DARK TALES OF MOBIUS:
GENESIS
By Coopland
Based on the Video Game 'Sonic The Hedgehog' by Sonic Team, published by Sega. All characters in this story are taken from officially licensed Sonic material and are without permission. This story is a fan work for non-profit distribution.
Sirens blasted from the speakers of the automated patrol cars, shooting through the streets of the once grand Clock Work Zone, which had become nothing more then Scrap. Sonic The Hedgehog had no idea how the Zone had become what it had become - a broken run down mess of neglected tarmac and crumbling stone, almost always overcast by a cloud of smog, it'd been this way since before he was born but since he was abandoned, he couldn't ask his parents to find out how it had happened and no one on the streets cared about such things. The Zone was little more then Scrap now.
No, Sonic had no idea how the Zone had come to be what it had become and he didn't care all that much either. All that mattered to the blue Hedgehog was the race.
Slamming his right foot down on his board and twisting it right slightly to open up the air-intake valve, he reached out a gloved paw for a crooked lamppost and let the momentum swing him around the corner, reaching with his free hand to grab the bottom of his board. The patrol cars being little more then semi-aware drones had not been prepared for such a move and continued to hurtle down the street scanning for their now missing target. Though the manoeuvre had freed him from his pursuers, it had taken him off course in the race and cost him first place. Fortunately the Hedgehog knew these streets better then the back of his own paw. With a quick right down a back alley and another right onto the street Sonic found himself almost back on course, all he needed to do was take left at the 'abandoned' coffee shop, The Groovy Train which would take him towards The Outland War Memorial where he'd make a right after that he'd been on course for final straight. Sonic grinned a little, he could still win this! Hell, this detour may have actually saved him some time. Thank god these street racers only had one rule: Ex-Gear only; other than that anything went.
Catching up with his main competition in the race, The Babylon Rogues the Hedgehog closed the air-intake value completely for a couple of seconds before snapping it open sharply, the sudden rush of air running through the board's engine gave a much needed extra boost and sent Sonic zooming past the feathered trio, giving a mocking salute which was returned with a similar but much ruder gesture.
"Hope you like the taste of my dust, Jetlag!" Called Sonic as he neared the finish line,
"% you Hedgehog!" Came the reply from the leader, a Hawk named Jet, "I'll ^$*#&$ kill you!"
The grin on the teenage Hedgehog widened, he was going to win! That prize money was his, he'd finally beat these losers. The Rogues claimed to be descended from a legendary band of warriors, but they were nothing more than talk and bluster, that bear with the red hat and bad attitude was just a thug and then there was that mongoose with the shades who thought he was some kind of superstar, they'd all beat him, before. Breaking his bones and beating him within an inch of his life to do so but finally he'd won without having to resort to their level, without using dirty trick or underhanded manoeuvres, Sonic had beat them with nothing but skill and speed!
Speed was the key. Sonic had always known that and being fast on his feet came natural to the Hedgehog, moving at super speeds had earned Sonic the only name he'd ever had and he'd been determined to prove that he was the fastest thing alive; on foot or otherwise, now he finally had!
Then he saw it and his face fell, the end had been in sight! He'd been so close!
The Patrol Cars he'd narrowly avoided earlier turned the corner and blocked the Hedgehog's view of his goal, tearing towards him.
With a twist of the foot Sonic tried a one-eighty only to be met with a clothesline from the brute of the Rogues, a brutish Albatross named Storm. Sonic's lower body continued to move with his board briefly before the Ex-Gear zipped off leaving the Hedgehog tumbling rapidly through the air towards cold unfeeling concrete.
"Frane, Frane, Frane, Frane, Frane, Frane, FRAAAAAAANE!" Cried the Hedgehog even as he instinctively began to curl up, until he was an almost perfect ball of spikes. Hitting the ground much harder than he'd thought and even through his spiney protection Sonic felt his bones shatter and he began tumbling down the street, leaving him a bloody, broken mess. Due to his landing Sonic's left arm had been completely shattered and his chest was scrapped raw, tiny cuts and bruises covered his body, skin from his right leg hung, barely attached and the world began to go black.
As the darkness grew and the world faded Sonic saw Jet smirking, giving the same mocking salute Sonic had given him before powering up his gear and riding away, everything began to dim and the last sound Sonic heard was the lifeless robotic voice stating:
"Criminal to be taken for processing..."
And then, the world went black.
The Star Light Zone was the nickname of the outskirts of the Scrap Brain control centre of the Emperor's operations formerly known as The Clock Work Zone. It was a name Bunnie Rabbit found completely inappropriate, Star Light had an almost romantic sound to it and to be sure, the view of the night sky was beautiful, the thick clouds of smog rarely made it this far out and the sky was so clear that the stars shone like diamonds, but that didn't change the fact that the place was a death-trap. The Emperor's robots were out in force in this area as both construction workers for his Criminal Conversions Units and as guards against would be saboteurs. Saboteurs like the southern Bunnie and her friends.
Glancing around the corner of their cover, Bunnie's grey eyes carefully scanned the area before turning to her fellows.
"Okay Hon-Bun," Her thick Hilltop Accent shining through, "Mission briefing."
She pulled down her hood, revealing herself to be light brown furred and underneath her cloak was a shapely figure, curves in all the right places concealed beneath a brown leather jacket, pink top and tight hip-hugging jeans. The 'Hon-Bun' she was referring herself pulled his own hood back and rolled his eyes,a grey furred rabbit by the name of Johnny Lightfoot. Johnny was lean, not overly muscular but streamlined and powerful. His jacket was red, he wore a white shirt and loose fitting jeans with a chain clipped to them.
"Don't call me that, Bunnie," The rabbit chided, though his tone was good natured, "Not while we're on a mission at least. Okay team, as you know The Emperor is building a huge CCU right here that; according to intel uses a new technique that bonds the cybernetic systems directly into the hosts nervous systems and fuses the casing directly to the flesh."
"What does that mean?" Asked Ray
Ray was a young squirrel only twelve years old and was dressed much like Johnny, except he was wearing a black shirt and jeans, though he did copy the rabbit's chain. The way he wore them it was obvious he was trying to emulate the rabbit, whom looked seriously at his young friend.
"It means unlike now, when we can just smash them free, any Mobians 'processed' here would be stuck permanently as a 'Nik because breaking the casing would kill them." Ray quickly went silent, colour draining from his cheeks, making his deep yellow fur appear a sickly pale shade but Johnny continued with the mission briefing. Ray had begged to be treated as an actual freedom fighter and after proving himself on several smaller missions, he'd finally been sent along on a major one. Johnny knew how much this meant to him and so continued, treating him like a kid would only fire up his short fuse.
"Ray and I are to distract the guards and create a diversion by planting these bombs." He held one up, it was almost cartoonish a perfect sphere with a fuse sticking out, "We don't have explosives powerful enough to destroy this whole complex but that's okay. This is where Bunnie and Porker come in."
Bunnie nodded,
"Right you are Johnny," She stated, "While you two have fun blowing The Emperor's toys to Dranaus' Kingdom, I'm stuck playing bodyguard to Porker while he hacks into the doo-dah and uploads his whatsit."
Porker sighed at the Rabbit's lack of elegance in his quite frankly brilliant piece of computer-hacking genius and ingenuity.
"It's your job," The Pig stated wearily, "To watch my back while I upload this supervirus onto the complex's mainframe. Even though the main conversion unit isn't up and running yet, we know some smaller units are."
Ray gulped nervously,
"Don't worry, Short stuff." Bunnie told him, ruffling the fur on top of his head, "The smaller units still use the old technique so if you get trapped you can still be busted out."
Porker continued on,
"The smaller units being active means the systems main computer will already be active too. By installing my virus onto the computer, it'll make the entire complex unusable meaning construction will have to start from scratch."
"And seeing as The Emperor doesn't tolerate failure, he'll probably just leave it unfinished instead." Johnny finished.
"Okay Ray, let's move. Bunnie, Porker wait for the first explosion before moving out to find the computer room."
"Y'know," Said Ray, "For some reason hearing that really bugs me."
"C'mon, let's move." Was Johnny's reply.
The two broke cover and Johnny glanced back at Bunnie, who winked at him. Despite the affection, Johnny couldn't manage a smile, he had an awful feeling about this mission.
Sonic woke up, which was something he hadn't been expecting, still himself and much to his surprise almost completely healed. He still ached somewhat, but his arm wasn't broken and his leg no longer looked like it was about to fall off of his body so considering the state he'd been in, he'd take the aching. It just meant he was alive.
"Ugh," He groaned, "Gonna kill those Rogues when I get outta here."
"Holy crap," A voice came from outside his cell, "Even after they patched you up, never expected you to wake up."
Sonic stood from the lumpy, decades old mattress on the floor he'd be lying on and hobbled over to his cell door, peering out the tiny window. Outside his cell was a long dank corridor which consisted of little more then cold steel and rows of cells down either wall, the only form of decoration was the flickering lights and a number plate next to the door of each cell. The voice had apparently come from nowhere, until in the adjacent cell a weasel came into view. He was a sort of purplish-pinky colour that Sonic didn't know the name of, he assumed there was one but art wasn't really a major concern growing up on the streets. The Weasel closed one eye and pretended to shoot him with his finger.
"Whoever those Rogue's are the busted you up but good." He said though there was a distinct lack of concern in his voice.
"Who are you?" Sonic asked, leaning on the door to steady himself, "Where are we?"
"Name's Fang," Replied the weasel, letting his arm hand lazily through the bars, "D's Kingdom if I know. We're at one of The Big Guy's CCU Plants, but this one looks new. Hope you're enjoying your last days of free will kid."
"Sonic," Replied The Hedgehog, "My name is Sonic."
"Big whoop, don't care." Said Fang, "Unless you've got a plan to bust out of here, your name don't matter much."
"And yours does?" Scoffed the street kid.
"Course it does, Fang The Sniper is infamous, no one gives a rat's ass about a blue Hedgehog named Speedy."
"Sonic."
"Whatever. Better get comfy kid, we ain't goin' nowhere."
Then suddenly, the ground shook.
"BOMBERS!" Cried Ray as he and Johnny turned a corner and straight into the path of some oversized mechanical wasps, dubbed Buzz Bombers or Buzz Kills. The young Flying Squirrel fell to the floor as his rabbit companion leapt into the air and reached behind his back, grabbing his extendible bo-staff and using it to smash the robot to the ground.
"Ray!" Snapped Johnny, "Use your clickers!"
Fumbling into the pouch on the side of his belt, Ray produced three circular disks with a blue core and threw them at the Bombers. Two of the disks found their targets but the third missed flying through the air and hitting a girder. The ones that hit the Bombers started clicking steadily before the core lit up and sent a surge of electricity through the cybernetics causing the 'Niks to drop out of the sky.
"Way too much security," Mused Johnny as he, planted his staff into the ground and used it deliver a double kick to a newly arrived SWAT Trooper. The SWAT Troopers were the Emperor's elite guard and were never seen The Emperor wanted them to be seen, Their red plated armour and the skull shaped design of their heads, were used to intimidate. To let you know just what you were in for, they were never used for just construction security. They were used to send a message.
"Oh Frane!" Cursed The Rabbit, "This is a trap, we've been set up!"
Johnny put away his staff and ran towards Ray, grabbing the rookie by his wrist and pulling him to his feet, dragging him along. Ray had never faced SWAT Troopers before, he had no idea how tough they were but Johnny had. Long ago back in the Green Hill Zone an armadillo, half starved and badly injured had collapsed in the Zone Square, the mark on his fur indicated he was an outlaw, a freedom fighter. No one in the zone was a fan of The Emperor, in fact even back then Johnny had been sure that no one at all was a fan of the Emperor but the Zone was the closest thing to freedom there was and the Zoners were unwilling to help. The Armadillo had begged them but instead the Zoners had turned on him, reporting him to The Emperor expecting a troop of 'Niks to come and arrest him. Instead the SWAT had arrived, there'd only been five of them. They killed the resistance fighter then raised the entire Zone to the ground, Johnny and his family had been lucky to escape, many of his friends hadn't. Up until that point Johnny had known the Emperor wasn't a nice person but at seven years old he'd found out just how ruthless and evil he truly was. Green Hill had suffered on the slim chance, the minute possibility that someone in the Zone had been an allies with the Armadillo. Sure, at first Johnny had blamed the Armadillo but he had try to warn them, tried to tell them that nothing good would come from turning him in. Johnny wished the Zoners had listened.
The pair of freedom fighters ducked into a doorway but Johnny knew that the Troopers would be smart enough to check it, checking his pack he noticed he only had two explosives that were any good, the rest were duds. Swearing under his breath, he realised that meant this wasn't just bad intel, there was a traitor in the Resistance.
"We're trapped in here!" Cried Ray, as he stared down the long dank corridor.
"Maybe not," The elder fighter thought outloud, "We've only got two bombs left but I can rig one to blow when this door is opened and we can blast the wall at the other end, find the others and high-tail it outta here."
"Maybe free us prisoners as well!" Called a voice from one of the cells.
"We turn the locks off and every 'Nik in the Zone will be on us." Stated Johnny coldly,
"Every 'Nik in the Zone is already on us!" Snapped Ray with surprising forcefulness, "Johnny these are the people we're fighting for, we can't leave them in here to get converted!"
Johnny but his hand on his head and brushed his ears back, the kid was right. He was just angry, Ray obviously hadn't figured out what he had, he was worried about Porker and Bunnie, especially Bunnie and escaping would be difficult enough without having to escort a hundred prisoners out but the kid was right. They knew the risks involved when signing on as Freedom Fighters, many of the people here hadn't made that choice. He walked over to the main locking mechanism.
"It uses E-Series tech, Ray."
"I can hack that."
"Get to it, we don't have much time. I'll set up the explosives. Okay everyone, we're getting you out of here!"
The Rabbit's voice turned to a whisper.
"Bunnie, please be safe."
"Could you possibly upload your supercold a little faster," Said Bunnie irritably, "A girl gets a might nervous when inside a CCU Plant."
"Supervirus" Corrected Porker casually, "And this isn't like installing a word processor, the virus is much more complex, it needs time to get to work and we can't leave until it's active. At least while I'm here I can hack The Emperor's files and get us some decent information.
Muttering under her breath, Bunnie kicked the 'eye' of a Crabmeat 'Nik, she'd smashed when they got into the Complex Mainframe Unit and started pacing. The girl had never been very good at waiting.
"Is it done yet?" She asked.
"Eighty Percent, almost there." Porker stated, trying to ignore her as she marched up and down. Then went back to hacking the mainframe's encrypted files. He'd found new Cybernik conversion technology blueprints, the process of fusing the inorganic components with the organic battery, information on new Tekniks weapons systems and designs but just as they virus finished uploading and he was about to leave, the brown eyed pig caught sight of a folder marked 'Operation: Star Light"
"Oh, Telas no," Whispered the tech-savy pig. "No, no no!"
"What now?" Snapped Bunnie, "Please tell me that your stupid virus hasn't broken!"
"Bunnie this is a set up!" Cried the Pig, "This facility was never going to be activated, it's a trap for us!"
Bunnie turned sharply to look at him and saw the unabashed panic on the pig's face.
"Th-This whole area is r-rigged to blow, take us and the pris-prisoners lock up here with it." Porker stammered, "Then they're going to spuh-spin it as a sabotage attempt gone wrong. Say we were killed in our own explosion."
"Making us look like idiots and murders and helping The Emperor's image at the same time." Muttered the female rabbit, "Don't stand around jabbering about it Porker, let's book!"
Unravelling her whip, Bunnie booted down the door and lead Porker back the way they'd come in, only to find a squad of SWATS waiting for them. With a crack of her whip a support beam came down and blocked the Troopers off but also stopped them from reaching the exit.
"Not that way sugar!" Bunnie yelped and span, taking off down another corridor, Porker Lewis trying to run and read schematics at the same time to find them another exit. He didn't know how much time they had before the detonation was to occur but he'd but a hundred rings on it that they had twenty minutes tops. Twenty minutes was when they were originally due to arrive, but due to an earlier mission in Labyrinth Zone failing, The Princess had decided that they should at least try to salvage something from it and use it as a diversion, with The Emperor's finest looking into the sabotage at Labryrinth Zone security was supposed to have been lighter here. Odd as it may sound, Porker realised that The Emperor may have unintentionally saved their lives.
"How in Frane's name did they even know we were comin'?"
A traitor...
A regular grey swatbot was waiting for them down a dead end and they were just about to turn back to find another route when suddenly an idea gripped Bunnie's mind, with a snap of her whip she latched into a barred window and even as the bot turned to find the cause of the whip she wrapped the other end around it's neck, then slid in front of the bemuzed trooper and delivered a shoulder barge to it's chest, sending it tumbling backwards and crumbling the wall. The only downside was it had cost her the whip, but she'd settle for getting out alive and in one piece.
The two made a bolt for the rondevu point, Porker taking the lead while Bunnie fought to keep the Tekniks off their backs.
"We're nearly out!" Cried Porker with joy and Bunnie could feel herself relaxing a little.
It all happened at once, from behind a corner a Slicer appeared, slicers were Tekniks designed to look like over-sized Praying Mantis and were armed with two elongated and absurdly sharp blades, Porker tried to stop but had gained to much momentum as he head towards the already swinging sword. Bunnie leapt forward trying to reach the unfortunate pig and there was the sound of flesh being torn by steel. It took both Porker and Bunnie a moment to realise what had happened before the victim let out a cry of shock, fear and pain.
The cell block wall exploded outward and a hundred former prisoners ran for freedom, Johnny and Ray tried to keep them under control but they were panicked, running on adrenaline most of them just left and didn't look back but a few of them stayed.
One of the prisoners, a weasel in a cowboy hat took the plasma pistol of the swatbot who'd been unfortunate enough to get caught in the explosion and twirled it.
"It may not be a six shooter but Fang The Sniper is back in business." He stated then blasted a 'Nik that was coming their way just to demonstrate his point.
Johnny simply ignored the showboating and turned to a Hedgehog who was stretching his legs out, whincing while doing so.
"You okay?" He asked,
"I'll be okay, gonna hurt like D's Kingdom to run but I can do it. Just not top speed." The Blue Hedgehog replied, "Thanks for busting us all out."
"Don't mention it," The Rabbit said with a slight grin.
The group broke into a jog and Johnny couldn't help but be impressed by the Hedgehog's determination, he was clearly in pain but he continued to keep pace, The weasel and Ray were lagging a little, with the sharpshooter blasting any troopers coming their way and Ray dishing out clickers.
"You spend too long aiming kid," Stated Fang casually as he blasted another one, "Especially with those things, just throw them, you spend too much time aiming and they see it coming."
Ray tried the Weasel's method, but still missed his target anyway, he hit the trooper behind him, but purely by luck. Coming up fast behind them were troopers on Ex-Gear bikes, using the bike mounted guns to take shots at the escaping rebels, without transportation the group would be caught for sure but Fang had a plan he always had a plan.
"Hang tight kid," He said and pushed himself harder running as fast as he could, up ahead was an emergency lock down shutter, he could blast the control lever and reach the gate before it closed by the bots would have already reached him by then he had to by himself some time. Jumping and twisting in mid-air the Weasel took a shot and hit his target square in chest, the plasma pistol wasn't fatal to organics as they were needed in one piece to power the Emperor's robots but it hurt like hell and would stop anyone in their tracks. A wicked grin came over Fang's face as Ray went tumbling to the ground, clutching the burn mark a look of fear and confusion on his face. Fang winked and 'shot him' with his fingers before carrying on, shooting the locking mechanism and causing the gate to begin closing.
"Johnny, help!"
Lightfoot came to a stop and span around, The Hedgehog stopping an instant after, the pair looked in horror as they saw the Ex-Bikes stop and the troopers get off, reaching out to grab the Rabbit's young friend.
"RAY!" Cried Johnny, though before he could move to get him, The Hedgehog shot off towards the steadily closing shutter. Johnny couldn't believe how fast the Hedgehog moved and he was gaining speed rapidly, pushing past his pain in an effort to reach the fallen Squirrel. Ray's hand stretched out towards him and the shutter closed. Sonic ran into it, his hands pressing up against it.
"NO, NO, NO!" Shouted the Hedgehog, pounding his paw against the shutter, "Shoulda been faster. I am faster." His legs buckled under from the strain he'd put them under and he slid down the metal, though it felt more like his heart was dragging him down.
"Shoulda been faster..." He repeated.
"YOU!" Snarled Johnny turning around to confront the one responsible but he was nowhere to be seen, Fang the Sniper had gone. "C'mon we'll double back and rescue him."
"JOHNNY!" Called a voice from up ahead, "We have to leave, now! This entire complex is going to blow!"
"We can't, Ray's been caught!" Johnny shouted, then seeing the state of his companion his face recoiled in horror, "Oh Frane, what happened?"
"There's no time, we need to leave. NOW!"
Johnny clenched his eyes shut and bit his lip, then exhaled deeply and grabbed the Hedgehog, pulling him up.
"Time to leave."
"But your friend!" The Hedgehog protested, he looked horrified.
"He knew the risks, we have to go." Johnny's voice was weak, he didn't believe what he was saying but this mission had cost them too much already. As the weary group left Johnny's mind raced. Who'd betrayed them? The Weasel had shot Ray and left him there. If the entire place was rigged to blow, why give them dud bombs? The Weasel had shot Ray and left him there! What had happened to Porker and Bunnie to have one of them come back in that state? The Weasel had shot Ray and left him there! Johnny knew what he was going to do, he was going to hunt down the traitor and make them pay, he was going to find that Frane forsaken weasel and make him pay and he was going to overthrow The Emperor and yes, he would make him pay.
He owed that much to Ray.
To Be Continued.
