A HEDGEHOG OF CHAOS
by
Brian Pederson and Mara-Re


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Legal Disclaimer:
	Sonic The Hedgehog and all other related characters are trademarks of Sega of America, Archie Comic Publications Inc., and/or DIC Corporation. Tronic The Hedgehog is a trademark of the authors, who grant you to use their character if given permission.  This fan fiction archive gives you specific rights to reproduce the story, so long as you:
	A) Do not try to make a profit from the archive
	B) Do not alter the text in any way
Thank you. :)

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A HEDGEHOG OF CHAOS
part 1:  A METAL TWIST
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Prologue



	It had been a sleepless night for the two captives.  One was a male blue hedgehog, the other a female echidna.  They lay awake in fear.  Fear of what would happen when the SWATbots returned for them.  Fear of the roboticizer.
	The hedgehog held the echidna close to him.  "Don't worry Lauren.  We'll find a way out of this somehow.  We always do."
	Lauren smiled sadly.  "Like the time we escaped those Combots in the woods."
	"Yeah.  And when we got away from the steathbots before we blew them up.  That was close, remember?"
	"Yeah."  Lauren hugged him tightly, sobbing.
	The hedgehog closed his eyes in pain.  They were fooling themselves.  This was the worst situation they had ever been in.  They had lost complete contact with home before being captured, so no one would come to save them.  They were on their own with no chance for escape.  And to make things worse, there was the "experiment" Robotnik had spoken of.
	"I'll get us outta here," he whispered.  "One way or another, lover."
	Lauren giggled slightly.  "You're full of it."
	Suddenly, the crashing of SWATbots filled their ears.  They jumped to their feet, backing further into their cell.
	When the SWATbots entered the cell, they were nowhere to be seen.  The first SWATbot walked in, looking around for the prisoners.  At that moment, the hedgehog leaped from the shadows, spinning into the SWATbot.  It flew to pieces around the cell.  The hedgehog then kicked the second SWATbot backwards into the third.  They clattered on the floor. 
	"C'mon!"  He cried, grabbing Lauren by the wrist.
	They ran for the exit.  Hiding around each turn, they gradually made their way outside.  Once beyond the building, they stopped in an alley.
	"What ya doing?!"  Lauren gasped.  "We gotta keep movin'!"
	"Gotta rest," he gulped.  "Just a sec."
	Suddenly, there was a flash of blinding light, and they both lost conscienceness.  When they reawoke minutes later, they found themselves in the terrible grips of SWATbots.
*****
	"No!"  The hedgehog flailed wildly to no avail.
	"Good morning," Robotnik said, as they were dragged into the roboticizer chamber.  "I'm glad you could join us."  He chuckled evilly.
	There was silence as the hedgehog and echidna glared at the tyrant.
	"Let's get started.  I trust you know what this is," he said, indicating toward the roboticizer.  "Consider yourselves lucky.  You two are about to become the prototypes for a completely new species of 'bot."
	The SWATbots dragged the two Mobians into the room.  Summoning the last of his strength, the hedgehog managed to tear himself from the SWATbot's grasp.  He ran to Lauren where she was held by a SWATbot.
	"Get him!" Robotnik roared.
	As he struggled to free Lauren from the SWATbot, he felt the other SWATbot grab him.  Quickly, he grabbed her by the shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.
	"No matter what happens, Lauren, I'll always love you."  He kissed her passionately.
	"Enough of this!"  Growled Robotnik.  "Throw them into the roboticizer!"
	They were ripped apart.  The hedgehog started yelling and kicking, while Lauren seemed frozen.  The two were placed in roboticizers.
	"Begin the process, Snively."
	Snively pressed a button, setting off the process of a horror all Mobians feared.  Roboticization.
	Robotnik grinned maliciously.  Everything was working as he had planned.  Soon he would possess the most powerful robot ever created.......
	Echidna and hedgehog reached for each other from behind their roboticizer tubes.  The hedgehog watched as Lauren's face, then her hands disappeared from view in a green mist.  He cried out her name, just as he lost conscienceness.
	"They're done, sir."
	"Add the emeralds."
	At those words, a Chaos Emerald floated down out of the top of each roboticizer tube.  They locked into the foreheads of the two roboticized Mobians.
	"Begin multi-connection," Robotnik commanded.
	Snively pulled a lever, twisted a dial, and the two roboticizer tubes lifted, to be replaced by a single large one.  An electrical energy pulsated inside the tube.
	Snively frowned at something on his console.  "Sir!  Genetic coding to the hedgehog locked!  The emerald is deroboticizing him!"
	"What?!  How can that be?!"
	"I don't know, sir, but it's also draining the energy from the echidna!  We're losing them!"
	"Can we stop this?!"
	Snively tapped away at his keyboard frantically.  "I can't stop it, it's overloading!  It's going to explode!"
	Robotnik slammed the console with his fists.  "Blast it!  This was supposed to work!"  He whirled around and strode away from the room.
	"Sir!  What about the test subjects?"
	"What about them?  The experiment failed.  They are no longer useful to me."
	"And the Chaos emeralds?"
	"Easily retrievable.  Let's go, Snively.  Just let them die."
	They left as the room began to shake.
	In a particularly violent tremor, the side of the roboticizer tube shattered.  The occupants fell to the ground.  The hedgehog awoke groggily.
	"Wha....huh?"  He looked up to see Lauren on the floor.  "Oh no."
	He crawled to her side.  She had been deroboticized.  But she was lifeless.
	"Oh no!"  He wailed, gazing at her limp body.  Just then, an explosion rocked the room, and the hedgehog reached out for his beloved.  A beam fell on her.  He made a grab for her, desperately trying to get her out, but another beam hit his hand.  He winced, expecting pain.  There was none.
	He pulled his hand back.  It was still robotic, as was his whole left arm.  So was his right leg and the tips of his quills.  He touched his face in horror.  Doing so, he could feel the hardware that ran through his eye.
	The room threatened to shake apart.  Taking one last look at the still form beneath the beam, he ran.  He didn't know where he was going and he didn't care.  Another explosion knocked him off his feet.
	Somehow, he instinctively activated the rockets in his metal shoe sole.  He hovered for a moment, in shock, and then zoomed away.  As he flew out of the building, he could feel his heart breaking at having to leave Lauren behind.  Luckily, he didn't hurt long, as the memory of her slowly began to fade away.......  
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Chapter 1
	

	When the hedgehog awoke, he couldn't remember anything.  He opened his eyes blurrily.  He squinted at light of day.
	"Aww, man, turn that off!"
	He was surprised to see a female rabbit come into view above him.
	"You're awake!  My stars, you had us worried there!"
	"Who, who are you?"
	"Y'all can call me Bunnie.  Now who are you, honey?"
	"I-I don't know.  How did I get here?"
	"Y'all crashed right into Knothole Village this mornin'.  We were pretty surprised.  Not everyday a flyin' hedgehog crashes into a hut."
	"Sorry."  He pushed himself into a sitting position.  Doing so, he caught sight of his robotic limbs.  "Huh?  What are these?"
	"Looks like you've seen the bad end of a roboticizer.  How'd it happen?"
	The hedgehog's brow furrowed.  "I don't know.  I can't remember."
	They looked up to see two other Mobians, a male and a female, enter the room.
	"Hello, I'm Sally," said the female.  "This is Sonic," she said nodding at the blue hedgehog beside her.
	"Yeah," he said, "the guy whose hut you trashed."
	"Quiet Sonic," ordered Sally.  She turned to the hedgehog sitting in the bed.  "What's your name?"
	"Like I told her, I don't know.  I can't seem to remember anything."
	"Do you remember being in Robotropolis?"
	"No."
	A small two tailed fox peeked into the room.
	"Wow!  Who's that?"  Tails asked.
	"That seems to be the question of the day," grumbled Sonic.
	"He kinda looks like Sonic, Aunt Sally."
	"He does doesn't he," said Sally.  "You hedgehogs all look alike, don't you?"
	"And all you princesses are alike, I suppose," retorted Sonic.
	The hedgehog jumped slightly when Tails rushed up to the bed to get a better look.  "Hey.  You've got two tails, don't you?"
	"Yep.  That's why they call me Tails.  What's your name?"
	"I don't have one, I think."
	"Then we should give you one."
	"Sounds good to me," laughed Bunnie.
	"Hmmm...."  Tails held his chin in his hand and took a look of exaggerated seriousness.  "Welll, you look like Sonic," he paused to tap his tails in thought.  "And you got those metal and electronic parts all over you...."
	His tails suddenly puffed out with excitement.  "I know!  Electronic Sonic!  Tronic!"
	"Tronic?"  The hedgehog tilted his head in consideration.  "Yeah, I think I like that.  Thanks kid.  Tronic."
	After taking readings of Tronic's robotic limbs with her compact computer, Nicole, Sally stepped outside the room with Sonic.
	"He was most definitely in Robotropolis.  Judging from these readings, his arm and other body parts were only just recently roboticized."
	"Can we trust him, Sal?"
	"What do you mean?"
	"Well, look at the guy, Sal!  How many workerbots have you seen with rockets, and all the gadgets he's got built into him?"
	"It's strange, and I can't explain it.  Maybe when, if ever, he gets his memory back, he might be able to.  But despite that, I think he's sincere."
	"I dunno.  Something about him rubs my quills the wrong way."
	"Hmp.  I think you're just worried that he's better looking than you."
	"Say what?!"
	Sally just laughed and walked out of the hut.  Sonic followed, yelling, "And what's that supposed to mean?!"
	Soon after, Bunnie asked Tails to leave as well.  In privacy, Bunnie helped Tronic out of bed to practice moving around on his new robotic leg.  She supported him with her left arm while they moved around the room. 
	"Ah remember having to get used to walkin' around after I got my robot legs," Bunnie said.  "It was a real pain at first."
	"It's kinda heavy," Tronic commented.  "Feels weird."
	"It'll get smoother once you get used to it."
	Tronic looked at Bunnie's own robotic legs and left arm.
	"How'd you get yours?"
	Bunnie sighed.  "The same way you did sugar.  Robotnik."
	"I wish I could remember."
	"Ah wish Ah could forget.  Funny, ain't it?"
	Tronic realized that he was admiring how pretty she was.  It made him feel good and guilty at the same time, and he didn't know why.  Regardless,he started grinning like an idiot.
	He was disappointed when Bunnie pulled away to let him try walking on his own.  He was a little stiff at first, but he was quickly taking strides in confidence.
	"That's the stuff, sugarhog!"  Congratulated Bunnie.
	"Yeah!"  Tronic exclaimed happily.  Then the look faded into a worried expression.  He leaned on the bedpost, and grimaced as if in pain.
	Bunnie rushed over.  "You feelin' alright, Tronic?"
	"My head.....it feels strange."  He shook it, and put a hand to his forehead.  "Ohhhhhhh.  Real weird."
	"Tronic?"		
	He suddenly yelped, as the terrible thoughts poured into his mind.  Serve Robotnik.  Capture Freedom Fighters. And above all, destroy, destroy, destroy!
	Tronic fell to his knees clutching his head.  The overpowering commands were crushing his mind like a wave.  He screamed in terror.  "Nooooo!"
	Bunnie shook him in fear.  "Tronic, what's wrong?!"
	Then he was silent.  Slowly he looked up to reveal his pupils glowing deadly red.
	"Destroy Freedom Fighters!!!"  He rasped.
	Bunnie leaped back.  "Oh no!  Not you, Tronic!"
	His face had twisted into a look of deep hatred.  "Destroy Freedom Fighters!!!"
	Suddenly the hedgehog exploded into rage, blasting at Bunnie with his built-in forearm laser.  Bunnie dodged around the room, avoiding his fire.  The hut's main support beam was shot through, sending it crashing down around their heads.  Tronic seized Bunnie by the throat, attempting to throttle her. 
	Bunnie managed to pry his robotic hand off and kicked him away a couple feet.  He went flying through what was left of the wall.  When he came back, rocketing toward her, she blasted him with her own laser weapon in her left arm.  It hit his robot leg, and bounced off.
	He quickly projected a glowing laser beam sabre from his robotic arm.  Swooping at her, he slashed at her.  She barely escaped it, tackling his legs.  They hit the ground, which deactivated Tronic's laser beam sabre and rockets.
	She attempted to hold him down, but he threw her off, into some rubble.  The hedgehog took aim with his blaster.......and fell into a slump.	
*****
	"He's waking up."
	Tronic had a headache.  His head was slouched over his chest.  When he looked up, he saw Sonic and Sally looking down at him.  He found himself tightly chained to the wall by his wrists, ankles, and chest.
	"Hey!  What's going on here?!"
	"I told you we couldn't trust him, Sal," Sonic said, crossing his arms.
	Sally looked down on Tronic where he sat.  "Tronic, I want an explanation.  And I want it now."
	"Explanation is what I want too!  Why'd you chain me up?!"
	Sally was shocked.  "You don't remember?"
	"I've had enough of this!"  Sonic reached down and grabbed Tronic by his chest fur.  "Are you a spy for Robotnik?  'Cause if you are, so help me....!"
	"I'm not a spy!  And get your stupid gloves offa me!"
	Tronic suddenly ripped his left arm from the wall and shoved Sonic to the floor.
	Sonic jumped to his feet.  "Why you...!"  He moved toward Tronic angrily.  Sally put out her hand to grab Sonic.
	"Stop it!  Both of you!"  She knelt down to look Tronic in the eye.
	"Tronic, why did you attack Bunnie and destroy the hut?"
	Tronic swallowed.  "I don't know.  I can't remember."
	"Oh give me a break!"  Sonic frowned.  "He sounds like a broken record!"
	"Sonic!"  Sally warned.
	"I didn't really do that, did I?"  Asked Tronic warily.
	Bunnie entered the holding cell.  She had an uneasy look on her face.  Without warning it all came to him. 
	"Oh no," he whispered.  "I did, didn't I?"
	"What do you remember?"  Sally asked.
	"I remember the voices in my head.  They did something to me.  Made me shoot at Bunnie."  He lowered his head.
	"I-I couldn't stop it.  I couldn't..."  He sobbed.
	Bunnie was there.  She took the chains off and held him as he cried.  "There, there, sugar.  It wasn't your fault."
	"I'm sorry about your hut, Bunnie."
	"Ah'm more concerned about you than my hut.  Ah can rebuild it easy enough."
	"Sal," Sonic turned to Sally.  "Why did he turn robot on Bunnie?  He's only partially roboticized!"
	"I'm not sure, Sonic.  I think I want to take a scan of his head, to check it out."
	"You get that ready then, Sally girl," said Bunnie.  "Ah'll stay an' take care of Tronic."
*****
	Sally studied her computer screen.  If she hadn't seen it, she would have never believed it.
	"What's up, Sal?"  Sonic rested his hands on her shoulders.
	"I found out what's wrong with Tronic."
	"And?"
	"And he's got a Chaos emerald in his head."
	"Say again?"
	"I don't know how it got there, but there it is plain as day on my scans.  It's a Chaos emerald!"
	"Sal, how could that guy have an emerald in his head?!  That's crazy!"
	"I know it, but like I said, it's there.  And I think that may be part of the reason his roboticization programming is kicking in.  It's somehow linked with the emerald.  But I don't think it's working right, because his head wasn't fully roboticized."
	"Can we get it out?"
	Sally sighed.  "It would probably kill him.  I don't know what to do to help him."
	Sally jumped to her feet when they heard Bunnie yelling outside.  They ran out to find Bunnie straining to pin Tronic to the ground.  The cybernetic hedgehog was screeching horribly.
	"Tronic, wake up!"  Bunnie yelled.   
	"Bunnie, what happened?" 
	"Well Sally girl, he was normal as could be a second ago, then he went and flipped out again!  This is becoming a real problem!"
	"Sonic!  Get a power ring! Quick!"
	"Gotcha Sal!"
	In a blink of an eye, he was there and back with a power ring.
	"Here ya go, Sal."
	Sally took the ring and put it over Tronic's forehead.  The ring flashed, momentarily blinding them.  When it died down, Tronic had stopped struggling.
	"Oh, man, not again," he moaned.
	Bunnie released him.  "Good thinkin' Sally!"
	"Thanks.  That should help, for a little while."
	"Have you found a way to help me?"  Asked Tronic.
	"I'm afraid not.  You had both better come inside so I can explain."
*****
	A week later, Tronic stood in the middle of Knothole with a crowd of Mobians, all Freedom Fighters.  It had taken much convincing and pleading, but he was here.  Luckily, his robotic attacks had been few and short in the past few days, thanks mostly to the power rings.  And of course, thanks to Bunnie, who had learned to control him with enough warning.  Now he was here, ready to begin a new life.
	He looked around for Bunnie in the crowd.  Probably out somewhere with Antoine, he thought sadly.  He didn't understand what she saw in that fox.  His spirits lifted though when he saw her come into view with Rotor.
	"Bunnie!  You came!"
	"Of course Ah did!  Ah wouldn't miss it!"  She hugged him warmly.  "Here comes Sally girl now!"
	The crowd of Freedom Fighters hushed as Sally came to stand beside Tronic.  "Fellow Freedom Fighters!  I am proud to present our newest fighter, Tronic Hedgehog!"
	The crowd cheered, and Bunnie ran up to Tronic to kiss him warmly on the cheek.  He blushed, embarrassed.  Then he smiled, and swept Bunnie off her feet to kiss her deeply back on the mouth, which she returned.  The crowd cheered again, all except for Antoine.
	"Who does this Tronic be thinking he is?" Antoine grumbled.  "As if zee stupid Sonic wasn't bad enough."
	As he kissed Bunnie, Tronic felt yet another pang of guilt.  As if he were betraying someone.  But he couldn't figure out why.  So he just ignored it.
	Meanwhile, Antoine moved away from the crowd.  
	"I will not be losing Bunnie to this Tronic like I lost zee princess to Sonic.  Non!  If I am to be still loving Bunnie, I must prove myself worthy.  During tomorrow's mission to Robotropolis, I will be showing that ridiculous hedgehog who is top Freedom Fighter here!"
*****
	That day, in Robotropolis, Robotnik was receiving unexpected news.
	"What?!"  Robotnik bellowed.
	"W-w-well, S-sir, it seems the h-hedgehog somehow survived, and escaped.  And the echidna's emerald can not be removed!"  Snively answered.
	"Blast it!"
	"Sir?  What action should we take?"
	"Hmmm....wait..."
	"Sir?"
	"I have an idea.  Listen carefully, Snively......"
*****
	That night, Tronic was assigned to the mission to Robotropolis the next day.  He was so proud and excited, because he would finally have his chance to prove himself to the Freedom Fighters.  Tronic walked to his new hut, and went to bed.  He lay on his bed, smiling in true happiness thinking about what the future held, until he finally drifted to sleep.
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Chapter 2


	
	Sally was suspended off the side of one of Robotropolis' communication towers by a cable.  She was busy giving her attention to the station's main interface.  Relaying her last command into the tower through Nicole, she tugged on the cable.
	Sonic and Rotor pulled up the cable.
	"Yo Sal, how'd it go?"
	"Like a charm, Sonic.  Robotnik's communication system is down!"
	"Yeah!  Those spy eyes won't be buggin' us for awhile!"
	Sally smiled.  "Yes.  At least for a few days, which will be more than enough time to-"
	A sudden wind swept over the tower.  Sally, who had just reached the top, went teetering over the edge.
	"Aaaaaaah!"
	"Sally!"
	Sonic quickly darted forward and yanked her back.
	"Whew!  Thanks Sonic," Sally gasped.
	Sonic, who still had her gathered against his chest, let out a sigh of relief.  He hugged her.  "You scared me for a minute there, Sal."
	"I gotta be more careful with these high winds."
	Bunnie looked around on the ground below.  "Hey y'all, shouldn't Antoine be back from gettin' Uncle Chuck's message by now?"
	"Yeah," said Rotor.  "He's sure taking a long time."
	"Maybe Uncle Chuck's report is taking a long time," suggested Tronic.
	"Ant's probably torturing Unc over a cup of coffee, talkin' about his 'brave and heroic missions'."  Sonic sighed.
	Sally flipped open Nicole.  "Give me a line to Uncle Chuck's headquarters, please, Nicole."
*****
	Antoine was beginning to think that going solo was not such a hot idea.  He had told the others that he was going to retrieve Uncle Chuck's report.  But what he didn't tell them, was that he planned to bypass going to Uncle Chuck's place completely, so he could go on his own private mission.  All in the interest of making himself look like a hero.
	So, there he was, inside of Robotnik's fortress, attempting to shut down the main roboticizer, when an army of SWATbots arrested him.  Well, that's what he would say if anybody ever asked.  Truth was, he had been apprehended by one measly techbot.
	"So, you like to snoop around my roboticizers, eh?"
	Robotnik grinned darkly at the fox.
	"Please to be excusing me," Antoine laughed nervously.  "I was just taking a wrong turn somewheres.  If you are to be letting me go, I will never be disturbing you again!"
	"A likely story.  Roboticize him."
	Antoine struggled to get free from the SWATbot, but it was no use.
*****
	Sally closed Nicole.
	"It looks like Antoine never made it to Uncle Chuck's headquarters."
	"Then where is he?"  Rotor asked.
	Sally reopened Nicole and tapped in a code.  "Nicole, scan Robotropolis for Freedom Fighter #0-26-14, please.  I sure hope Antoine remembered to wear his tracker."
	"Searching," Nicole said.  "Searching....located."
	"Where?"
	"Subject #0-26-14 is located at 5.2 degrees N/E, Sector 1."
	Sonic sighed.  "In Mobian, please, Nicole!"
	"Yo, Ant is hangin' at ol' Buttnik's fortress."  Nicole stated.
	"Whoa!  That sounds bad!"  Tronic exclaimed.
	"What are we gonna do?"  Rotor asked.
	"You're gonna say we gotta save 'im, huh, Sal?"  Sonic said, sounding much less than enthusiastic.
	"Of course!"
	"We had better hurry!"  Bunnie said, turning to leave the tower.
	"Yeah," Tronic followed.  "Let's go!"
*****
	Before long, the Freedom Fighters arrived at Robotnik's fortress.
	"Here we are."  Rotor shivered at the sight of the place.
	Tronic shivered too, but it wasn't from general fear.  It was a strange feeling that came from looking at the place.  Giving him mixed emotions, though he couldn't quite decipher what they were.
	Sally saw the look on Tronic's face.  "Tronic, are you feeling okay?"
	"Hmm?  Oh.  Yeah, I'm okay."
	Sally nodded uncertainly.  "Alright.  Let's do it to it, then!"
	Soon they were making their way through the fortress, following Nicole's last contact on Antoine's location.  They were forced outside the building when the passage through the ventilation shafts stopped.  
	Bunnie looked up to where they had to get to.  Then she looked down.  "Oh my stars, I shouldn't have done that!  That drop is worse than the one at the tower!"
	"Please don't mention that again, Bunnie,"  Sally smiled.  "I don't want to start getting acrophobia!  I certainly wouldn't like falling from here!"
	Tronic laughed.  "If I were you, I wouldn't be so much afraid of falling as of hitting the ground."
	Tronic then raised his robotic arm, and shot a small grappling hook above them.  It snagged on the shaft railing above them.
	"Okay, up we go!"  Tronic started up first.
	Back inside the building, they continued their search, only to find a heavy metal door in their path.
	"Antoine's behind that door!"  Sally pointed to it.
	"Allow me."  Bunnie kicked the door.  Not a dent.  "What the hoo-ha?  That door's tough!"
	Sonic backed up and went into a sonic spin at the door.  He bounced off and hit the wall behind him.
	He shook his bruised head.  "Bunnie ain't kiddin'!  That sucker's solid!"
	Sally inspected the door.  "It looks like your spin managed to put a dent in it though.  Hmmm....Tronic, you try."
	Tronic bristled his metallic tipped quills.  "Here goes!"  He threw himself at the door, spinning.  The door was ripped to shreds.
	"Whoa!"  Sonic exclaimed.  "That was past cool!"
	Tronic grinned at the rare compliment from Sonic.  "Thanks."
	Bunnie kissed Tronic on the cheek.  "Sugarhog, you're somethin' else!"
	"Hey, I thought I was the sugarhog!"  Sonic protested.
	"Tronie's the other sugarhog."
	"Fine, I'll let that pass."
	They all rushed inside.  Suddenly, the large room was alive with flashing red lights and alarms.
	Sally whirled about.  "What the-!  Where's Antoine?!"
	"Welcome, Freedom Fighters, to my humble abode."  Robotnik's voice boomed over the loudspeaker.
	"Sally, look at this!"  Rotor picked a small object off the floor and handed it to the princess.  "It's Antoine's tracer!"
	Robotnik's voice laughed evilly throughout the room.  Just then, about a hundred of COMbots poured into the room.
	Sonic went into a defensive position.  "Sal, I hope you know what to do, 'cause these guys sure don't look like Antoine!"
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