Embedded Files
“A month, Porker,” Sonic moaned, deep in his disguise as Bob Beaky the penguin, underneath a big hat, large sunglasses, a scarf and winter coat, “A whole month stuck on that tiny little planet.”
“Sonic, shush, you’ll draw attention from the crowd…” Porker looked around nervously at the throng in the bustling theme park. It almost seemed bizarre that they were having a day at an amusement park but, of course, Robotnik had his fingerprints all over Mobius World and its sudden overnight construction.
“But a month! You know, it’s not called the Miracle Planet for nothing, because it’s a miracle I survived,” Sonic groaned.
Tails, his twin appendages obscured by his trenchcoat, rolled his eyes, “Sonic, you’ve been back two days now and this story’s gone on for about as long…”
“Tails, buddy,” Sonic replied, “you’re my best friend and I care for you very dearly. But if you don’t let me get this out of my system I might have to tie you to the tracks of that rollercoaster just to work through the frustration that’s built up for the last month.”
“Please,” Porker shuddered as he thought back to his time in the Casino Night Zone, “don’t joke about that sort of stuff.”
“Where is Amy anyway? She was the one who found out about Mobius World, you’d think she’d be alongside us.”
“She went ahead to do some scouting, remember?” Porker tried not to tut but, once again, Sonic had failed to pay attention during the briefing.
If Sonic had been listening, he’d have heard that Mobius World was an amusement park constructed by Doctor Robotnik which had cropped up out of nowhere within the last week. Mobius World had all kinds of “fun” attractions including a Wild West town, a haunted house, a pirate ship, a colosseum, a river rapid ride- oh, and an army of mechanical hosts that were designed to kidnap any and all visitors and turn them into Badniks. Still, at least admission was free.
Most intriguing of all, however, was the special attraction that had been scheduled as a one day only event for this day, showcasing the Tyrannobot. Sonic had no clue what the Tyrannobot was, but it didn’t exactly inspire confidence. And if nothing else, he was pretty sure “bot” meant it was a Badnik, not that the only alternative he could think of would be much more palatable.
“Maybe she’s hiding,” Sonic mused. “I suppose it’s her turn.”
“Her turn?” Tails knew he’d regret asking as the words left her mouth.
“Well, I spent long enough trying to hide from her for the last month…”
“You’re unbelievable,” Tails shook his head. “Anyway, remind me again why you get the big disguise and I only have this coat?”
“Because, pixel brain,” Sonic snapped, “I happen to be the most wanted individual on the planet. If you keep your second tail covered, you could be any fox on Mobius. And if Amy- wherever she is- is able to keep that ridiculous wig on, nobody need know that April May is actually one of my friends in disguise.”
“Oh, so you do count her as a friend then!” Porker smiled.
“Don’t push your luck…”
Sonic’s watch beeped. He looked down at the watch face. 2:00pm precisely. The Tyrannobot show was supposed to start up soon but they’d been in the park all day and found no clues.
A low rumble beneath his feet gave Sonic the feeling he was about to get an answer.
“Look!” a visitor to the park cried out, “Up in the sky!”
“Oh no,” Sonic shook his head, “We’re not doing that old gag are we?”
Instead, however, Sonic saw a fireworks display bursting in the sky above. Everyone was transfixed and oohed and ahhed at the visuals.
“Unusual for Robotnik to have a firework show, isn’t it?” Porker pondered.
“Think it through, Lewis,” Sonic replied, “A firework show at two in the afternoon while the sun’s out in full force? The only reason Robotnik would organise that is because he wanted a—”
Before Sonic could get the word “distraction” out of his mouth, he found himself being grabbed at by a pair of mechanical hands. The sheriff robot from the Wild West had snuck up on him from behind.
“Soni—er—Bob, look out!” Tails cried.
“For goodness’ sake, Tails,” Sonic let out. Tails couldn’t make out Sonic’s face under the disguise but he was pretty sure he wasn’t smiling. “Too bad for this metal creep I’m not gonna let him report that back to his eggy boss and blow my cover. One Spin Attack coming up!”
Sonic flung his disguise off and bowed his legs, ready to spring forward in a spin attack. Before he could manage it, however, an arrow shot through the sheriff robot’s head and blew it to smithereens. Sonic and his friends looked up in the direction the arrow had come from to find Amy standing atop a building wearing a black hooded top, the blue wig on her April May disguise covering her own spines. She waved down at her fellow Freedom Fighters, “Coo-ee!”
Sonic gritted his teeth, “A whole month, Porker…”
Amy attached a zipline shot to her crossbow and aimed it at the ground. An arrow with attached rope shot out in either direction, one lodging into the ground near Sonic and the others and one lodging in a sign behind Amy declaring Mobius World to be the happiest place on Mobius, by order of Doctor Robotnik and threatening unhappy visitors with imprisonment. Amy held onto her bow and slid down the rope, landing next to her friends. “Didn’t want to miss the fun, the two-o’-clock show’s about to begin!”
“So we heard…” Sonic noted, “Can you guys all feel that rumble?”
“It’s tricky with the crowd,” Tails admitted, “but there’s something faint beneath our feet, I think. It’s hard to tell, maybe it’s something small?”
In defiance of Tails, the floor behind a nearby barricaded section exploded away and a twenty-foot-tall mechanical dinosaur erupted forth.
“Want to take another crack at that, Tails?” Sonic asked rhetorically.
“I’m g-guessing that’s the Tyrannobot!” Porker shivered.
Sonic looked up at the beast before him, “Well, either that or he started building the Diplodotron and got it wrong.”
As visitors to the park ran all around, trying to get to safety and only adding to the panic and confusion, Robotnik’s voice crackled through a speaker in the Tyrannobot, “Enjoying my star attraction, hedgehog?!”
“I think it could use some work,” Sonic fired back.
“Well, it won’t matter what you think for very long,” Robotnik noted, “I knew this little amusement park of mine would eventually attract your attention. Advertising the Tyrannobot was the perfect little lure for you- and you took the bait, it would seem!”
Tails eyed the huge metal T-rex, “Nothing little about this lure, I’d say…”
“Quite so, you two-tailed freak! But at the side of my glorious creation, you’re all looking pretty small now! Hope you’re prepared to be stomped flat!”
Sonic shot each of his friends a look in turn, “Porker, get as many of the visitors to the Star Post as you can. We can’t afford for today to be a waste. Amy, Tails, I need you guys to find a weak spot on this thing. I’ll draw its attention in the meantime. Let’s go!”
Porker ran towards the horde of panicked Mobians and did his best to flag down as many of them as possible and usher them to the safety of the nearest Star Post, hoping Sonic would be able to return in a single, un-squashed piece to activate it and get everyone to safety in Knothole Village.
Sonic rushed headlong towards the Tyrannobot, right for its legs, “I’ll give you this much, Robotnik, you’ve made an impressively tall Badnik here. Tall, sure…” he ran between its legs and the robot ducked to try to keep Sonic in sight, “but not especially fast. And didn’t you read up on T-rexes when you designed this thing? Imagine making a robot that can’t grab people!”
Robotnik’s voice barked back, “I don’t need to grab you, spikeball, not as long as I can annihilate you with the Tyrannobot’s tail!”
The mighty robot swung its huge tail at Sonic, who nimbly leapt over it, “Give me a break, lardo! You can’t annihilate me if you can’t touch me!”
“Maybe not right away, hedgehog,” Robotnik admitted, “but I’ll only need one good hit to send you flying! You’ll slip up eventually!”
“You keep telling yourself that, egg-breath,” Sonic smirked.
“Sonic!” Amy called out, “I think I’ve found its weak spot!”
“That’s g—Amy, what on Mobius are you doing?!” Sonic spotted Tails heli-lifting Amy onto the T-rex’s shoulders.
“There’s a small join on its neck.” She brandished an arrow with a round tip, “If I can lodge one of these in it, we’ll be sorted.”
“You’re going to get yourself squashed!” Sonic cried out, exasperated.
“What’s it gonna do, grab me? With those short arms? Don’t think so!” Amy loaded the arrow into her crossbow, pointed it at the join and fired. The arrow was wedged firmly in place. “Alright, Tails, time for our exit!”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Tails noted, whirring up his namesakes and carrying Amy down to the ground next to Sonic.
“Do I dare ask?” Sonic aired the question, “What was that arrow?”
“Just a special something I’ve been working on,” Amy smiled. She pressed a button on her crossbow, which let out a tiny beep. A significantly less tiny explosion shook Mobius World as the arrow detonated in a fiery blaze, blasting the Tyrannobot’s head off. Robotnik screamed disapproval before the speaker cut off.
The Tyrannobot’s head clanked into the ground. The machine’s body shook for a few moments, then collapsed in a heap. Sonic surveyed the wreckage, “That’s one way to get a head.”
“And lose it,” Amy added.
“Nice work, you two. You did good. Something tells me Mobius World might be closed for business very soon,” Sonic said.
“What about all the people Robotnik captured before we came here?” Tails asked, worriedly, “The ones he turned into Badniks already.”
“We’ll save them, buddy. We always do.”
The three Freedom Fighters headed off to rendezvous with Porker. The day had been saved, but their respite would only be momentary. Robotnik had been amassing an army of Badniks for his next big plan.
Chapter 121 coming soon
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