-----Chapter One: The Torture Game-----
Author's Note: Hello! Psychic Genius here and this is my debut story for the Mobius: 25 Years Later series I'm making. There should be plenty of chapters after this one, if this series goes as planned. After you read this chapter, please respond! I would like to get your opinions on the story and any suggestions you may have. Keep in mind this is my first story, so no serious flaming! (No matter how bad it is!) Also, don't ask me to add any fic characters you have. Well, that's all for now. Enjoy the story!
Disclaimer: All Sonic the Hedgehog characters used in this story are trademarks or registered trademarks of SEGA CORPORATION or its affiliates, and Archie Comics or its affiliates except where noted, in which they were created and trademarked by me. Any attempt to steal ownership or make profit from this story will be considered a violation of copyright law.
It was twilight on Mobius. The sun had just set behind the forests of Knothole, and darkness was cast over Mobotropolis. Sally had just finished putting Sonia and Manik to bed, and was enjoying a relaxing night, one she hadn't had for a long time. She and Sonic had been busy all month, dealing with the thousands of problems that came up in the kingdom. She felt the space next to her in bed, but it was empty. She quickly sat up and scanned the room, and not seeing her husband anywhere, Sally got out of bed. She poked her head out the bedroom door and looked both ways down the hallway. As she climbed into bed, she slowly convinced herself that Sonic had gotten up to get a drink or something and returned to her sleep.
"Why am I here again?" Sonic asked the extremely ugly being that stood before him in an irritated tone.
"To make your life miserable, why else?" Robotnik retorted.
"And how did you restore part of Robotropolis? I thought we got rid of you and this place years ago."
"It's astounding what evil geniuses like me can do, don't you agree?" Robotnik sneered at him and pressed a button on the control panel in front of him, and a robot walked out of the back door of his fortress. Sonic stared at it in amazement. The robot resembled him a great deal, so much that it was like looking in a mirror.
"Whatcha doin' with that?"
"Weren't you listening to what I just said about making your life miserable?" Robotnik grabbed the crown off Sonic's head and nonchalantly tossed it to the robot. The Metal Sonic exited the room and a large computer screen in the room turned on. Sonic struggled to escape from the metal bars pinning his arms to the wall, but it was no use. On the screen was the view from outside the Egg Fortress, through Metal's eyes. Mecha entered the castle and made sure Sally was asleep before climbing into bed next to her. Sally woke up minutes later and, realizing that Sonic was back, snuggled closer to him and fell asleep again.
Early the next morning, Sally turned to Metal, but he was facing the opposite direction, his back to her. "He must have pushed me off him last night," Sally thought to herself. Metal began to stir, and sat up in bed.
"Are you all right, sweetie?"
"I'm fine," he said in a plain voice, identical to Sonic's. She didn't believe him, but she didn't say anything as he went downstairs.
"Morning Dad," Manik said cheerfully while Metal inhaled a cup of coffee.
"Where are you going?" Sonia asked as Metal took off out the door, concerning the children. "That's really strange. Dad always eats breakfast with us."
"Maybe he had something else to do."
Sally entered the kitchen, looking even more confused than the both of them. "Have either of you seen your father?" she queried. "He just left. He went through that door." Sonia pointed at the door that led to the garden.
"Did he say anything to you?" Sally asked them.
"Nope. He just ran off," Manik stated.
"Wonder what's wrong with him," Sally muttered as she ran through the garden looking for him. She found him lying underneath a willow tree, but chose not to wake him up since he was sleeping.
"You seriously think that that robot ignoring Sally will get to her?" Sonic scoffed as he watched Metal underneath the tree, sleeping soundly with a smirk on his face.
"If you knew your wife, you would know that when stress is put upon her, she, dare I say, loses it. And if I'm correct, she has a meeting with the guardians of Angel Island later this week." Realization dawned on Sonic, and a look of terror appeared on his face.
"Taking advantage of her is playing mondo dirty!" he shouted at Robotnik. Robotnik let out a creul laugh and ordered some SWAT-bots into the room, and they knocked out Sonic with a laser gun.
Later that night, Sally stared out of her bedroom window, her eyes glued to the sky. The day had ended the same way as it did yesterday, except the night sky had looked ugly to her. She let out a sigh. If only things were as easy as they used to be. She was no longer at peace, because of the new problem that was arising. She silently returned to bed, deciding to test her husband. "What's the matter, Sonic? You barely said anything today."
"I told you, I'm fine!" he snapped at her. This frustrated her further.
"You don't sound fine," she said, angered. The room was filled with an uncomfortable silence until dawn.
To Manik, it seemed as if the constant hostility between his parents would never cease. If it didn't it would not only cause trouble for his family, but also for the kingdom. It was worsening with each coming day, and both he and his sister were afraid to know the outcome. If only I could do something to stop them, he thought. Then I would be the hero for once, instead of Sonia. She had always seemed to receive the extra attention. She was the one ascending the throne. Everyone had imperfections, but she evaded them. It was like she was the perfect child that all parents strived for, and he...wasn't. His mother had been like that too, but at the moment, even the Queen of Mobius had imperfections, like not getting along with the King. But despite his jealousy, Manik knew the situation was desperate enough for him to ask Sonia for help.
It was 11:00, one day before the meeting. Sally woke up in a bad mood. The fight from the night before, which was the worst one so far, still plagued her mind, and she was mad at herself for sleeping in. She quickly got changed and ate breakfast. Immediatley afterward, she looked around the castle for Sonic. He had developed a habit of disappearing lately, usually when she needed him for something, and she had to talk to him about the meeting tomorrow. About a half an ohur later. she gave up and decided to ask Manik. She found him playing one of his virtual reality games in his room. He took off the virtual glasses and asked, "You're looking for Dad, right?" She nodded her head. It had almost become a daily activity for Sally to be searching for Sonic in the morning. "I think he's taking a few laps around town," he said.
"I'm worried about him," Sally said, arms crossed.
"What? That's nothing unusual."
"But he always tells me before he takes off like that."
"Yeah. Normally he asks if I wanna come along…," Manik drifted off.
A few hours later, in Robotropolis, Sonic had recovered from his knock out, and was watching what was going on in silence. He was still forced against the wall, and was ignoring Robotnik's taunts. He had long since given up on escaping, seeing thta it was impossible wihtout outside help. He was really starting to get sick of being there, and looked it as well. He had not eaten properly in almost a week, and his eyes were rimmed with circles from exhaustion. He saw Metal return to the castle after his laps, and watched Sally approach him.
"Why didn't you tell me where you were going?" she asked, rage in her voice.
"Didn't think I needed to," he replied nonchalantly and walked away, satisfied with himself. Sally soon caught up to him.
"You're not telling me something," she said.
"I don't understand why you keep bugging me! I haven't changed at all, and nothing's wrong!" he yelled at her. That attracted Sonia's attention. She tried to see what was going on, but the view from her window was too far away. She ran downstairs, hid behind a bush, and continued watching.
"Look at you! You have changed." Sally's voice was beginning to break.
"How!"
"You never talk to me anymore; you haven't paid any attention to our kids!"
"Finally, someone realizes that other than me," Sonia thought to herself.
"I--I'm not even s-sure if you love me anymore…," Sally stammered, her eyes filled with tears.
Back in the ruins of Robotropolis, Robotnik entered the room, and watched what was going on with delight. Sonic had seen the whole thing, and, like Sally, was attempting to hold back tears. To him, it was like watching a bad horror movie.
"Leave," Sally muttered.
"What?" Metal replied, rather confused.
"Sally, don't do it," Sonic muttered under his breath, very trance-like.
"YOU HEARD ME! LEAVE! GO! And… take this with you!" She pulled her wedding ring off, shoved it into his hand, and ran away crying.
"No…" Sonic mumbled. He had done it. Robotnik had succeeded in ruining his relationship with Sally. But Sonic was not one to sit around and mope, or to give up, for that matter. Some action had to be taken. He saw the shape of a power ring in Robotnik's coat pocket, and thought of a plan to escape. It was very strange for Robotnik to be carrying a power ring around, almost too convenient. But he had to seize this opportunity. "So…now that you ruined my life, what next? You gonna let me out of here?" Figuring that it was too hard to hurl insults at Sonic from a distance, he walked towards him. "Perfect," Sonic thought. Before Robotnik could say anything, Sonic tripped him, and the power ring flew out of his pocket, right towards Sonic. He got it around his leg and flung it up to his hand. In less than a second, he had broken free from the bars, and was heading for home. "Gotta juice 'Butt-nik!"
"No!" Sonia shouted to herself and began sobbing into her pillow. She had seen the whole thing, and had run from the bush she was hiding behind back to her room. Since Manik's room was next to Sonia's, he heard her crying and crossed into her room.
"What's wrong?" he asked her, standing in the doorway. He was worried about her, because it took a lot to make his sister cry. And although it was odd for him to be within even five feet of his sister, he knew this had to be important.
"Mom and Dad, that's what." She looked up, not even caring that her brother was in her room. "Didn't you hear them?" she asked.
"No."
"Th--They got in a fight. A big one. I'm not even sure if we'll ever see Dad again." Manik's eyes widened and he sat next to her.
"What? N--No more Dad?" Sonia solemnly nodded her head. Tears welled up in Manik's eyes, but he wiped them away. "Well, we should do something about it. We can't just let this happen."
"You're right. W--We should. I'll talk to Mom, and you see if you can find Dad." Sonia immediately knew where her mother was. She ran into her parents' bedroom, and opened the closet doors. In the back of the closet was another door, the one that led to Sally's secret place; her balcony. Sonia found her mother facing the Great Forest, her eyes puffy and her face drenched.
Sally had been thinking of old times, when she was a Freedom Fighter in Knothole trying to overthrow Robotnik. And although she and her friends were in the midst of a war, the times she spent there were the happiest times of her life. Then she thought of more recent times, in which she and Sonic had overthrown Robotnik, despite the rumors that he still existed somewhere in the depths of the former Robotropolis. But no matter how hard she tried to keep her mind off what had just happened, it always returned to that subject. Why hadn't he been the least bit upset when she said that to him? How come he just left without arguing back?
"Mom?" Sonia said in a concerned voice, interrupting the questions playing back in her head. Hearing her daughter, she began to wipe her eyes and tried to act happier.
"Sonia!" She turned around to see a rather sad Sonia. "What's wrong, honey?"
"I heard the whole thing," Sonia looked away from her mother.
"Oh. Y-You did?"
"Yeah. And I'm sure Dad didn't mean anything he said to you." Sonia started to cry, but continued on. "You didn't mean anything you said to him, right?" Sally placed a comforting arm around her daughter's shoulder.
"Well I'm incredibly sorry you had to hear that. No, I didn't. But he did mean every word he said, I'm sure of that. I guess your father and I were never meant to be."
Sonia broke free of her mother's grip, astonished. "Mom! You know that's not true. I've heard stories from Tails and Bunnie. They said you've been with Dad for the last 25 years! That's more than half of your life! You can't say that you weren't meant to be." Sally said nothing to this, and Sonia left in silence.
Something seemed suspicious. "Sonia is right. Sonic would never act this way, no matter how mad he was at me. And he and I have been together for a long time…," Sally thought. The thought of that caused her mind to drift off to a time long ago, when she was even younger than her daughter. It had been her best friend Bunnie's first raid to Robotropolis, and if she remembered correctly, she had done remarkably. The Freedom Fighters, at the time, were trying to find the blueprint for the Roboticizer, so Sonic's Uncle Chuck could use it to create a De-Roboticizer for all of the Mobians Robotnik had roboticized, including himself. Sonic, Sally, Antoine, and Bunnie had set out to Robotropolis to retrieve the information, while Tails had stayed in Knothole with Rotor to monitor the mission, mostly because Sally still considered him too young to go on raids.
"So what's the plan again, Sal?" Sonic asked, munching on a chili dog he had brought in his backpack.
Sally sighed. "Do I really have to explain this again, Sonic?
Sonic finished the chili dog and thought for a moment. "Well, yeah."
"Maybe if you were listening to the briefing before we got here, you would know what to do!"
"Make you should make thme more interesting!"
Bunnie stepped between them. "Would ya'll just stop your bickerin'? Me n' you are holdin' off the SWAT-bots, Sally-girl's gettin' the blueprint, and Sugarfox here's keepin' watch. That clear things up?"
"Thanks for that, Bunnie. I don't think I had the patience to explain that again." Sally said, glaring at Sonic. "Alright, I'm going. Remember Sonic, the mission is to hold the SWAT-bots off, not to sabotage the whole place. And be careful, Bunnie. This is your first mission, after all."
As soon as Sally had entered the building, a siren went off. "INTRUDER ALERT!" sounded over the intercom and SWAT-bots came from all directions. She hid in a small pile of rubble as they passed by, and soon heard them say, "PRIORITY ONE, HEDGEHOG ALERT," in their monotone voice and saw as she came out of her hiding spot that they were instantly destroyed. Sonic stood off to the side, admiring his work and brushing imaginary dust off his hands. She rolled her eyes and continued along a long corridor while Nicole pointed out directions. Eventually she had reached the heart of the building, which was a room containing a computer for Robotnik's stored files. She found the blueprint in a matter of seconds.
"Nicole, download file RoboticizationBlueprint1," Sally said, hooking her up to the computer's main frame.
"Downloading file, Sally," Nicole responded. "Process complete." Sally unhooked Nicole, and pressed a few buttons on her.
"Mission accomplished everyone. I'm heading back now."
Back outside the building, Sonic and Bunnie were finishing off some SWAT-bots when they received Sally's message on their communicators.
"Way past, Sal. Everything's great here." Sonic replied. Sonic saw out of the corner of his eye that some SWAT-bots were walking in the direction of where Sally was. He quickly pulled out his communicator again.
"Heads up Sal! Some SWAT-butts are headin' your way!" When he didn't get a reply, he began to worry.
"Sal, are you there?"
Still no answer.
"Sugarhog, what's goin'--" Sonic had taken off before Bunnie could finish.
Sally looked up and saw that there were at least five SWAT-bots surrounding her. She tried to kick one of them in its stomach, but another one caught her leg in midair and bent in against the direction it went in, releasing an agonizing crack. Sally screamed in pain and fell to the ground, unconscious. The first SWAT-bot picked her up from her arm and dragged her away.
She awoke to find a large, ugly face staring at her, malicious red eyes glinting in the light. Her leg still throbbed in pain, and this was the last person she wanted to see now. She sat up and looked around. She appeared to be sitting on some sort of examination table in a room with a machine making a whirring sound. "Warm-up complete," the machine said, and the whirring sound stopped.
"Are you wondering why you're here, Princess? Or what that machine does, perhaps? I feel there's no need to explain either, for you will soon be part of my robot army." Sally glared at Robotnik. "But I will give you one last chance. If you tell me the location of Knothole and where that idiotic hedgehog is, I will allow you to live."
"I'm right here!" Sonic called from a nearby doorway, tapping his foot impatiently.
"Aah! Get that hedgehog!" he yelled to the SWAT-bots. Sonic ran to where Sally was, carefully picking her up, and then continued running. They were quickly outside again and didn't even notice Antoine and Bunnie as they passed them.
"Sonic, wat eez going on?" Antoine asked, but he soon got his answer. The SWAT-bots came running out after them.
"Ah think that's our cue, Antoine," Bunnie called to him. The group of bots was quickly reduced to scraps of metal.
"What happened to her, Rotor?" Sonic asked back at the Infirmary.
"Her leg was forced against the way it bends, so some damage was done to it. It's broken, but it should be okay in about a month," the walrus responded, leaning over Sally's medical chart. "Oh, and another thing. The file wasn't downloaded correctly. There must have been some sort of protection on it."
Sally began to stir in the bed located in the corner of the room. "Good, you're awake! I'll get you some water if you like."
"Thanks, Rotor, That'd be great." Sally said weakly from the corner. Rotor walked out of the room, stifling a laugh as he realized he had unintentionally given Sonic and Sally some "alone time."
"Hey Rote, something funny over there?" Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, nothing," he said before quickly shutting the door. They both stared at the door for a few seconds, confused, before they snapped out of it.
"You okay Sal?" Sonic asked, walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge of it.
"I think so," Sally replied, lying down in bed. "But that doesn't even matter. I failed the mission!"
"Rote says that Robotnik put an invisible guard on the file so that it couldn't be copied."
"But I should have known better!" she said, shaking her head.
"Don't beat yourself up, Sal. No one could have seen that coming," Sonic said, putting an arm around her. There was a short moment of silence before Sally spoke.
"Thanks Sonic."
"For what?"
"For saving me today. I would have been way worse than this if you didn't." She sat up, kissed Sonic on his cheek, and hugged him. He smiled a smile she had never seen before, and hugged her back.
"No problemo, Sal."
Manik had been pursuing the mission his sister gave him for hours, but his father was nowhere to be found. He could be anywhere; it could be days before Manik found him, even with his inherited speed. He had checked every place he could think of, and was about to give up and go home, when he saw a blue streak run past him. "Dad!" He yelled to Sonic. (Yes. The real Sonic.) Sonic turned around, and started laughing as a result of being bulldozed by his son. "I thought I'd never see you again," Manik said as they both calmed down a bit.
"Same here," Sonic replied, getting up and rubbing his back.
"How come you said all that horrible stuff to Mom?" he asked, serious as dead.
"You thought that was me? Naw. That was some bot Butt-nik sent out to ruin my life. I thought you would figure it out when he didn't ask you to come running with him."
"But then, where were you?"
"Some old ruins in Robotropolis, where else? Now if you excuse me, I have some matters with your mother to deal with," he said in an "official" tone. And with that, he was off.
-----Manik returned home and explained the situation to Sonia. Her sad expression instantly changed when she heard the story.
"Where'd he go?" she asked him.
"I think he's gonna work this whole thing out. C'mon, we should get a piece of the action."
"Manik! Don't be so rude! We've already interfered enough. We'll find out what happens later anyway."
"Fine. I'm still watching from my window. Are you sure you don't wanna join me? I've got the perfect view," he asked in a sing-song voice.
"Like I would ever set foot in your room, if you can even call it that," Sonia retorted, and then gave her little brother a look implying to get out of her room. Manik held his hands in front of himself in defense, and returned to his room.
-----Later that evening. Sally had stopped crying but was still on her balcony. Sonic first greeted Sonia, who was thrilled to see her father again, then went to Sally's balcony. Manik had a perfect view of everything from his window, just as he predicted. Sonia couldn't wait any longer to find out what would happen. In fact, there had been some times when her mother said her impatient behavior was worse than her father's. Like Manik, she also had a great view from her window. Sally heard Sonic coming, but did not turn around.
"Sal?" Sonic gently touched her shoulder. Sally continued to ignore him.
"Sal, that wasn't me you were talking to for the last few days. It was a robot identical to me." She turned around and crossed her arms, but didn't say anything. "I know what you're thinking. That I'm making this whole thing up, and that I'll just keep ignoring you if you forgive me," Sonic sighed.
"How am I supposed to believe you?" she asked quietly. He took her hands in his.
"You know I would never say anything like that to you; you know I love you, Sal. And I asked you to marry me all those years back in Knothole to prove it. I don't care how much you wanted me to leave, I'm staying here no matter what. You're a part of me Sal, I can't just leave you behind, " Sonic said and kissed her.
"It is you…," she whispered, putting her arms around him. Sonic did the same, his eyes watering. "Oh honey, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean anything I said, and I should have never--" He put his hand over her mouth.
"S'Okay. Forget about it." She hugged him and tears streamed down her cheeks. Both Manik and Sonia smiled from their windows. "So now that you believe me, I have something to ask you," Sonic said with a grin on his face, wiping away her tears as well as his own.
"What?" Sally asked, giggling at the face he was making. Sonic got on one knee in front of her, and pulled her wedding ring out of a box.
"Will you marry me? Again?" A slight smile appeared on Sonic's face. He put the wedding ring on her left ring finger. Sally was overcome with joy, but by the silly look on her face Sonic could tell that she knew it was a joke.
"Of course I will!" Sally exclaimed, still giggling. They shared another kiss. "But, how did you get the ring? I gave it to the other you."
"I saw him on the way back here, and I made him an offer he couldn't refuse: give up the ring, and the crown, or start a holy war. It looked like he had had enough, so he handed them over. But I think that's as smart as he's gonna get." Sonic said, still smiling.
Sally glanced at Sonia's and Manik's windows. "Looks like we have an audience. You know they set this whole thing up." Sally said, and Manik and Sonia disappeared from the windows.
"We'll...have to thank them someday."
"You ready for the meeting tomorrow? And what's so important about it anyway?" she asked him.
"Don't know. Knuckles never explains any of the details. Heck, even at the meeting, he doesn't explain any of the details."
"Yeah. We're probably going to an emergency meeting to help Knuckles decide what to make for dinner." Sally joked. Just the thought of Knuckles cooking sent Sonic into a fit of laughter, and he and Sally returned to their bedroom to pack for the trip.