeah... Since Sonic IS out, I don't think he'd mind if you borrowed his car. Long as you bring it back in one piece!" he winked. Blaze nodded. "Thank you... What about Marine?" she asked. Marine dashed to the Tornado. "I guess this one's fer me! She'll be apples, Tails! I can figure this contraption out in time fer the race! Just lemme have a go at it!" she grinned. Tails looked nervous. "My poor baby..." he sighed.
Soon, it was time for the big race. The roads around Station Square had been largely shut down for the event, and the fifty vehicles pulled along Speed Highway to the starting line. Katie the coyote stood outside Mia's taxi cab as she reported on the event. "In this road race, 50 will enter, but only 20 will move on to the final tournament round! Hopefully this reporter will be among them!" she winked to the camera. Chet the cheetah poked his head out of the passenger seat of the cab, looking a bit bored. "Too bad Mia couldn't join you... I'd rather run than drive..." he sighed. Mia was still in a coma after the Battle Bird Armada attack, but they figured she wouldn't mind loaning out her cab. Katie continued her report, ignoring Chet. "Of course, with Sonic out of the race, it's anyone's to win! Top bets are on Jet the Hawk, but I wouldn't count out Shadow the hedgehog, or a certain bird named Speedy, or the 'Sultan of Speed', Johnny! This could be a race for the ages!" she announced. While most racers needed proper vehicles, Johnny and Speedy were permitted to compete with just their jetpacks, and Jet with his Extreme Gear. Most racers were prepped with fast-looking vehicles, but as Shadow sat on his motorcycle, he raised an eyebrow to see Tommy pedaling up on a bicycle. "...Enjoy last place, kid..." he sighed. "It's not whether you win or lose..." Tommy retorted. Elsewhere, Copter pulled up in the Hurricane, which had been adjusted for land travel by his passenger, Hoover. "I'm gonna see to it you don't wreck up meh baby!" the beaver-bot grumbled from the newly installed back seat. Copter rolled his eyes, and then widened those eyes as he saw Rainbow pull up. Her car had... a face? It was a blue car that was very toony-looking. "Hey, Two! Pinky loaned me this cute Breezy car!" she said. "It's Breeze..." said Violet, her copilot, who glared at Copter scornfully. "Aw, she can call me what she likes! At least SHE wants to drive me!" Breeze said cheerfully. Copter shivered, creeped out, but that wasn't the weirdest vehicle in the bunch. Lospecter approached the starting line, accompanied by a giant sentient jack-o-lantern. "Okay, Loscream... You know what I need... Bibbity, bobbity, boo!!" he said, prompting Loscream to grudgingly morph himself into a big, spectral pumpkin carriage! Lospecter blew a whistle, and a team of lospides crawled to the front, harnessed by Loscream's roots! Lospecter then jumped atop the pumpkin, smirking as a dumbfounded Illusi approached. "I must say... I was certain the race would force you to drop out, on account of having to feet to operate car pedals..." he babbled. Lospecter smirked. "Never underestimate me, Illoser..." he said darkly. Omochao's voice rang out as the racers prepped themselves. "The track goes through the city, to Emerald Coast, winding back through Twinkle Circuit, leaving the city for the frosty ruins to the north, and then back here to Speed Highway to finish! Racers... on your marks!" he shouted. Copter tore his gaze away from Violet, clenching his teeth as he buried his regrets. "All I have left is this... I have to win!" he growled.
The racers at the starting line were arranged into five rows of ten, with the bikes and Twinkle Karts up front, and the speedier racing vehicles like the Speed Star and Extreme Gear boards at the back. Crowds were gathered around the start/finish line, where a monitor was set up that would track the racer's progress, courtesy of cameras set up around the track. "Ready? Set? GO!!" Omochao called out, setting the race in motion! As the vehicles zoomed through the starting line, Tommy's bike was left at the back, barely touching the ground as the jet stream carried him forward! Illusi watched with the Chao from Darkegg Fortress anxiously. "This is bound to be very interesting..." he said as some nearby gargoyles started taking bets. First into the lead, having had a bit of an advantage with his bike, was Shadow. "I'll see you all at the finish line..." he huffed, trying to pull further ahead as they rounded a corner. Chasing right after him was Conan, riding a motorcycle of his own with a sidecar attached, which Bean was riding in. "No one stands between me and the Chao Relics! Bean, eliminate the competition!" he shouted, prompting the duck to toss bombs out onto the track, laughing manically! Shadow weaved out of the way, but the explosions blew holes in the high bridge of Speed Highway! A bobsled manned by Omega and copiloted by Mighty was heading right for one such hole! "Slow down, meatbag! This piece of junk cannot fly!" Omega warned. Another vehicle slammed into the side of the bobsled, knocking it away from the hole. It was being driven by... Big? "Soooorry... I'm not really driving, I'm just an extra set of eyes..." Big said sheepishly. The headlights of the purple racer were actually a pair of yellow glowing eyes. The car was Kosmo! "You can thank me later, bot! Now, eat my metaphoric dust! ...I don't spew those exhaust fumes." the Kosmo car said, pulling ahead! "Quite a noble move by Big- I mean, Kosmo! We're just getting started folks! This is anybody's race!" Omochao announced. Then, however, a Twinkle Kart carrying Zik and Zor went flying down one of the holes! "Well, anybody except them, I guess!" Omochao sighed. "Zoooor! Your defeatist attitude distracted me!" Zik growled. "You'd think a hovercar wouldn't fall... Meh, whatever..." Zor shrugged, their kart having gently landed on the ground below, just way off course. The hover feature had at least protected them from crashing.
Emerald Coast was the next stop for the racers. Flags planted around the beach showed the way for them to go, which led across the sand, along a pier, around the lighthouse, and then straight back to the city where a ramp would take them to Twinkle Circuit. The sand was rough on most of the land-based vehicles, including Shadow's bike, and started to shift the race in the favor of flying vehicles. Extreme Gear riders like Jet were rapidly passing the others, though not without competition from Speedy, Johnny, and a few others. Even Cream was moving ahead, riding her own gear with Cheese joining comfortably via a backpack. Shadow just grit his teeth and powered through the sand, gaining speed again as he reached the pier. Other racers were more bothered by the sand. As Sting arrived, his legs replaced by wheels and his pincers clutching a steering wheel carefully manipulated by Slash, he groaned. "This sand is murdering my joints!" he whined. "Switch to treads!" Slash suggested, requiring them to stop while Sting made the adjustments. Meanwhile, they were getting passed by other racers, including Knuckles and Punchy, whose vehicles were better built for driving on the sand. Punchy was driving the Tempest, an older car of Knuckles, and was stuck with Talon as a copilot because no one wanted him. Knuckles was on his own, and had a smug smirk as he pulled ahead of Punchy. "Can't this thing go any faster!?" Punchy growled. "Easy, Knuckles... Hey, what're you doing!?" Talon yelped. "Shortcut!" Punchy grunted. "There's no shortcut! You gotta follow the flags!" Talon insisted. "...Why do we need copilots?" Punchy grumbled. Talon was wrong, though, there were shortcuts, just not for standard cars. As Tails approached the pier, he pulled a lever on the side of his dashboard, and his car started to transform, becoming a motorboat and gliding into the water beside the pier! SPOT was tucked into the same set to the fox's right, his radar tracking the other vehicles. "Tails detected!" he blared. "Yes, I'm right...oh." Tails muttered as a shadow was cast over him, and the Hurricane flew by. "Nice try, Tails, but plane beats boat!" Copter chuckled. "Watch the dang sky, ya idjut!" Hoover shouted. "The first racers are rounding the lighthouse..." Omochao announced, "...It's Jet! And... Tabitha! Who knew a flying broomstick would be so fast!?" Directly behind the leaders, Nack the weasel was catching up to Cream, Johnny, Speedy and Espio, another gear user. Nack was riding the Marvelous Queen with Bark hitching a ride. "Take the controls, bear... I'm gonna knock someone outta the runnin'" he said, trying to aim his gun at Johnny. Bark stumbled over the controls as Nack pulled the trigger, and his shot ricocheted off the lighthouse wall and struck Espio's board! "Blaggard!!" Espio shouted, and Cream slowed down to help him as he crashed. "Keep going, but be cautious! The prize is bringing out the darkness in some competitors..." he warned, gracefully leaping from his damaged board and landing on his feet. "Sorry about your board, Mr. Espio..." Cream said, moving on.
Heading up the ramp to Twinkle Circuit, Tabitha and Jet found Johnny and Speedy catching up to them. "Heh... Without Sonic, you chumps are no competition!" Johnny taunted as he began to pull ahead into the space-themed track. Jet and Speedy exchanged looks before chasing after him. "The nerve of this guy! We'll show him, right kid?" Jet squawked. Speedy nodded. "That bot doesn't know who he's messin' with!" he smirked. Tabitha hung back a little, gazing at the starlight above. "Holographic tricks by pithy humans... I'll give these racers the real rush of racing through space! This track needs some METEORS!!" she cackled, casting a spell to the sky! Actual meteors appeared over Twinkle Circuit, and began careening around, threatening the track below! As the racers started to fill Twinkle Circuit, the meteors turned it into a crash course! Fortunately, some racers were prepared even for this. Zavok drove onto the scene, riding in a large, colorful monster truck, of which Zomom was squeezed into the back seat, dropping empty chip bags behind them as they went. "These simpletons think mere rocks can stop us... Zomom, make yourself useful..." Zavok ordered. "Aw, I hate work... Makes me hungry!" he grumbled, reaching around and struggling to pull a laser out from under his fat folds. He then proceeded to blast the meteors into smaller chunks, at least making them less likely to damage the track. A pair of Eggman's vehicles also sped onto the scene, making it a bit cramped on the track. They were an Egg Mobile in a drill car, piloted by Alpha & Char, and the Arachnoegg converted into a giant tank, driven by Cubot with Orbot. They banged into each other, seemingly trying to run each other off the road. "Cubot... we're on the same side!" Orbot babbled. "We are??!" Alpha stammered, "Not that!!" While the robots battled it out, a pair of animalistic vehicles carefully followed behind them. One was Rouge's BATT-mobile, a white car that resembled her, with Agent 32 in the passenger seat. The other was... a Gatormobile!? A car resembling the hood of Gator's suit, driven by the man himself, with Rick the gargoyle copiloting for some reason. "Road hogs! You should be driving Hogmobiles!" Gator shouted. "I'm not happy to find out I shop at the same dealership as THAT guy..." Rouge sighed. "Focus, Rouge!" Agent 32 grunted, his teeth chattering as he watched the meteors. There was good reason for his fear, as a meteor smashed into the Arachnoegg, sending it smashing into the drill car before both vehicles smashed separately against Twinkle Circuit's railing! Rouge yelped as her car went over a broken leg from Arachnoegg, popping one of her tires! As Gator passed, a police car carrying Ridley and Razor smashed into her rear bumper! Ridley whistled nonchalantly for a moment. "Errr... he did it!" he said, trying to climb into the back and leave Razor at the driver's seat. "Nice try. You're payin' for my car." Razor grunted. A Twinkle Kart carrying Gemini and Evelyn crashed into the police car next. "Gaaah!! Ummm... Do you have a license, Eve?" Gemini whispered. "Oh, no, I'm not taking the fall for you today..." Evelyn pouted. Despite the pileup, many of the vehicles managed to ease their way by, but the easiest time navigating this mine field was had by Tommy, whose bike swiftly slipped around the tight spaces left by the crashes with ease. "That was wild! What's in store next for our racers? Can anyone stop Johnny?!" Omochao commentated. Amidst some of the wreckage, Speedy popped his head out and coughed. "That could've been way worse...owww... I wanna go home..." he sighed.
"Before proceeding to the next part of the track, our racers will make a pit stop in Station Square... a safety precaution!" Omochao announced. Jet was first to arrive at the pit stop, with Johnny and Tabitha close behind. "My broom doesn't need silly repairs... But I could go for a coffee..." the witch sighed, while Wave and Storm came out of the nearby gas station, dressed up as mechanics. "Alright, lemme see your jetpack, bud..." Storm said to Johnny. "Hey, are you licensed?" Johnny stammered as Storm turned him around and pulled open a hatch on his back. "Hmmm..." Storm muttered, and gasped as smoke came gushing out of Johnny's jetpack! "You butcher!! What've you done to me!! You're cheating for Jet, aren't you!?" he shouted. However, Wave found Jet's board to be in bad shape, too. "Are these bullet holes? What is all this crud on the hover unit?! Jet! You can't ride like this!!" Wave growled, dragging the board away. "H-hey!! You can't do a total rebuild now!! I'll lose the race!!" Jet yelped. With the main mechanics busy, the other racers would have to handle their own tune ups. Shadow pulled up pretty soon, and went to fuel up his bike. "Problem, Jet?" he asked with a cocky smirk. "You're loving this, aren't you?! You Sonic wannabe!!" he snarled.
The other Extreme Gear racers came up pretty soon as well, which included Cream, Carrie and Aquarius. Then came Copter, who rested in the Hurricane's cockpit while Hoover gave the plane a checkup. "Lookit these scratches! That's it! I say we're droppin' out!" the robot complained. "Admit it, you're just shaken because of that meteor field...and the crashes we flew past. Poor Gemini..." Copter sighed, "C'mon, there's just a bit more to go!" he added. Hoover pulled a metal bar from his swiss army tail and munched on it. "I dun get paid enough fer this..." he grunted. Amy was close behind them, and Rainbow and Violet followed, Breeze staring jealously at Amy's Pink Cabriolet. While her copilot, Silver, went to check on the car, Amy noticed Breeze staring at her. "Oh...It's you." she sighed. "You know you miss me!" Breeze shouted, to which Amy replied by turning away, shivering. "And what happened to that frilly dress you used to wear? That was cute!" Breeze shouted. "Hey! Focus on the race!" Violet snapped. "I'm beginning to see why Pinky upgraded..." Rainbow sighed. Knuckles and Punchy soon pulled up as well, with Punchy busily arguing with Talon, and Zavok pulled up behind them. "How did all of them pass us!?" he growled. "Don't look at me. I swear I'm not weighing us down. I'm on a diet!" Zomom burped.
Conan and Nack were soon to arrive, too, and Bean and Bark took some time to catch up while their drivers gassed up. "How's Nack treatin' ya? Tee hee... I got to bomb the street!" Bean chuckled, while Bark grunted grouchily. "Course it's cramped in that seat... I keep saying you're puttin' on weight!" Bean snickered. Spiny and Metal Sonic arrived side-by-side as well. Spiny did a double take, comparing his vehicle to Metal Sonic's. "That dealer! Some jokester he thinks he is! He gave me Metal's old car!!" he realized. Zeke, his copilot, chuckled at this. "Well, at least it's not Sonic's!" he said, only to get punched in the face by Spiny. "I don't think it's funny... That car shouldn't be keeping up with my new car!" Metal Sonic growled. Spiny and Zeke stared at him as he walked off. "...He can talk??" Spiny stammered. Tails, Lospecter, Guard, Kosmo... several racers passed through the pit stop, showing that there were still plenty that hadn't crashed in Twinkle Circuit. Even a DeLorean passed through, driven by Bucky. "Alright, get out and check us out..." the rat said to his copilot... Dr. Nammad? "I... uh... thought you were the car guy?" Nammad babbled. "Why would you think that? You're the tech scientist, not me!" Bucky scoffed, "Besides, it's your car!" he pointed out. "I only went along for the ride thinking I'd be a, uh, map guy." Nammad stated. "The route is clearly marked! No one needs a map guy!" Bucky groaned. "I can help youse now!" Storm offered. "...We're doomed..." Bucky whined. "What're you mad about. It's, uh... my car..." Nammad pouted.
As the racers left Station Square, heading for the snowbound ruins where the Chaos Gauntlets were originally found, Patch the fox was somehow in the lead! His car seemed to be a patchwork made of a couple other cars itself, and his copilot Daisy seemed nervous to be aboard. "You sure this thing can handle the ice?" she gulped. "Hee hee!! We're about to find out!" Patch giggled, only to spin out and crash into the stone wall of Frostbite Maze, his car crumbling into a heap as he kept giggling! "...I hate you..." Daisy groaned. Once again, flyers seemed to have the advantage as Jet led the boarders, Twinkle Karts, and a certain flying broomstick into the lead. Shade the echidna also seemed to have a bit of an advantage; not only was she already a bit familiar with the region from her time with the Nocturnus, but she had saved a Nocturnus hover scooter, and was using it to close in on Jet's lead. "What's the matter, bird brain? Gettin' cold?" she chuckled. Johnny then sped past them, scowling from his miserable time back at the pit stop. "You can slow me down, but you can't beat me! I'm the fastest thing in--" Before he could finish bragging, a strong, icy wind blew through the ruins track, which didn't have a roof to keep such winds out. The flying racers started to slow up from the blizzard-like turbulence, while cars started to pass them! "Wise guys!! I won't be beat by a little wind!!" Johnny growled, his jetpack blasting harder to try to compensate, only to result in the combination of wind and speed making his steering unsteady- he tumbled into a wall of the ruins, and a pile of snow crashed down on top of him from above! "Gaaah!! I-I'll get you next race... P-probably..." he groaned. A little further back, Vortex the chameleon was shivering in his twinkle kart, racing beside Fera, who was now calling herself Felicia, and riding a pretty cool black motorcycle. "No one sssaid there'd be cold..." Vortex whimpered, the cold being his main weakness. "Just don't fall asleep..." Felicia said with concern, riding near him. "Why do you care? We were never really friendsss..." he hissed. "...I don't remember you... Just...take care of yourself..." she sighed, pulling ahead of him. At that moment, Lospecter passed by in his weird carriage, which was looking a bit ice-damaged, itself. "I get you, pal. This winter nonsense is murder..." he groaned. "OUTTA MY WAAAAY!!" shouted Gator as his Gatormobile came slipping towards them! "Yikes! The Headless Lost One!!" he cried, steering away from Lospecter hastily and crashing into Vortex, sending his kart flipping into the snow! "Real smooth driving dude..." Rick groaned, "Now let's get out and help that guy!" he said, hopping out of the car to check on Vortex. "Help him? He wrecked my Gatormobile!! Do you know how hard it is to build a Gatormobile?! If you do, tell me, the insurance dudes might wanna know!" Gator babbled.
As the race continued on, there was a bit more place-shifting, but soon it was almost over. "The racers have reached the home stretch, and Shadow and Jet are fighting for position! It's kind of sad that it ends so predictably, but wait and see who else land in the top 20!" Omochao announced! As Jet and Shadow were closing in on the finish line, most racers a pretty good distance behind them, Jet tried to knock Shadow back with his board! "This is my race to win! This means more to me than those silly Chaos Relics!" he yelled. Shadow growled and tossed a Chaos Spear his way as he righted himself. "And I don't care, period, I'm just not letting you have your way after that!!" the dark hedgehog snarled, tossing more spears as Jet tried to evade them and come up with a counterattack. They were so busy fighting, they didn't notice someone hot on their trail. Sonic's car, the Speed Star, was zooming straight between them, a jet of flames being shot behind it to propel it even faster! It was Blaze, steering with one hand as she blew that fire back with the other! "So immature, boys! So long!" Shadow and Jet stopped fighting as Blaze sped past them. "It's close... Yes, we have our winner!!" Omochao cried as the trio passed the finish! "What an upset! Not here, but still making his presence felt, Sonic's Speed Star comes in first, driven by Blaze the cat!!" The crowd roared, the gargoyle gamblers having a mixed reaction. Jet kicked the ground in frustration while Shadow glanced at the victor in satisfaction. In a sense, he'd lost to Sonic, which worked for him. There were still seventeen victors to be decided, though.
Omochao announced the runners up who would move on to the final round of the Tournament of Chaos as they crossed the finish. In no particular order, the next 16 included Tabitha, Copter, Knuckles, Conan, Amy, Cream, Heather, Shade, Lospecter, Tails, Punchy, Lucky, Katie, Metal Sonic, Fera/Felicia and Zavok. With 19 of the 20 finalists decided, the next to cross the finish would be the last winner. Vector and Zipp raced towards the goal, Zipp riding in a modified GUN minitank with Crash. "Outta the way, croc! Don't make us blast ya!" Zipp warned. "You said you'd race fair!" Crash grunted. Charging past them came Guard and Spy in the GUN Auto Tread, only to be blasted by the gun on Zipp's tank! "Grrrr!! Why didn't we have a gun!?" Guard growled. "Ask Shadow. This is his car." Spy sighed. Surprising everyone, though, was the speed at which Big came zooming in the "Kosmobile", weaving around the crashed Auto Tread and dashing past Vector and Zipp! "Hey! You loaned me this bike just so I'd lose to you, didn't ya...?" Vector groaned, "Nah, he's not that smart..." What was more interesting was that someone was holding on to Kosmo's rear bumper. It was Tommy, his bike doing a wheelie as he borrowed Kosmo's speed! "Oh, no, I'm not gettin' beat by the kiddie bike, too! FIRE!!" Zipp yelled, blasting the road in front of Kosmo, forcing him to spin out and avoid the flaming hole in the bridge! Yelping, Tommy released the bumper and went soaring over the hole! "I'm gunna die! I'm gunna die!!" he cried, only to land across the hole, the momentum carrying him quickly past the finish line! He shakily stopped his bike, eyes wide as he heard the crowd go crazy. "I... I won??!" he babbled. "That's it! The race is over!!" Omochao cried. Katie was already busily interviewing the winners, and rushed to talk to Tommy, but he was out of breath, so she turned to Kosmo as he and Big walked up, the morph having reverted to normal form. "What was the deal with you pulling Tommy along?" she asked him. Kosmo shrugged. "Believe it or not, I only entered this thing to have fun... I wanted the kid to avoid landing in last place so he could have fun, too. Could get lonely biking all the way at the back like that..." he explained. "He wasn't gonna be last... You forget all those crashes!" Copter pointed out. "Aww, my car's gone..." Big sighed dopily. Vector pulled up beside him, ready to return his bike. "Well, at least I didn't crash it..." he sighed. Conan watched everyone celebrating the end of the race, and tented his fingers against the handles of his bike. "The time has come... I'm going to get those Chaos Relics, at last..." he grinned, "And no one will stand in my way!" he muttered, glaring at Copter, who had a look of equal determination in his eyes. "You all lost!!" Gunner shouted at Rouge, Guard and Dr. Nammad once the race was over and they'd gathered at his side. "Technically I lost in round 1." Nammad sighed. Gunner glared at him. "Now I'll have to go to plan B..." he snarled.
Sonic had completely missed the race. He had one last place to check for Uncle Chuck, a lead he grudgingly got Vector to find for him. Now, he arrived at Eggman's last known base: his headquarters at Lost Hex. The place was very much in ruins, the Deadly Six having trashed it after Eggman left and his remaining technology proved useless to them. Sonic sighed as he looked around. "Clearly abandoned... I'm guessing if Eggman had something to do with Chuck's disappearance, he's not gonna be easy to find until he wants me to find him..." he said, feeling frustrated. Suddenly, Sonic stopped as he heard footsteps approaching. Metal footsteps. Sonic turned and was about to launch into a spin attack at the robot, but stopped himself quickly, a startled look crossing his face! "Intruder... You are trespassing on Eggman territory...!" The robot before him spoke in a monotone version of Uncle Chuck's voice. That was because the robot itself was Uncle Chuck! This wasn't like the Deadly Six's attempt to turn Tails into a robot, either. This was serious, the transformation more complete. Sonic tried to approach, only to get a clawed metal hand swiped at him! "Unc!! Unc, it's me!! Hello?? Unc!!" he shouted, trying to get the attention of any part of his Uncle that may still be in control. However, the robot simply lumbered toward him in a menacing manner, snarling. A hologram appeared behind Uncle Chuck, accompanied by a menacing, taunting laughter. "EGGMAN!! What have you done to my Uncle!?" Sonic shouted at the holographic doctor before him. "Like it? I've upgraded my robotisization technology! Your Uncle was the perfect guinea pig! Plus... he did have some research on the subject. Combine that with what I learned from Julian during our interdimensional adventure, and now my animal-into-robot technology has been perfected! Ho ho ho ho ho!!" he laughed, "Complaints, Sonic? Well, keep your Uncle. He might be hard to work with, but he IS your family! I'll be seeing you once my next plan is all ready!" With that, the hologram vanished, and Sonic was left wondering what to do with Uncle Chuck. "I'll be right back, Unc, don't go anywhere... I may need help to get you home without anyone gettin' hurt." he reasoned, speeding off while gritting his teeth angrily. "You've crossed a line, Eggman! You're gonna pay for this!!"
To be continued...BZZZT... ZZZZT... BONUS SCENE! BZZZZT...
Eggman had perfected the robotisizor. Under Sonic's nose, too. The reason he was able to accomplish this was, in fact, that his experiments were taking place far away... In this far away place, Egg Pawns carried a rabbit to the machine, planning to replace her weak flesh with strong, controllable metal. "Ungh!! Agh!! Lemme go! Y'all are dearly tickin' me off! What are ya plannin' to do to...Oh my stars!!" the rabbit cried as she was stuffed into a metal tube, the walls closing around her. "No, stop!! I'll do anythin' ya want! Just lemme out!" she shouted, panicked. A light began to glow inside the tube...
Outside, the Egg Pawns were suddenly ambushed! A coyote in uniform charged into the room, shouting wildly while brandishing a sword! "Hah! And hah again! You are no match for Antoine D'Coolette!!" he shouted, smacking his sword into the robots, only to annoy them into pointing guns at him. "Hm...oh dear. Yaaaah!!" Antoine shouted, running off and leading the robot guards away. In the meantime, a female chipmunk wearing a blue jacket snuck into the room. She was carrying a small tablet computer. "Nicole... Can you interface with this device?" she asked. A hologram depicting a lynx wrapped in a purple garment appeared from the computer. "Eggman Enterprises is no match for Acorn Corp, Sally. I'll have this open in no time!" While Sally waited, Clucky and Burrowbot, two of Eggman's old minions, approached her. "Hey, you can't be here!" Burrowbot shouted. "And I thought we'd be bored while everyone was at the tournament! Bah-ha ha-ha!!" Clucky laughed. Sally sighed, then turned and gave them a swift sideways kick, hitting them both and sending them clattering to pieces! "I hope Antoine's doing okay on his end..." she sighed. "Work finished, Sally." Nicole announced.
As the tube opened, Sally let out a gasp. The rabbit groaned as she peered outside. "What the hoo-haw is goin' on? Did... did y'all rescue me? Ah feel mighty funny, though..." she sighed. As Antoine came back, fleeing from the Egg Pawns, the rabbit stumbled out of the tube and grunted. "Y'all better step back, bots! Hiyah!!" she shouted, throwing a punch...that extended out until it connected, smashing one of the Egg Pawns! Her arm then snapped back into place, and the rabbit saw that it was metal! "Aaah!!" she gasped, looking herself over. That arm, and her legs, had been robotisized. Sally turned and fired a laser from her multi-purpose computer at the other Egg Pawn before turning to the rabbit. "That was amazing... Are you alright?" she asked. "Mademoiselle, you have saved moi!" Antoine said, kissing her non-robot hand, "Might I be asking for your name?" he smiled. The rabbit looked overwhelmed, but replied. "B-bunnie... Mah name's Bunnie." she stammered. Sally nodded. "C'mon, we'd better get out of here before more bots show up!" Sally said, extending her hand to Bunnie's. As the rabbit, or rabbot, took her hand, Sally smiled. "Welcome to the resistance!" she said.
To be continued...
