Darkness and sound were all he was able to feel. To feel sound was certainly not something that he had expected as sound shouldn't feel like anything at all! True, his uncle had beaten him up on more than one occasion, but he still felt like this time was one of the worse times. For one, he couldn't wake up. For another, he felt like a lead weight.
Voices, he kept hearing voices… "Do you think he'll be okay?" He knew that voice… it was familiar, but he hadn't heard it in years… "Julian gave him quite the beating this time… even Chuck seemed worried, and you know he barely worried about Collin in the old days." He hadn't been called that name in years… except for by Ace.
"Well from what I remember of Collin before everything hit the fan, he was a good egg. He gave fair warning to King Max and still the old squirrel wouldn't listen." That's right, Sally's father didn't head his warning about Robotnik. "He thought that he could pacify his hunger for power by making him the Chancellor of science. The foolish king had no idea what he was dealing with. King Shade was entrapped in only God knows where at this point, but still! He should have thought about it."
"Yes, he gave everyone warning. It's how Miles and Veronica were spared from being robotosized. Have you seen any of the other royals, Dr. Quack?"
"No. Not yet. At least, I don't think I have."
"I thought not. The kids say that they've caught a glimpse of their mother, and we know that King Max is in the void…"
"Yes, but Ace brought that blueprint for a portal, and I'll bet that it came from Collin."
"Oh, that's obvious now though. I mean, seriously, she risked her own safety to rescue him, so he has got to be her contact." Jules laughed lightly, trying to lighten the mood.
"How's she handling it, Jules?"
A sigh could be heard. "She's still sitting on the porch after her chores every day. Sally and Sonic have her do a few errands and missions with the others here and there, and she doesn't let it get to her so long as she's distracted. She even helps Chuck with working on the Robotosizer and reverse engineering it. She does solo runs for supplies for it without even questioning it. After Chuck's done though, she just falls asleep on the porch, waiting to be allowed in."
"If she's not careful, I might have her in here to occupy another bed."
"Manic says that he drops a blanket on her every night once the moon shows up, so I don't think she'll have too much trouble. She's adaptable and usually enjoys sleeping in the sewer tunnels, but… you're right. She can't stay depressed like this forever, can she?"
"I hate to admit it, but I think that it all depends on how well Snively… I mean, Collin… recovers."
"Yes… I think I'll let him keep his old title."
"What title, Jules?"
"Sir Collin of the Four Kingdoms of course… one of our secret knights…"
***Freedom Fighters***
Snively felt a damp cloth on his forehead when light started to reach his face. He struggled to open his eyes, as his eyelids felt weighted down. He was surprised to find himself breathing, especially since the last thing he could remember was his uncle beating the living daylights out of him. He shuddered as he felt fresh air enter his lungs instead of the usual smog from Robotropolis. His eyes snap open in shock as he gasped. He then winced.
"Easy, easy, Sir Collin." Snively opened his eyes again weakly and managed to turn his head to his right a little. His eyes widened in fear as he saw the face of someone whom he hadn't seen in over two decades. "You had everyone pretty worried there, Collin."
"King Jules?" Snively managed to croak with his dry throat.
"Just Jules will do fine, Collin." The green hedgehog smiled kindly to the young human. Though they had known each other from before the Great War had started, Collin "Snively" Eggman was truthfully only thirty-six, and his daughter, Ace Lunar Dreamstar Eggman was only eighteen. "You gave everyone quite a scare there. My boy Sonic was saying how he couldn't tell what was truth anymore apparently, hehe. How are you feeling?"
"I'm… fine…" The human lied, feeling strange for having someone worry about him other than Ace, and even that felt strange to him. Jules handed Snively a cup of water, to which the younger man graciously drank from. "Thank you." He still sounded weak, but it was an improvement.
"Not a problem. Sonic just had a hard time believing that you had been asked to be a double agent for us. I will admit, there were times where I was worried about you starting to actually be a traitor, rather than just acting."
"I'll admit… sire… that… there were moments in which… I would forget myself…" He seemed to be struggling for air. Jules nodded and placed an oxygen mask on the human, though it was a little hard with his large nose.
"I bet. Rest easy, my young friend. You're safe now."
"Not… not until Robotnik's… gone… I have to… stop him…" Snively fell back into a deep sleep, having used all his energy to keep awake and talk to one of his four kings. Jules nodded and once more found himself admiring the younger soldier. He didn't like leaving missions unfinished.
***Freedom Fighters***
King Jules left the health hut with a small smile on his face. He noticed that Ace was done with her chores already and was waiting for some news of her father. "How is he?" She asked, as she always did when someone came out. It had been a month now since she had brought her father in from Robotropolis.
"He woke up for a few minutes today. He's confused. It's understandable. He still thinks he's a failure."
"He's not the failure, I am… I should have gotten him out sooner. I should have planned ahead more. I should have seen this coming… it's my fault he's hurt and half the planet hates him… all because I didn't pull him out when I should've."
Jules sat next to the young girl fox and sighed. "I can see the family traits. You're stubborn, just like the rest of your family… but just like Collin, you're blaming yourself for all of life's problems. You geniuses always seem to think that everything that goes wrong can be blamed on something or someone. You and Collin just tend to blame yourselves rather than anyone else."
"Yeah, well… we'd be pretty lousy people if we blamed innocent people." Ace grimaced. "Besides… it's our family that's causing such grief… it's just how we are."
"So I've noticed…" Jules then looked around at the bustling village that was going through its everyday routine. "I'll talk to the doc… maybe he'll let you see him now…"
"Thank you, your majesty…"
"Heh, you and your father need to start remembering, I'm just plain old Jules here, hehe."
"You and Sally…" Ace smirked. Princess Sally also insisted on not being called royalty, as they were in the forest, and as Sally liked to put it, "The only royalty here is Mother Nature."
"And you and Collin." Jules chuckled. "Have you eaten yet?"
"No… I wanted to know if he was awake… is he going to be okay?"
"Heh, he'll be fine. I'll go get you some food and then find the doc. He'll be able to check on your dad and tell us if you can check up on him yourself. You still worry too much."
"No, I worry exactly the right amount. You can never worry too much when Robotnik's out there."
"Sure kid, sure…" He had a sad smile on as he realized that Ace had never actually had a childhood like some of the others. 'Just remember you're still a little girl… just like my Sonia and just like Sally…'
***Freedom Fighters***
"SNIVELY!" Robotnik yelled, forgetting once more that he had practically killed his nephew… and that the small man had been rescued for some reason. "Oh… right…" He grumbled as he went about to personally try to program everything so that the machines would run smoother and order the swat bots. It amazed him how much he actually needed the short human who had actually been betraying him for who knows how long. "He was only in charge of making sure all the bots were working really… so why am I having such a hard time running this place without him taking care of the droids and robotosized citizens?"
***Freedom Fighters***
Snively took in another breath as he struggled to open his eyes again. This time it was night, and he saw something blue, black, and blonde near him. He managed to open his eyes enough to look at the sleeping figure of his daughter. Ace was sleeping with her head on the bed next to her father. Collin smiled kindly at his daughter and moved some of her blonde hair away from her face. She was too tired to notice. Snively then simply rested his hand on her head and stroked her head until he fell back asleep. 'Such a good girl…'
Ace woke up a few hours later, once the sun had risen, and went about her usual chores. Sir Charles, or rather Uncle Chuck as everyone but Jules called him, had asked her to pick up some of the final pieces for the void portal that day. They'd work on the Derobotosizing machine once they figured out how to reverse engineer it. Ace patted her father's hand as she set it back on his chest. "I'll be back soon, daddy. I promise."
Ace made her way outside and walked over to Uncle Chuck's hut as she did every morning since returning with her father. Chuck looked over his metallic shoulder, as he had been robotosized during the early years of Robotnik's takeover of the Acorn kingdom. He had recently regained his free will thanks to his nephew, Sonic's help. "Ah, Ace, it must be morning." Due to his robotosized state, he didn't need to sleep, but he did need to recharge every few weeks.
"Yep. What's today's item?"
"We need a piece that looks like this." He activated a holographic diagram that showed a small piece that looked quite complicated. "It's a…"
"Don't tell me, hehe, you should know by now that I can never remember the names of these things anyway. I know where one is though. I'll be back in time for lunch."
"Now don't get careless, Ace." Chuck chuckled. "We don't want you in the hospital too."
"Trust me, I'll be fine." She smirked as she grabbed the holo-cube that had the image and ran outside. She then called out for her hoverboard and jumped onto it. She flew off just as Sally came out of her hut.
"She off?"
"Yes, Princess Sally. She's off. She seems to be in a better mood though. I sent her off after a flux capacitor. After we get that piece, we'll be able to bring back your father."
"Thank you, Sir Charles. It's been too long… I really miss him."
"Heh, I know. You aren't the only one to be missing their parents though, just remember that."
"Of course…" Sally nodded. She knew she wasn't alone in that thought. Antione's father was robotosized and a general of one of Robotnik's armies. Tails didn't know his father, but from what Vixen had said, he was in hiding as well as Sonic's mother. Shadow's father, if what Ace had said was true, had been trapped somewhere. There were many other similar cases to all of these.
"Don't worry, Princess Sally. I have a feeling that having both Ace and Collin on our side, things will turn around for us… after of course, we release your father." Chuck smirked.
"Of course, Sir Charles, of course."
***Freedom Fighters***
Ace grinned as she picked out the piece from her father's old lab. "I knew I recognized that piece. Now…" She turned her head to her secret project that she had kept hidden from even her father. She unloaded a few pieces and placed them accordingly on the contraption. "Not bad, but hopefully it's good enough... I just hope I got the design right. I'm not too good at this stuff yet." She chuckled. "I'll work on you more next time…" She snuck out of the caved in laboratory and made her way back through the sewers and to the forest.
She smiled as she walked past the tree with the red sparkles hidden in its leaves. "Hey again, Cosmo. I don't know if your remember him or even care, but Collin's going to be fine. I'll make sure of it. Gotta go. Dr. Hedgehog wants this flux capacitor so we can bring back King Max Acorn. Afterwards, we're gonna work on the derobotisizer. Hopefully, I'll have found some way to return you to your normal state by the end of that. Well, see ya, Cosmo."
Ace could have sworn she heard a soft response of "Bye Ace, take care…" in the wind. She smirked. It was finally the beginning of the end of Dr. Julian Robotnik.
***Freedom Fighters***
Ace couldn't help but smile as all of Knothole, save for her father, was gathered to see if Sir Charles had really been able to bring King Max and Ixis Naugus back from the crystal dimension. It had been years since they had been able to walk out of that world without fear of crystallization. Sally just hoped that this time her father would be able to stay. Ace grinned as the device was activated. Sonic had of course volunteered to go in and look for the king and sorcerer, but Ace and Nicole had assured him that he wouldn't need to. Ace had looked over the plans a few times as her father had made the copy to slip back to his uncle's desk. She was always trying to learn something, even though she wasn't able to understand a lot about robotics.
"You know I was just about to set up dinner, right?" Ace looked up to find Ixis Naugus walking through the portal with King Max right behind him. He looked straight at Ace and frowned. "Oh great, little Miss Know-it-all is here. How nice." He walked over to Ace as the king reunited with his daughter. "You know how much trouble happens every time that you show up?"
"Yes. I also know how much trouble happens when you show up, so I say we're even." The arctic fox said as she gave the strange creature a deadpan gaze equal to his own.
The sorcerer stared at her for a few more moments before bursting into laughter. "You have guts, Ace. I'll give you that. I take it you weakened him already?" Ace nodded slowly.
"I retrieved my father." She said simply enough as she shrugged.
"Ah, that would do it. I must return to my own work… but not before I make Robotnik a little more miserable, hehe. You will probably know where to find me." He then turned to King Max and gave an evil looking smirk. "I'm sure that we won't meet again, your majesty… at least not unless this young lady thinks I'm needed." He then turned back to Ace. "Keep studying, and maybe you'll be my apprentice." Naugus then disappeared in a puff of green smoke.
"WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?" Sonic asked as once more, Ace seemed to shatter everything he knew about the world.
Ace, Manic, and Vixen just laughed. "Oh man, bro, you haven't guessed?" Manic kept laughing. "Ace has some pretty amazing magic of her own."
"Hahaha, show them, Ace." Vixen had to sit down because of how funny everyone's reaction was.
Ace then grimaced and held out a hand. "Right. I know just the spell too!" She took a deep breath and then closed her eyes. "Magic of the ages, guide me. Find me a friend, find me a royal." She smiled kindly to King Jules, Sonic, Sonia, and Manic, who had now stopped laughing as he realized what she was doing. "Queen Aleena of the rings, queen of speed and magic, allow me a moment of your time. Your family wishes an audience with you."
Vixen took this as a que to take everyone who wasn't part of the hedgehog family out of the room. Sally and the others decided to take King Max on a tour of Knothole and then Doctor Quack decided that he needed to give him a check up to be sure he wouldn't crystalize again.
A small orb had formed in Ace's hand before she tossed it up in the air. It was now a full illusion of the Queen, Aleena. "Hello everyone." Aleena smiled kindly. Ace just grinned as she left the hedgehogs to talk while she went to check on her own family; more accurately, her father.
***Freedom Fighters***
Snively felt another cloth on his forehead. This one was soaking wet, as though the person forgot to wring it. He slowly opened his eyes and smiled weakly at the only person who thought it was best to have a soaking wet cloth on her patients' foreheads. Ace Lunar Dreamstar was dabbing away at some wounds, cleaning them up once more before replacing the bandages. She was so busy with changing his bandages that he was sure his daughter didn't notice he was awake yet. He tried to lift his hand to remove the cloth.
"Don't try it, you're still weak, dad."
"I guess you really think of me that way?" He asked weakly. His hand fell back to his chest limply.
"What do you mean?" She picked up the cloth and wrung it out so it was still damp but not as heavy.
"You've started calling me 'dad'. You never did that before."
"Didn't think you'd want me to, ta be honest. You told me that I shouldn't go around telling people my last name was Eggman, even though by law of creation it is."
"Heh… you would follow that law."
"Yeah, I would. So sorry if you don't like the idea of it, but you are my father, so I'm going to act accordingly."
Collin gave a weak smile. "Couldn't be happier… save for the moment when Robotnik's gone."
Ace returned the smile. "Hehe, we're almost there. King Max is back, I set up a communication for the Hedgehog family, King Amadeus Prower of Gears is going to meet me next month at a meeting place, and after that all that's left is to free King Shade from the shadow realm and tell Queen Aleena to get over here."
"You make it sound so simple, Ace…"
"Yeah… it always annoys people when it turns out harder than I make it sound. Hehe." Ace grinned deviously.