Series 1 - The Origins
Episode 11
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Rocket Knight characters are copyright to Konami.
CHAPTER ONE: STRANGERS COME TO TOWN
The mysterious character walked slowly along the dirt road, his tattered grey robes draped down and dragged behind him. He lurched along using a long walking stick, with an odd orb on the top. He had been walking for days, now, and his bones were tired. He had been searching non-stop for something he needed. Suddenly, there was a sound behind him. He turned, and was met by at least ten SWAT bots. "You are under arrest by order of Dr. Robotnik. Surrender now!" said the robot in the lead. The strange figure grinned a mysterious grin. "Not bloody likely." he said. He held up his walking stick / scepter, and the orb began to glow. But, before he could do whatever it was that he was going to do, a flash of blue intercepted him, and slammed into the head robot. The other robots were trying to shoot at it, but the blue ball turned and chopped them into confetti. The figure put down his staff, and stared at the spectacle. "Hmm...Looks like my search is over!" Sonic landed in front of the last robot. The robot turned in circles trying to get a fix on the fast moving target. Sonic whacked the robot over the 'head' a couple of times, saying things to show-off how much the robot didn't stand a ghost of a chance. Eventually, he tired of the droid, and opened his chest compartment, then tearing out everything. The SWAT bot went dead. Sonic, panting, was greeted by a loud, slow clapping. He looked up to see the figure, wearing loose robes and a hood to hide his face. The strangest thing, though, was his staff - it was a jagged stick, thickened at the end, and whittled at the top to resemble the claw of some kind of bird of prey. The claw was tightly grasping a greeny-blue orb, which had strange swirling colours. The figure spoke. "That was some display, young one! You have such raw power!" "Thanks!" replied Sonic. "Are you okay?" "I am unhurt. I am, however, tired, from my long journey." "That's okay" replied Sonic. "I can take you back to Knothole and make you as good as new! May I ask your name?" The figure looked up at him, he could see his eyes through the dark hood. "So polite to your elders!" he commented. He reached for his hood and dragged it from his face. He was a green hedgehog. He looked in his thirties, but seemed to have the mind and wisdom of a very old man. It was a little strange. "I am called Ashura." he stated. "And your name?" "Sonic." replied Sonic "Where are you from?" "Everywhere, yet nowhere, my friend."
"Testing left arm mechanism." said Packbell to the computer. The droid held out his arm, and a familiar blue arm moved in the same way. "Arm tests successful." Packbell noted. Robotnik entered the room. "Still working on re-creating Mecha Sonic?" he asked. Packbell turned around. "Yessir!" he replied. I'm just testing his limbs. In half an hour, he should be his old self again." "Except his memory will be wiped." added Robotnik. "Since Mecha disappeared completely, there's no way to recover his memory." Packbell grinned. "Not true! The SWAT bots recovered his memory chips this morning. It's strange, they were just lying there, still attached to the wiring! But yet, Mecha is still missing. No matter, his consciousness is completely confined to these chips, and now they have a new body." Robotnik sighed. "I'm getting tired of rebuilding this bucket of bolts all the time. He fails me every time! I swear, next time he stuffs up, I'm going to replace him with a better robot!" With that, Robotnik stomped away. Packbell shrugged. "It isn't your fault, is it, Mecha? He just doesn't understand us robots. Now, testing right leg mechanism..."
Ashura seemed to greatly admire Knothole. He kept mentioning the incredible 'power' that everyone seemed to have. Knuckles came up to meet the hedgehogs. "And who is this?" he asked, smiling. Ashura seemed to ignore the question, only to say, "Aah! This IS a surprise! A member of the ancient echidna race! Very powerful beings indeed! You must have a tremendous amount of power stored in that young body of yours, eh?" "Yessiree!" replied Knux, boasting. "I can knock down a troop of SWAT bots using only one fist!" Ashura grinned an almost scary grin. "Excellent!" he muttered. He walked away to explore the village. "Uh, that's Ashura, he's going to be staying in Knothole for a while." said Sonic, unsure of what to say. "He's a little...strange. He keeps talking about 'power'." "He seems okay to me!" said Knux. The sun began to fade behind the hills.
The villagers were having a campfire that night, and everyone got piles of wood and stacked them on the fireplace. Then the villagers, and Ashura, settled around the fireplace. Sonic got out a match and struck it, lighting the fire. "Anyone know any spooky stories?" asked Knux, handing out sticks and marshmallows to everyone. "I can tell one!" said Petals, grinning. Sonic gasped. "You mean you're actually going to participate in an activity?" Petals scowled at him. "Yes I am, for your big fat information!" The crowd fell silent. "My story Is called the Wrath of the Giant Spider from Hades!" said Petals in a spooky voice. "Once there was a giant zombie spider, who rose from the fiery pits of Hades, to feast on the brains of anyone who..." Ashura yawned. Petals frowned at him. "What's the matter, Pops, my story not scary enough for you?" she asked. Ashura turned to her without expression. "Young lady, I have seen things that you can never speculate in your wildest dreams. I have fought nine-headed fire breathing Hydra, I have escaped from minotaurs' labyrinths, I have haggled with Satan himself. A simple undead arachnid is nothing special." Sonic and Knux shifted their gaze to each other silently. Both of them knew what the other was thinking. Petals looked at Ashura with frustration. "Well, I'd like to see YOU tell a better story! Come on, tell your SCARIEST story out of all these fantastic adventures you've had!" Ashura grinned. "I could do that, but I warn you, these stories are so frightening, that by the time I speak for five minutes, all of you will be completely unable to control your bowels, you will scream so loud it can be heard a mile away, and a couple of you will go through a mental breakdown and most probably die." There was silence for a few seconds. "Does anybody know any spooky stories that won't affect our bowels?" asked Sonic. The campfire suddenly died out. "Oh darn it!" said Sonic. "No more matches!" "Not a worry!" said Streak. He held out his finger, and a large spark of lightning zapped out and started the fire again. Ashura jumped off the log and ran up to him. "Such incredible... POWER for a young feline!" he said, looking him over. "Uh...thank you! It was...uh...nothing, really." replied Streak, every so often being prodded by Ashura's scepter. "Yes, lad!" said Ashura. "Indeed, this entire village is quite a dish! You have so much power! So much power!"
Sonic heard a strange clashing sound. He jumped out of bed and looked out the door. The sound was coming from deeper into the forest. He wandered out into the trees. It was the sound of fighting - maybe one of the villagers was being attacked by SWAT bots! He ran towards the source of the sound, but by the time he got there, the sound stopped abruptly. He could see five or six robots, broken beyond repair. The fight was over, and the robots hadn't won! Sonic took a closer look at the scrap heap. One of the droids was cut right across the middle, a clean cut. Even Sonic's spin-dash made some mess, but these robot's had a straight, clean line straight through the middle. "Someone knows how to protect himself!" Sonic thought, turning away. Suddenly, he felt a rush of hot air, and the point of a blade against the back of his neck. He stopped dead. "Uh oh, caught!"
"Friend or foe?" a voice demanded. "Uh, friend, I guess" Sonic stuttered. He could have ran, but his captor was gripping his tail firmly. Slowly, the blade slid away, as if the mystery creature wasn't the kind of guy that liked to believe people. Sonic turned to see who it was. It was a rather short opossum. He was dressed in dark blue plate armor, and he had a long bladed sword in his belt. On his back was a strange contraption, it looked like some kind of jetpack. "Uh...are you from the past or the future?" asked Sonic, confused as to why the stranger would be clad like a space-age medieval knight. "Name's Sparkster Ringtail." said the stranger, still suspicious of Sonic. "And you are?" "Sonic." replied Sonic. "Sonic the Hedgehog." Sparkster lifted his visor a little and looked back at the robots. "You sure showed them!" said Sonic. "Yeah, I guess I did!" replied Sparkster, grinning. "I just introduced them to a very good friend of mine." He slid out his sword and ran his finger lightly across the blade. "Darn robots, I've had enough of them back where _I_ come from, I thought I was having a holiday!" "Where are you from?" asked Sonic. "Another continent, a few hundred kilometers away." replied Sparkster. "Axel was always building little gadgets like these and sending them to run amok." "Who's Axel?" asked Sonic. "I guess I'll tell you the story." said Sparkster, putting his sword away again.
"You must be wondering what's the story with this neat gear? Well, I'm a Rocket Knight. My father invented the outfit, and he protected the town and the castle from attack. Eventually, he had two sons - me and my brother Axel. Dad decided that the town needed the Rocket Knight, otherwise it would have a war very quickly. The Rocket Knight kept things in order, you see. But, alas, Dad became ill. Terminally ill. After he died, I learned from his will that he wanted his eldest son to carry out his work as protector of the town. Since I was eldest, I inherited the sword, the armor, and the rocket pack. But this made Axel jealous, 'cause he was only younger by three hours, but I still 'unfairly' inherited the position of Rocket Knight. So, my dear twin brother found Dad's plans in the attic, and constructed his own Rocket Knight gear. He was always the electronics whiz, he could build just about anything from metal and wires. So, Rocket Knight number two was born. He tried to protect the town, while still being separate to me. He wanted to be the one and only Rocket Knight. But, he wasn't as brave or as skilled as me, I always had to save him from trouble. The entire town, and the King, wanted him to just give up, he only got in the way. Eventually, he gave in to everyone's requests, and left town, saying he'd never return. The town was at peace for the next year or so, I had next to nothing to do. Then, at the fall of the next year, a stranger came to town. A grotesque warthog wearing a black crown who called himself the Black Knight. He brought with him a huge army of armored pigs, and there, on his right hand side, stood Axel, grinning. The Black Knight overran the town and the castle with hideous robots. To make things worse, Axel invaded the castle and kidnapped the princess! I had to destroy that evil hog before he destroyed the planet. So, I blasted off after him, tracking him down until I got to the Black Knight's own satellite! When I defeated the knight, I realized he was nothing but a robot. The Black Knight's entire army was robotic. The only living one, was Axel. Instead of Axel being the loyal slave to the Black Knight, it was the other way around. Axel created the army so he could finally destroy the town, and me, for which he had such a grudge against. Now that we're over that little trauma, I come here for a holiday, and what do I get? Robots! I just can't win."
"Wow, that's deep!" said Sonic. "I could tell you the history of this place, but you'd be staying up all night, so I'll explain it in a nutshell. There's this fat guy named Robotnik, he builds robots, he tries to rule Mobius, but only a small number of Mobians stand in his way. I'm one of them." "Okay, so do you have some sort of secret headquarters or something, like the Batcave?" Sparkster asked. "Not quite!" replied Sonic, grinning. "But we do have Knothole. Come on, I'll take you there!"
CHAPTER TWO: PLOTTING
"When is whatsisname going to leave?" asked Streak. "He's beginning to freak me out!" Knuckles shrugged. "I dunno! Sonic brought him here." Ashura stepped out of the hut. Actually, his movement's can't quite be described as stepping, it was more of a sneaky, sliding motion, like creeping. "Eavesdropping, are we?" the strange green hedgehog asked with a mysterious grin. "No, of course not!" replied Streak. "We were just walking past." Ashura's smile faded a little. "Well don't walk for too long, save all that energy." He then tapped his scepter on the ground and walked away. "Weird!" said Knux. "Why does he keep telling us to save our energy? What are we saving it for?" Streak shrugged. Knuckles looked around and saw Sonic entering Knothole, and with him was a strange armored figure. Knux sighed, and went up to meet them.
"Oh, hi Knux, this is Sparkster." said Sonic. "When are you going to stop bringing strangers into Knothole?" asked Knux, avoiding the gesture. "This is a secret village, not a public hotel!" Sparkster looked surprised. "Well, sorry, I didn't know!" Sonic frowned. "You're welcome here, Sparky, Knux just likes to joke around." Sonic brought Sparkster further into the village to show him around. Streak walked up to Knuckles again. "Who was that?" he asked. Knuckles frowned a little. "Another freaky stranger. First there's a creepy fairy-tale style old guy with a cape and an addiction to power, and now there's a medieval knight with a sword and some hi-tech backpack. I tell 'ya, sometimes I think Sonic is a little too friendly for his own, and OUR own, good." At that moment, something quickly buzzed through the sky. It covered the sun for a split second, then it vanished again. "WHOA! What was that?" asked Streak. Knux shrugged. "Bug?"
The figure slowed his flight a little to check a small radar monitor attached to his arm. "Come on, where are you?" he demanded. "COME ON!!!" In frustration, he began to put his arm away again, but a sudden sharp bleep startled him. The monitor showed a large object just to the East. The figure looked up in that direction. "A city" he commented. "Maybe HE'S there." He pressed a button, and the rocket blast from his back dimmed down more, as he prepared to land.
The figure looked around, trying to find a living Mobian. All he could see was robots. "This is my kind of place!" he said, cracking his fingers. One of the robots approached him. "Intruder!" the drone cried, before charging for the figure. The mysterious Mobian smiled, and simply drew a huge sword and sliced the robot across the middle. "Not very strong, though." he said with a sigh. More robots came charging at him. He swung his sword around with incredible skill, chopping the bots into confetti. "These robots are absolutely pathetic!" the figure said out loud. Then he heard a voice behind him say "I know. That's why _I_ am here!" Then the figure felt immense pain shoot through his body, and everything went dark.
Ashura sat in the guest hut, staring at his orb. "Yes, soon it shall be ours. All of it!" he told the orb, as if it was a living being who could hear him. "Once you recharge, my precious orb, you shall wield incomprehensible power. Then we shall steal from this village what I hunger for most!" At that moment, Knuckles stepped into the hut. "And what would that be, tall, dark and mysterious?" he asked. Ashura seemed unsurprised. "Ah! I knew you were eavesdropping! I could sense it!" Knux lifted one eyebrow. "If you knew I was listening in, why'd you spill your guts like that?" he asked. Ashura stood up and grabbed his scepter. "Because I know you aren't going to tell anyone, anyway." he replied. Knux cracked up laughing. "Oh yeah? Let me give you a tip - never go to a casino, you'll lose all the bets!" Ashura smiled a little. "I'm very serious, echidna." "What makes you think I'm not going to tell anyone that you're planning to rob them?" asked Knux. "You're WAY too tired to do that." replied Ashura. "Nice try" said Knux. "I slept like a kitten last night!" "It doesn't matter." said Ashura. "You are still very tired. You can hardly keep your eyes open!" Ashura shoved the orb on the scepter right in Knux's face. "HEY! WHAT...?" yelled Knux, staring at the strange glowing colours in the sphere. "Very tired! Very, very tired!" repeated Ashura. Knux could feel light-headed all of a sudden. His eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand kilograms. "Very, very ti-i-i-i-red" said Ashura in a soothing voice. "I--have--to----fight----it..." said Knux, struggling to back away. To run out of the hut. But all his surroundings started to float around, to swirl around his head, faster and faster. "Very ti-i-i-i-i-red" Knux felt like he was flying. He closed his eyelids to stop the swirling bright colours, but he couldn't open them again. The last thing he heard before he drifted off, was Ashura giggling and saying "For a creature with a lot of power, you sure are weak!"
The strange figure opened his eyes and looked around. The first thing he noticed was the pain from his head. He lifted his head and felt the throbbing area. A massive lump. He had been knocked unconscious by something. As his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, he realized that he was in a gloomy dungeon. "Rise and shine!" came a voice from outside his cell. He turned his head to the source of the voice. Out from the shadows, stepped a figure, painted all blue. His limbs made a very high pitched, almost un-hearable, squeak when they moved. But the most noticeable features were the eyes. They lit the prison cell in a weak red light, as the two red ovals approached. "You have been captured by the evil and almighty Doctor Robotnik." it said. The figure looked up at him. "Nice to meet you too, doctor! The name's Axel. Axel Ringtail." The robot's eyes glowed redder. "Oh no, I'm not Robotnik, I am simply the servant. My friends call me Mecha. Although, my _friends_ don't usually live long enough to call me anything." Mecha laughed at his own joke. "Listen, Mecha, I think you've made a slight mistake here." said Axel. "I make no mistakes." replied Mecha. "You see, I'm an evil super-genius, too!" Axel continued. Mecha giggled. "Perhaps you would like to discuss that issue with Robotnik!" he said. "Lead the way." replied Axel, reaching for something behind his back. When he couldn't find it, he put both arms around his back. "Looking for your rocket pack?" asked Mecha. Axel stopped fiddling, but didn't reply. Instead, he looked at Mecha coldly. "I have, err, confiscated your weapon and your rocket pack." continued Mecha, cheerfully. "We can't just let our prisoners run around with weapons, now, can we?" Mecha opened the cell door, and escorted Axel down the hall. "You have to see him eventually, anyway." he said. "Robotnik must inspect each individual, before robotization!"
Dr. Robotnik loomed over Axel and Mecha like a skyscraper. "Yes?" he asked, without expression. Mecha approached him. "Sir, this strange prisoner wishes to speak to you." he replied. "I'm waiting." complained Robotnik, staring at the odd opossum standing in front of him. Axel grinned. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Axel Ringtail, the - one and only - TRUE Rocket Knight. "I am not impressed." replied Robotnik, glumly. "You think a fancy name and some shiny armor will save your life?" Axel frowned. "I think you have made a little error here. You're some sorta evil super-villain, am I right?" "Try 'Mega-villain'." replied Robotnik. "And you came here to destroy somebody, I betcha." replied Axel. "I am here to destroy EVERYbody." replied Robotnik. "Well, I wanna destroy someone too!" said Axel. "Isn't there some rule that evil guys have to team up?" Robotnik smirked. "I play by my OWN rules!" Axel sighed. "You're a very difficult guy to get on with. Look, I know ways you can...do whatever it is you want to do!" Robotnik got down from his throne and approached Axel. "'Whatever it is I want to do', is take over this entire globe! Do you have 'ways' of achieving THAT?" "SURE!" replied Axel. "Just as long as I get some kind of important role in your kingdom, say, advisor, or somethin'." "We'll talk." replied Robotnik, leading Axel into the next room. Mecha sighed. "That Axel can't be trusted!"
Fifteen minutes later, the two emerged from the room. "So It's a deal, then?" said Axel. "You get Knothole, and I get Sparkster." Robotnik nodded his head. "Agreed." By Robotnik's command, Mecha Sonic reluctantly handed Axel his sword and rocket pack. He strapped on the pack, and then blasted out the window. "That Robotnik can't be trusted." he said, under his breath.
"So, there's kind of a war going on between you and this Robotnik fella, huh?" asked Sparkster. "That's right." replied Sonic. "And It'll be going on for a looooong time, yet. We just have to make sure Knothole stays hidden." Just outside the door, a familiar figure in robes brushed past, holding a scepter. "Who's that guy, anyway?" asked Sparkster. "His name's Ashura." replied Sonic. "We suspect he's..." he made a circular motion around his ear with his finger. "Oh." replied Sparkster. They could see Ashura walking across to the center of the village, and raising his arms. Sonic sighed. "I'd better go see what he's doing. If I really want to know, that is." He got up, and left the hut.
Ashura was waving his arms around in the air, as if he was swishing bugs away from his face. Sonic approached him from behind. "Whatcha doing?" he asked. "None of your beeswax. Don't bother me." replied Ashura, not pausing his arm movements, nor glancing at Sonic. "Fine, then." said Sonic, silently. Suddenly, there was a great din on the other side of the village, like a jet landing. Sonic raced over to investigate. He was just in time to see another stranger enter the village, except this one looked less than friendly. In fact, by the expression on his face, and the way he was brandishing his sword, he looked downright hostile! He looked a lot like Sparkster, except his face was a little different, and his armor was a shade of purple, instead of blue, like Sparkster's. "So this is Knothole." he stated loudly. "I can't believe that this place can be so darn hard to find, in the eyes of those idiots at the city. Oh well, surrender now, everyone! You face the wrath of Axel, the Rocket Knight!"
CHAPTER THREE: CAPTURED
"Axel! What are you doing here?" yelled an approaching voice. "SPARKSTER!" yelled Axel, equally startled. "I did not expect you to be here! Talk about killing two birds with one stone!" "What are you doing here?" Sparkster repeated the question, taking out his sword. "So I can kill YOU, dear brother! Why else?" replied Axel, also holding up his sword. "I talked to this dude named Robotnik, he agreed to help me find you if I destroyed this village! HA! Looks like I don't need HIS help!" Sonic's eyes lit up. "You met Robotnik?" he asked the opossum. "Shut up, hedgehog, if you know what's good for 'ya!" snapped Axel. "You'd better back off, Sonic, this could get nasty." added Sparkster, talking through his teeth. He turned back to Axel. "You are a disgrace, Axel. How dare you continue to call yourself the Rocket Knight, after all you've done! You know I am the one and only TRUE Rocket Knight." "I CAN FIX THAT!!!" Screamed Axel, suddenly letting rip a blast from his rocket pack, propelling him towards Sparkster, his sword pointing straight ahead.
Sparkster blocked the attack with his own sword, causing Axel to ricochet into the air. Then Sparkster used his own rocket pack to blast towards Axel. It became a battle in the air. A swordfight, it wasn't clear who was winning. Axel was mostly hacking and slashing, while Sparkster was blocking. "What's the matter, bro?" asked Axel. "Afraid to fight? Know you'll lose?" "I don't want to kill you, Axel." replied Sparkster. "So I'll do the next best thing." He held his sword back-to-front, and smacked the handle over Axel's head. He fell from the sky, the helmet on his head prevented him from being knocked out. "Face it, you can't beat me!" Sparkster yelled down. Axel was about to get up and start fighting again, when a familiar voice was heard from behind the trees. "Need a little help?" A laser beam came out of nowhere, and smacked into Sparkster. Unconscious, he began to fall. Mecha Sonic, the one who shot the beam, dived from behind the trees, scooped up Axel and Sparkster, and vanished again. "I'll be back for YOU later, Hedgehog!" he yelled back. Sonic gasped. "Mecha Sonic? But I got rid of him! I left him in the void...he...he can't get out!" "He's the slime that never dies." muttered Sally, approaching him. Sonic looked back. He could see Sally jogging up to him, and also Ashura a few meters away. He was still waving his arms around and humming, as if he had no idea that there was just a mid-air sword fight three meters away from him. "We'll have to send out a rescue party." Sally continued. "Have you seen Knuckles?" Sonic thought about it. "Actually, I haven't seen Knux for a while." he replied. "Wonder where he is?" "Oh well, we'll have to go without him." said Sally. "Let's go! Hurry!" she started to run out into the forest, but she only got halfway, when she smacked into an unseen object. She sprawled around on her back, holding her face. "AAAGH! I BROKE MY NOSE!" she yelled out. As Sonic rushed to her aid, he thought he heard laughter from behind him. He looked back, and saw Ashura's shadow vanish behind a row of huts.
Streak felt the invisible field that encased Knothole. "It's some kind of invisible force field!" he said. "Duh, Einstein!" came Petals' voice behind him. Tails walked up to him. "If there's an invisible wall here, how come those birds are flying through it?" Streak looked up. Indeed, there was a low-flying flock of birds just overhead. They passed through the shield easily. But when they tried to exit Knothole via the other side, they all smacked into the invisible wall, and fell. "It appears to be one-way." Streak commented. "Stuff can get in, but can't get out. And it looks like it's around the whole village, like a dome." "Is it Robotnik?" asked Sonic. "I guess." replied Streak. "By the way, has anyone seen Knuckles or Ashura lately?" "They've both vanished." replied Sally, her nose bandaged. "Ashura seems to be hiding in his hut with the door locked, but Knux isn't anywhere!" "Well, looks like we're stuck here until we find some way of getting outta this village!" said Sonic, slumping down.
Sparkster awoke in an unfriendly looking cell. It used to be a storage room, but Robotnik needed more dungeon space, so it was converted into a prison cell. There were still thick bars on the ceiling, where supplies were hung on giant hooks. He looked outside, and noticed shadows outside in the hall. He recognized one as Axel, and the other looked a little like Sonic's shadow, but the corresponding voice was different. The two were having an argument. Axel was boasting that he could out-do the other figure, because he found Knothole so quickly, and the other figure snapped back by saying Axel would have been defeated if HE had not arrived and blasted his opponent. Eventually, the figures left. Sparkster scanned the room. His rocket pack and sword had been taken from him. He still wore his armor, probably because it was difficult to take off, and there was no way one could escape using only a suit of armor, anyway. Then there was a clanging sound, like metal footsteps approaching. Had Axel and the other one returned? No. A short SWAT bot walked up to the bars. It had Sparkster's sword and rocket pack! It sat there, staring through the narrow bars for a few seconds, then left. It seemed to be on guard duty. Sparkster looked again towards the iron bars on the ceiling, and began plotting.
"You have captured your prisoner, now you have to carry out YOUR side of the bargain! Go back there, and knock Knothole flat!" said Robotnik to Axel, who was leaning against his sword. "Sure, Ivo! I'll do that, no sweat! It'll take a while, unless I have help..." Robotnik pointed to an army of SWAT bots, lined up against the wall. Axel chuckled. "I'll try, but those robots of yours are pretty pathetic!" Robotnik seemed to take personal insult to this, and gleamed down at Axel. Axel turned, and opened a small compartment in his armor. He reached in and pulled out a couple of sheets of paper. "Never leave home without them!" he said, grinning. "It's some blueprints for the robots _I_ use. The E-100's. Easy to build, and they're as strong as heck. It's a full set of technical schematics. Hope you find some use for them." He handed them to Robotnik. Ivo stared at them for a few seconds. "Hmm...perhaps." Then he threw them onto his desk. "Go now, if the villagers expect you to return, we mustn't give them too much time to prepare." Axel smiled, then motioned with his hand for the SWAT bots to follow.
"You won't get away with this!" announced Knuckles, weakly. Ashura turned to him. Knux was lying in the corner of his hut with chains. "Oh, awake so soon? asked Ashura, without looking around. "Don't try to yell out, I've soundproofed the hut." "What do you want?" demanded Knux, still very weary from the hypnotism. "What is it you want to steal from the village? Money? Weapons?" Ashura laughed out loud. "HA! I have no use for your money! And I am more than able to look after myself! No, what I want is something else. Something you cannot just 'hand over' to me. I have already sealed the village with a powerful shield, so nobody can escape, in case my little secret is revealed." "Are you a...a...sorcerer, or something?" asked Knux. "A shamen." corrected Ashura. "The orb is almost recharged, I just need another half an hour, before I can act. Now, go back to sleep, echidna. Save your energy."
"CHARGE!" screamed Axel. The SWAT bots invaded Knothole, passing through the invisible shield. The villagers fought back viciously. Sonic burst out of his hut, and took a look at the fight. "NOT AGAIN!" he screamed, doing a spin-dash into a group of robots. He un-curled himself, and grabbed Axel's shoulder. "Where's Sparkster?" he demanded. "He's out of the way, of course!" replied Axel with a chuckle. He grabbed his sword, and slashed Sonic across the arm. It caught him completely by surprise. Then Axel started laughing harder, and blasted away with his rocket pack.
Ashura was sitting, waving his arms around. The orb on his scepter was glowing strongly. Suddenly, the door to his hut was bashed down, and Axel stood before him, armed with a sword, and guarded by two SWAT bots. "Am I supposed to be impressed?" asked Ashura. "Get out, old guy, or collapse with your hut!" yelled Axel. "Oh really?" asked Ashura, who seemed to find that funny. He held out his scepter, and pointed the orb at one of the SWAT bots. The robot instantly exploded into a million pieces. Then he aimed the stick at the second robot. The droid began to compress like an empty Coke can, and continued to crush until it was no bigger than a 50c piece. "It is you who should leave me." said Ashura. "Go away, I'm busy." "WHAT THE *^%$# JUST HAPPENED?" screamed Axel. Ashura didn't reply. Axel let out a vicious battle cry, and charged toward Ashura. The shamen simply held out his hand, and Axel crashed into an invisible wall. "Don't make me laugh." said Ashura. Then, Axel charged him again, this time boosted by his rocket pack. This seemed to catch Ashura a little off guard, but he still managed to dodge the attack. "I refuse to be defeated by a forty year old green hedgehog wielding a stick!" said Axel. "I'm older than forty." corrected Ashura. Then a fight broke out, a sort of swordfight, except Ashura was using his scepter. Suddenly, Axel got Ashura on the ground. He held the sword up to Ashura's neck. "This is what you get for messing with Axel Ringtail, the TRUE ROCKET KNIGHT!!!" he yelled. He was just about to slit the old hedgehog's throat, when Ashura yelled "RISE HADES, AND SWALLOW THIS DEMON! TAKE HIM BACK TO THE PITS FROM WHENCE HE CAME!!!" Axel backed off a little. "Excuse me?" he asked. Suddenly, the entire hut shook, like an earthquake. Then the floor began to open up, revealing bright red pits. There was a horrible screaming sound. Knuckles woke up from his sleep, but he thought he was still dreaming. Or having a nightmare. Deeper holes were ripped in the floor, the noise of the screaming was unbearable, and the floor shook violently. Axel was standing, a giant gap opening between his legs. "NO! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!" he screamed, fumbling for the trigger to his rocket pack. Then, he fell. His screams became muffled as he dropped into the pit. Only his sword remained, spinning in thin air. But, soon enough, gravity kicked in, and it shared it's master's fate. Then, the floor closed up, the shaking stopped, and everything went back as if nothing had occurred in the first place. A few seconds passed, then Ashura stood up, brushed off, and walked away. "The orb should be ready by now. I should feed now, before anything else interrupts." Knuckles continued to sit, staring at the middle of the floor, with his mouth open, struggling to steady his heartbeat.
The SWAT bot walked down the aisle, still carrying Sparkster's rocket pack and sword. It approached the prisoner's cell, and looked in. There was nobody in there! The robot looked around in confusion, trying to figure out how Sparkster could have escaped. Instantly, it took out a keycard, slashed it across the lock, and the cell door opened. It stepped in. Looking around, it confirmed the original thought that Sparkster wasn't there. Then came the attack. Sparkster dropped on the SWAT bot like a ton of bricks. He had been using his tail to hold onto the bars on the ceiling. Before the robot knew what was happening, Sparkster stole back his rocket pack and sword. Then he sliced the robot into four pieces, but not before it had a chance to send out a silent alarm to the other robots. He was a fugitive, now. At least he had his sword. He turned on his jets, and rocketed out of the cell and down the hallway, bowling over some approaching robots. When his rocket ran out of charge, he started running, slicing robots left, right and center, until his jets powered up again, giving him another long boost towards the exit. Suddenly, a crowd of robots surrounded him, attempting to grab him and shove him back into the dusty cell. Sparkster then used his rockets to do a neat little trick - he powered them up, then used them to spin him like a tornado, sword outstretched. Any robots that came near him were chopped into sushi. After their numbers were thinned out, he rocketed away once again, this time leaving the building, and Robotropolis, behind him. Robotnik was watching him on the scanners. "You shouldn't have let that happen, Mecha." he said. "I wasn't even there!" protested Mecha. "I don't care." replied Robotnik. "When you catch a powerful prisoner, I expect you to be able to keep them. You have disappointed me for the last time." With that, he left the room. "Well, what are you going to do about it?" asked Mecha, even though Robotnik wasn't even in the room.
CHAPTER FOUR: THE FINAL FIGHT
Ashura stepped out of his hut, squinting in the daylight. He walked slowly towards the middle of the village, carrying his scepter with one hand, and dragging the mesmerized echidna, Knuckles, with the other hand. Sonic had just finished off the last of the SWAT bots, and noticed the green hedgehog walking slowly, dragging Knuckles. He ran up to Ashura. "You found Knux?" he asked. Ashura stopped in the middle of the village, and literally threw Knux to the ground, and started looking into his orb. "HEY! Be careful with him!" said Sonic, rushing to Knux's aid. Ashura took no notice, and began flailing his arms around. Knux snapped out of it, and sat up. "Sonic! This Ashura guy...he's...he's real evil! He wants to steal something from the village!" "What?" asked Sonic. "The echidna utters the truth." said Ashura, not looking around. " And there's nothing you can do about it, either." Sonic's eyes widened. He knew this guy was weird, but he never suspected him to be evil! "THIS is what I'm going to do about it!" Sonic said, suddenly, as he curled into a spin-dash. Ashura smiled as if he found it funny, and simply pointed his scepter at Sonic. There was a blast of light, and Sonic was blasted backwards. "Don't you GET IT?" asked Ashura. "You can't defeat the greatest shamen to ever stalk the planet!" "Shamen?" asked Sonic, dazed. "That's right." replied Ashura. Knuckles got up, on the intention to whop Ashura in the face unexpectedly. He drew his fist back, but instead of striking the hedgehog, he hit an invisible wall that encased him. "I'm not that stupid!" said Ashura, proud of himself. "What do you want with us?" asked Sonic. "The same thing we all crave." replied Ashura. "The thing we all want, the thing we all would do anything to have, but with one difference - I have a means of getting it." He suddenly grinned wider. "The thing I want from you, Sonic, is your power. Your energy. Your LIFE!"
Sonic looked at him strangely. "It is obvious your puny intellect is unable to decipher my advanced plans." said Ashura. "Let me explain... You see, I am a very, very powerful individual. For 71 years, I have travelled from place to place, continent to continent, city to city, village to village, searching for the right place to quench my insatiable appetite. My lust for POWER! I go somewhere teeming with life, then I suck it dry! I remove every trace of energy, making me more powerful, and restoring my youth, so as I look only thirty, instead of my true age. Usually, this is a slow process, but now I have come across Knothole! OH! THE INCREDIBLE POWER! It is as if each one of you has their own special powerful ability! And now, I shall have it all! The Orb of Life Energy is at its peak of strength! Now, it's time for the FEAST OF A LIFETIME TO BEGIN!!!" After his speech, Ashura lifted his scepter high above his head, and the orb on top began glowing brightly. Then there was a strong sensation of cold. Freezing cold. Ice began to form on the ground in front of Ashura's feet. The ice started creeping along the ground. The first thing that Sonic thought of was the creeping ice that had formed a few months back, when he and Knux had messed with Sky Sanctuary, which turned out to be a massive machine. Except that was a wave of soft, snowy ice. Ashura's ice moved slower, and it was very solid ice, like the caves on Floating Island's Icecap. The ice reached Knux's feet, and he tried to struggle away. He remembered what happened LAST time, he was turned into an ice sculpture. But this time, it was different - the ice began to form a bubble around him. He was still alive and moving, he was just caged in an ice bubble. He tried to yell, but the ice was soundproof. The ice began to bubble around everyone in the village. Many tried to escape, but couldn't, because of the shield around Knothole. Soon, the village had been transformed into an Arctic wasteland. Everyone was encased in an invincible ice cage. Ashura burst out laughing, and slammed the pointed end of his scepter into the ice, cracking it, allowing the stick to stand up on its own. "Who's going to save you now? HUH?" demanded Ashura, between cackles. He was right. Nobody was left. Nobody was around, who wasn't already captured. Ashura was winning.
Sparkster was running so fast, he didn't notice the ice, and he slipped head over heels. He looked around in amazement. Ice? It was Summer! It was a blasted 34 degrees centigrade, for goodness sake! He tapped on the ice with the tip of his sword. Rock solid. It was then that he heard the evil laughter. He rushed over behind some bushes to investigate. He could just see Ashura, he had some sort of orb in front of him, on a stick. He could also see most of the villagers, in some sort of clear cages. Strange mist was radiating from the cages, and being sucked up by the orb. Wait, was that really Sonic? The blue hedgehog looked more like he was in his twenties than in his late teens. Anyway, whatever was happening, it wasn't good, so the Rocket Knight decided to do some investigating. He jumped out of the bushes, and approached Ashura. "What do you think you are doing?" he asked. "Leave me alone!" replied Ashura. "Can't you see I'm feeding?" Sparkster decided to use a more direct approach. He pulled out his sword, and held it up to Ashura's face. "Let - them - go - NOW" he said, slowly, making sure the green hedgehog fully understood each word. Ashura frowned, and grabbed his stick. "I need energy! QUICKLY!" he said to nobody in particular. He pointed the scepter at the nearest captive, which happened to be Sonic. Suddenly, the mist radiating from Sonic's cage became a lot t thicker. But, even more amazing, Sonic actually began to age, right in front of Sparkster's eyes! He became feeble and old in twenty seconds! And STILL more amazing, Ashura began to grow at an alarming rate. Not grow as in age, but grow as in...well...GROW! He became a giant! He continued to grow, until Sparkster was only as big as his ankle! Ashura began to laugh...erm...bellow hysterically. "HA! NOBODY CAN STOP ME NOW! OOH, THE _POWER_!!!
Sparkster did the only thing he could do. He drew back his sword, and shoved it deep into the side of Ashura's heel. The giant hedgehog screamed in agony, and while he didn't die like Achilles, he did bound around in pain. Sparkster had learned all the major and minor pressure points during his battle training. Suddenly, the outraged Ashura reached down and picked up the Rocket Knight. He was holding the little (little compared to Ashura) opossum with a tight fist, the only things he had free were his head and his arm, which was holding his sword. It would be impossible to try and stab Ashura's hand, as he was wearing thick leather gloves. "You cannot defeat ME!" bragged Ashura "I AM THE GREAT ASHURA HEDGEHOG! ALL SHALL BOW DOWN TO ME OR FEEL MY WRATH!!!" The hedgehog was growing bigger as more energy flowed into him, and the villagers were all growing older as the shamen stole their lives. Sonic looked about 100. He could die at any moment! Sparkster took one look at the cackling Ashura, then at the scepter, then at the agonized villagers, and suddenly he knew what to do...
Sparkster used all his skill to throw his sword in the right direction. It spun around fast, then slowly, then it hit its target squarely. The sharp blade sliced through the mystical orb like butter. Ashura's eyes widened. "MY SCEPTER!" he screamed. From the jagged shards of the orb, there came a thin smoke that entered the tight cages, and made all the villagers strong again, restoring their true age. Ashura began to change, too. He shrank back to his normal size, and started to age. He continued to grow older, until he looked like his true age, 71. Sparkster grabbed his sword, and threatened Ashura with it again. "Wanna let them go now?" he asked. Ashura simply grabbed his scepter, with the shattered orb, and vanished in a puff of smoke. He reappeared a few meters away, in the forest. "I swear it!" he yelled, in his feeble old voice. "I will return! Ashura WILL return!" with that, he disappeared into the forest. The ice covering the village began to melt, and the flight of birds showed that the shield had also been vanquished. Ashura was defeated.
Sparkster returned to his homeland that very afternoon. He said that it would be a lot easier on him, now that Axel had vanished. Nobody knows what ever happened to Sparkster's evil brother, or Ashura, but wherever they went, it's history, now. That adventure has come to
SERIES ONE CHRONOLOGY:
1. Time and Space
2. I Am Your Evil Twin
3. Micro-Sonic
4. Android Wars
5. Chaos
6. Diary of a Mad Assassin
7. Fire in the Sky
8. The Guests of Honor
9. Time and Punishment
10. The Secret Past
11. Tale of a Rocket Knight
12. Cyber Sonic
13. Apocalypse