Why Didn't We Think Of This Before?
Sonic and all related elements are (c) Sega and Archie Comics. I am not affiliated with these parties, nor do I desire to.
This story is ©2001 MC Bomberman, all rights reserved. May not be freely distributed.
Sally did not like what she was seeing. It was almost as if Shadow had had a tracking device when he escaped to Knothole, but he hadn't. Nevertheless, there was a squadron of robots heading in a straight line towards Knothole. Grabbing Nicole, she ran to get Geoffrey St. John, the head of the Secret Service.
St. John was busy taking care of a very important task: cleaning his nails. He was thus occupied when Sally ran in.
"Geoffrey!" she yelled. "We're under attack!"
Geoffrey sighed. "No, we're not. If there were an attack, my spy network would have heard of it. I know of no such attack; therefore, we are safe." He continued his beauty work.
"But I have readouts from Ni-"
"Princess," he groaned, "don't bother me unless it's something important." As an afterthought, he added, "And don't leave the palace, either. You know your father doesn't want you associating with the riffraff..."
Sally had already stormed out.
Shadow was bored stiff. He was sitting in a small room where a teacher was trying to teach him. So far, he was halfway through the fourth grade, not bad for just one morning. At first, he was excited about increasing his mental capacity, but now he couldn't believe how bored he was. The teacher had realized this and was giving him a ten minute break. Shadow was lazily looking out the window when a gleam of metal caught his eye. No, it wasn't a Robian (robotisized Mobian); it had looked more like a spy orb. Telling his teacher he'd be right back, he ran outside.
He ran around town aimlessly, keeping his eyes peeled for that... thing. Without warning he ran into Sally.
"Oh, sorry, Princess!" he said hastily. "I thought I saw a spy orb out the window; do you have..."
He stopped as Sally picked herself up, looked past Shadow, and began charging the Sword of Acorns, which she had evidently been carrying. "Shadow," she whispered, "duck." Quickly, he crouched down as she fired a jet-blue stream of energy over his head. He turned around to see the spy orb on the ground, smoking.
"Oh, great. It must have followed me here last night..." Shadow said. He turned to Sally and said, "I'm really sorry; I didn't know-"
She cut him off. "I understand. There's nothing you can do about it now. Now come on, Eggman's already sent his army, and we've got to get the crew out of class."
Science was more boring than ever. Since Nate Morgan, their normal teacher, had been robotisized, they were stuck with a substitute that didn't know anything! All he could do was read out of the book, which is what he was doing. Between the "teacher's" incessant talking and Mina's incessant whispering, Sonic almost fell asleep countless times, but every time Bunnie would press her cold metal hand to his face and wake him up.
Suddenly, "class" was disrupted by Shadow yelling in the town square just outside the school. Sonic couldn't make out all of it, but it sounded like Robotnik was attacking the village.
It didn't sound like he was getting a very good reception, but Tails seized the opportunity and raised his hand. When the "teacher" called on him, he asked in his cutest voice, "'Teacher, may we please be excused to save the world?'"
The substitute replied, "I thought you were too old for that, Miles. No, you may not."
Almost on cue, the PA system cut on: "Teachers, please pardon the interruption. Will the following students please report to the office: Sonic Hedgehog, Tails Prower, Bunnie Rabbot, Rotor Walrus, Amy Rose, and Mina Mongoose."
All six quickly ran out of the room, with Tails flashing a smug glance at the "teacher" on the way out.
Elsewhere on Mobius, the Floating Island to be exact, Knuckles was making yet another journey into the unknown. "So, where are we going this time, Archimedes?"
The fire ant grinned. "Do you remember how the Dark Legion were first defeated?"
"Yeah. The guardian, oh, what's-his-name, Steppenwolf, opened a portal to another dimension and sent them through it."
"Do you remember how he opened it?"
"He... oh... it had something to do with the emerald..."
"Right. He learned, from the fire ants no less, how to focus its energy telepathically. With his mind. He couldn't do much but open portals, though, since most of its power was holding up the island. But," Archimedes added with a mischievous grin, "you've got a spare!"
"Y'all might not wanna get on that sub's bad side, Tails," Bunnie said. "Ya never know how long we'll have him."
Tails just shrugged as the Freedom Fighters arrived at the office where Sally was waiting. "Good, you're all here. No doubt you've heard Shadow yelling in the streets. Now come on; we don't have much time before the 'bots get within firing range."
"Um, Sally, how are we going to do this?" Mina asked. "No offense, but we aren't exactly a match for a squadron of robots."
Sally just cast a sidelong glance at Mina, then said to the group, "I can set up a reflective shield using the Sword. Once we... hang on. Let's go outside and get Shadow, then we'll discuss the plan."
Robo-Robotnik was as giddy as an evil dictator could be. His plan had been so simple, how could it have failed? When Shadow had escaped yesterday, he had simply sent a spy orb after him to Knothole. He had gambled on him going straight to Knothole and not checking behind him for spies. Since Shadow had essentially been born yesterday, he had acted as Robotnik had predicted. When the orb finally registered another life form, Robotnik forgot all the day's troubles for he had found Knothole!
"Snively, get the biggest battle squadron you can; we've got a town, er, city to level!" he yelled to Snively, changing his mind when he saw all the new buildings the Acorns had built: the new castle, the school, the prison, everything.
Getting a sudden idea, he ran to a window on the east side of his command tower. Slowly opening it, he nearly punched himself in the face.
The top of the castle was clearly visible over the trees.
"SNIVELY!" he bellowed, "GET YOUR censored UP HERE NOW!!!"
"What is it sir?" he asked five minutes later, out of breath.
"WHY THE censored DIDN'T WE censored> SEE THAT censored> CASTLE BEFORE, censored> IT!"
"Well, sir, maybe we just didn't, um, look out this window?"
"DON'T GIVE ME A censored> EXCUSE!!!"
"Well, don't blame me, sir-"
"I CAN censored> BLAME WHOEVER I censored> WANT TO!!!"
Anyway, that didn't go over well. But that was yesterday, this was today. Robotnik's squadron of ComBots were about an hour away from Knothole, and the mad scientist/evil dictator/demented robotisized overlander/Eggman was savoring every minute of it.
"According to this scope, the troops are only about an hour away." The Freedom Fighters were standing around Sally, waiting for instructions. "Now, once we get there: Sonic, Mina, Tails, and Shadow, you four will..." Sally quickly laid out her plan. It wasn't the best ever; in fact, it was of the worst. But for right now, it was all they had...
"You're a very fast learner, Knuckles!"
"Thanks, Archimedes."
The emerald that Knux was using was a spare he had received long ago. He and Sonic had stumbled across a hidden grotto filled with power rings and chaos emeralds. Naturally, he and Sonic got in a fight: Sonic became Super Sonic and Knuckles became Hyper Knuckles. Unfortunately, their massive energy output had caused the grotto to implode, but some emeralds survived, one of which Knuckles now held. Since he had already bonded with it once, he found it surprisingly easy to control.
Archimedes realized this and made a proposal. "I think it's time you learned how to conjure a portal."
"You mean like the one Steppenwolf used?"
"Mm-hmm."
Kunx and Archimedes exchanged mischievous looks.
Sonic, Tails, Shadow, and Mina led the charge. They were the fastest, so they were sent to intercept the army and find out if Robotnik himself was leading it.
"I should let you know," Shadow began, "that Robotnik has a new weapon."
"And that would be...?" Sonic asked.
"Somehow he's integrated the robotisizer into his body."
"WHAT?!" Sonic and Tails stopped in surprise, which caused Shadow and Mina, who hadn't stopped, to double back.
Once they were together, Shadow continued. "All he has to do is touch you, and Boom! You're robotisized."
"How do you know?" Mina asked.
"He threatened me by robotisizing an overlander right in front of me. I also saw a video clip of his first testing it."
"Alright," Sonic said, taking hold of the situation. "Mina, you run back and tell Sal about this; you two, let's keep going."
Mina had no time to argue, for they were already gone. Heaving a large sigh and making a face, she turned back to warn the other group.
"Ya know, Arc?"
"What?"
"I'm getting a strong urge to brag."
"Pride comes before the fall, Knux..."
"Well, can I at least let the guys at Knothole know?"
"I don't see any harm in that. Just be careful about what you do; you're not quite at a consistent level of skill yet."
Tails, Shadow, and Sonic had arrived. As was the custom, insults were hurled before the "armies" began tearing each other apart.
"So, Shadow, you have decided to rebel against your creator?" Robotnik began.
Shadow's reply was like ice. "I don't belong to you; all you did was drop an emerald in a console. You didn't create anything."
"Oh, Mr. Eggman?" Tails called in as innocent a voice he could make, which was fast becoming not-so-innocent.
"What, Rodent?"
"Are you the walrus?"
"Oh, no."
"Oh, come on, be honest."
"I hate that song," Sonic muttered.
"Enough with these censored> delays, twits; I've got a town to level."
"Now just a minute you pompous old windbag!" Sonic defiantly yelled. "You're not going a step further unless I say so!"
All one thousand ComBots pointed their guns at Sonic.
"And I say you can." Sonic said quickly as he ran back into the safety of the forest, Shadow and Tails close behind.
To make a long, drawn-out story short, the two armies met at a standstill. Sally managed to use the Sword of Acorns, a magic sword passed down through the family, to form a shield around the Freedom Fighters. On the other hand, the few robots that Rotor took out using a gun he pulled out of his shop hardly made a dent in Eggman's legion. Time was running out as Sally began to lose concentration and the sword's glow began to fade...
"JULIAN, SON OF IVO, PREPARE TO BE EXILED!" a voice yelled from behind the Freedom Fighters. They all turned to see none other than Knuckles, hovering five feet above the ground with a chaos emerald hovering between his hands. "Let down your shield, Sally; I got you covered," he said more quietly.
Sally showed no sign of letting up, and Knux sighed. "People never change," he muttered. Looking up at the army, he made a face as the emerald between his hands began to glow. An instant later a green light flooded the area. When it cleared, the army was gone.
Eggman was in a panic. Quickly he turned his hovercraft to retreat back to Robotropolis, but another green flash disabled it. With dread he turned to face Knuckles...
There was fire in his eyes. He walked up to Robotnik and a green light surrounded the doctor. From where Sonic sat, he couldn't tell what Knux was saying, but it didn't sound like anything this author would write down. After a while, Knux motioned for Sally to come over.
"His terminal inputs are here and here," he said to her. "You should be able to plug Nicole in and find out if he has any spare robotic bodies and if so, where he's keeping them." Sally did so, and Nicole quickly found the location. Sally sent Sonic, Tails, and Shadow out to destroy them. This done, Knux called back to the Freedom Fighters, "Grab on to a tree or something; you don't want to get blown away."
They found out why soon enough. In the air behind Robo-Robotnik, something like a rip opened up, and strong wind began blowing toward it.
"It" was a portal, and Robotnik knew it. No longer paralyzed, he grabbed onto the thing he could find. Being a robot, his eyes were expressionless, but nevertheless, he knew his hour had come. Or had it...
"Farewell, Robotnik," Knuckles yelled over the howl of the wind, "and I bet no one there isn't a single person who's sorry to see you go!"
His response shocked everyone. A wide grin shot across his face as he let go. As he was flying into the portal, he yelled back, "You have just sealed your children's fate, rodents!"
No one knew, or cared then, what he meant by that. As Knuckles closed the portal, the reality sunk in: Robotnik was gone. Provided, of course, that Sonic and company were successful.
Sonic wasted no time. Since he knew where the secret room was, he didn't bother going through the command center; he drilled straight down to it. Shadow and Tails followed. What they saw both amazed and horrified them: a circular room filled with an assortment of robotic bodies. Some were short and squat, some were tall and muscular, but only one was missing. "Eggman," whispered Tails.
Then, in a scene worthy of a 50's horror movie, all of the robots flickered to life. Robotnik was not inside any of them; instead, he had programmed them to kill anyone and everyone in their path, starting with the ones in the room.
A raging battle ensued. Sonic, Tails, and Shadow versus roughly fifteen Robotnik robots, and the Freedom Fighters were losing. The robots were nearly invincible, but Sonic and Tails refused to give up. Shadow, on the other hand, cowered in a corner. He was scared, for he had never seen a true battle before.
Tails airlifted Soinc to the top of the domed room so they could catch their breath. The robots took this opportunity to notice Shadow and began advancing towards him. Shadow knew he had to act fast. Fear gave him adrenaline, and adrenaline gave him power. It also unlocked instinct given to him before birth. Not knowing what he was doing, he jumped into the middle of the swarm and yelled, "CHAOS CONTROL" as a green light filled the room.
Sonic and Tails landed softly on the ground. The robots were in pieces, and Shadow was lying in the center not moving. Fearing the worst, Sonic ran up to him and checked for a pulse which, fortunately, was there. Just then, Knuckles slid down the tunnel and surveyed the damage as Sonic and Tails relayed the battle to him.
"Yeah, Chaos Control," Knux replied. "That's the attack I used on the ComBots, 'cept mine was a bit more controlled, no pun intended. He probably used his emerald to do it, though, and it couldn't keep him conscious and do the move at the same time, so he fainted." Knux walked over to Shadow and touched his emerald to him. He woke up, and was quickly filled in on what he did.
"So, how do we get out of here?" Tails asked. "I can't airlift three people."
"Oh, I can take care of that," Knux said, opening a portal to Knothole. Tails and Shadow walked through, but Sonic stayed behind.
"Knux?" he asked.
"Yeah?"
"Um... well... do you know a place a guy can get a decent diamond ring?"
The news of Robo-Robotnik's exile quickly spread to Robotropolis and the Overlanders living there. They sent a delegation to King Acorn, telling him that they would accept his rule as long as they were properly represented in the government. To everyone's joy, he agreed.
Living quarters were found for the residents of Knothole in an area not touched by the toxic chemicals. Mina and Amy decided to room together, as well as Sonic with Tails and Sally with Bunnie. Rotor, Shadow, and Antione each got spots by themselves, and the rescued Robians and the other residents were able to find appropriate space as well.
Tails sat with Bunnie and Antione, letting the day's events sink in. He tried to ignore the couple across from him who were essentially making small talk with lots of creative names for each other. Tails sighed. It was only six o'clock, early considering all that had happened that day. but now, everything was perfect. Robotnik was gone, Mobotropolis was back in Acorn's hands, they had made peace with the Overlanders, what could possibly...
Wait, not everything was right yet. Sally was still mad at Sonic, the robians were still robians, and he still didn't know where his parents were, not to mention Athiar's saying he wasn't... Tails quickly shook these thoughts from his head. "The glass is half full," he told himself as he picked up his drink and tried to take a sip, but he put it down once he realized the glass was empty.
That night there was a huge celebration. Everyone in the city turned out to the newly declared main square where a pavilion had been set up. There was music, a buffet, and there were rumors that Rotor was going to bring out a karaoke machine. Everyone was having a blast except Sonic. He sat outside the main group, fingering a small box, wondering what to say to Sally. She still wasn't speaking to him, and he didn't know why...
"Hi, Sonic!" said Mina as she sat down next to Sonic and put her arm on his shoulders. "How's it going?"
"Mina, not now," said Sonic dryly.
Mina only scooted closer to him, making it look even worse when Sally walked by. She took one look at the "couple" and left.
Sonic tried to get up, to chase after her, but Mina gave him a bear hug and wouldn't let him go. "Mina," Sonic said, almost in panic, "you're not my girlfriend, so let go!"
Mina only giggled.
"Mina, if you don't let go, you'll kill me."
Finally Mina spoke. "How will not talking to a girl who doesn't care what happens to you kill you?"
"Because I care."
Mina said nothing and didn't let go.
Sonic couldn't get out, and even if he could, she was just as fast as him. Finally, an idea came to his head. "Mina, I don't want to do this, but you leave me no choice." He curled into a spindash and took off, breaking Mina's hold. She stood there for a few seconds, then took off after him.
Sonic finally caught up to Sally. "Sal, we need to talk," he said quickly.
Sally gave him a look and asked, "Where's your girlfriend?"
"That's what we need to talk about: she is not, nor ever has been my girlfriend."
"Could've fooled me."
"Sal, I was giving her running lessons! You want her to be a productive Freedom Fighter, right? She has to learn how to use her skills!"
"Well, you always find a way to spend time with her."
"She finds ways to spend time with me! I've been trying to find you, but you've always been in the castle. I've tried to call, tried to visit, but someone always says 'The princess is not associating with commoners'!"
"Well, I'm sorry, but I haven't seen my family in forever. Can't I spend a little quality time with them?"
"I don't have a problem with that. What I'm worried about is that you called me a commoner. Is that how I look to you?"
Sally tried to walk away, but Sonic called after her.
"Sally, if you leave now, I can't say that you'll be able to come back."
This only made a bit of sense to her, so she turned around and asked, "What do you mean?"
Sonic looked down to the ground. When he looked up, he was on the verge of tears. "I mean," he said slowly, "that I don't have much emotion left. If you leave me now, you take a part of me with you. If I lose any more of myself, I'll die emotionally."
"If you lose 'any more'?" she asked softly.
"Remember the music box? We were just kids, Robotnik had just taken over, remember? We all woke up with our hearts desire: Bunnie wasn't robotic, Rotor and Tails had their families, and we... were getting married." After a brief pause, Sonic continued. "I didn't want to go; none of us did. But we had to... And when we did, I left part of me at the alter, waiting, hoping for the day it would be real.
"So if you are going to ignore how much I love you because of a small misunderstanding on both our parts, then I can't say you will ever be able to come back. Don't make me talk about the time I thought you were dead."
"Are you trying to put me on the spot?"
"No, I just want you to know the kind of decision you're making. I'm not a loner, Sally; I never have been. So, now, I want to know if you'll be there for me if I'll be there for you."
"For how long? I don't understand..."
Suddenly, Mina popped up. "Sonic, why'd you leave me all alone like that?"
Sonic fought to control his anger. Why, of all people, did it have to be her? His reply was a little more snappish than he meant it to be, but it only drove the point home. "Because I had to ask Sally a question."
Turning to Sally, he dropped to one knee, pulled out the box, looked into her eyes, gulped, and made a proposition.
"Princess Sally Alicia Acorn, will you marry me?"
Sally almost said, "As if you had to ask," but she remembered how she'd been acting lately, so she simply said, "Yes."
Mina gave a loud "hmph!" and stormed away.
Tails, Rotor, and Antione were being "entertained" by an old Robian telling war stories; Tails was particularly interested in the planes. Finally, he asked, "Why did the army have both hovercrafts and planes? Why not one or the other?"
"Because they're each useful for different things," Rotor explained. "Hovercraft are useful for heavy objects, short distances, and when you don't have room to take off. Planes are better for long distances since they tend to be more efficient than hovercraft that way."
Tails had a look in his eye. "What if we built both in one? Takes off like a hovercraft; flies like a plane."
"Well, that'd be kinda expensive, plus it might not be very efficient..."
Antione, however, muttered something about not thinking of it before. Out loud, he said, "Tails, do you think you could draw a design for zis contraption?"
"Got a pencil?"
He did, and Tails began scribbling on the paper tablecloth. He was thus occupied when Sally stood up to make an announcement. The pavilion fell silent.
"I have three things to say: an apology, bad news, and good news.
"First, the apology. I want to let all of you know, especially Rotor, Tails, Bunnie, and Antione, that I regret brushing you off as 'commoners' for the past few weeks. This isn't the right attitude nobility should have, and I hope I never do it again.
"Second, the bad news. Normally I wouldn't tell you this, but I don't feel like keeping secrets from you." She took a deep breath and continued. "Robo-Robotnik was not sent, as we thought, to the Zone of Silence. He was sent three hundred years into the future. While this does get him off of our hands, I publicly ask that we be ready for him by telling our children, and that they tell their children. This message should not be lost to the threads of time.
"Finally, the good news. I never realized how much I was hurting all of you in my absence until Sonic gave me a wake-up call half an hour ago. What he said is between you and me, but I will tell you this." She took another breath. "After at least ten years of fighting multiple Robotniks, Sonic and I have finally realized how much we need each other. Therefore, I am proud to announce-" She held up her hand so the light would catch the diamond on her ring. "-our engagement."
The crowd applauded, and several people cheered.
Sonic tapped Rotor on the shoulder, whispered something in his ear, and the two silently slipped out unseen while Tails showed his completed drawing to Antione.
Five minutes later, Sonic was at the karaoke. But, instead of lending his voice to the song, he had brought his guitar. He was cranking out a beautiful rendition of "Pinball Wizard" by the Who. When that was over, the crowd loved him so much he just started playing. Nothing in particular, he just played what came to mind. Tails meanwhile tore off his drawing and handed it to Rotor.
"It looks good," he said.
"Can you help me build it?" Tails asked?
"Boy, where are we going to get the money for it?"
"I talked with Ant. He says the Royal Guards can pay for it."
"Well, my apartment doesn't have a workshop big enough..."
"Try to switch with Sonic; our apartment has a garage."
As Sonic went to bed that night, he felt, for the first time in a long time, that everything was alright for once. However, there was a small nagging feeling in the back of his head that the job wasn't quite finished yet...
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