Freedom Fighter Fizz
by Asher Tye
Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic, SatAM, or anything like that. Someone else does, I just like the characters.
Author's Note: This is a SatAM story that I've been toying with for a few years and decided to post as a one-shot. For those who would point out the flaw, I am very much aware that most animals cannot drink soda because they lack the ability to burp (particularly members of the rodent family, such as squirrels). Still this is Mobius and I'm taking creative liberties with it. Enjoy!!!
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Night pervaded the Great Forest, transforming the usually vibrant colors of the trees and plants into their darker and cooler counterparts, bathed only in the dim reflected light of the many moons of the planet Mobius. It is in this darkness that Princess Sally Alicia, royal heir to the House of Acorn, finds herself sitting on a felled log only a few yards away from her home village of Knothole. Dim lights flicker from the rustic village as it sleeps, its many denizens taking their well-earned rest from their daily battle for survival against the forces of Robotropolis, and its evil master, the cruel Dr. Ivo Robotnik. In point of fact Sally herself is supposed to be securely resting in her bed, though she is now old enough that not being where she is supposed to be, at least where Knothole is concerned, is no longer great cause for alarm where her elderly nursemaid Rosie was concerned. But then again, part of the tradition for this particular ritual was that Rosie be kept as uninformed as possible, at least where what they were doing was concerned.
Before the princess a fire burned and crackled, its flames fed by the very wood of the forest that sheltered the Freedom Fighters, its destructive power kept in check so it did not attempt to consume said forest. Though not an outdoorswoman by nature, necessity had taught the royal squirrel all she needed to know about wilderness survival, and that included creating campfires, which had been her job in this little endeavor. Now she waited for more of her coconspirators to arrive.
As if on cue the crunching sound of fallen twigs arrives at Sally's ears, causing her to turn and look up slightly overgrown path to catch Rotor Tusker slowly making his way towards her, the waddling gait that is the only form of movement his flipper equipped feet would permit on land making him unable to avoid making sounds as he did so. In his arms he held six cups, cleaned and polished to within an inch of their nonexistent lives by the walrus's meticulous nature. After all, dirty vessels would not due for tonight.
She gazed into the young mechanic's face and smiled while waving him over, and laughing a little as the slightly absentminded Rotor began to return the wave before remembering his breakable cargo. Though not one of her first friends, the walrus was indeed one of Sally's best and she often found his little quirks to be his most endearing qualities. Helpful in nature, Sally could count the number of times the poor Tusker had been caught completely overwhelmed trying to give that help to his friends, but still he always tried. As he approached the squirrel took the cups from him and helped him sit down on a small stump that seemed like it had specifically been created to hold his squat frame from the ground.
"So is it ready?" Sally asked as she returned to her own sitting position.
"Bunnie and Antoine are bringing it," he responded. "And Sonic should be here too, he just has to bust Tails out of his room without anyone noticing." An act that would be no doubt over complicated by Sonic's flair for the dramatic, Sally thought. Idly she wondered if she should be on the lookout for any mounds of moving earth signaling some sort of tunneling activity. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, but the sound of panting and wheezing coming from up the trail. Once more she turned in time to see Bunnie Rabbot and Antoine Depardieu, carrying between them a large container not unlike a portable cooler that rattled ever so slightly as they moved out of step. Bunnie's robotic hand was easily able to lift their cargo, though Antoine was quite obviously struggling with his side, on which both his arms were pulled taut.
"Sugar-Twan, you know I can handle this all on my lonesome, ya'll don't have to struggle so much," Bunnie said in her cheery voice as she looked back to her boyfriend.
"No no, Bunnie, it would be tres impropair for a gentleman to allow a woman to 'andle such a heavy load all by herself," Antoine replied, though his voice was strained as he worked to keep the cooler from dropping.
"Yer chivalry is appreciated, Sugar-Twan, but I don't want you dropping this heavy thing on your lil' ol' foot again."
"Bah, it is nothsing, merely zhe slightest of bumps," Antoine responded, though he failed to keep a soft "owie" from escaping his lips as he stepped on the aforementioned injured foot. Finally the duo made it to fire and set their cargo down, prompting Sally and Rotor to set down their cups on top of it. Imperiously Antoine removed one of the cups and lifted it to his face, inspecting it in the firelight as though he were a jeweler looking at a gem under suspicion of being fake.
"Tre magnefique, Rotor, you 'ave done your usual banged up job," the coyote finally said, attempting rather unsuccessfully to mix French and slang in the same sentence.
"Gee thanks Ant, I'm so glad it meets with your approval," the walrus responded sarcastically, a sarcasm that bounced harmlessly off the impenetrable armor that was the coyote's ego.
"And I am so glad to be giving zhis compliment for such good work," was Antoine's retort before he began to glance imperiously around. "Now if only zhat fuelish 'edgehog would arrive, we could actually begin."
"Ask and ye shall receive," came an eternally upbeat voice as the branches of the trees above them rustled and a blue figure dropped down to the ground to land perfectly on his feet. "The hedgehog has landed!"
"Will you keep it down Sonic," Sally commanded, even as Bunnie and Rotor laughed at the hedgehog's antics. "The last thing we need is for someone to come investigate this and see what we're up to."
"Oops, sorry Sal, but you know me, gotta make an entrance."
"Where's Tails? You didn't forget him did you?" Sally asked, noticing that Sonic was sans his ever-present twin-tailed shadow.
"Please Sal; what do you take me for, a chump?" Sonic asked in mock offense. "Kid's right here." So saying Sonic opened his backpack to reveal a very dizzy fox that had been stowed away inside. Sally favored her boyfriend with a loud "harrumph" as she gazed as the slightly woozy fox. Though no doubt Tails was as much to blame for his current state as Sonic, Sonic should have known better than to go spinning with a passenger. Even someone with as high a tolerance for vertigo as Tails wasn't able to participate in one of Sonic's Sonic Spins without experiencing some queasiness.
"Are you all right Tails?" Sally asked as she lifted the cub form his canvass confines, looking at the unfocused cerulean eyes as his head wobbled unsteadily.
"I'm fine… fine Aunt Sally… and Aunt Sally… and Aunt Sally," he responded, which prompted Sally to shoot Sonic another annoyed "how can you be so irresponsible" look. The hedgehog's response was to shrug his shoulders and smile sheepishly. After a few minutes, once the fox's vision had returned to normal, all six of the original Freedom Fighters picked up a cup each and took their seats around the campfire.
"Ladies, gentleman," Rotor began as a long claw reaching over to open the cooler. "May I present for your palate's enjoyment the latest incarnation our very own… Freedom Fighter Fizz." So saying the walrus pulled forth a dark brown glass bottle with a cap on it, inside of which sloshed a very dark liquid that sparkled with suds that bubbled around inside of it.
"Yeah man," Sonic called as he reached out and took a pro-offered bottle. One by one each of the assembled was handed a bottle of their own, while inside the cooler more could be seen buried in slushy, icy water. Once everyone had been served, Rotor reached into his ever present bandolier and pulled forth a bottle opener. This instrument was passed around and soon each formerly empty cup was filled to the brim with the dark liquid.
Freedom Fighter Fizz. As Sally drank her own share of the sweet concoction, she couldn't help but be filled with a warm feeling inside. Though Knothole had grown since the time of the beverage's creation, and indeed there were far superior competitors in existence now that the population of the village had burgeoned from its original numbers of one elderly adult and six children, Freedom Fighter Fizz remained a favorite for the squirrel princess. Though poor by current standards, or even past standards, it represented what felt like one of their first victories against Robotnik's efforts to seize control of the planet, his plan to wipe their very memory from the face of the planet, and thus would always retain a special place in her heart.
The sound of burping and laughter drew her attention over to Sonic and Tails, both of whom had decided to forgo cups in favor of drinking their share of the drink in favor of going directly from the bottles and trying to out-belch each other after every guzzle. Nearby Antoine looked disapprovingly at them as he sipped his own cup as though it contained a fine wine he wanted to savor over carbonated water with syrup. It was his other hand, however, that Sally noticed most of all. This one, not gripping his bottle her own was, currently held the flesh and blood one of Bunnie as she took lady-like sips of her own. Rotor looked proudly at his creation as it swirled in his cup, pouring it occasionally into his mouth and smacking his lips. As she watched this and drank, the Princess smiled.
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It had started with Sonic and Tails, but then, in those days, what didn't. Sonic had been the first to recover from the fall of Mobotropolis, despite being the one to actually watch a loved one be transformed into a robot before his very eyes. Sonic had been the first to begin exploring the outskirts of the forest while the rest of his friends, then numbering only four, remained cowering and crying in their huts, terrified that at some point Robotnik would find them and take them away. This was how he'd come to find Tails, hidden, according to him, in the bough of a tree and bawling his eyes out.
Of course the fox couldn't help but imprint on the hedgehog that'd saved him, and as they grew older, and Tails more mobile, the fox had begun to follow Sonic around, hanging on his every word and action as though they were more precious than anything else in the world. Of course Sonic, ever the attention-hog, did little to discourage this hero-worshipping behavior, especially considering that the little fox often provided a sounding board to whatever complaints he had to the time. But what always got the cub's rapt attention were his hero's descriptions of life before the coup, of the city, of the wondrous toys, of everything that had been swept clean and buried under Robotnik's iron-fisted rule. So it was no surprise to anyone when, one night at dinner, this wound up getting on Rosie's nerves, and inadvertently starting the quest for the Fizz.
It was a dinner like any other, made special only because it was Sonic's night to pick and he had chosen chilidogs as usual, his favorite comfort food. As the children ate their dinner and drank the water provided by their beaver benefactress, an annoyed look had come to the blue hedgehog's face.
"You know what I miss with my chilidogs?" he'd asked of no one in general. When no one gave their customary reply, the hedgehog continued. "Soda…" It was not uncommon for Sonic to lament on treats that were just no longer within the children's power to get, so the older ones simply ignored this for what it was. Unfortunately, the youngest of their number became curious.
"What ith soda?" Tails asked as he munched a chilidog, looking to his adopted "big brother" for an explanation. Having been too young to remember anything of the city that should have been his birthright to be a part of, Tails often had trouble comprehending some of the things his friends reminisced about.
"Soda was a drink Tails," Rosie answered, though she decided to leave it at that. Sonic, however, had other ideas.
"A drink? A DRINK?!" he said incredulously. "It was only the greatest drink in the history of drinks. It was sugar, it was fizzy, it could tickle your nose and if you drank it fast enough you could shoot off a burp that could rattle windows. I once belched so hard I…"
"Sonic!" Rosie warned, not wanting such a vulgar conversation at her table. Sonic, who had not realized he was now standing on top of his chair. Sheepishly the hedgehog sat down and prepared take his first bite of his dinner. This, like a great many things in those days, was something that would never come to pass.
"I want soda," Tails suddenly said as he looked distastefully at the glass of water that had been set before him. This statement immediately drew all attention to him.
"I'm afraid there is no soda," Rosie stated after a moment's pause.
"But I want it," Tails countered. "I wanna burp and bweak glass." Sonic and Rotor stifled a laugh as Rosie cast a baleful look at them. "I wanna dwink it!"
"Sorry bud, it all kinda went 'phoosh' when Mobotropolis got conquered," Sonic replied. "Buttnik's the only one with soda now."
"Den… den make him gimme some Sonic, make him gimme some." To a mind as young as the fox's, the words impossible meant very little, as did the notion that at their current point, it was unlikely Sonic could force Robotnik to surrender any soda… and that was only assuming the nasty minded doctor hadn't dumped whatever stores of it he'd found as useless. Something about the Overlander's personality made it improbable he would have done anything else.
"Sorry kid, maybe later."
"But I want it NOW!!" the fox cub began to wail, banging his little fists on the table and knocking over the water that had been poured for him. As the cold liquid fell into his lap, he looked down and wailed anew, lamenting the unfairness of life in the way that all children told "no" tend to.
"Oooh, look what you've done now," Rosie said as she moved over to the fox and began to clean his mess with a napkin.
"I sob want sob soda!" he continued to cry, though now these sounds came directly to Rosie's ears.
"There is no soda, you have to understand that," she tried to console him.
"But Sonic's had some, and I want some TOO!!"
"Tails if you don't stop this behavior right now, I'm going to send you to your room."
"BUT I WANT SODA!!!"
"That's it," the female beaver said as she hefted the cub from his chair and placed him on the ground. Before Tails could even blink he felt a hand suddenly swat him firmly on his rump, though this only caused him to cry harder. "You will go to your room now."
"But…"
"I do not care," Rosie interrupted. "You've been a very bad boy and are now being punished… and you will stay there with him Sonic."
"Me? What'd I do?"
"You were the one who started him on this tangent, Sonic, so it is only right that you share the punishment."
"But I haven't eaten yet," Sonic whined.
"Maybe going to bed on an empty tummy will teach you to choose your comments much more carefully in the future." Angrily Sonic began to tromp away, casting a nasty look at he fox following him for getting him into trouble. That was probably the one and only time the hedgehog ever truly held a dislike for his two-tailed sidekick, and even then it did dissipate after a night's rest. But none could have known what impact the events of that evening would have on one Rotor Tusker, nor would they until several days later.
As it turned out, Rotor too had been developing a thirst for a soda, not surprising as it had been a favorite treat of the children back in Mobotropolis. But as Rosie had said, there was none to be found, anywhere they could access anyway. So Rotor had come to Sally, asking to borrow Nicole in order to find out how to brew his own soda. Of course the squirrel princess had been hesitant. The little computer she kept with her at all times was all she had left of her father, the banished King Acorn. Not only did the little thing speak to her with words of comfort, it had fast become a close friend and confidant, one Sally was quite sure could easily be broken if one was not careful. In the end a compromise was reached. Rotor would ask Nicole his questions right there in Sally's room, though they would have to be quiet, especially since Rosie, raised on old world ideals about propriety, did not readily approve of boys, save Tails, being in the girls' rooms. Both children were quite surprised when Nicole revealed that, despite the use of massive vats and large equipment when it came to commercial production, it was actually quite simple to mix privately. After studying a list of the ingredients, a simple recipe, and a quick schematic of an actual home brewing apparatus, Rotor thanked the Princess and left, leaving behind a somewhat curious Sally.
She knew the marine Mobian was smart, he'd proved that often enough when Sonic had brought him to the palace and he'd managed to cobble together some new toy from bits and pieces of old ones, but even he had limits. Besides, it was not as though the ingredients she'd seen on the list were readily available. Rosie was forever saying how their food stores were limited and it was unlikely she would be willing to furnish the walrus with the necessary ingredients for any attempt he was planning on the recreation of soda. As the years wore on, Sally would learn to never underestimate the usually laid-back walrus when he was determined to accomplish something.
She first noticed something was up when she saw Rotor, Sonic, and Bunnie whispering conspiratorially amongst themselves on several occasions, with Sonic making a point of gently discouraging Tails from overhearing them. This in and of itself was suspicious as there was very little the hedgehog did not tell the fox. Still, little effort was made to hide from her knowledge, and thus had the princess become privy to what would forever be known as "The Great Sugar" heist, a plan which culminated in Rotor acquiring all of the necessary ingredients, including a full bag of sugar, from the pantry. Though she toyed with the idea of turning them in (it was after unfair to Rosie that they steal supplies), Sally decided against this course of action. Though a part of her would always take the moral high ground and pretend she was trying to be one of the gang, the more rational side of her personality understood that her main reason was to have something to hold over the trio's heads, just in case something sugary sweet did come of this whole escapade.
Thus it was that Rotor got down to the difficult task of experimentation. Difficult mainly because half of his accomplices adamantly refused to be taste-testers, stating pointedly "I am a rabbit, not a little ol' guinea pig." This problem did get solved however, by none other than the accomplice who could not say no to getting as much free soda as he wanted, even if it didn't taste the way he remembered. Sonic, convinced that Tails would no longer represent a threat to the secrecy of their mission, opted to bring the fox in along with himself to help Rotor find the perfect mixture he needed. And so did several weeks of trial and error begin, halted only a few times by upset tummies and childish distraction. More than once did Sally hear her two friends groaning as they walked by her. Finally though, Rotor announced, in that word of mouth, telephone like way children often do when they don't want an adult to know what was going on, that he had a surprise and they should all be ready to sneak out that very night. Thus it was that, after Rosie had tucked everyone in and gone to sleep herself, each of the six children under her care, including Antoine, though he had to be somewhat pressured into doing what he viewed was an act of disobedience, cautiously untucked themselves in and snuck outside and out of Knothole.
Once a secure distance away from any interference Rosie could provide, questions had cascaded from their lips. Though all knew of Rotor's current obsession, none were overly sure if he had succeeded in his quest, and though his two taste-testers had a hunch. A smile on his tusked face, Rotor had pointed to a set of six eight-ounce glasses he'd placed on a small folding table before them, the light of the fire shimmering in their surfaces. And in the center of the ring of cups stood two black bottles that were quite obviously filled with the fruits of the walrus's labor.
"Guys," he said, "and girls," he added so as not to offend Sally and Bunnie, "may I present my latest creation." With a flourish the young inventor popped the top of one of the bottles, eliciting a fizzing sound as he did so. "Fizz." So saying Rotor began to pour a carefully measured amount of the dark liquid into each cup and offering them to his friends. Though the work had been his, it was not in the walrus's nature to withhold a prize from anyone, and even Antoine took hold of a full sixth of the makeshift soda. As each of the children gave a careful sniff of the concoction, warm memories came back to them. Always a leader, Sally opened her mouth and took a tasting sip, soon followed by the others.
The so called soda was warm, had a funny aftertaste, and fell flat within moments of leaving the bottle but, as the liquid cascaded down the squirrel's throat, its sugary essence coating her tongue as it went, this mattered not at all. Suddenly Sally was not trapped in a half completed village in the middle of the Great Forest, not separated from her family by the very walls of reality itself. She was back in the palace, playing with Bunnie and her toys, watching Sonic compete half-heartedly with Antoine for her affections, listening to her father as he spoke lovingly to her at night. All around her, as the other children, save for Tails who had rashly guzzled his entire portion, slowly drank from their own cups, and the Princess watched as their own eyes began to glaze over as they too were visited by phantom images of their pasts. It is said that food is a powerful stimulant for memories, that taste and smell have the power to kindle images long forgotten, images that caused happy smiles to form on each of their faces. The only exceptions were Rotor, who sat complacently sipping his drink and watching benevolently as his friends enjoyed his creation, and Tails who was busy whining over the unfairness of everyone else having soda and himself having none, and trying to get someone to give him more.
"It's not very good," Rotor admitted as he looked lovingly at the now flat soda.
"It's the most wonderful thing I've ever tasted," Sally countered, taking another sip of her cup and remembering all the wonderful days she and her friends had spent playing in the royal courtyard under Rosie's watchful eye.
"Zhis is… magnifique," Antoine offered up.
"A number one, Rot, A number one."
"It's a real delight, sugar-walrus."
"I want mooore…" With this unanimous consensus, the newly dubbed Freedom Fighter Fizz was deemed something of a success. With a smile on his face, Rotor, again, never one to horde from others what could be readily shared, poured the pining Tails a second cup of his elixir, indeed the last of the concoction he had, in order to quiet the kit. His stores depleted, his presentation concluded, Rotor once more rose on his stocky legs. Their bellies full of the first taste of their old lives they'd had in a very long while, his friends mimicked him and together they returned to the hut they shared, ready for sleep.
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As her recollection of the creation of this delicious brew came to an end, Sally's smile only grew. Though he only tinkered with his recipe rarely now, Rotor still occasionally worked to improve upon the Fizz, hoping to at last perfect the drink, though this had taken a back seat to many other projects, deemed more critical to the resistance. Still, Sally looked forward to those times when her large friend was able to unveil his latest advancement, especially since the walrus was always eager to share with his friends. Quietly he took another draught from his own bottle, his eyes opening slightly at the sound a loud belch issued forth by Sonic, much to Tails's delight. As she lifted her own cold beverage to her lips, Sally couldn't help but smile. This may not have been the life she'd been born into, but it was definitely one she could live with…
The End.
Perhaps not my best work, but I wanted to give this a go. I know it may read like a commercial for Coke or something to that effect, but I thought this would have been a cute way for the Freedom Fighters to have scored their first victory against Robotnik. Though he has successfully destroyed their lives and sundered their civilization, he has done nothing that they cannot take back with time and patience. Hope you like it and as always, read and review. Now back to Reversion.