Sonic
the Hedgehog: The Storm
by Serinthia
Draftwood
the
author will accept questions and comments at the following addresses:
serinthia@draftwood.com
this
work is protected under copyright law. the author grants his
permission
for free, unaltered distribution of this work through any
medium. Any other use including the sale of this
work for money is not
allowed.
based
on characters created by Service and Games (SEGA) Inc and Archie
Comic
Publications Inc. Todd appears courtesy
of Craig Fox.
Story:
May 12,
3235, 1:35pm GFT: The Great Forest
The clouds were thick and dark in the sky
over the Great Forest.
The
skies had been dark and cloudy for a couple days as though a storm
front
of some kind had suddenly decided to roll in faster that normal. In
the
village of Knothole, it had not gone unnoticed.
Princess Sally had been observing
Bookshire and Rotor going back
and
forth first to Rotor's hut then to Bookshire's then back again so much
she
finally decided to figure out just what was going on. It took awhile,
but she
finally tracked both of them down at Bookshire's hut where the two
were pouring
over figures and charts and maps. Rotor
was the first to
notice
her.
"Oh, hi, Sally," Rotor said.
Bookshire blinked and looked up.
"Good afternoon, Sally," he
said.
"Well, here you two are," Sally
said "For the last few days you've
both
been caught up in something big, and I think it's about time you
shared
with the rest of us."
Rotor looked over to Bookshire who shrugged.
"Well," Rotor began
"Bookshire and I have been noticing an
increase
in the cloud activity all over the planet. Reports from other
freedom
fighter groups describe similar activity. That mainly being lots
of dark
gray clouds slowly beginning to cover the planet."
"We've been analyzing all the data
and we're slowly coming to a
grave
conclusion," Bookshire added.
"And what conclusion is that?"
Sally asked, a little nervous.
"Have you ever heard of a global
hurricane?" Bookshire asked.
Sally thought about that a moment.
"I'm not sure I have," she said.
"Well," Rotor said "We all
know what a hurricane is. This is
simply
a hurricane on a global scale."
Sally blinked.
"A hurricane that will strike the
entire planet in one hard blow,"
Bookshire
said.
"How hard?" Sally asked.
"Well, aside from the fact that it
hits the whole planet," Rotor
said
"we've figured that it'll probably be about triple the power of a
normal
hurricane."
"That's based on reports from other
times in Mobian history when
it's
actually happened," Bookshire said "However, some of those reports
may be
inaccurate."
Sally shuddered a moment.
"How could such a thing occur?"
she asked.
"Well, the basis behind it is a bit
confusing," Bookshire said "It
seems that
there's only been three of these things in all of the recorded
history...usually
during some kind of environmental unbalance."
Sally hmmmed "Well, Robotnik's been
pumping all that pollution up
into
the skies for years. Maybe the planet's
just getting fed up with
it."
"That's our theory also,
actually," Bookshire noted "However, no
matter
what is causing it, one thing remains."
"What's that?" Sally asked.
"When it hits," Rotor said
"We MUST be ready for it."
May 12,
3235 2:15pm GFT
Sandra Nightweaver was sprinting across
the ground as fast as she
could
go. The plain she was running across
was wide and long and it would
be a
couple more days before she finally made it to her destination.
One of her sources had informed her about
the global hurricane
only a
few hours previously. After a quick
inspection of her current
hideout,
she knew it would be destroyed by the sheer power of the
hurricane. So, she reasoned, she needed to find temporary
shelter before
she
headed for one of her alternate hideouts in the Great Unknown.
The unfortunate part about that was there
was only one Mobian she
knew
between where she was and the Great Unknown that could give her
shelter. That would be Jack Richsword, one of Mobius'
last great
aristocrats. She had done several jobs for him over the
years both before
and
after Robotnik seized control, and had, consequently, gotten to know
him
well enough to know that he wasn't honest or upstanding in any way
shape
or form.
She paused in her run for a breather and
looked over towards the
mountains
where Jack's hidden mansion sat, then up towards the dark, angry
clouds. For one brief moment, she considered weathering
the storm by
herself. Jack could be dealt with however. She wasn't sure if she could
deal
with the storm. As soon as she felt
rested enough, she began her run
again
towards the mountains in the distance.
May 12,
3235 3:30pm GFT
Packbell had his synthetic hands full to
be sure. The analysis
Robotnik
had ordered on the weather told him what Packbell's own analysis
had
told him a week ago. The global
hurricane was coming and Robotropolis
had to
be ready for it lest, the storm wipe out the city entirely and
bring
Robotnik's reign to a halt. As much as
Packbell would love to see
that
happen, that wouldn't leave much for him to rule afterwards.
At the moment, he was supervising the halt
of construction on the
Doomsday
machine. It had been under construction
for a couple weeks
already,
so there wasn't too much to fortify, which was always good in
Packbell's
book, especially considering his feelings about this whole
concept.
At the very first command meeting he had
had objections to it's
success
and he made his feeling very clear to Robotnik. Still, Robotnik
had
already allocated the resources, and he wasn't about to turn back.
Packbell had stormed out of that meeting
fuming. He found it to
be
quite a miracle that Robotnik didn't discipline him in any way. Still,
he was
beginning to feel that the time was slowly coming to the point when
Robotnik
would finally be crushed by someone...either him or the Freedom
Fighters.
As he commanded the SWAT-bots about, he
considered what he was
going
to do to weather out the storm. He'd
probably go hide out in his
hidden
base for awhile, in fact. He really
didn't want to be around
Robotnik
right now for some reason. He was
quickly
finding it to be barely tolerable to be in
the same room with that man
at all.
Oh well, he thought to himself, he'd work
things out eventually.
Then
finally crush all his enemies and make preparations to rule the
universe.
Lightning crashed across the sky just
then, causing him to jump
slightly
in surprise. He looked up at the sky
and grumbled. How could
such a
thing happen anyway, he thought. He
wished he knew.
In fact, there was someone on Mobius who
DID know.
May 13,
3235 2:45am MCT (5/12/35 3:45pm GFT)
All the way on the other side of Mobius,
where night was at it's
peak,
there was a dark and mysterious place known as the Mystic Caves. It
was a
place known throughout Mobius as a place of mystery and magic.
Also,
it was known as a place that one should never go into because no
one
ever came out of there once they entered.
A lone figure walked slowly along the old
wooden walkways that
traced
their way through the deepest recesses of the caves. He wore a
shimmering
white cloak outlined with blue trimming along the edges. The
hood
worn over his head made it hard to tell w hat manner of creature he
was. Although, if one were to look very close
they might swear he was a
black
and white ferret.
As he made his rounds, he stopped every
now and again to light the
candles
that had been placed here and there along the walkway.
"Cyrix?"
The figure stopped and looked up from what
he was doing. He
turned
from his work to see a white furred female feline, wearing a dark
blue
leotard and a thin, full-body lighter blue cloak.
"Yes?" Cyrix said as he lit
another candle. The word was quite
clear,
but it was often hard to tell if he was actually speaking, or if he
was
mentally projecting it somehow.
"Have you seen what's been going on
outside?" asked Amthis.
"Quite clearly thank you," Cyrix
replied "Why does it trouble you?"
"A global hurricane could severely
damage the planet and the magical
forces
that reside in it," Amthis said.
"I tend to disagree," Cyrix said
softly "Such things only occur
when
the environment of nature and magic as a whole need to be rebalanced.
The one
called Robotnik has created quite an imbalance of the forces.
This is
natures way of restoring order...by evening the playing field."
Amthis blinked and thought about that a moment,
her tail swishing
slightly
as she thought.
"Keep studying, young one,"
Cyrix said "One day you'll understand.
Perhaps
not for a couple centuries...but one day you WILL understand."
Amthis nodded quietly and bowed in respect
before leaving Cyrix to
his
work. As he worked, he heard to voices
of the others in his mind.
"The creatures of this world will be
unprepared."
"They WILL be ready, they need only
time to prepare."
"And how can this happen. None can prepare for such an event."
"If help is given, then they will be
ready," Cyrix thought.
"But we are sworn not to interfere."
"But what choice have we?"
"We always have choices," Cyrix
thought "I intend to go out and at
least
observe their preparations."
"As you so choose, Cyrix, but caution
is advised."
"Naturally," Cyrix thought. With that he shut the voices out of
his
mind and continued to quietly, move down the walkways, lighting
candles. Once he was done, his form seemed to vanish
from existence.
May 13
3235 10:00am GFT
"Alright," Sally said
"Let's review the plan one more time and
make
sure we haven't forgotten anything."
She was standing in the meeting hall with
the others, going over a
plan of
action.
"Alright, Bookshire and Rotor will be
supervising the construction
of
underground shelters, getting as many of them done as they can. We
need to
be able to fit the whole village below ground before the storm
hits."
Bookshire and Rotor nodded quietly.
"Bunnie and Antoine will be rationing
our supplies , stocking each
shelter
as it is completed with enough rations to last at least as long as
the
storm which, by Bookshire's estimation will last at least ten hours,
and
quite possibly longer. Sonic and Dulcy
will be scowering the forest,
bringing
in any Mobians who happen to be living in the area so that they
can
have shelter also. Todd and Tails,
please act as communications
between
the teams, and me, carrying messages and making sure everything's
getting
done as soon as possible. Any
questions?"
Everyone looked at one another. No one seemed to have any.
"Alright. We've got about twenty four hours before this thing
breaks,
so lets get moving."
Everyone broke and moved to get th3eir
tasks done as fast as
possible.
May 13,
3235 4:45pm GFT
Sandra had arrived at the cave entrance to
Jack's mansion a few
minutes
ago and was now standing at the front door, knocking as loud as she
could. She figured she had about twelve hours
before the storm hit and
there
was no place else to go, she figured it was this or nothing. After
a few
moments, the door was answered by one of Jack's attendants, a large
male
wolf with gray fur.
"Can I help you?" he asked
Sandra.
"Tell jack that Sandra's here to see
him," Sandra ordered.
The attendant looked unimpressed and went
to inform his master.
After a
few more moments, he came back and ordered her to follow him. As
Sandra
was led through the house to where ever Jack was currently
relaxing,
she saw all the familiar decorations, some of which she had
stolen
from others just for him. As they went
up the stairs and walked
down
the hall of the second floor, she made note of the dark atmosphere in
the
home. Just how Jack liked it as she
recalled.
The one thing that she absolutely despised
about Jack was that he
was
something of a light drug user...and Sandra often wondered how it was
that he
was even still alive.
Soon, the attendant led her to a large set
of double doors and
escorted
her through. The room inside was filled
with dozens and dozens
of
pillows, cushions, sheets and other soft materials of all kinds. Soft
music
filled the air as well as a sweet smelling odor which Sandra
identified
as orcium...Jacks drug of choice for intoxication. Jack
himself,
a muscular, pure white rabbit, was seated near the back of the
room,
propped up on several pillows.
Sandra grumbled angrily to herself...why
on Mobius was she here
anyway...
"Sandra!" Jack exclaimed with
joy as he spotted her "How goes it
these
days? Still not cutting your fur,
huh?"
Oh yeah, Sandra thought, just how he'd
want it.
"No, I'm not as much of a slut
as the girls I always seem to see
you
with," Sandra snapped.
"At least their good in bed,"
Jack said, taking a puff from the
long
cigar he was smoking away on "And just what is it that brings you
around,
anyway?"
"Well," Sandra said "As
much as I hate to admit it, I need a favor
from
you."
"A favor?" jack grinned
"The great Sandra needs a favor?"
"Don't make this harder then it has
to be," Sandra said.
"Yeah, yeah, right," Jack said
"Anyway, what's this favor?"
"Well, in case you haven't noticed,
there's a storm brewing
outside...big
nasty one too," Sandra said "I need a strong place to
weather
it out."
Jack grinned slyly. Sandra rolled her eyes.
"On your knees," Jack smirked.
"What?!" Sandra snapped.
Jack giggled "I'm kidding. Of course, you can stay. But I
reserve
the right to request anything from you while you're here."
"Anything?" Sandra said
"What do you mean anything?"
"Just what it says," Jack said
"I ask you to do one thing while
you're
here and you do it. It will be an
activity of my choosing that
must be
carried out in the fashion that I specify. If you refuse, it's out
into
the storm with you.."
Sandra thought about it for a moment. She didn't want to be here,
but she
didn't really have much of a choice.
"Deal," she said "But you just
watch yourself around me."
"Oh, of course," Jack smiled
"My attendant will show you to your
room...unless,
of course, you'd like to stay and have a quick smoke?"
"I think not," Sandra said
firmly. She turned abruptly and
headed
out of the room and waited for the attendant to follow.
May 13,
3235 4:45pm GFT
Packbell's private shuttle landed quietly
in one the main shuttle
bays in
Robotropolis. After disembarking, he
reported immediately, as per
his
orders, to the main command center. Upon entering, he announced his
presence
to Robotnik by giving Snively a rough push to one side as he
entered. That little snot was always getting in the
way, he thought.
He'd have
to do something about that sometime.
"Ah yes, Commander," Robotnik
said levelly "I trust that the
shutdown
was successful?"
"Indeed, Sir," Packbell answered
shortly "All foundations have
been fortified
and the area cleared. The structure
should survive the
storm."
"Excellent, Commander," Robotnik
said "Now, once the storm passes,
you can
get it back up and running, and then command it yourself."
Packbell blinked.
"I beg your pardon?" he said
carefully.
"You will command the Doomsday
project along with me, Packbell,"
Robotnik
answered.
Packbell decided tactfulness, as much as
it wasn't deserved, would
be the
best course of action.
"With all due respect sir, I really
would rather not," he said "I
have
made my objections towards the project quite clear to you numerous
times."
"Packbell," Robotnik sighed
"You need to see the big picture. You
need to
have a greater vision than just the short term..."
I've a better, greater vision than you'll
ever have you bloated
toad,
Packbell thought to himself as Robotnik rambled on.
"...and when you do, you'll be just
as good as me," Robotnik
finished.
"Thank you sir, but I MUST
decline," Packbell said firmly.
"Commander, I'm giving you a direct
order!"
"And I'm giving you one,
Robotnik," Packbell said, his anger
flaring
slightly "I will NOT participate in this folly! This is a doomed
project,
and I will not be a part of it. I will
always be loyal to you
Robotnik,
but I say now, that this project WILL fail! Now then, if you
need me
for anything other than that damned project then you can find me
out and
about doing my job. Until then don't
even think of bothering
me!"
Robotnik's eyes glowed an angry red and
Snively ducked for cover.
However,
even when it seemed like his anger was about ready to explode as
Packbell
stormed out of the room, he somehow seemed to calm and relax. He
sat
back in the command chair and sighed heavily...wishing his son would
just
work with him on this project. It was
the first thing he ever wanted
to
share with the android and Packbell had turned him down. So be it.
Robotnik
wouldn't punish him. It was time he let
Packbell find his own
way in
life.
May 13
3234 5:00pm GFT
The clouds covering the planet grew darker
and wetter by the hour.
Winds
picked up and lightning crashed through the skies at random
constantly. on a high mountain, a form seemed to resolve
itself out of
nowhere
and looked down on the great expanse of forest are in front of
him.
Cyrix surveyed the Great Forest with the
trained eye of wisdom and
experience. Even though he was so very high up, he could
see quite
clearly
the activities in every location. In
the village known as
Knothole,
activity was at it's strongest.
"What's up, Book?" Todd asked,
as he approached the tired looking
raccoon.
"Well, I think we're in good
shape. Rotor and I have got alot of
people
working on just enough underground shelters for most of the
village. The few that remain can hole up in my house.
Todd blinked "Your house? But it's just a hut. Would it be
safe."
Book smiled "That's right, you're
still new here so you wouldn't
know. Actually, the hut part of it is just sort of
a welcome and visitor
type
room. The rest of my home is ten feet
under the ground."
"Oh, alright, "Todd smiled
"I'll go let Sally know."
"Good," Bookshire replied, and
let her know we've only got a
couple
hours left, so people should start packing into these shelters as
soon as
possible."
"You got it, Book," Todd said as
he hurried off to find Sally.
May 13,
3235 5:00pm GFT
The room Sandra found herself in was quite
beautifully decorated.
It
consisted of a beautifully crafted rug that covered most of the
hardwood
floor. A large king sized bed with the
softest sheets and
comforters
she had ever felt, and an ornately carved dresser with some
soft,
silk robes and gowns within. At one
point she even considered
trying
one on, but decided against it, since she didn't want to get too
comfortable
in this place. She moved now, to look
out the fortified
window
that overlook a nice waterfall outside. Since the falls fell right
over
the mansion, seeing any of it's windows would be nearly impossible.
That
probably explained why the place was never invaded by Robotnik. It's
only entrances
were by cave, and it's only windows were hidden behind a
waterfall.
After a time, she became bored, and
decided to go take a look
around
the house and see if anything had changed.
The house looked much like it did the last
time she was there.
Ornate
decorations, most of which had been stolen by her when she was
working
under contract from Jack, decorated most of the rooms and halls.
At one point she found herself in a large
art gallery of sort in
which hung
several different and valuable painting of all sizes. Many of
those,
she had stolen for him also. In fact,
there really wasn't very
much in
the whole house that truly belonged to him. As she looked
around,
she noticed a mediums sized painting sitting on a nearby easel with
a cloth
draped over it. Out of curiosity, she
walked over and lifted up
the
drape to look at it.
It was a beautifully painted work of a
beautiful vixen with black
fur in
a rather seductive position. Sandra
paused a second and looked
closer. It was her.
"You like it?" a voice startled
her from behind. Jack was
standing
not ten feet from her.
"Its...nice," Sandra said
uncertainly.
"Yes, I had a painter who was looking
for a place to hide out for
awhile
do it for me while he was staying here," Jack said "Think he
eventually
got captured and Robotizized, but, oh well."
"Some comfort," Sandra said
bitterly "So what do you want?"
"Just you," Jack said and
stepped closer.
Sandra got on the defensive.
"Don't you even think about it,"
Sandra growled lowly.
"Why not?" Jack said with a grin
"It's no secret I've always
wanted
you, and now I will."
"Not in a million years, Jack,"
Sandra growled.
"Nope," Jack said
"Tonight. That is my one
request. One night
with
you. I'll be by your room at 8
tonight. If you're there wonderful,
if not,
I hope the storm doesn't drown you."
Sandra growled in frustration when she
realized her position. The
loud
clap of thunder outside just then only fortified the knowledge.
Unless
she wanted to brave the storm, she didn't have much choice.
"We'll see," Sandra said evenly.
"Good enough," Jack said
"Just remember, you refuse and my
attendants
will show you the door."
Jack left and Sandra growled as she turned
around and put her fist
right
through the picture.
May 13
3235 5:10pm
Packbell ran down the streets of
Robotropolis, trying to make it
back to
the personal stronghold he built at the far north side of the
city. Thunder and Lightning crashed overhead and
the first drops of rain
began
to fall over the city. The androids
legs ran faster and faster. He
would've
taken a shuttle, but the atmospheric turbulence was too great for
even
him to control.
Let Robotnik take whatever risks he
would. The Death Egg wasn't
100%
stable and the android wasn't about to trust it.. He ran faster,
feeling
the rain now begin to pour down against him.
It was three more minutes before he made
it to the stronghold.
He was
soaking by the time he got there, but at least, after he had
firmly
bolted the door behind him, he was safe.
May 13,
3235 5:10pm GFT
The wind whipped around and in between the
trees of the Great
Forest
picking up speed with each gust. In
Knothole village, all the
inhabitants
were packing into the underground shelters as fast as they
could,
while Sally, Sonic, and friends all piled into the underground
section
of Bookshire's house.
Bookshire and Todd were standing on a high
rock near the edge of
the
village, watching the storm waiting for signs of it's final breaking
which
would be the signal to bolt up everything and pray you're already
inside.
"I hope we weather this
alright," Todd remarked as the two scanned
the
skies.
"We've taken all the precautions we
can, Todd," Bookshire said
"Hope
is all that's left."
A bolt of lightning slammed down into the
forest nearby and the
wind
picked up dramatically. Todd was the
first to feel the rain start.
Without
hesitation, he turned over his shoulder and called out at the top
of his
lungs.
"Here it comes!!!!"
He and Bookshire were off the rock in a
second, hurrying back to
Bookshire's
house as fast as they could go, while Mobians in every
shelter,
slammed their doors shut and bolted them securely.
By the time, Bookshire and Todd made it to
Bookshire's house, the
rain
was already pounding down hard on both of them. Bookshire slipped
and
fell in the mud in front of the house, but Todd was there to pick him
up and
they both made it inside, and down the stairs without any other
incidents. As they hurried downstairs and bolted the
bottom door, Sally
came up
to them.
"Is everyone indoors?" she
asked.
Bookshire wiped some of the mud off his
face with a cloth nearby.
"As near as we can tell, your
highness," He said.
"Yeah, we barely had time to get in
ourselves," Todd said, as a
clap of
thunder over another was heard outside.
"Alright," Sally said "Bookshire,
once you're cleaned up, see
about
the Communications between the shelters. Make sure it's working.
Todd,
go help Bunnie in the kitchen reviewing the food supplies in
here."
"You got it," Todd said as he
hurried off. As he did, he vaguely
wondered
where Tails was, but figured he was around somewhere.
Bookshire meanwhile decided to step into
his bathroom a minute to
take a
shower to wash off all the mud.
May 13,
3235 5:40pm GFT
The storm raged mercilessly on all sides
of the planet, exploding
thunder,
lightning, wind and rain over every part. Among all the chaos,
deep in
the Great Forest, unaffected by it, Cyrix walked quietly.
He could sense that most had gotten into relative
safety before the
full
effect of it had hit. Still, there
would be some casualties. That
was
inevitable. Since nature was trying to
rebalance itself, then it
would
take some lives in the process.
As he walked down one of the paths not too
far from the Village
called
Knothole, he sensed a small life form somewhere nearby.
Odd, he thought. He hadn't been expecting any life forms to be
around
outside in this area.
"Go and investigate," said a voice in
his head.
Cyrix acknowledged it silently and moved
to see what was
happening.
Todd had finished going over the food
supply with Bunnie and
approached
Sally.
"Have you seen Tails around
anywhere?" he asked.
Sally thought a moment.
"No, actually," she said
"But I'm sure he must be in one of the
other
shelters."
"Could we find out?" Todd asked
"I'd feel better knowing for sure.
Sally nodded and they went to see
Bookshire in his computer room.
"Book, have you got the
communications software working?" Sally
asked.
"Yes, actually," Bookshire
replied "In fact, it just came up a
minute
ago. We can communicate with all the
other shelters."
"Could you send out a message and see
if Tails is in any of them,"
Todd
asked.
"Of course," Bookshire said as
he began to type the message "But
I'm
sure he's in one of them somewhere."
Ten minutes later, all had come back
negative.
"No one seems to know where he
is," Bookshire said.
"Then he must still be out there
somewhere!" Todd exclaimed "I'm
going
out to find him.
"Todd no," Sally stated
"It's too dangerous out there."
"The Princess is right,"
Bookshire said.
"I don't care," Todd said
"I'm going out there to find him, if I
have to
search through the entire storm."
Todd ran from the room with Sally and Bookshire
close behind him.
As he
raced out the door, Bookshire came up and bolted it shut again.
Sally looked in the direction of the door
for a minute before
speaking.
"I hope they make it alright,"
she said.
"So do I, Sally," Bookshire said
"So do I."
May 13,
3235 6:00pm GFT
Tails had been lost for an hour. He had originally come out to
find
Sonic, but had gotten lost in the process. When the storm started to
hit, it
was lucky that he found an overhang in the ground by the Great
River
to hide under. The only problem was
that the water level of the
river
was slowly starting to rise and Tails figured he'd have maybe an
hour
before he ran out of ground. The wind
and the rain weren't helping
either.
The small fox was cold and wet and
shivering. He had tried
calling
for help but knew no one would hear him. With as dark as it was
getting,
Tails quickly began to believe that it would be too dark to get
home
and too dark for anyone to find him.
Todd crashed through the woods as fast as
he could, calling out
Tails'
name as loud as he could. He was
already soaked to the bone, and
the
wind would blow him around in any direction it felt like. It was so
hard to
keep his ground at times, he almost fell several times.
The situation was getting desperate. Todd knew Tails might not be
able to
survive long in weather like this, and he also knew that he,
himself,
might not be able to either. He refused
to give up the search,
however,
and continued onward through the forest.
May 13,
6:25pm GFT
The storm had been raging outside the
mansion for awhile now.
Sandra
paced nervously around her room quietly. Jack had made it clear
that if
she didn't sleep with him, she could take her chances with the
rain. Neither choice was very positive. She was no virgin to be sure,
but
whenever she chose to mate, it was on her terms, no one else's. To be
practically
forced into it was something she had always refused to have
happen
to her.
He'd be coming into the room in about an
hour, and then she'd have
to make
her decision. She left her room and
went back down to the gallery
to look
out the window. The storm was raging at
its complete fullness.
the
information she had, suggested to her that it would be over for hours,
or even
days. If she was forced to go out into
it...she didn't know if
she
would be able to survive.
On the other paw, there was Jack. A rich, stuck-up drug user who
always
wanted to get her in his bed since the day they had met. Should
she
sleep with him? Well...a couple minutes
up to a half hour at most of
being
uncomfortable compared to a couple hours or days of toughing out the
rain. Could she swallow her pride? Or would she take her chances with
the
rain. She had an hour to decide.
May 13,
3235 7:00pm GFT
Todd crashed through the brush of the
forest constantly. He
refused
to give up until Tails had been found.
He paused by a tree and tried to catch his
breath amidst the
pounding
rain and blasting wind. He looked
around through the dark
aimlessly,
still calling Tails' name out as loud as he could.
Suddenly a light appeared. Todd blinked. It was a soft, blue
ball of
light floating off in the distance. For
a moment, Todd wasn't
sure
what he was really seeing. In fact, it
took him a couple more
minutes
to realize that the light seemed to be beckoning him somehow...and
he had
an irresistible urge to follow it. So,
without another question,
he
followed the light.
He stumbled through the rocks and brush of
the deep forest,
following
the light which always seemed to stay the same distance ahead of
him.
Tails was practically floating in the
intense rain that continued
to
crash down on him, even under the overhang. After a couple minutes, he
got an
intense urge to make a run for it, no matter, how dangerous that
would
be.
Abandoning his hiding place completely, he
gathered up the last
bits of
his strength and charged out into the forest, tripping and
slipping
several times, crashing through bushes, and brush, and getting
snagged
on branches and sticks and twigs. The
rain and wind slammed into
him
from all sides, battering his young body until it was covered with
cuts
and bruises.
Todd ran faster and faster, following the
glowing ball of light
unquestioningly,
barely feeling the wind and rain pounding down around him
constantly. Finally, as all of his energy was about to vanish,
he tripped
over
something and slammed down into the mud. He jumped up quickly and
turned
around to see what it was he tripped over.
"TAILS!" Todd cried out as he
picked the small, barely conscious
fox up
in his arms and holding him close, no completely mindless of the
surrounding
wind and rain.
Tails could only moan softly, half-conscious
as Todd held him and
tried
to shield him.
Todd looked around in the darkness. He needed to find some kind
of
shelter for the both of them, but there was none to be found. Then,
there
was that light again. It apparently
hadn't moved since he tripped.
Now, it
moved again and headed back in another direction, soaring through
the
darkness. Todd got up on his feet and
ran after it, mustering every
last drop
of his strength as he held Tails close as he ran after it.
May 13,
3235 8:00pm GFT
Sandra paced back and forth in her room,
her tail swishing side to
side as
she thought deeply about what was to happen. In the end, she was
beginning
to realize, she didn't have a choice. She'd drown quickly out
in the
hurricane, and there were no other option.
She heard the door open behind her, and
Jack enter. He wasn't
wearing
anything other than a sly smirk as he looked her up and down.
Sandra stood stalk still as Jack walked
slowly up to her, and
began
to circle around her, gazing along her body like a predator deciding
how
best to devour it's prey. She jerked
slightly when she felt his paw
stroke
slowly down her back for a moment and along her tail. After a
moment
he moved back in front of her, and grinned as he rubbed that paw
slowly
up and down her side.
"Well, well," Jack smiled
"This will be fun."
Sandra growled.
"Don't make this harder than it
already is," she glared.
"Harder?" Jack grinned
"Hardly."
He grinned and stroked his paw up to her
neck and slowly slid it
down
her front, down over her breasts, down over her firm abdomen, down,
down...
The next moment, Jack collapsed to the
floor, howling in pain, the
result
of Sandra delivering one hard kick straight to his crotch. Jack
tried
to call out for his servants, but the total pain emanating from his
groin
robbed him completely of his voice.
Sandra smirked a moment, then reached
under the bed and pulled out
the
ropes she had found there earlier (Jack was really into mating and
ropes)
and hauled him up where she tied his wrists and elbows hard behind
his
back. Jack tried to kick out at her,
but she swept his feet quickly,
sending
him falling backwards onto his tail. She quickly tied up his legs
as
tight as possible and stuffed part of a pillow cover into his muzzle
and
used another rope to tie it snug into place.
Once the pain began to fade, Jack glared
murderously at her as she
stood
him up again. Before he could react,
however, she suddenly seized
him and
shoved him forward towards the wall where his head slammed into
it head
first and he slumped to the floor, unconscious.
Sandra smiled to herself as she walked
over and casually locked
the
door. Jack probably told his servants
that he didn't want to be
disturbed
for the night. Since there was no way
he could get to them to
have
them throw her out, she had the whole night in the room completely
free...well,
except for Jack. But then, she was
going to have some fun
with
him.
May 13,
3235, 8:30pm
Sonic was pacing around nervously in
Bookshire's living room while
Sally
tried to console him.
"They've been out far to long,"
sonic said in agitation.
"I'm sure they're fine, Sonic,"
Sally said "They're both two tough
foxes."
Sonic smacked his fist into his hand
resolutely.
"Tough or not, I'm going out to find
them!" Sonic announced.
Before
Sally could say a word, Sonic was out the door and into the night
fast
than the eye could see.
Todd had been running with Tails for some
time, following the blue
light
that bobbed ahead constantly. Todd was
losing strength rapidly
against
the hard winds and rain and he wasn't sure how much longer he
could
hold out.
As he ran, the wind rains pounded down
even harder, forcing his
eyes
closed even more protectively. Suddenly, it stopped. Todd
jerked to
a halt
and blink his eyes open.
The light was still there in front of him
and it was illuminating
the
inside of a small cave in which he was standing. After shaking the
water
from him a second he gently laid Tails down on the amazingly still
dry
floor of the cave and took off the shirt he was wearing to wrap around
the
small cub to give him some warmth.
The small blue light was still there, he
noticed. Then it seemed
to
fade. For a split second, it seemed as
though there was somebody in a
white
cloak carrying the light...but then it was gone, leaving Todd unsure
if he
had even seen anything at all.
He turned back to Tails and held him close
to him, moving him back
further
into the cave, away from the fierce rains. They'd be safe for the
moment...
Sonic, meanwhile, ran through the forest
as fast as he could
looking
for signs of Tails or Todd...then he tripped...
May 14
3235, 1:00am
The rains still pour and blasted outside
the mansion. Sandra
relaxed
gently on the bed happily watching Jack sway gently upside down
from
the ceiling fixture to which she had hung him up.
"You know something, Jack you always
were kind of a geek," she
remarked
"Makes me wonder why I ever worked for you. Still this has
certainly
been fun."
For the last few hours, she had swayed him
back and forth and
around
in circles as he hung from the fixture, taunting him and teasing
him in
a few different ways. Normally she
wouldn't have been so cruel,
but,
frankly, he deserved it.
She laid there for a minute more then
decided on a new torment.
She got up and walk suggestively up toward
Jack and let the
underside
of her Tail brush over his muzzle. He
shivered uncomfortably.
Goddess, she thought to herself, this
bastard can't get enough.
She rubbed her tail over his muzzle a few
more times and decided
to let
him swing there for awhile with that sultry, seductive scent in his
nostrils
and no way to satisfy himself.
Returning to the bed, she lay down quietly
and slowly began to
drift
off. Jack didn't have the skills to get
out of the knots she had
tied,
so she could sleep in comfort. She
dosed off still watching jack
try and
make futile attempts at escape.
May 14
3235, 2:30am
Packbell had sat at his terminal working
during most of the storm.
With
the storm raging about the planet at the moment, it was hard for him
to do
anything else, really. Going outside
for any reason would be
futile.
He review the Robotropolis mainframe
access records for what
must've
been the thousandth time that night...literally. He had started
monitoring
it a number of months before when he realized that the Freedom
Fighters
could hack it with some special program
that, as of yet,
Packbell
had been unable to prevent. At the very
least, he figured, if he
could
find out who, exactly, was hacking the system, at least that would
be
something. However, thus far, whoever
it was, was making sure not to
leave
any traces or their presence behind.
"Computer," he said in a VERY
bored tone. The computer sprung to
life
awaiting the commander's orders.
"List every Mobian citizen on record
who's death or robotization
is not
confirmed and of those, list how many have enough knowledge to hack
the
mainframe."
For the dozenth time, the screen display
roughly a hundred names,
all of
which Packbell had seen before. He was
able to cross some of those
names
off though, having captured and killed them himself off the record.
That
left about seventy-five. He examined
the names more closely and
thought
and actually took the time to think back through his memories. He
sat
there for numerous minutes when it suddenly clicked.
"Computer," he said "Of
these, list how many can write virus
programs."
The computer complied and the list was cut
down immensely to only
two
names.
Packbell examined both of them. One he had killed himself. The
other
name was unfamiliar... Bookshire StormForest Draftwood.
Packbell stared at the name for a few
seconds.
"Computer, access the old Mobian
Library files and give me
everything
you have on Bookshire StormForest Draftwood."
The computer complied again and displayed
the standard citizen
information
database:
Last
Updated: January 1, 3224
Birthname: Bookshire StormForest Draftwood
Species: Raccoon (Grey Fur, Black Markings; Ht: 4'
Wt: 145lbs)
MobianID: 4589-6-4850BSD
DOB: July 12, 3200, 1:35pm
POB: Mobitropolis Medical Center (HospitalID
5996-H)
Mother: Marion Acorn Draftwood (MID 2947-7-2384MAD)
Father: Bernard Forrester Draftwood (MID
2305-8-8544BFD)
Marital
Status: Single
Criminal
Records: NONE
Credit
Rating: B-
Address: 4536 South DragonFire Drive
Mobitropolis, MB 44-33-5443
Occupation:
General Practitioner/Surgeon in Training
Edward C. Acorn Medical Academy
& Hospital
Medical/General Certification: 1a (Qualified)
Medical/Surgical/Basic Certification: 1a (Qualified)
Medical/Surgical/Skillful Certification: 3a (In training)
Medical/Surgical/Advanced Certification: 5 (UN-Qualified)
Next board evaluation: December 1 3224
Medical
Records: See file #504-33295-687BSD
Skills
evaluation: Highly adept in fields of
computer and medical
science. Expected to obtain success in either the
advance medical fields
and/or
AI, and computer theory fields. Superb
machine language
programming
skills. Quick adaptability skills. Diagnosis skills will be
of
particular benefit in either field.
END OF
FILE
Packbell read through the information
swiftly. A somewhat medical
expert
with computer science skills. He MUST
work with the Freedom
fighters
Packbell thought. There's no other way
they could get
patched
up so fast.
Packbell saved this particular file and
made a note of it. He
would
have to find this raccoon...and destroy him...
May 14
3235 7:00am GFT
The storm had let up a bit an hour ago
over most of the northern
continents. It still stormed heavily in some parts of
the world, by the
rest
was getting a break.
Deep in the Great Forest, where the Great
river ran, there was a
huge
patch of thick, deep mud. After a
time...part of it moved. A small
figure
shakily moved and stood up with a soft groan as he thanked each and
every
god and goddess in Mobian theology individually and by name that his
nose
had stayed above the mud enough for him to breathe.
Once he was standing, Sonic shook and
wiped as much of the mud as
he
could off his body, praying that his quills wouldn't need any serious
work to
restore them to their wonderful sharpness and slick appearance.
He turned around and spotted an area by
the rapidly flowing river
where a
calm pool of clear water had collected. without a second thought,
he dove
in and got most of the rest of the mud off. After he finished
cleaning,
he got out and took stock of his surroundings.
Now that the storm had temporarily broke,
it should be quite a bit
easier
to find both Todd and Tails, assuming they somehow managed to find
one
another already. After shaking off the
excess water, he revved up his
legs
and shot back into the depths of the forest to find them.
Tails and Todd had both managed to sleep
through the night
uneventfully. they were both curled near each other for
warmth.
Todd was the first to wake, and, for a
moment, couldn't quite
remember
what had happened. After a moment,
though, he remembered all
about
the storm and how he had found Tails and got him to a safe place.
He stood up quietly so as not to awaken
the sleeping kit who
needed
all the rest he could get, and walked to the mouth of the cave to
see how
the storm was doing. He noticed that it
seemed to have let up for
awhile
at least. The skies were still heavily
cloudy and gray, but at
least
it wasn't raining.
He soon began to realize that he was
hungry and that Tails would
be
hungry too as soon as he woke up, so finding food would be a necessity
of the
utmost importance. He knew enough about
forest survival to get by
probably,
so it was likely he could go out and get at least some edible
fruits
and other plants to sustain them both until they got up the energy
to
attempt finding their way back to Knothole. Looking back at Tails to
make
sure he was still asleep, he headed out. He wouldn't go very far,
just
far enough to get some food.
May 14
3235 7:30am GFT
Jack's butler went up to were Sandra had
been staying to see if
Jack
was up yet. From the way his Master had
been talking the night
before,
he doubted either of them would be up yet, but it wasn't the
butler's
business really.
He was mildly surprised to find the door
unlocked, but went in
anyway. The first thing he noticed was that there
was no sign of the
vixen
anywhere. The second thing he noticed
was he master, swinging
gently
on the rope he was hanging from, dozing uncomfortably. He hurried
over
and woke jack up as he untied him and set him upright.
"Damned that bitch," Jack
grumbled as the butler finished "She's
dead
for sure. Where is she?"
"Beg your pardon sir," the
butler said "But it appears that she's
nowhere
to be found."
Jack blinked and looked around. She must've slipped out while he
had
been sleeping. He walked over to the
bed and found a handwritten note
on the
pillow she had been using.
'Wonderful evening. You're really a ladies' man, you know. We
really
ought to do this again sometime...maybe when Katrinus' Great Hell
freezes
over? By the way, that's a very nice
emerald you had in your
smoking
room. I hope you won't miss it
terribly.
--Sandra'
Jack growled and ripped up the paper as he
turned to the butler.
"Get some of the guards together and
get out there," he ordered
"Grab
some weapons and blast that bitch into the next world. She couldn't
have
gotten far."
"Yes sir," the butler said as he
hurried out.
Sandra sprinted away from the mansion as
fast as she could go,
heading
towards her hideout in the Great Unknown. She knew Jack wouldn't
let her
go so easily and would send the guards after her. Still, it
wasn't
so bad. It was worth it for the emerald
she carried in her paw.
It
would fetch a very handsome price on what little remained of the Mobian
black
market. She'd do quite well for some
time off of it.
She looked up at the clouds as she
ran. The rain had stopped for
now. she only hoped she could make it to her
hideout before it started
again. Of course, she also hoped she'd make it
there before Jack's guards
caught
her too.
May 14
3235 7:45am GFT
Bookshire and Rotor were carefully
examining the weather data they
were
getting from the satellite. The rain
had stopped only temporarily,
but
there would probably be one last big jolt before, the hurricane
dissipated
later that night.
"I hope the others are alright,"
Sally said as she looked over
their
shoulders at the data.
"I'm sure they are," Bookshire
said "Both Todd and Sonic have good
survival
skills, and Sonic's taught Tails quite a bit of what he knows.
I'm
sure they'll come back to us safe and sound."
Sally nodded.
"Well, in the meantime," she
said "While we've got the chance, we
should
go outside and survey the damage thus far and see if there's any
more
reinforcement needed on any of the standing structures before the
next wave
hits."
Bookshire nodded and transmitted the odor
to all the other
shelters
in Knothole.
"In the meantime, Book," Sally
said "Stay here and monitor the
storm
for signs of it sending down the next wave."
"Of course, Sally," Bookshire
smiled "I'll make sure you don't get
wet."
Sally nodded and left with most of the
others to inspect the
damage
to the village.
Many of the huts had either been destroyed
or, at the least,
partially
damaged. Walkways and paths that were
once open and clear were
now
covered with almost every part of debris imaginable.
Everyone began to examine their huts and
check for damage to
anything
they hadn't been able to move into underground storage areas in
time. Sally's desk was found in a tree near
Bookshire's hut. Rotor's bed
was
half sunk in the power ring pool and his hut had a huge hole in the
side of
it. Bunnie's hut actually seemed to be
somewhat standing except
for a
few holes and rips in the walls and roof here and there. Nothing
inside
seemed to have blown away. Sonic's hut
was nearly crushed by a
tree. Fixing that wouldn't be anything new
however. Tails' room in
Sally's
hut seemed to be alright other than that it was quite thoroughly
soaked
through with water.
As Rotor and Dulcy were trying to get
Sally's desk out from the
tree,
Bookshire buzzed her com link.
"Yes?" she said.
"I think that storm's picking up
speed again," Bookshire said from
the
other end "You'd do well to get everybody inside within the next two
hours."
"Got it," Sally replied
"We'll be ready."
Meanwhile, Todd had returned to the cave
and found Tails weak, but
awake. The two hugged warmly and Todd gave Tails
some of the food he had
found. It was mainly a collection of fruits and
berries he had found on
the
ground, obviously blown out of the trees, but it was something.
Besides,
fruit was healthy. After breakfast,
Todd debated with Tails if
they
should try returning to Knothole, or try to ride out the next wave in
the
cave...
"TAILS!!!"
Both Todd and Tails blinked and look out
into the forest.
"TODD!!! WHERE ARE YOU!!!"
"Sonic!" Tails cried excitedly.
"Sonic!!" called Todd
"Sonic, over here!!!"
Sonic fixed the location of the voices in
seconds and raced up to
the
cave where he hugged both Todd and Tails good and tight.
"You both alright?" Sonic asked
"How did you ever manage to find
this
cave?"
"Long story," Todd said,
thinking about that strange blue light
"I'll
try and explain later."
"Right. Well, I don't know about you
guys," Sonic said "But it's
time to
jam back to Knothole."
"And with your speed, we ought to
make it," Todd smiled.
"Great," Sonic said "Grab
on!"
Todd and Tails both got a good grip and
Sonic peeled out into the
forest
taking them with him.
May 14
3235 8:30am GFT
Sandra ran through the great unknown as
fast as she could while
still
pacing herself enough to not run out of energy too fast. Jack's
squad
of guards had bumped into her and only some quickly thinking saving
her
neck. Now, with them undoubtedly in hot
pursuit, Sandra ran for her
very
life. However, she wasn't alone...
The guards had been pursuing for only a
short time when they
arrived
at a very large rock formation. The
head guard walked up and
looked
around to the other side and saw Sandra sitting down below,
polishing
the emerald that had been stolen. Very
quietly, he had two of
the
other sneak around the sides of it.
Before the vixen could react, they leaped
out and opened fire.
Each
bolt slammed into her, throwing her back against the rock wall before
she
slumped down to the ground and lay still, the emerald falling from her
grasp.
The head guard ran up to the body and
grabbed the emerald.
"Perfect," he said "The
boss'll be pleased. We'll just leave
the
body here. Let's got out of here before the storm hits
again."
The other's agreed and they retreated
quickly back towards the
mountains
and the safety of the mansion.
For several minutes, the still form of
Sandra lay there...then it
slowly
faded away into nothing...
Cyrix Mortimer was pleased. His illusion had worked well. The one
called
Sandra was safe for the time being. His
foretellings told him of
her
importance. She may be a criminal
now...but he knew it was of vital
importance
that she survive...in the months to come, the fate of the
entire
planet would depend on it...
Sandra stopped when she heard the laser
fire then silence. She
listened
intently for some time to see if there were any other signs of
the guards
pursuing her, then she took off running again. She still had a
storm
to beat.
May 14,
3235 9:30am GFT
In Knothole, the Freedom Fighters were
working to brace the
remaining
structures as well as the could for the second wave.
Bookshire
and Rotor's calculations suggested that the storm would end
around
8 or 9 that night so Knothole had to be reinforced as well as it
could
for the constant battering of high winds and hard rain.
As Sally was double checking everything
for the last time, she
then
heard the telltale sonic boom...
Sonic raced into Knothole at top speed and
virtually materialized
in
front of Sally before she could say anything.
"I'm back!" Sonic announced as
Todd and Tails let go of him and
smiled.
For just that moment, Sally's happiness to
see Sonic again
completely
overcame her composure. Without a word,
she ran to him, pulled
him
into her arms and began to give him one of the longest, deepest kisses
she had
ever given him. Sonic, was momentarily
startled, but, not being
one to
pass up the chance, decided to go with it and actively hold the
kiss as
long as both were willing.
Todd and Tails looked at each other and
smiled. Todd politely
cleared
his throat and Sally slowly let go of Sonic and the kiss and tried
to
collect herself as she hugged Tails and Todd.
"Yes, Sonic...good to see you
back..." she began "Todd, Tails, are
you
ok? Maybe you should all go have Bookshire
check you out..."
Sonic smirked. Sally knew he would let go of this moment for the
longest
time and would be constantly reminding her of it for weeks...
Tails and Todd grinned and nodded as they
all went back to
Bookshire's
home and began to prepare for the next wave of rain and wind.
Sandra looked up at the skies as she ran through
the Great Unknown.
She
felt a small drop of rain hit her muzzle, and she knew she wouldn't
make it
to her hideout in time. She would have
to bear the full brunt of
the
storm somehow out here in the middle of the nowhere.
She stopped and look around. Nothing. The best she could hope
for was
to make it to one of the canyons and find a cave or overhang or
something
before she got too soaked.
If her memory served, there was a canyon
of some kind a ways to
the
north...maybe she could make it there...
She took off again and hoped it wouldn't
take her long to get
there...
May 14
3235 10:00am
The storm started right on time. Packbell, safe in his private
shelter
was right again. In the previous two
hours he had been able to
get
some relief supplies to his private base in the Dark mountains. That
should
give them a helping hand until he could get there personally after
the
storm and supervise the repairs that would most certainly be needed.
Robotnik's headquarters had managed to
survive quite nicely,
damned
the luck, and very few repairs were needed there.
Packbell sat back in his chair and
sighed. He hoped, one day,
those
freedom fighters would just finish him off. There was a good reason
why he
didn't just march into the death egg and murder the old bastard in
his
sleep. Mainly because, despite all the
trust he had invested in
Packbell...that
only existed when his eyes were open. When Robotnik
slept,
he slept in a guarded chamber with password and vocal access that
only he
knew about and enough sensors inside so that if Snively or
Packbell
were to murder him, that information would be processed in the
central
mainframe and the killer wouldn't be able to gain control of the
city.
Therefore killing Robotnik was pointless
and Packbell would just
have to
sit and wait for the right time...
Sonic bolted the door to Bookshire's
underground sections just in
time as
the rain began to pound down again. This time they were all safe
and
sound and could weather the storm without a care.
Sandra didn't have it so good...
May 14
3235 10:15am GFT
Sandra ran and stumbled in the rain. It had been pouring down on
her
hard for countless minutes and she was already soaked to the bone and
colder
than she had ever been.
She ran on, however, refusing to give
herself up after how far she
had
gotten in surviving the storm. She was
a true survivor, that much she
knew. She'd make it somehow.
Finally, she made it to the canyon. She made her way carefully
down
the side of it, trying hard not to slip from the pounding rains and
wind
and fall to her death hundreds of feet below. She tried to look
around
the rock face for some indications a hallow, but the rain
continually
blinded her so that finding anything would be luck at best.
She continued
to make her way along the narrow path practically etched
into
the rock face, holding on for dear life. The situation was getting
worse.
As she moved slowly along, she set foot
wrong and felt herself
slip. By sheer luck she grabbed onto the edge of
the path as she fell and
it
jarred her to a stop. there she was,
hanging from the edge of a
rock
face. Nothing but empty space between
her and the bottom.
After a few moments she mustered the
strength from somewhere and
began
to edge along, one paw over the other. She wouldn't try to pull
herself
back onto the path, but instead, continued to hang off of it and
make
her way along.
She had been doing this for an unknown
amount of time before her
feet
actually touched something. Something
hard. She couldn't be sure of
what it
was since her eyes were shut tight against the rain, but it
certainly
felt like ground. She let her weight
onto it but kept her paw
on the
rack wall next to her to feel her way along. Carefully, one foot
after
another, she slowly walked and felt her way along the ground.
After what seemed to be an endless time,
she finally felt herself
make
her way into something that must be shielded because the rain was no
longer
pounding on her. All she felt was the
wind which she could hear
whipping
around her still. She sat on the ground
and rubbed her eyes
clean
of the water and blinked a few times before looking around at where
she
was.
She was in a cave, which is what she had
been looking for. She
smiled
to herself. She had survived. She went to the cave entrance and
saw
that, in fact, she wasn't at the very bottom of the canyon. In fact,
it
startled her to see that she was still at least a hundred feet up.
Running
along the front of the cave, however, and back up the rock face a
ways
was a very long, very wide section of rock, which must've been what
she was
walking on.
Funny, she thought to herself. She hadn't noticed any long, wide
paths
on this side of the rock face as she had made her way down before
the
rain blinded her.
She went back into the back part of the
cave, finding it was, in
fact, a
tunnel. However, rather than explore
it, she simply slumped down
on the
cool floor and rested, soon drifting into a light sleep from her
exhaustion.
May 14
3235 3:00pm GFT
Sandra's first thought was that she wasn't
where she should be.
She had
fallen asleep on a cave floor. Now she
was resting in a soft bed
in what
looked like a room cut out of solid rock. She sat up and looked
around. She recognized the artwork immediately.
The Wolf Pack.
She got out of the bed and stretched. It was then that she
noticed
the bars on the door...
Damn, she thought to herself. Whoever had found her had
recognized
her. She was in a prison cell in the
Wolf Pack's territory.
Still,
on reflection, it was worse than the storm.
"I see you're awake."
Sandra looked up and saw Lupe, the Wolf
Pack leader standing at
the
door, on the other side of the bars.
"Well, well," Sandra said
"It's been awhile, hasn't it."
"Yes it has," Lupe replied
"And now that we've got you this time,
we're
not letting you get away again."
"That's kind of pointless, you
know," Sandra said.
"No it isn't," Lupe said
"You'll tell us where that Diamondium
medallion
is you stole from the tribe. And if
it's not in your
possession
any more, we'll make you pay for it according to our laws."
"Yeah right," Sandra said
"We'll see."
Lupe would have no more and walked
away. Sandra had every
confidence
in her abilities of escape. She'd get
out of there soon
enough. Still, in the meantime, she could afford to
waste away a day or
two in
prison. Beats the hell out of trying to
survive out in the
storm...
May 14
3235 8:30pm GFT
It was over. The storm was over.
In Knothole, the shelters were opened up
and the some of the
freedom
fighters came out to see what had happened. That hadn't been too
much
more damage seeing as how it couldn't have possibly gotten worst than
before. Much repair work would be needed, but it was
the biggest loss
they'd
ever suffered. No one had died, after
all. They would stay the
rest of
the night in the shelters and then begin rebuilding the next day.
Soon,
Knothole would be back to the way it had been before, and things
would
be back to normal.
They would continue to fight against
Robotnik harder than ever, no
matter
how long it took.
In Robotropolis, Packbell walked quietly
through the city
observing
the damage. Afterwards he'd probably go
to his Dark Mountain
base
for awhile to relax. Maybe for just the
weekend. It would take some
time to
repair all the damage, but soon the defense against the freedom
fighters
would be back up to par.
Robotnik would continue working on the
Doomsday project, and, in
Packbell's
mind, the only thing that would ever be doomed, would be the
project
itself. He'd continue to plot and plan,
while Robotnik continued
to plot
and plan the destruction of Sonic and the Freedom Fighters.
Which,
in some odd way, seemed to be how it should be to Packbell.
Perhaps
he needed to get out more.
Sandra relaxed in the bed in her
cell. She had already planned
out her
escape. It would work as it always
had. She seemed to have
wonderful
luck tricking the Wolf Pack, which was how she had stolen that
medallion
in the first place. Then she'd go to
her hide out elsewhere in
the
great unknown and check on damages before going back to her main
hideout
in the general area of the Great Forest.
Soon, life all over the world would get
back to normal.
May 15,
3234 9:30am MCT (5/14/35 10:30pm GFT)
The morning sun broke through the clouds
over the mountains in which
the
Mystic Caves were hidden.
Cyrix stood on a high peak watching life
begin to return to the
world. There had been some casualties in various
places, but that was
what
had to happen. Nature was at peace with
itself again...at least for
the
time being.
"Master?"
"Yes, Amthis," he said as the feline
approached him.
"What happens next?" she asked.
"The world heals itself," Cyrix
said "And life goes on."
"And nature is at peace again,"
Amthis said.
"You are slowly coming to
understand," said Cyrix.
Amthis nodded quietly.
"This was a good time for this,"
Cyrix said "The world needs to
balance
itself as much as possible now..."
"Why?" Amthis asked.
Cyrix remained silent. He was gazing up at the sky now, and
Amthis
knew better than to disturb him further. She quietly took her
leave
of him, returning to the caves while he continued to look skyward.
The events ahead would be hard ones for
the populations. Many
deaths,
Doomsday, and the coming of the Solaris.
Mobius still had a long way to go.
THE END