Series 2 - The Three Tests
Episode 3
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The trees shook...
The air was very humid that night in the forest. Something strange and sinister was in the air. A strong electrical storm hovered over Robotropolis. Mecha struggled with the controls, grumbling. "Robotnik wishes for the sheild to be up within the hour." he said. Packbell grunted. "Yes... his new anti-intruder sheild system should be a hit with the Freedom Fighters.. if not so difficult to operate." There was the clap of thunder. "This is dangerous during a storm." Mecha said. "Lightning could counteract the process, with bizarre results." Just then, his prophecy came true. A large bolt of lightning came from the sky, and struck the sheild. There was an explosion in the control room, and Mecha and Packbell were thrown back. The controls seemed to be operating themselves. There was more lightning, and a huge zap of electricity could be heard outside. The sheild began to lose power, and then the power meter went into negatives. "SHUT IT DOWN!" Mecha shouted. "IT'S CREATING SOME KIND OF ANTIMATTER GATEWAY!" Packbell wrestled with the controls. "IT.. WON'T.. BUDGE!" he yelled. More thunder ripped through the air. Packbell and Mecha made a joint effort to shut down the machine, and finally succeeded. The protective sheild vanished, and all went silent. "I hope we did it in time." Packbell warned. "A large antimatter disturbance can create problems. Big problems."
CHAPTER ONE:
Blink.. blink.. He opened his eyes. He had pain all over his body. "Who am I?" he asked himself. Then, his memory began to seep once again into his mind. "Oh yes." he mumbled. "A year and a half in that blasted antimatter universe." The figure frowned, and fondled a stray lock of dark blue quills, which was dangling from his head. "And all because of one miserable, yet strangely handsome, individual." He walked into the forest, mumbling to himself.
Sonic walked down the pathway towards Knuckles. "So what's this big idea?" he asked. Knuckles grinned, and held up something. It looked like a small gun, with strange markings on the side. "Remember this?" he asked. Sonic thought about it, and shook his head. "It's the Negatron!" Knuckles reminded. "Oh yeah!" Sonic said, remembering. "That thing that Snively shot me with, and made an evil double of me! What are you doing with that?" "My idea." replied Knuckles. "I had this thought... what if we could zap everyone in Robotropolis?" Sonic frowned. "Knux.. the last thing we need is _two_ Robotniks. "No, hear me out!" Knux said. "If we shoot Robotnik, Mecha, Packbell, and everyone else, it would make _good_ doubles of them!" "Good doubles?" Sonic asked, frowning. "Knux, I dunno about this.." "I'm gonna go ask Sally what she thinks." Knuckles interrupted, starting to walk away.
There was a knock at the door of the old hut. Eventually, it creaked open, and an aged figure appeared. "Yes?" the old hedgehog asked. He stared down at a younger, dark blue hedgehog. "I don't suppose you have any food you could spare?" the stranger asked. The old hermit frowned. "NO." The stranger growled at him. "Probably only prunes, anyway." he snarled. "Well then, I don't suppose you know where I can find someone named 'Sonic'." The old hedgehog turned and entered the house, motioning for him to follow. "What do you know of Sonic?" he asked. "HEY! Don't ask ME questions!" the stranger yelled. "What do _YOU_ know of Sonic?" "Only that he is a pathetic weakling." the old hedgehog replied. "He calls himself a hero, however he was increasingly easy to con. No.. my grudge lies with the one named Sparkster..." Suddenly, the younger hedgehog pounced on him. "FOOL!" he screamed. "TO INSULT SONIC IS TO INSULT ME! FOR I AM EXACTLY LIKE HIM IN EVERY WAY! I SHARE ALL THAT HE SHARES... I AM HIS EVIL TWIN!" The old hedgehog simply held out his strange sceptre, and fired a bolt of lightning from the orb which rested on top. The stranger went flying across the room. "Do not mess with me." the hermit growled. The younger hedgehog moaned, and looked up at his victor. "Who are you?" he asked. "You may call me Ashura." the old hedgehog replied. "If you live long enough." "What did you just do?" the other hedgehog asked. Ashura grinned. "I am an evil shaman." he said. "I can do anything I want to do!" The smaller hedgehog just grinned. "What an interesting situation!" "Might I ask who you are?" asked Ashura. The stranger stood up and brushed off. "I am called Cinos." he replied. Ashura raised an eyebrow. "Funny name.. Sonic in reverse." Cinos frowned. "Yes... I was created as the exact same, however opposite, vision of Sonic. In a very real way, I am his reflection. I write, think and act backwards, compared to Sonic." Ashura sat down. "You may be just what I need." he said. "I need youth. To restore my powers. I would use you, but being a reflective being, you may have an adverse effect on my magic." Cinos raised an eyebrow. "I do not understand." he said. "Do not worry." replied Ashura. "Just bring me back somebody young. In return, I shall help you locate the one named Sonic, and maybe even help you with your revenge."
A day passed. Nothing much happened in Knothole. Knuckles got the nod from Sally to put his plan into operation, and was standing by, thinking. Sonic was in his hut, writing. "Dear diary" he wrote. "Today Knuckles told Sally about his plan to make an 'opposite' Robotropolis. I'm not very hot with the idea.. Robotnik has been 'winning' lately. His robot attacks almost destroyed Knothole recently, and Mecha destroyed our computers and sheilded his city against hackers..." Besides this, evil laughter could be heard deep in the forest.
"YES!" screamed Ashura. "Don't hurt me!" came a small voice. Floating around in a small bubble was a black lizard creature. He looked kind of like a burned twig. "He's a dragon." said Cinos. "He put up a fight when I captured him, shooting fire everywhere." Ashura just laughed. "Well, my magical bubble is fire proof! You won't be escaping too soon, my little friend. Ooh, what POWER I can sense in you! You are so young... so powerful..." The little dragon tried to bite his way out of the bubble, and Ashura raised his sceptre. "THE TIME IS NOW!" he screamed. Lightning suddenly filled the room. Ashura pointed his sceptre at him, and a strange mist was sucked from the dragon's skin, and absorbed by the sceptre. As Cinos backed away, he saw an even more amazing thing - The dragon seemed to be getting older, and Ashura seemed to be getting younger! This went on for five minutes, until the dragon could no longer stand it. Fully grown now, he used his tremendous dragon rage and strength to break free from his bubble prison. "GET HIM!" shouted Ashura. Cinos leaped for the dragon, but he spread his wings and flew away. "Peh." muttered Ashura. "No matter... my youth has been almost completely restored!" Cinos looked at him with wide eyes. "You must be forty years younger, if you're a day!" he shouted. "That is fantastic!" "Yes.." replied Ashura flatly. "And since you found me such an incredibly powerful and young creature, it is only fair that you are rewarded! Come! I shall guide you to Sonic's village!" Cinos made a devilsh face. "Sonic, you are MINE!" he growled. Ashura grinned. "YES! With my power, and your.. um.. and.. and YOU, Sonic cannot possibly succeed against us!" Cinos put down a small book he was writing in earlier. After they left, the dragon returned, boggled. He was suddenly so much older... He glanced at Cinos' book. "Yraid" it said. The dragon squinted. What did "Yraid" mean? He opened it to the most recent page. It was filled with undecipherable words. "Cinos gniyortsed dna gnitacoler ni loot a ylerem si eh. Tooc dlo na tahw! Heh... 'Aruhsa' flesmih sllac he. Namahs live na tem I yadot..." The dragon grabbed the book, and ran into the bushes.
CHAPTER TWO:
Knuckles walked through the village, delighted at his plan. "Heehee.. I'm so smart!" he chuckled to himself. He looked down at the Negatron in his hand. Just then, somebody tapped on his shoulder. He turned, startled, and saw Sonic behind him. "Oh, Sonic!" he said surprised. "You startled me! What are you doing out here? I thought you were staying in Knothole!" Sonic frowned. "I'm not Sonic." he said, in a very raspy voice. Knux giggled. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked. Sonic just stared downwards, at the gun in Knux's hand. "THE NEGATRON!" he yelled. "Yes..." replied Knuckles. "What's wrong with you, Sonic?" "I'M NOT SONIC!" he snapped back again. Knuckles had a good look at him. His colours seemed darker, and he had a very cold look about him. 'Sonic' snatched the Negatron out of Knuckles' hand. "..hey!" Knux protested. "You don't remember me?" asked 'Sonic'. "Of course I remember you!!" said Knux, getting impatient. "I see you nearly every day!!" "Oh, you haven't seen me in a very long time." replied 'Sonic'. He grinned devilishly. "Put 'Sonic' in reverse, and see what you get." Knuckles thought. "C-I-N-O-S" he spelled. "Huh? CINOS??" As he looked up, the Negatron's butt came down hard onto his head. He collapsed. "Hey, Ashura!! Look what I swiped!" shouted Cinos. Ashura appeared from the bushes. "What is that contraption?" he inquired. "I'll tell ya' all about it!" replied Cinos. "I know a way we can get to Sonic without entering Knothole!"
Sonic was pacing around the village, when Sally approached him. "I wonder if it's safe out there.." Sonic said to her. "Come on, Sonic!" Sally assured him. "Knux has been on trips to Robotropolis before! He's a great fighter." "Things are different, now." replied Sonic. "Robotnik has become so aggressive and reclusive... not one robot has been spied outside the city since he launched his final attack on Knothole the other week, and I've seen them experimenting with force sheilds! He's trying to lock himself inside, and lock everyone else out... there's gotta be something big going on down there! And if the eggy professor is THAT serious about it, he's gonna have some pretty tight security..." Sally was hanging on his every word. "I see what you mean..." she said. "Maybe we should go after him..." "Don't bother." came a voice from behind them. They turned, and saw Knux there. He had a massive bruise on his forehead, and was empty handed. Sonic went rushing over to him. "KNUX!! Are you alright??" Knuckles shook his head. "I'm fine." he responded. "Somebody came up to me from behind, and whacked me on the head. When I woke up, the Negatron was gone." Sonic shook his head. "That's a dangerous machine.." Sally stepped in. "I'll go and look for it." she said. "No, I think Sonic should go." Knux replied. "Naw, I'll go, and take a couple of extra villagers for protection." replied Sally. Knuckles glared at her. "Sal, I _really_ think that Sonic should go." he said. Sally giggled. "Why? His leg still asn't entirely healed from the fire, and he needs a rest, anyway!" Knuckles stared at her for a long time, nearly a cold stare, and finally said "Very well." and walked away. Sally raised an eyebrow. "What's up with him?" she asked. Sonic shrugged. Sally sighed. "Oh well, better go find these theives." she said, walking away. "I _said_ it was a bad idea." mumbled Sonic. He looked over, and saw Knux chugging a can of paint from the store room. "Now what?" he asked himself.
Sonic looked up, a strange expression on his face. Knuckles was standing on a ladder, in front of the hut that was spared for him, for when he slept at Knothole. He had a paintbrush in his hand, and (stranger still) was just finishing painting the last letter of the word 'live' over the doorway, in bright red paint. "Knux... what the heck?" Sonic asked. Knuckles didn't reply. He just climbed down the ladder, walked into the hut, and slammed the door. He left the ladder outside, the paintbrush on the grass, and the paint tin open. Sonic peeked through the window. Knux was in bed. He didn't look like he was angry, as such, just more or less fed up. Sonic looked up again at the word he had painted above his door. 'live'. What was that supposed to mean?
The sun fell, then rose again. Another day. A small group of Freedom Fighters were gathered around Knuckles' hut. "He painted that?" asked Streak. "Yeah.. just yesterday!" replied Sonic. "What does it mean?" asked Rotor. Petals laughed. "Who cares? It's just some ancient-civilization religious echidna crap. Frankly, I can't see why you're so interested!" She snickered to herself, spat on the dirt, and walked away. Some followed, but others continued to stare. Suddenly, Knuckles appeared at the window. He just stared at the spectators.. hardly blinking.. just a straight, cold, spooky stare. Some of the villagers walked off, but Sonic walked straight up to the window. "Knux, you're acting strange!" he said. "Why?" asked Knuckles. His mind was somewhere else, he was staring past Sonic, into the bushes. "Because!" replied Sonic. "For a start, what does 'live' mean?" Knux just grinned, and disappeared into the hut. Sonic looked behind himself, at where the echidna was staring. Sally, Bunnie and Sage appeared. Sonic rushed over, and noticed that they were empty-handed. "You didn't find it?" He asked. Sally shook her head a little.. her mind was also obviously somewhere else. Sonic followed her gaze, to the painted word above Knuckles' hut. Sonic snickered. "Yeah, he painted that there yesterday afternoon." he said. "We don't know why, but h--" Sonic stopped speaking. Sally was gone, walked off in the other direction. Sonic raised an eyebrow.. "Is it me, or are people ignoring me a lot today?" he asked himself. He looked at Bunnie, also walking off. He couldn't help but think that something was different about her. He couldn't quite place it. He stopped Sage, to try and talk to him. It took some work. "Made any progress?" he asked. Sage shook his head. "Maybe you should have a look, Sonic." he said. "Why?" asked Sonic. Sage didn't reply. He just picked up his bow, and walked away. "Whoa, I need a rest." said Sonic. He walked through the huts towards his own, and caught the sight of a ladder, out of the corner of his eye. He looked around, and saw Sally. She had a can of red paint and a brush, and was painting above the doorway. She had just painted the letters 'liv' and was busy painting an 'E'. "I can't BELIEVE this!" Sonic said, half laughing. He walked up to Sally, just as she finished. "Sal, what is this?" he asked. "What the heck is it with the word 'live'? What does it mean?" Sally looked around. "Uh, I'm just telling those nasty robots that, uh,.. I'm still... 'live and kicking!" Sonic just stared at her blankly. After a while, he said "If there is any sense in that at all, please tell me now." Sally giggled, and walked into her hut. Just before she closed the door, she said "You know, Sonic, maybe a hike to Robotropolis would be good.. you know, to get your leg back in action." Then she slammed the door, before Sonic could respond. He looked down. Sally had left the paint tins and brushes in such a mess... she was usually tidy!" He picked up the brush, and plopped it in the paint tin. He took the tin in one hand, and the ladder in the other. Half way there, Sage appeared. "Allow me to take those off yer' hands!" he offered. "Oh, thanks, Sage!" replied Sonic. "At least there's ONE guy in this village acting SANE!" Sage took the equipment and walked away. Sonic noticed, as he went, that the echidna wasn't heading towards the store room... he was heading to HIS hut. "This has to be a joke." Sonic muttered. "I don't get it yet, but I'm sure there'll be some reason for it."
The sun fell, then rose yet again. The third day. Sonic walked outside, and immediately noticed Bunnie's hut, which was across from his. It came to no surprise to him that the word 'live' was written above it. "This is a joke." he said to himself. "It's some kind of bizarre joke.." Streak appeared from nowhere, and joined him. "Hey, Sonic!" he said. "Hi Streak." said Sonic. He looked both ways, then began whispering. "Ok, what's the joke?" he asked. Streak looked surprised. "Joke?" "Yeah!" replied Sonic. "Come on, you can let me in on it! It's a joke, right?" Streak shook his head. "If someone's playing jokes, I'm not in on it!" Sonic sighed. "Ok, but you gotta admit, something weird is going on, here." Streak nodded. "Yeah, I guess... those words above people's doorways are pretty weird." He cleared his throat, then looked at his watch. "Well, can't chat." he said. "I'm meeting Petals and a couple of other FF's. We're gonna go look for that Nega-thingy." Sonic nodded. "Ok, then." he said. Sonic looked over his other shoulder. He saw Knuckles walking down a path. Sally came around a corner. They passed each other... wait a minute, was that a nod? Sonic could have sworn he saw them nodding faintly at each other. It may have been a holluscination.
The sun fell, and rose once again. Sonic was writing in his diary about the strange goings on. Little did he know how.. interesting.. this day would become. The last day passed relatively without incident. Except for the fact that Sonic was getting lonely. Half the village was away on their expedition, and Knuckles, Sally, Bunnie and Sage (Sonic's main friends) weren't talking to anyone. He still had his best buddy Tails, though, who seemed equally worried about the goings-on. Sonic had heard a lot of footsteps through the night - Streak and his group must have come back during the night. When Sonic opened the door, his jaw dropped. Every second hut had the word 'live' painted over it. "WHAT IS GOING ON??" He screamed out. He heard a few echos, but nothing else stirred. It looked downright spooky, storm clouds were gathering, and his village was like a ghost town. "This is silly!" Sonic said to himself. He ran through the village, and arrived at Tails' hut. The first thing he did was look above the door... nothing. Tails was still on his side, it seemed. He knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again. Nothing. He peeked through the window. Nobody home. He ran next door to Rotor's hut. He knocked. No answer. He saw Sally walking nearby. "Hey Sal!" he shouted. Sally stopped, and looked at him. "Have you seen Tails?" he shouted. "He's gone to Robotropolis." Sally called back. "With the others." "Others?" asked Sonic. "Yes." replied Sally. "Everyone who's left." "Wait, what do you mean, everyone who's left?" Sonic called after her, as she started to walk away. "Maybe you should go, too." she called back. This was madness.. the last thing Tails wanted was to go to Robotropolis, with theives around. Why would he go so early, without telling Sonic, and with being so against going in the first place? He was lost for people to talk to, now... only one came to mind."
"SHAX!" Sonic called out. He stood in the forest, near where Shax the Raptor usually hung around. "SHAAAAX!" he yelled. Suddenly, something jumped him from behind. He gasped with shock, turned, and saw a familiar grey lizard. "Shax! You scared the heck outta' me!" he said. Shax grinned. "That's what I'm good for!" he said. Sonic sighed. "I have a problem." "Lay it on me." Shax replied, guiding Sonic through the forest with one arm. "Well, it's the villagers." said Sonic. "They're acting all weird! They never talk to anyone, they're always nodding to each other, and, here's the weirdest thing, they've all painted the word 'live' above their doors." Shax looked at him strangely. "Live?" he asked. Sonic nodded. "And they're always telling me how... Shax, can you slow down a little?" "Sorry" "They're always telling me how I should go to Robotropolis, and people are going there, even if they don't want to, like Tails. You're going a little fast, again, can you slow down?" Shax cleared his throat. "Well, I dunno what's wrong with those guys, but look... maybe it would be better to just go with the flow... if they don't speak to you, don't speak to them. If they want you to go to Robotropolis, then go to Robotropolis." "Want me to paint 'live' above my door?" asked Sonic. Shax shook his head. "No, better leave that one alone." he said. Sonic looked around him at the trees. "Shax.. why are we going to Robotropolis?" he asked. "Huh?" asked Shax. "No, we're going to my den.. I'll shout you some lunch." Sonic shook his head. "Nuh-uh.. this is the way to Robotropolis! I know this forest like the back of my hand!" Shax frowned. "Uh, maybe you're right. But I.. like this direction." Sonic looked at the raptor suspiciously. "I thought you knew this forest, too... and even if you didn't, how could you forget the way to your own home?" Shax just made "umm.. uh" noises, and faded out of he subject. His grip of Sonic's shoulder tightened, and speed increased again. "Shax, I'm going back to Knothole, now." Sonic said, nervously. He struggled, but Shax wouldn't let him go. "LET ME GO! NOW!" Sonic demanded. Shax growled. "NO". Sonic shook free, much to Shax's dislike. Shax let out a roar, and slashed Sonic's arm with his claw. "COME WITH ME!!" he demanded. Sonic broke into a run that even a raptor couldn't beat. Sonic had never seen Shax anything but cheerful, but now he seemed downright mad! (In both the 'angry' and 'crazy' sense) Pain shot up his arm. This was no longer a joke. If Shax was joking, he wouldn't have sliced Sonic's arm half open. He ran back to Knothole, and straight into his hut, hiding. He got a first aid kit out, and started to bandage his arm.
CHAPTER THREE:
It was pouring rain by the time Sonic re-emerged from his hut. The second part of the storm that raged a few days ago. When the strange explosions were heard in Robotropolis. No explosions this time, though... everything except the thunder was completely silent. Sonic peeked out of the hut, scared. Scared about what happened to his friends. He looked down the path towards Tails' hut. It had the word 'live' above the door, in fresh paint. In fact, nearly all the huts did. Only one or two were still untouched. It reminded Sonic about the story in the Bible, where everyone who didn't have a mark on their door, had their first born child killed at midnight. Was this some sort of similar marking system? Was he going to die, if he didn't have the nonsensical word above his door? He looked to his left, and saw Petals strolling along. He walked up to her. "Petals, I demand to know what's going on!" he ordered. Petals smiled and giggled. She was swaying around like a schoolgirl. "What do you mean?" she asked. She twirled around a couple of times. "Um.. what are you.. doing?" asked Sonic, dazzled. "Nothing.." replied Petals shyly. She clasped her hands together, and swayed around in the wind. She was acting like a complete bimbo! Sonic shook his head in disbelief. "I don't care!" he said. "As long as you seem to be able to talk to me! What's going on with all this red paint?" Petals thought about it, twirling a little. "Red's a pretty colour!" she replied. "Pretty?" asked Sonic. "What's with the word 'live'? It makes no sense! What is it supposed to mean?" Petals giggled and twirled and swayed. Eventually, she shrugged, and walked away. She turned back, only to say "Maybe you should go to Robotropolis!" "YES!" came a voice from behind him. He turned and saw Sally. "Why haven't you gone to Robotropolis?" she demanded. More Freedom Fighters appeared behind her. "GO TO ROBOTROPOLIS!" they all demanded, simultaniously. "WHY??" screamed Sonic. He became surrounded. "Robotropolis! Robotropolis! Robotropolis!" they were chanting. "NO!" yelled Sonic. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!" He busted through the crowd, and ran like fury into the forest. He could see the Freedom Fighters running after him. Sally, Bunnie, Rotor, Tails... everyone was running after him, chanting the name of Robotnik's city. Shax was with them, jumping around and acting like a maniac. "GO TO ROBOTROPOLIS, SONIC!" he shouted "OR I'LL TEAR YOUR ARM ANOTHER HOLE!" Sonic poured on the speed. He didn't care where he went, or how many obstacles he ran into. He just had to get away from the chanting, the marked huts.. everything in the village had become downright creepy. He slipped on the drenched grass, and fell on his back in the rain. Panting, he could see a large figure.. its shadow draped over him.
"Ok, you've got me!!" Sonic screamed. "Take me to bloody Robotropolis! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!!" "Huh?" the figure asked. Sonic looked at it. It was a large black lizard, and it kind of looked like someone Sonic knew. "Calm down!" the lizard insisted. "It's me! Drake!" Sonic stood up, and looked at him. One fortnight ago, Drake the dragon had been younger.. a LOT younger. Sonic squinted at him. "Man, you dragons.. you grow so quickly!" he said. Drake shook his head. "I've only been old for a few days.. I've been travelling the forest trying to warn you!" "Huh? Warn me?" Sonic asked. "Yeah!" Drake replied. "I was captured by these two hedgehogs.. one looked kinda like you, and the other was really big and he had this stick and he trapped me and he pointed the stick at me and he shot this beam out and there was lightning and there was all this noise and.. and.. and I grew!" Sonic tried to calm him down. Being an adult hadn't made him any less juvenile. "A hedgehog with a stick... could that be Ashura? If so, there was big trouble. Ashura had once been a guest at Knothole, and he turned out to have 'magical' powers stored in his sceptre. He was seriously bad news. But the other hedgehog didn't ring a bell with him. Drake handed Sonic something. "The blue hedgehog dropped this." he said. Sonic stared at it. It was his diary! A small book, with 'diary' scribbled on it. But a closer inspection revealed that it didn't say 'diary', it said 'yraid'. "Yraid?" Sonic asked himself. He opened it, and he was faced with strange writings. The most recent entry said "Cinos gniyortsed dna gnitacoler ni loot a ylerem si eh. Tooc dlo na tahw! Heh... 'Aruhsa' flesmih sllac he. Namahs live na tem I yadot... Yraid read," Sonic was boggled. It was HIS handwriting! But he never wrote anything like this! It looked like some sort of magical spell! He looked at the front cover again, when it struck him... the word 'yraid' is 'diary' spelled backwards! "Who would spell things backwards?" Sonic asked himself. It dawned on him that maybe the entries inside were also spelled backwards... He began to work it out.
"Sonic destroying and relocating in tool a merely is he. Coot old an what! Heh... 'Ashura' himself calls he. Shaman evil an met I today... Diary dear," said Sonic, confused. "Hmm.. the words make sense, but the sentance doesn't. Drake looked at Sonic's answer. "Hey, if the words are backwards, maybe the sentances are, too!" he said. "Hey, good thinking!" replied Sonic. "That would make it; 'Dear diary, today I met an evil shaman. He calls himself 'Ashura'. Heh... What an old coot! He is merely a tool in relocating and destroying Sonic.'" Sonic frowned. "So, Ashura IS involved in this!" he muttered. "But who wrote this diary? And why did they write backwards?" He heard a noise in the bushes. Turning around, he saw Bunnie Rabbot. She came charging at him with a big stick! "GO TO ROBOTROPOLIS, SONIC!" she screamed. As she swung the stick down towards his head, Sonic spontaniously realised three things simultaniously... One, Knuckles said that someone had hit him on the back of his head, but the lump was on his forehead... Two, 'evil' spelled backwards is 'live', and three, he finally worked out what was so different about Bunnie - her _right_ arm was robotized, instead of her left. Sonic immediately rolled out of the way, and kicked Bunnie in the face. Nose bleeding, she stumbled back. Sonic took her stick away, and brought it down onto her own head, knocking her out cold. Drake was watching, wide eyed. "Uh.. isn't that your friend?" he asked. "No." replied Sonic. "That wasn't Bunnie. The raptor that attacked me wasn't Shax. The porcupine who was flirting with me wasn't Petals. They're all fakes. I don't know what's going on around here, but I have a strange feeling that the answer is in Robotropolis."
Sonic was walking through the forest towards Robotnik's city. Questions raced through his mind... Was Robotnik working for Ashura? Or vice versa? And if so, why is he writing backwards? And how did he make fake copies of the Freedom Fighters? As he thought, the forest broke, and Robotropolis appeared before him. Not a robot in sight. He began to walk down the hill, but something stopped him. He couldn't move his leg. He tried to look back, to see what it was caught on, but he couldn't move his head. He struggled, but failed to be able to move. A figure approached him. He tried to frown and say "let me go!", but he couldn't. For the figure was none other than Ashura. He had his sceptre pointed at Sonic, and was grinning. "Well! It took them long enough to get you here!" he said. "We finally have the hedgehog! I bet you're tired, after your journey from Knothole. Sonic tried to shake his head 'no', but he couldn't. "You better sleep, Hedgehog." said Ashura. "Sleep... sleeeep..." Sonic could feel himself growing tired.. the scenery seemed to melt and mix together. Soon, they were all just swirling colours... countless swirling colours... he collapsed.
CHAPTER FOUR:
Sonic woke up in a room. Looking around, he could see statues. Or were they? He looked closely, and his vision returned. They were the Freedom Fighters! All of them! And Knuckles! And Shax! They were all just standing there, staring. They didn't appear to be able to move. Sonic looked around, and heard a noise outside the door. It opened, and Ashura appeared again. "Wakey wakey!" he said. "What did you do to them?" Sonic demanded. Ashura laughed. "Oh, they're perfectly fine!" he said. "Except that every voluntary muscle in their bodies is harder than rock! They can't move! Oh, they can see you... they shall witness your demise, too! Completely unable to help." "Who else is working with you, Ashura?" Sonic demanded. He was answered, as another figure entered the room. "It is I." said the figure. "I am everything you are.. I am your twin. Your EVIL twin!" Sonic gasped. "CINOS?? BUT YOU'RE GONE!!" "Gone, but not dead." Cinos corrected. "I was sent to a strange universe, where robots ruled... and YOU were dead! It was nice there... but I'm glad to be back.. to get revenge on my BROTHER!" "I'M NOT YOUR BROTHER!" screamed Sonic. "YOU'RE A CLONE!!" "Perhaps..." replied Cinos. He held up a strange gun-looking object. The Negatron. "Whatever I am, I have an advantage over YOU!" Sonic's eyes widened. "You were the one who attacked Knux!" "YES!" replied Cinos. "And he's been in this room ever since! You see, every time one of your STUPID Freedom Fighters came to look for this thing, my comrade captured them, froze them, and them I zapped them! They're all evil twins.. reflections of their former selves!" He laughed, and Sonic frowned. "And that's why they were writing 'live' above their huts?" he asked. "Because they write backwards, and they were marking themselves as evil, so they knew who was a copy?" "Precicely!" replied Cinos. "And I did it all to capture YOU! But now, I have bigger things in mind... with the Negatron on my side, I can rule the WORLD! And you can't stop me!" He turned to Ashura. "You can have him.. I don't care what you do to him any more." He spun around, and left the room. Ashura grinned.
"So, do you like my new sceptre?" Ashura asked. "I had to whittle a new one, after your friend destroyed the old." Sonic didn't reply. He backed of a little. Ashura laughed. "NOW YOU SHALL FACE THE WRATH OF MY MAGIC!" he yelled. "There is no magic." Sonic replied, frowning. "There is no such thing.. there never was, and there never will be." Ashura grinned wider. "You cannot prove that." he said. "You are just like all the others who have not opened their mind! You assume you know everything there is to know, but you have barely scratched the surface..." He held up his sceptre, then pointed it at Sonic. The orb on top began to glow brightly... the room darkened. Sonic walked over to the left wall of the room. He picked up a hammer.. he couldn't remember seeing it there before.. He held it up high, and then brought it down hard onto his own head. He collapsed to his knees, and pain gushed through his body. "WHY DID I DO THAT?" he screamed. He lifted it again, and brought it down for another hit. 'crack!' His head was hurting so much... Ashura just stood there, laughing. "I don't have to kill you!" he yelled. "You're killing YOURSELF!" Sonic couldn't stop hurting himself.. something was controlling him. 'crack!' He grabbed his hand, and sat on it. He closed his eyes, and focused. "Control yourself." he thought. He could see Ashura in his mind.. Sonic was fighting with him. "Control." he insisted. The Ashura in his mind was overpowering the Sonic.. invading his thoughts, his mind, everything. "Control. Control." He could see himself throwing Ashura back, back, back.. "Control.. you can fight this, Sonic." The Ashura in his mind was pushed away.. pushed into oblivion. Sonic opened his eyes.. he realised he had his hands clapped together in front of him, preying. Ashura was frowning, straining to take control of Sonic again. Sonic picked himself up, and hurled himself at Ashura, grabbing the sceptre. He attempted to smash the orb, but it was too strong.. so he pointed it at the door behind Ashura. A beam came out, and destroyed it. "HEY, WATCH IT!" yelled Ashura, cowering on the floor. Sonic marched outside, and found Cinos. "What...? YOU!" he yelled. "This is it, Cinos." said Sonic. "I'm going to make sure you don't come back, this time. He raised the sceptre, and pointed it at Cinos. "Hey... I'm your brother!" Cinos protested. "How can you do this to me?" "If I let you go, do you swear not to EVER return to this place?" asked Sonic. Cinos gulped. "Ok, uh, anything you say!!" Sonic motioned for him to get out. He slowly abliged. Suddenly, something gripped his ankle, and pulled him over. Ashura! Cinos bolted back in, grabbed a dagger, and angrily jumped on top of Sonic. "I KNEW YOU'D FALL FOR THAT!" he growled. "After all.. _I_ WOULD!" Sonic did a spin dash, bolting out of their grips. Then he turned around, aiming the sceptre. "YOU WILL NEVER REFORM!" He shouted. Then he fired. A beam came out, and hit Cinos. The evil hedgehog was thrown back. But, something strange happened, to the surprise of all three of them. Cinos began to grow. Muscles enhanced on his arms, as if some kind of rapid steroids. Then Cinos frowned devilishly. "That beam seems to have enhanced me!" he boomed. Ashura stood up, and smiled at Sonic. "Don't try to use something if you don't know how it works!" he said. "Now you've done it!" Cinos just looked down and grinned. Sonic backed away.
A giant foot kicked Sonic across the room. Sonic scrambled up, but the super-strong Cinos used a fist the size of Sonic's head to punch him to the ground. "GET UP!" he boomed. Sonic rolled over, just in time to miss Cinos' foot coming down to a crushing blow. "HOW CAN I DEFEAT HIM?" Sonic asked himself over and over. It seemed impossible. The only thing he seemed to be able to do with Ashura's 'magical' sceptre was fire an explosive beam, but that enhanced Cinos' powers! There must be something else he could do. He strained his mind to think of a possible solution. Cinos came down again with his fist. "STAND STILL!" he yelled. Suddenly, Sonic had an idea. It meant the possible destruction of both Ashura and Cinos... two birds with one stone. Sonic avoided Cinos, as Ashura stood in the corner, laughing evilly. Sonic jumped up to a nearby table. The Negatron layed there. "I'LL SEEYA ROUND, CINOS!" he yelled, touching the orb to the Negatron. Cinos' eyes widened, as Sonic fired. There was an explosion that shattered both the Negatron and Ashura's sceptre. Both villains cried out in surprise. Ashura began to grow older, losing the youth stored in his orb. Cinos was screaming, as he seemed to melt into the floor. Sonic was thrown back from the blast, and slammed into the wall, and everything turned to swirling colours.
Blink.. blink.. Sonic opened his eyes to see Sally standing above him. He shook his head, and sat up. "Huh?? It was all a dream?" Sally smiled. "What, Ashura and Cinos? No.. you set us free, and we found you knocked out next to the wall... We couldn't find either of them anywhere." Drake climbed onto the bed, and sat on Sonic's tummy. "Yeah! And I'm LITTLE again!" Sonic smiled, and felt the bruises on his head. He had five massive bruises.. he was knocked out twice, and hit on the head with the hammer thrice. His skull wasn't damaged, but he had a splitting headache. "Uh, do you mind if I have a rest for a while?" he asked. "Sure." replied Sally. She lifted Drake off the bed, and both walked out. Sonic turned over and closed his eyes. He may have slept for a while, he didn't know. But he was woken up by a noise. He turned over again, and saw Sally carrying a ladder. Confused, he got out of bed, out of the hut, and walked to Sally's hut. He saw her on a ladder above her doorway. She had a tin of paint in one hand, and a brush in the other. The shock almost knocked Sonic over. "S..Sally.. what are you doing?" he asked nervously. Sally turned and gazed down at him. Sonic, shivering, inspected the tin. Terpentine. "I'm getting rid of this mess!" she replied. "This paint looks terrible! Where'd it come from?"
SERIES TWO CHRONOLOGY:
1. The New Girl
2. Dragon the Chain
3. Never Say Nemesis
4. When a Hedgehog Meets a Fox
5. Just Your Imagination
6. Shred
7. The Death Machine
8. Metal Made Flesh
9. Power Corrupts
10. Halfway Across the Galaxy
11. Two For One
12. Prologue to an Adventure
13. Adventure