Strange, Yet Familiar
As Sonic's head finally stopped spinning, his heart still aching from the decision he had to make, Sonic stood up to look around at his surroundings. The truth was that he didn't want to use the Chaos Control abilities of his Super Sonic form to reset that world that was created when Dr. Robotnik had interfered with his and Ultra Megaman's using their abilities to restore their own worlds.
Sonic had wanted to find a way to save this new world! After all, he had Sally back, and she was not roboticized! Uncle Chuck was once again working in the field and not shuttered away & having to work as part of the ruling council for that usurper Ixas Naugus! Antoine was no longer lying in a coma, and even though Bunnie was once again part robot, Sonic could tell that she had gratefully accepted the tradeoff for having her husband whole and healthy once more. Sonic could even accept the strange change that had befallen his once beloved pet Muttski.
He wanted to save them all, But Robotnik's argument was too strong: That Mobius, which should have never been, was dying, and unless Sonic used Chaos Control to return them all to their original world they'd all die with it! Besides, Amy, Cream and some of the others were still missing, and Sonic couldn't just abandon them, so he relented and did as Robotnik suggested.
Even though Robotnik had promised that he wouldn't interfere this time, reasoning that he wanted a planet that he could rule, not one that was dying, as he'd tried to use Chaos Control Sonic had felt a strange lurching sensation that tore him away from Tails and the others. As Sonic's vision cleared, he saw that he was in a forest, very much like the Knothole of his original world had been in before it was destroyed. Had he succeeded then, or had the energies of that dying world (or perhaps Dr. Robotnik's unseen interference) thrown his efforts off again?
"There you are!" the voice of Sally Acorn said from behind him, "What have you been doing here, taking a chilidog-induced nap?"
As Sonic spun around in surprise, he saw that it was, in fact, his beloved Sally behind him, and as the sound of her voice had indicated, she was not roboticized! He didn't know how she had managed to sneak up behind him when she wasn't there just a second ago, but right now he didn't care. Before she could say anything else, Sonic had her wrapped up in a powerful hug, tears streaming down his face.
"Sonic?" Sally asked him, amusement and concern equally coloring her voice, "What's up with you?"
"Nothing. Nothing's wrong anymore," Sonic replied was he pulled away from her to wipe the tears from eyes from his sudden outburst, "I'm just glad to see that you're okay!"
"Of course I'm okay," Sally said with fond affection, "You must have had a doozy of a nightmare!"
"Something like that," Sonic sighed, "Still, I'll be glad if it's over now. Say, you didn't happen to spot Robotnik on the way here, had you? I lost track of him during the Chaos…"
"Robotnik?" Sally interrupted in surprise, "Did you seriously hit your head, or are you suffering from a chilidog-fog? Robotnik's been gone for a year now, as you should know since we got rid of him together. It's Snively that has been giving us problems since then with his frequent attacks."
Sonic was feeling seriously confused now. Robotnik gone? Snively in charge? Sonic might have believed he'd somehow gone back in time if it weren't for Sally's comment about having "got rid of him together." As Sally had been in a coma at the time of the original Robotnik's defeat, that ruled the possibility of time travel out.
"You know, you do look different, somehow," Sally continued, "Hope you didn't starve yourself to look like that, although I'm jealous that you can slim down that quickly. Anyway, we should get back to Knothole to discuss Snively's latest attack. I'll race you: winner chooses the dinner to treat the loser to!"
"Wait! Did you just say…" Sonic started to ask just as Sally races off at super-speed. His jaw dropping in shock, Sonic finishes, "…race? Just what is going on around here?"
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Robotropolis, Dr. Eggman gets unsteadily to his feet as he holds his head and mutters, "That's the last time I let the hedgehog drive!"
"But sir," Orbot interjected, "you were the one who said that your interference before was what resulted in the rebooted Mobius self-destructing."
"Quiet you!" Eggman yelled at his faithful robotic servant, "I have half a mind to use you for parts to rebuild the Egg Mobile!"
"Mon Dieu!" Cubot exclaimed as his attention was focus in away from Eggman's and Orbot's argument, "Are we where I think we are?"
Dr. Eggman, at first annoyed at Cubot's interrupting his rant, finds himself gasping in astonishment and falling to his knees as his eyes start watering up. "Can it be?" Eggman asks in disbelief, "Could that hedgehog have done something right for a change? It's Robotropolis! I'd recognize that polluted skyline anywhere! And it's completely undamaged! No radioactive fallout, no force-field! This is better than anything I could have dreamed of!"
As he speaks, a company of SWATbots heads towards them. As he notices them, Eggman says, "And are those SWATbots? I haven't seen one of those in ages! They may not be Egg Pawns or Dark Egg Legionnaires, but they're a welcome sight all the same!"
The smile vanishes off his face as they SWATbots aim the laser cannons at him and one says, "Organic life-form, surrender for roboticization!"
"What!?" Eggman exclaimed in outrage, "You DARE talk to your master this way? It's me: Dr. Ivo Robotnik!"
After a brief pause, the SWATbot who'd spoken said in response, "Biometrics scan match: negative. Voiceprint match: negative. Thermogenic signature match: negative. Conclusion: organic life-form's claim of bring former master Ivo Robotnik are false. Records showing former master's deceased status is sustained. Current master Snively's orders are sustained: capture all organic life-forms for roboticization."
The news that he was supposed to be dead in this world surprised Eggman, but he did not let it show. Instead, he commanded, "Then take me to your master, I'll clear up all of this with him personally!"
After calculating for a moment, the SWATbot said, "Request does not conflict with standing orders, organic life-form will be taken to master Snively prior to roboticization."
After signaling to Orbot and Cubot to follow, Eggman allowed the squad of SWATbots to lead him to the egg shaped building he recognized as having once been his own headquarters.
As Sally reached the secret entrance to Knothole Village, she thought about how moving this fast has become second nature to her now. Since she and Sonic had absorbed the power from the Deep Power Stones, she had shown no signs of slowing down, nor any indications that the power was causing any harm to her body as Dr. Charles had feared it would.
She was surprised that Sonic hadn't yet caught up, as that same power had made him faster too, but maybe he was being nice and giving her a head start. That was his mistake, though, as she had won this contest, and now she was determined to make him eat something healthy. Sonic was seriously starting to worry her by his reactions and his talk about the long-gone Robotnik.
When she reached the bottom of the slide, Sally was startled to see that Sonic was already here, chowing down on a huge pile of chilidogs and looking more like his usual self. "Sonic?" Sally said in confusion, "When did you pass me? I thought…you were…"
Sonic, looking up from his meal, smiled as he said, "Oh, hey Sal! What's up?"
Sally, sighing in resignation, smiled as she said, "Okay, okay. I guess you win, and a deal's a deal, so I guess you get to treat me to your choice of dinner. I'm guessing it'll be chilidogs again."
Sonic, scratching his head in confusion, said, "Uh Sal, I'm as fond of a chilidog dinner date as much as anything, but what are you talking about?"
Sally, looking at him askance, approached and said with a smile, "Come on, Sonic, you're not going to make me say it, are you?" When Sonic continued to look at her appearing confused, Sally continued, "Out in the Great Forest, I challenged you to a race, betting that the winner would choose what dinner they would treat the loser to."
Sonic, still confused, looked at Sally with concern as he said, "Sal, I didn't meet you in the Great Forest. I've been here most of the day downing this monster pile of dogs!"
As Sally's sense of unease grew in response to what Sonic had just said, she heard from the tree slide behind her a voice (which she recognized as also being Sonic's) as it called out, "Hey Sally! I can't believe I'm saying this, but slow down for a minute, will ya?"
As she spun around, she saw the Sonic she'd met earlier in the Great forest emerge from the slide. Looking back and forth between them, she thought to herself, Two Sonics? That's impossible! The other Sonic also looked rather confused himself as he looked at his double, then his confusion cleared as he said, "I get it now: Eggman must have gotten back before me somehow and set all this up as a trap! Well I've had enough of his antics! First, I'm taking care of you, you fake! Then I'm going to figure out whether 'Sally' is an infiltrator unit or her roboticized self in disguise and will deal with her accordingly. Then I'm going to tear this place apart, find where Eggman is hiding, and teach him a lesson that he won't soon forget!" Then he charged at them.
As the SWATbots led Eggman into the control room, Snively spun around in the chair to face them as he said, "Well, well, what do we have here? An overlander? That's a rare sight in these parts!"
"So it is true, you did take command from me, you double-crossing little traitor!" Eggman growled.
Snively looked at Eggman in suspicion as he said, "What are you talking about? I've never seen you before in my life!"
Perhaps he really doesn't recognize me, Eggman reasoned, Maybe in this world, Ivo Robotnik looked much like the one whom I replaced in Sonic's world. Aloud, he said, "You may not recognize me, but my name is Ivo Robotnik, and that's my chair you're sitting in!"
Snively laughed as he said, "You're Robotnik? That's a good one! I don't think that anyone's ever tried that one on me before!"
Eggman glowered at the little man who so resembled his nephew as he said, "I don't expect you to take me at my word, given how my appearance may differ from the Robotnik you knew, but I doubt that you'll still be laughing once I do this:" Then, in a loud, clear voice, he called out, "Voice command: reboot and recalibrate! Authorization code: Omega, Bravo, Alpha, Yolo, Indigo, Vector, Omega!"
The electronic voice of the control room's computer acknowledged, "Command code recognized, recalibrating biogenic profile. Welcome back, Ivo Robotnik."
"What?" Snively yelped in astonishment, "But how?"
"I already told you, you little turncoat!" Eggman growled, "I am the master of this place, and I know it far better than you ever will! Now…"
Snively leapt out of the chair and begins dusting it off as he said, "Here you go, sir! I was just keeping it warm for you!"
Knocking Snively out of the way, Eggman said disdainfully, "Out of my way, you sniveling little coward! How the Mobians hadn't managed to take control of this place while you were in charge strikes me as something of a small miracle. I'll think of an appropriate punishment for you later! For now, I want you to tell me everything that you know about what happened to the Robotnik that ruled here before, and what's been going on here since then. Afterwards, we're going to give those Freedom Fighters the biggest surprise of their lives!"
End of chapter
