Chaos Now!
Part III of the Mecha-Wars Saga
By Hack Emery


Sonic the Hedgehog is the property of Sega Enterprises, but my robots
belong to me.  All Mecha-Warriors are my idea.  Hack Emery belongs to
me, 'cause I'm Hack Emery.  This story must not be altered in any way,
but you can download it and read it and stuff like that.  Send praise,
and polite comments about mistakes and opinions to
hackemery@hotmail.com.  Go ahead!  Please!

Note:  This story takes place before the Doomsday project

        The Great Forest was a dark place now.  It's best protector, Sonic the
Hedgehog, had fallen; as a direct result of the actions of new evil
robots.  One was formerly a mercenary for hire named Nack the weasel;
the other a result of trans-dimensional chaos. Mecha-Nik was a
roboticized version of Robotnik, but far, far better.  Both were
Mecha-Warriors, but each worked for a different dictator.
        Mecha-Nack glanced at Mecha-Nik, and smiled as he got an idea.
        "Mecha-Nik!" said the mechanized weasel.
        "What?" asked the massive egg-bellied monster, as it glanced up from
Sonic's unconscious body.
        It had been a simple matter for the Mecha-Warrior known as Mecha-Nik to
knock Sonic out.  With incredible speed, agility, and enough weapons to
start a world war, Mecha-Nik was the latest robot from the twisted mind
of the evil Sonic the Hedgehog.
        Sonic, however, had realized this.  His head felt like it had just been
hit with every tree in the Great Forest, but he was still awake.  He
opened his eyes ever so slightly to look at Mecha-Nack.
        "Why don't we work together?" suggested the crafty weasel.  "I have an
idea on how to get the rest of the Freedom Fighters!"
        Mecha-Nik glared at Nack.  "We can't share one hedgehog!"
        The robot weasel smiled.  "Maybe not, but shouldn't we postpone that
for later?  We might as well pool our resources to catch the rest of
them."
        Mecha-Nik thought for a moment, then nodded his evil head.  "That
sounds good.  How will we locate Knothole?"
        "We smoke them out!"

        "I don't believe it!" said Robotnik, amazed.
        Snively was also shocked.  "It looks like vaguely like Robo-Robotnik,
sir!" he said.  "But I don't recall him carrying a cannon as big as a
SWAT-Bot!"
        Robotnik turned in chair and typed commands hurriedly on his computer.
"Computer, scan robot for signs of trans-dimensional travel."
        "Slight radioactivity found," said the computer.
        "What dimension does 'Mecha-Nik' come from?" asked Robotnik.
        "Mecha-Nik has come from the universe which has an evil Sonic the
Hedgehog."
        Robotnik frowned.  "I suspected as much.  How much damage, computer?"
        "Fifty-seven of known universes have been taken over."
        Snively squeaked.
        Robotnik thought for a moment.  "This is bad, Snively," he muttered.
        "Why, sir?" asked Snively.
        "I specially designed the Mechanizer to allow as much thought as
possible without any question of loyalty.  The question is:  did the
evil Sonic do the same?"
        Snively took another look at the monitor on the screen.  He gasped in
shock, then passed out.  Robotnik whirled around to see what had
frightened Snively.
        "The creator of the robot has just entered our dimension," said the
computer.  "You may be able to ask that question shortly."

        CySonic awoke with a dull sensation in his head.  He rolled over; it
was awfully hot.  His eyes refused to focus for some reason, and he sat
up.
        As his eyes slowly adjusted, CySonic was horrified to learn that
Mecha-Nack and Mecha-Nik had set the Great Forest ablaze... and, worse
still, Mecha-Nik had this current dimension's Sonic with him!
        CySonic checked his data bank for damage information.  Minor wounds
inflicted, luckily, but he apparently had a concussion.  He would be
woozy for quite some time to come.
        Of course, a cyborg Sonic the Hedgehog wasn't going to let that stop
him!
        Sonic the Hedgehog waited for the best moment to attack Mecha-Nik.  As
the blaze continued, Sonic decided now would be a good time.  But before
he could attack, he heard yell.  CySonic leapt forward, delivering an
left hook that would have killed any living creature.
        Mecha-Nik, however, was not a living creature.  He merely blinked
twice, then knocked away CySonic.  Sonic leapt out of the
Mecha-Warrior's grasp, and leapt into a Sonic Spin.  CySonic, seeing
Sonic was all right, headed for Nack.
        Suddenly, however, the evil Sonic the Hedgehog leapt into the battle.
"Nice try, bro!" he laughed, as Sonic fell to the ground, bouncing off
Mecha-Nik's strong hide.  "You'll never be able to get past that armor!"
        Sonic glared at his evil double, angrily.  Evil-Sonic laughed, and
attacked again.

        Bunnie, Rotor, Tails, and Nicole raced through the forest as fast as
they could.  They could hear the fire roaring, and as they came closer,
the smoke grew thick, and it was hard to see.
        "Nicole," said Rotor.  "Scan surrounding area for signs of life."
        "There is one life-form, one cyborg, and two robots," said Nicole.
"They are... wait!  They are coming right at us!"
        Four fighting figures fell through the underbrush, crashing and
trashing and battling for life.  Mecha-Nik slammed against the ground,
but kicked Sonic away.
        "You cannot defeat me!" roared the robot.  "I am invincible!"
        "Way past uncool," said Tails.
        "No kidding!" grunted Sonic, struggling to bring himself free of the
Mecha-Warrior's iron grip.
        CySonic's head snapped back as Mecha-Nack punched him.  CySonic
responded by whirling around and flinging Nack into a tree.
        Mecha-Nik grunted as he took another hit.  This was not a good place to
do battle; it was too small, too limiting.  He took off into the sky,
his massive body moved by huge  rockets.  Sonic and Tails grabbed hold,
and tried to force the monster back to the ground.  Mecha-Nack followed
suit, and also took off.  CySonic fired up his own rockets.
        As they battled through the air, Sonic noticed something was following
them below.  It was Evil Sonic.  Sonic swung his fist at Mecha-Nik, then
grabbed Tails' hand.  He saw they were headed for Robotropolis.
        Rotor and Bunnie frowned as they saw the combatants fly away.

        Evil Sonic cursed his luck as he ran through the forest.  He followed
his Mecha-Warrior as best he could, but the fire and trees made it
difficult.  As he ran, he began to feel raindrops hit against his head.
He glanced up, and noticed that the clouds had turned dark, and were
pouring rain.
        The evil hedgehog was struck by something on his head.  He fell to the
ground.

        SWAT-Bots aren't very smart.  This is because they are robots.  While
not all robots are stupid, SWAT-Bots were one of the earliest major
robots created by Robotnik.  They have great difficulty reasoning, due
to their limited artificial intelligence chip.  Oddly enough, the
intelligence of a SWAT-Bot varies with each made.  Due to the delicacy
of the chips that provide their reasoning capabilities, a head injury
may result in greatly increased intelligence.  Of course, more often
than not the SWAT-Bots' reasoning abilities were reduced to that of a
cucumber, but it still happened.
        One such robot looked at the battle overhead and said, "Warn the
master!"
        Another SWAT-Bot stopped it's patrol.  "Please state number code and
message."
        The smart SWAT-Bot said hurriedly, "5532!  Hedgehogs, Mecha-Nack and
un-identified robot are heading this way!  Emerg--"
        SWAT-Bot 5532-3453 was torn to shreds.  Mecha-Nik landed, and Sonic
narrowly avoided being crush.
        Sonic launched into a Sonic Spin, but he just bounced off.  Whatever
Mecha-Nik was made out of, it was far too tough for any normal attack to
penetrate it.  Sonic reached for his power ring, but realized that his
backpack had been torn off in the battle earlier.

        Robotnik didn't like the way things were going.  Now that the battle
had moved to Robotropolis, it was his territory being torn up.  Worse
still, the fighters were clearly moving towards the abandoned SWAT-Bot
factory that hid the Mechanizer.
        He motioned for his Mecha-Warriors to come forward.  "It is time,"
growled Robotnik.  "For you to enter the battle."
        The three Mecha-Warriors nodded.  "We'll get right on it, Lord
Robotnik!" said Mecha-Typhoon.
        Mecha-Mindbender grinned.  "They won't have chance against us!"
        The Mecha-Warriors dashed away.

        Evil Sonic groaned as he awoke.  What had happened?  He looked around,
half expecting to find himself in the Freedom Fighter jail.  Instead, he
found himself drenched in rain.
        He shook his head to clear the cobwebs, then got to his feet.  The
hedgehog looked around again to find what had hit him on the head.
"Odd," he said, frowning.
        Evil Sonic picked up the backpack and glanced at it.  "This looks like
my good twin's backpack!" he said.  "I wonder what's in it."
        He opened it, and peered inside at the ring.  He reached for it, and
gasped as power flowed through him.
        Evil Sonic grinned.  "It is time to tango!" he laughed, grinning, as he
dashed towards Robotropolis.
        
        Tails grunted as he felt his left tail pulled.  "Let go!" he cried,
kicking his feet.
        "Mecha-Nik!" yelled Mecha-Nack.  "I got the fox!  Mechanize him!"
        Tails lashed out with his other tail, striking the weasel on the head.
Mecha-Nack grunted, and fell to the ground.
        CySonic and Sonic wrestled with the huge robot Mecha-Nik, all
desperately attempting to get an edge in the battle.
        "Die!" shouted a voice.
        Sonic turned to see the Mecha-Warriors barreling forward.  "Oh, no," he
groaned.
        "Die!" shouted a voice.
        Sonic turned to see the Evil hedgehog barreling forward.  "Oh, no," he
groaned.  "He's got my ring!"
        Evil Sonic was fast, but Sonic knew how the ring worked.  If Sonic
could make contact with the power ring, then he could--
        Sonic was flung back by Mecha-Typhoon's attack.  He desperately sought
to escape the waves of water that came.  He noted, with some
satisfaction, that Evil Sonic wasn't faring so well under the barrage
himself.
        Suddenly, Mecha-Nik turned red.
        Everyone stopped and stared at the robot.  Why had it turned red?
        "Mecha-Nik is angry!" it said, and began to get larger.  Sonic's jaw
dropped.  The robot had just doubled in size!  It got bigger, and bigger
and bigger, until it was as big as the building they were fighting
near.  Then, it began to continue it's attack.
        This time, however, hundreds of tiny little bombs erupted from a hidden
cannon on Mecha-Nik's shoulder.  Sonic barely managed to avoid them, and
took a fairly nasty hit from Mecha-Nack.
        Suddenly, however, Mecha-Nik slammed Mecha-Typhoon and Mecha-Volcano
together.  They exploded, shrapnel flying everywhere.  Two of the
warriors were down.
        Sonic dodged as a foot came slamming down to crush him.  He fell back
as Evil Sonic tripped him, and CySonic raced to help him.  Mecha-Nack
was lifted, and tossed in the general direction of Robotnik's control
tower.
        Suddenly, Sonic felt a searing pain as something slammed into he
shoulder.  He felt himself being tossed into the air, and landed several
buildings away.  CySonic was also knocked away, and fell next to Sonic.
        "Cyborg," gasped Sonic, as pain ripped through his arm.  "What...
what... happened?"
        CySonic helped Sonic to his feet.  "Something Mecha-Nik called
Mecha-Bots.  They're tiny little orbs with arms that circle around and
toss you around and do all sorts of nasty stuff to you.  They're as big
as a bowling ball."
        "We can't beat Mecha-Nik," said Sonic glumly.
        "There's got to be away!" said CySonic desperately.  "It won't be easy,
but...."
        Sonic gasped.  "Where's Tails!?"
        Tails slammed into CySonic, and they tumbled to the ground.  Tails was
out cold.  Sonic gazed at the fox in silence.  He remembered that Tails
had brought Nicole with him.  Then, he got a huge grin on his face.
        "What?" asked CySonic.
        "I think it's time for your upgrade," Sonic said, smiling.  Then he
began to explain his idea.

        "Get that weasel out of here!" yelled Robotnik angrily.
        Mecha-Nack had crashed through the roof of Robotnik's control center.
Bits and pieces of metal were everywhere.  A SWAT-Bot lifted up a huge
chunk of cable that had powered the central computer, and plugged it
in.  The lights hummed back on.
        "Back on-line," said the computer.
        Suddenly, the doors were flung open, and several SWAT-Bots were knocked
to the ground.  "We're here for our daily check up, Doctor!" said Sonic,
still nursing his wounded shoulder.  He plugged Nicole into the power
outlet.
        "What are you doing, hedgehog?" growled Robotnik angrily.
        Sonic explained.  Robotnik nodded in agreement.  Then, they began to
talk.

        Mecha-Typhoon felt his neck snap.  Odd, he wasn't supposed to feel
things.  He would have to talk to Dr. Robotnik about removing the pain
feature.
        Mecha-Volcano had already fallen, and the only thing preventing
Robotropolis from being destroyed was Mecha-Typhoon.  Mecha-Nik laughed
as he prepared to melt Mecha-Typhoon with his laser.
        Meanwhile, Evil Sonic stood by, waiting for his two selves to return.
As the twisted remains of the remaining Mecha-Warrior fell to the
ground, the evil Sonic wondered where they had gone.
        "Miss me?" asked a robotic voice.  Evil Sonic's head snapped back, and
before the evil hedgehog could grunt in pain, he was out cold.
        "Who are you?" asked Mecha-Nik suspiciously, glaring at his new
opponent.
        Cyborg Sonic grinned.  "The name, pal, is Mecha-Cyborg.  You're going
down!"
        Mecha-Cyborg dashed forward, and leapt into the air.  Mecha-Nik slammed
his hands together in an attempt to crush the new menace to Evil Sonic's
rule.  Mecha-Cyborg drew back his arm, and sent it right through the
Mecha-Warrior's left eye.  Sparks flew.
        Mecha-Cyborg felt a sharp pain, and he fell to the ground.  He saw his
left arm had been ripped off.  He was going to have to be more careful.
He battered Mecha-Nik, but he just couldn't hurt it in any major way.
It had the same self-repair function as Mecha-Cyborg.

        Sonic the Hedgehog frowned as he watched the battle rage on.  Robotnik
smiled, realizing that Sonic's guard was completely down.  Robotnik
pulled out his blaster, and fired.  Sonic leapt out of the way, and
knocked Robotnik to the ground.  "You called a truce!" Sonic cried
angrily.  "Liar!"
        Robotnik frowned.  Sonic swung his fist, knocking the evil dictator
out.
        Then, Sonic turned to watch the battle continue.

        Mecha-Nik fired his pulse cannon, but Mecha-Cyborg merely dodged.
Suddenly, the cyborg Sonic had an idea.  He flew into the air.
Mecha-Nik followed.  Higher and higher he flew, until he passed the
clouds.  Then, the atmosphere began to thin.  Finally, they reached the
place known as outerspace.
        Mecha-Cyborg was inwardly relieved that his lungs were mechanized.  It
would have been very bad to come up here without air.  As it was, his
robotic half had covered his other half with a force field, but a direct
hit from Mecha-Nik would destroy it.
        Mecha-Cyborg turned to face his opponent.  He only had a chance to do
this once; Mecha-Nik would not fall for the same trick twice.
        Mecha-Nik charged forward, his jetpack screaming.  Mecha-Cyborg flew
overhead.  He blasted.  Mecha-Nik blasted.  Mecha-Nik hit the hedgehog,
and the force field wavered.  However, Mecha-Cyborg's blast was right on
target.  Mecha-Nik's jetpack was destroyed.
        Mecha-Cyborg passed out, and began to fall back to Mobius.
        Mecha-Nik remained; doomed to watch Mobius rotate until his power ran
out.

        Sonic dropped Mecha-Cyborg on his bed, then began to race away.  The
partially-mechanized hedgehog was going to live.  It was a good thing
that Sonic had seen the "shooting star" so quickly.  Now, he had two
more things to do before he could head home.
        He dashed through the cosmic highway,  until he finally reached
Mobius.  Then, he lifted Evil Sonic, and heaved him into the portal.
The Evil Sonic would find his way back eventually, but it would be a
long time before the residents of Knothole had to deal with that
particular menace again.
        Then, Sonic planted several dozen charges around the abandoned SWAT-Bot
factory and raced away to Knothole.

        Robotnik knew that Sonic had planted the charges, but quite frankly, he
didn't care.  The Mechanizer was far too much trouble.  He almost smiled
when it blew up.  Then, he went for a walk.
        "Snively," said Robotnik.  "I've actually run out of ideas."
        "I'm sure you'll think of some way to stop that hedgehog!" said
Snively.
        "I'm sure I will, but this is the first time I've ever run out of
ideas."
        Suddenly, Robotnik tripped over something.  Glaring, he looked back to
find he had fallen over a damaged SWAT-Bot head.  He peered inside, and
gasped.
        "This is it, Snively!" cackled Robotnik.  "This is the answer!"
        "What, sir?" asked Snively.
        Robotnik turned, and headed back for his control center.  SWAT-Bot #
5512-9764 had just given him a fantastic idea.  Sonic was about to face
a new kind of SWAT-Bot.  An intelligent kind.  There was no hope of
escape for Sonic the Hedgehog.

The End

Coming Soon:  Discovery,  Part I of the SWAT-Vengeance saga!

        Just what is this new SWAT-Bot, and how does it increase the
intelligence of other SWAT-Bots tenfold?  Robotnik's got a new plan
going, and it's not going to be good!  And who is that mysterious new
figure that is going to make a major impact in Sonic's life?
        Also, what does the Great Forest hold?  It is known as the hiding place
for the Freedom Fighters, but what else does it contain?  All this and
more, coming in one week! Be there!