Disclaimer: I don't own Sonic, Knuckles, Robotnik and all the rest. The plot of Sonic Adventure is also property of Sega. I only own the original characters, original locations, and original plots within this fanfiction. Yay!
CHAPTER 12: In This Machine
FLASHBACK
"Had enough playtime kids?" Sally sternly, looking at Sonic and Knuckles disapprovingly, as she said so. And darn was she right to be – what a pointless scrap, they were wasting time here!
The red echidna soon apologised though, but I thought I caught a small smile across his roughed features before he did so, I think. Nevertheless, even he treated Sally with more respect than any one of us, which was interesting. If I knew any psychologists then I'm sure he'd be quite the test subject I trailed off in thought, I respected him but he was still pretty anti-social with us, or at least he was when I was still back with them.
I wonder if he's changed at all since then…
The childish mumbling of Sonic in front of me almost had me in fits of giggles, but I held it thankfully. I don't know why but his immature side just added to his charm? In fact, it was beginning to recall the previous night where we…
I stopped my trail of thought there, before I could break my silent vow of 'whatever happens happens' with a shake of my head, dislodging the distracting thoughts. I had to focus on the here and now, on the mission.
Something has whistled by right by and through me, like the in the ear and out of the ear scenario, I'd completely missed what Rotor had just said.
From looking around at everyone, it can't have been good for they all had grim looks plastered on their faces. Was it about Robotnik and Chaos? Did something happen whilst I was in la la land?
I only caught a peculiar look from Knuckles, primed only at me, which was odd. I never got the chance to ask him about it before it all happened, though. And I didn't want to do it in front of the others for both our sakes.
"Still," Tails began. "At least it explains that 'earthquake' we felt when we first got here."
The earthquake from yesterday… that was caused by the impact of the Floating Island nearby…? I stared at Knuckles incredulously, but other than some small murmurs of agreement, nothing more was said on the matter, and he looked to deep in thought to have seen my look.
So then we just carried on walking in silence through the earthly plains and pass the large emerald trees, it was like a paradise found. But it wasn't to last.
*Boom boom*
I screamed and covered my ears, the taste of earth and smoke prying at my mouth. I don't know where everyone else was, my vision was all hazy, I just knew I had to…
A penny for my thoughts was rewarded by a surface tree root connecting with my left foot, causing me to tumble over onto what felt like a grassy plain. Then I saw black and a flash of light green.
Next thing I knew, I was groaning out loud, but at least the smell of grass was slightly healthier than that of soil and smoke, I supposed.
Still, I couldn't just lie here like a dead weight, so setting my hands onto the grass; I then pressed my upper body upward, so that it was pointing horizontal.
"Sonic? Tails? Knuckles? Anyone? Where are you, I can't see you…" I called out, craning my head circularly at every possible angle.
I heard nothing back.
Here I was left in a sea of organic greens and brown inks once more, but there was no one else to be seen. I'd been, for whatever reason, left behind again…
I was about to damn my own klutziness when a whirring of activity suddenly began humming behind me, increasing in velocity with every second. And over it I could hear a familiar call.
It was then I realised that I wasn't alone.
"Oh no, not you again!"
The light green box-shaped behemoth with pinky red eyes had returned, and worse of all he had a captive in one of his giant black hands, still calling that call.
"Crystal! You let go of her you big bully!"I shouted angrily, worried that he'd crush her in his hands at any given moment.
Unsurprisingly he paid no heed, and charged at me again. This time though, I was ready for him and I dodged rolled out of the way to the side, my hands already to the hammer strapped to my back. [I hadn't brought my crossbow because I didn't feel ready enough to hold and use them both, not yet, it was… a work in progress.]
Crystal was tweeting at me, and though I still couldn't understand it, a vague notion of 'run' slowly came to mind. Well, to heck with that.
The robot's next charge was met with my Piko Piko hammer [which was mainly yellow-gold with a red stripe in its centre], which knocked it away, leaving a gust of pink hearts in its wake. I don't know how or why that happened, maybe it was something to do with that 'ki' that Amber's old karate instructor had always talked to her about. But whatever it was, it was pretty, so it was of no compliant to me!
'Bolt brain', as I'd decided to call it, since I knew not of its designated name, then bounced right back. It stopped, and the golden, clear hexagonal-crystal atop its head then started to whirr round and round. I thought it was going to be a laser like Metal Sonic loved to use, but it wasn't, in fact all I heard as I ducked down to the ground was a low humming sound, its tempo increasing and decreasing as though it was circling me?
I was thinking, what the…
So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to see [but I was], a transparent pane of yellow emitting from the aforementioned golden crystal and flowing all over me.
"Hey, what are you doing to me bolt brain!" I shouted angrily at the stationary block of metal. And I was rewarded silence for my efforts.
I couldn't feel anything happening to me, so he wasn't hurting me, and robots couldn't cast magic[s] nor poison you with such light to my knowledge. So that left one thing, it was scanning me, from my weight, to where my vital organs were, what arsenal I had… Heh. It must finally have calculated that I'm a threat to it huh…
"Scared of me, huh, bolt brain? Well, you better be!" I taunted, now on my feet and stepping valiantly towards the robot.
I'm not the damsel in distress I used to be… now I can fight by myself too!
I hustled the hammer onto my back once more, and decided to go for a surprise offensive, pulling them out from the pockets of my red dress.
Three had seemed like a good amount, and I held out the plain tarot cards at a slight angle in front of my eyes. I'd only been able to do it once or twice before, but hey, that obviously meant I needed the practice, no?
'Bolt brain' remained stationary as I cautiously closed my eyes to concentrate. I guess he hadn't pre-empted or scanned these, heh, I guess that's one to me and zero to Robotnik.
If this works… that is.
The tickling sensation began flowing through my fingertips, from somewhere beyond my arm and inside me. It wasn't overly ticklish, it was quite soothing actually, and it meant that I was on my way to completing the 'charging'.
Had anyone have been around, they'd have said the card were softly glowing a light pinky-purple.
As I was doing this, I made sure to keep my ears open for any sudden efforts on 'bolt brain's' part, I was, after all a sitting duck like this. But that was the price of this attack, at least for a beginner like me [who'd had no mentor versed in it either].
What happened next occurred so fast, that my reflex instincts just on went on autopilot.
The whirring of a hovering robot had quickly rived up and was heading my way, so I knew I had to move or finish, the passing of time having long dismissed this as a true 'surprise attack'. So I took a step forward, and lo and behold, the tinkling in my hands stopped.
My cards were fully charged, with what I could only assume was more of my 'ki', again. So then I quickly flashed open my eyes and send them flying.
My gamble was only moderately successful, for one card missed the robot completely and was firmly embedded in the ground a distance away, the only two however, had hit their mark I was pleased to recognise. Now in its metallic hide my pursuer had two semi-deep cuts, which from the looks of things, had caused a fair bit of damage internally, as bolt brain wasn't moving.
He'd also unclenched Crystal in the process, who was now tweeting happily around my head.
"Didn't expect that, did you?"I uttered nonchalantly.
With a buzz in my stride, I hustled my hammer again and vigorously began hitting home.
And a minute later, I let rest my hands and walked away with Crystal from the flattened robot.
"Ahhh!" I screamed moments later as I felt a tight grip on my waist, my stomach twisting into a knot of fear after I'd turned my head. "Hey, watch it bolt brain! Let us go!"
I cursed inwardly, even as I struggled in vain. Crystal had been caught too in its other hand. I knew now, that if I'd stopped a moment to access the situation then I might have realised that bolt brain wasn't as damaged as I thought it was and avoided all this, but alias I did not.
I noted in my continued struggles that we were gliding swiftly over the plains of the Mystic Ruins, heading towards the deep jungle and a question rose to the surface.
Before I could ask it, though, it was answered for me.
Dead ahead, in a lower portion of the jungle was the Egg Carrier. I was going to be a prisoner by him, again.
As my confidence began to deflate, I thought to heck with it, and uttered one last call before I was hit over the head by the back-palm of the robot's other hand.
"Help me, Son-ic! Anyone, please!"
And as the world was enveloped in darkness, all I could see were Sonic's grass-green eyes staring me with disappointment…
END FLASHBACK
*Tweet tweet*
Huh?
The floating through space feeling was beginning to lessen, the light-headedness clearing. Where was I going to end up?
*Tweet tweet*
Is that you mother… are you singing again?
Images of flowing dresses, lavish hairstyles, the clanging of glasses and of someone playing a piano far in the distance flashed like a camera show-reel through my mind. She, my mother was singing too, which was never a good thing… She could play the piano but she couldn't sing [sorry mum].
All of it was just memories of another place, another time… of one that no longer existed, because then I recalled that my mother, everyone… were dead – and had been for years.
With a gasp I awoke and full colour filled my vision once more, only to be met with the drippiest browns, greys, reds and blues I'd seen in ages. I was lying on a cold metallic floor, and wide spiral columns completed the layout of my obvious prison cell.
The lighting was better than what a prison cell would get, though, but it still reeked of something… off-putting. I couldn't quite put my finger on it; perhaps it'd seen use already?
Of course, it would have… silly, an inner voice hummed.
Another tweeter from my arms brought Crystal back to my attention.
"You're okay!" I exclaimed, hugging the blue bird. By the look of her eyes though, she was petrified by where we were, and they were erratically gleaming at one part of the room to the next. She obviously never wanted to come back here, I thought sadly, but until Robotnik or Snively makes an appearance then at least we can comfort and keep each other company.
*Play Sonic Adventure – Egg Carrier Theme, A Song That Keeps Us On The Move*
"Now, now, calm down Crystal. It's alright," I said, patting her on the head lovingly.
All of a sudden I could then hear the subtle beat of humming, and had I not have done I'm certain that it'll never have noticed him. But there he was, yet another automation of Robotnik's. I groaned inwardly as I stared him up, taking him all in.
The robot in question was noticeably smaller than 'bolt brain' and was a concoction of vibrant reds, silvers, yellows and insect-green eyes.
"What do you want?" I shouted in contempt at my 'visitor', despite never having met this robot before. Then again, they were all the same weren't they?
Though, he was definitely leaner than the other one and after my cocky performance, I wasn't going to decide on whether he was 'meaner' too, especially not with that gun arm…
There was a pause before it spoke, which spooked me slightly. "Hand me the bird."
"Nope!" I contested, holding Crystal even tighter to my chest than she already had been.
"Quietly hand over the bird." It spoke again, in the same monotone, yet eerie voice.
"NO! Never!" There was no way she was going back into captivity to be experimented on, not whilst I had anything to say and do about it! And… if this was my last reckless act, at least I'd go down honourably.
"Why not?" It said strangely. Did it just ask me a question?
"I don't need to tell you anything. You tell ME why you want it, now!" I retorted, trying to see whether I could find out anymore about Crystal and her family.
"Does not compute…"
"You don't even know?" I muttered, that completely baffled me, even programmed robots knew what their assigned tasks were for usually, didn't they?
I don't know why, but I knew then that this robot was unlike any other I'd met before, so I tried to pry in on that 'illogical' side of him and see if I could get him to 'crack'. It's not like I could bust down the bars and him, as my hammer was stored away on the other side of the room.
"I know you might hurt us both, but please… won't you help us Mr Robot?" I pleaded, gathering my courage as I walked as far as I could before the bars halted me, staring his insect-greens against my emeralds hued eyes [for all the good that would do, I was thinking].
"Insufficient data. You have feelings for something you know nothing about. Illogical!"
""I pity you. Love is not part of your programming, you are missing something good." I said truly, actually feeling a little bit sad for him – that was probably the most surprising thought I'd had in a long, long time, considering my history with Robotnik's robots. But nevertheless, I couldn't deny it.
A flutter of wings whizzed past me and then I saw that Crystal had flown out of the cell and was now flapping effortlessly in front of the robot!
"Hey birdie! Come back here quickly!" I cried in fear, not liking the fact that the robot was not only being all silent, but that he was now visibly shaking on the spot. Could I have gone too far with trying to confuse his programming intellect?
That gun arm could wipe us both out if we're not careful… I thought, eying it cautiously. I was ready to duck, dodge and roll if I had to. I didn't want to think about Crystal's chances…
My arms and legs began to develop that condition called 'pins and needles' in the few silent seconds that transpired, except this was more a case of cold needles of fear tensing me up.
Then the unexpected happened, the robot then swiftly turned around [something I figured was helped by his sleek frame and feet], and pressed down a giant orangey-red button just outside of my cage.
"Go, escape!" he called out at me, as the bars of my cage began to rise up into the ceiling. Wow, I was free now!
"Wh-what? You sure?" I said unexpectedly of myself. I don't even know why I said it; I guess it just caught me off guard I guess. I just hoped that it didn't cost me my short-lived freedom already.
"It's dangerous here. Hurry. We'll be arriving at the Mystic Ruins base soon."
'Mr Robot' said in a hurried tone in his robotic voice, as he remained crouched over the aforementioned button, not looking at me.
Thank my lucky stars, it hadn't, so I turned to leave with Crystal, who'd flown back to my side after I was set free. An unrealised inkling inside of me told me that I shouldn't leave my earlier thought unsaid, however, so I friendly voiced it, not that I was expecting an answer of any kind.
"You're really nice. You're different from the other robots – you've got a soft spot inside your metal frame. If you want, we can be friends, okay?"
I quickly grabbed my hammer and then left through the grey door, leaving the robot alone.
No sooner had I gone through the said door did a bright white light envelop my vision.
"Ah! Who turned up the lights?"
*Play Sonic Adventure – Mystic Ruins: The Past*
A distant rhythm of thumping… something tribalistic was the first thing I heard was the light resided moments later. Thereafter I was met with lush colour, as vast blooming greenery and tall strong palm trees surrounded me, and in the near distance I could see an ancient-looking temple and smoke rising from different points around it.
"Huh? What's this place?" We're definitely not in the Egg Carrier anymore…
Intrigued however, I began to wander slowly towards the temple, the smell of fresh, rich foliage and cool air subtly being replaced by a warm burning smell, which wasn't overpowering, as I did so. I assumed that maybe it was because the inhabitants of this place were burning some of the aforementioned foliage [or wood from the trees], but hey, what did I know? I had no idea where I was.
Speaking of those who lived here, were those echidnas in the distance…? They sure looked like Knuckles?! Well, from what I could tell from this distance away anyway as they wandered and bustled around the temple.
I gave it no thought but I just had to ask one of them, just how and why this could be, so I quickened my pace and ran towards the temple, making
"Hey! My name is Amy Rose; I need to as something of you. It's –"
I saw the head of an older looking echidna man turning my way, but a conversation with him was not to be as that [increasingly annoying] white light sprouted and consumed everything around again...
"–important?" I finished awkwardly as my eyes adjusted, again.
Opening them, the first things I noted this time was that the brown echidna, the temple, the other echidnas and surrounding buildings were definitely gone.
Just where was I now? And why is this happening to me?
It was only subtle from where I was, but my ears were picking up rushing water and something else from up ahead. And it was this point too that I realised something, Crystal wasn't with me.
"Crystal? Where are you birdie?" I called out, to no avail.
I wonder where she could be…
A little worried, but not exactly high on other stuff to do at this moment, I walked slowly towards the locale up ahead. I was still turning my head around and gawking at the sights, it that fabulous!
But I digress, up ahead was a small stone shrine and around it was a flourishing moat of water, a double-tiered one. And surrounding its circumference were thin stone walls with two breaks halfway around, looking as though the walls were the protective arms of a parent embracing the baby [shrine]. It was a sweet and thought-provoking image, for even though I had no idea where I was, even I could tell that this place was ancient, pure, untouched… It was like a dream.
Maybe this is just that…?
Any clear reason to dispel this all as just that was soon to be, well, dispelled, for as I reached the outskirts of the shrine I saw a figure ahead – causing me to stop in my tracks.
*Play Sonic Adventure – Tikal's Theme*
The girl in question here was obviously at least as old as I was [but probably older], and had orangey peach coloured fur and kind yet troubled cobalt eyes. Her fashion sense was amazing too, with her white silky tank top, green tribal skirt and clay-coloured sandals. The mummy-like bands around her arms and legs were also an interesting touch, I thought.
And as I continued to look at the ethereal-radiating girl [from where I was she was just ahead of me and at an angle, so I could see her whole], my mouth dropped. I'd only seen one other in my life and he'd been searching for a long time and here was actually an echidna, she must be one of Knuckles' missing people!
And not content to be bested by the white light again, I shouted out a friendly, but slightly jumpy greeting in her direction.
"Hey there, my name is Amy Rose, what's yours?" Figured I'd get the basics dealt with first before asking any more pressing questions.
No sound came out of my mouth to my surprise, and repeating again and again yielded the same result, wherever I was, I was being silenced so I decided to hang back and watch what happened next. If this isn't a dream then I must be here for a reason…
It turned out that the echidna girl had ventured onto a small settlement of cuddly aqua and yellow tinted creatures, who had come out of the inner shrine area and were now standing timidly in her way, protecting their home.
I wonder if they can talk, like we Mobians can? I thought, as I looked back and forth between the two parties, wondering what she would do to qualm their fears [she definitely didn't look evil]…
"You're the… Chao," she sang out in the gentlest yet steady voice I think I'd ever heard. kneeling down on the ground in respect [as cute as these 'Chao' were, I doubted they were royalty]. "Don't be afraid. You're safe with me," she reassured them, with a heartfelt smile and twinkle of her cerulean pools.
I could see no danger here, so I was as almost as glad as she was when the still and timid darlings then came slowly forward. A joyful chorus soon rang out all around, the intelligible singing being infectious enough to bring a warm smile to my face, even though I still had no clue what was going on.
If she or the little guys could see me, I must look like a real clown!
A Chao had hopped up into the echidna girl's arms, where she was petting it tenderly, which brought me back to the questions I wish I could ask of her. This place was just so surreal, and yet it oddly wasn't too unfamiliar either.
None of them had replied to her, so I guess that answered my earlier musing too.
I didn't want to stand around like a lifeless stick anymore though, so seeing as vocals were 'not permitted' here, I was walking on over to see if I could at least physically touch her and let her know I was there, when an uncanny resonant drip of water came from the shrine's moat.
It caught everyone's attention, but my ears were suddenly catching something else as I saw a cocoon of water begin to take a bolder shape on the moat's surface.
It all happened so fast, a gasp from the echidna girl and the familiar whirring of rushing white light took hold of me again, but I did manage to note one last thing within the outer walls of the shrine, namely the fact that there were six raised pillars and something atop many steps.
It also left me with one final thought as my journey in 'wonderland' concluded:
That forming water… it had to have been Chaos.
EGG CARRIER / POOL ROOM / 12:36 AM
"Gee, what was that? I wonder if I'm dreaming?" It certainly hadn't felt like any other dream, though…
*Tweet tweet*
"Aww Crystal you're okay! Where were you?" I said worriedly, hugging her tightly. She looked as confused as I was, so I looked around to see where we were now.
Hmmm, lots of metallic greys, blacks, reds, yellows and greens, we must be back on the Egg Carrier.
And it smelled like Robotnik's own private pool [think barrels of sweat mixed with rotten eggs and you have a small inkling of what it reeked of], and looking in the centre of the room, what do you know; there was a big pool with a red diving board at the end.
I just had to shudder, and force myself to not intake any more oxygen for the moment, save my lungs the torment.
A freaky maybe-not-a-dream and now I was in a smelly Robotnik-only room, this was too creepy and barmy for me to digest at the moment.
"Oh my! We need to get out of this place as soon as possible, let's go Crystal!"
And with a chirpy tweet and my trusty hammer at my side, we were off.
Freedom Fighters, here we come!
EGG CARRIER / BRIEFING ROOM / 12:45 AM
*Play Sonic Adventure - Egg Carrier Theme, A Song That Keeps Us On The Move*
The room was a spacious one littered with doors on the ground level and rail corridors above that, filled with vibrant metallic reds, greys and reds, but the eventful occurrence within it at this very second took place near the far side of the room, near three doors,
Therein, the robot, Gamma, was learning the art of 'lectures' from his creator, the bloated man in front of him, Doctor Robotnik. If he'd had a more active consciousness [or one at all, at this stage], then the likelihood on the annoying meter would likely be sky high.
"I am very disappointed in you Gamma, especially after your impressive battle against your brother Beta. Do you not see how important that bird is to my plans? If the brat wouldn't let you have it then you should've used absolute force!" the madman was ranting on, clenching his wobbling metallic fist tight. His glasses-covered eyes never wandered from Gamma's own.
And like only a robot born to serve would do, Gamma stood there and took it, but even so, he couldn't understand why the bird was so important. All that he'd been told was to go and get it and he failed. He'd admitted that when he'd debriefed Robotnik just a minute or so gone, detailing how the hedgehog girl had adamantly refused the Flicky and so he'd left her be for now. The slight frothing of the doctor's mouth was also an oddity, which even his great CPU system couldn't interpret.
Robotnik stopped speaking and walked away to the podium behind them and sat down. And as Gamma didn't know what to do, he just carried on standing there until after some drumming of his fingers, Robotnik shooed him to stand amongst his fellow robots, who'd come in during Gamma's telling off.
There were E-100 series robots too, and looked exactly like Gamma except that each of the four standing were of a different colour; magenta, blue and orange respectively.
Gamma, using his tiny, but many micro-scanners that made up his insect-green eye scanned them all and in haste added their data into his memory banks and kindled it with that of Beta's. It may come in handy on day, should he need backup after all.
""Ah, hah... Testing 1, 2, 3..." Robotnik uttered in a comical tone, most unlike his usual booming and confident voice. Some could even say theatrical from his maestro-like arm movements. "Ahem... You, the elite Egg Carrier crew, are here today... to hear a very special announcement." He continued, pointing to the big screen behind him, which Gamma calculated was at 21 by 21 inches precisely and made in the poorest parts of the country of Chun-Nun in the east.
"Behold! It's a tailed frog!" As a lime green frog with orange patches appeared on said screen, with a longer tail than usual for their species, and oddly, it was kind of transparent as well. This bears further examination… "How very unique! This frog is absolutely vital to my plans so I command you to locate this frog immediately."He spat. "You hear me? I don't care what it takes to get it. Just bring it to me! We haven't got time to waste, so come to attention!"
And with that Gamma followed his fellow kind to the Egg Carrier's sky deck, before mode-changing into a form similar to that of a mini helicopter, copter blades and all. In under a minute the E-100 series had all left in a multitude of different directions with only one thing on their mind, a green tailed frog.
Except for Gamma, who was subtly wondering where that pink hedgehog had gotten to now… as rising masses of conflicting zeros and ones, data, flowed through his shell.
The course of realising sentience did not run smooth, it seemed.
EGG CARRIER / CONTROL CABIN / 13:03 AM
*Play Sonic Adventure - Robotnik's Theme*
"Lord Robotnik, sir, I have something that I think you should see," the slimy, breathily voice of Snively, his curse of a nephew, came forth; interrupting Robotnik's 'thinking slumber'.
"This had better be good, Snively," he growled irritably, fidgeting to get comfortable again in the large, royal-looking seat of crimson metal. It was where he usually was, bar his private pool, whilst on board, as he had Snively to do the hard work of piloting the airship.
"Oh, I think you'll be thanking me in due course…" the midget minion trailed off, as he turned the main systems screen on to CAM 12.
The picture wasn't quality perfect, as lines of static ran vertically across it, but the actions on screen were crystal clear.
The camera, from where it was situated, had an angled eye view of Amy's cell from above, but its focus was wide enough to capture Gamma's act of freeing her and her escaping shortly after some sappy exchange.
If Robotnik could have afforded to, a bursting blood vessel in his brain would have sufficed the quivering rage coursing though his every fibre right now. Instead, though, he settled for grabbing Snively by his near-baldy head and throwing him into the nearby wall.
And tuning out all the whimpering thereafter, the mad doctor began to grind his teeth.
How dare he defy me – HOW DARE HE! He was thinking, the thought rocketing around his head like a rollercoaster. One could see it as a premature sign of a cracking man, or just of a mecha-obsessed dictator being defied by one of his own creations, only days old. The choice is yours to make.
Well… He began, grabbing a hold of the cord for breathing again. He'd better find me that frog. Whether he does or not, though, Gamma will be toast by my hand. That I promise!
Cue Sonic Unlimited Ending Theme: "My Will" by ARTIST Dream
And thus ends the twelfth chapter of this story arc!
In this, I decided to bring in something that Sega have completely IGNORED since Amy's creation [despite the fact that reading & using tarot cards has been on her official profile since forever], seriously, the only time they've been shown and used is in Sonic Chronicles… I mean the always-changing-in-size hammer is fun and all, but this could bring an interesting facet to her character, playability wise [and did I forget to mention, that these tarot cards were the things that guided her to the Little / Miracle Planet on that day she met Sonic]?
Rant aside… I wanted to show off that Amy is still learning the ins and outs of using them offensively [as well as reading them], and I avoided doing a 'Gambit' scenario as I thought it'd be… lame. [Gambit, for those of you not well-versed in comic superheroes, is a character from the X-Men whose special ability is being able to explosively charge-up, to keep it in simple terms, most small objects he touches. And his main weapon of choice is explosively-charged playing cards…]
So, their initial prowess is to slice-and-dice, thus far. Any ideas on a better revision or future capabilities on using them as an offensive item are welcome!
The whole 'parents can't sing' titbit was inspired by who else, my own parents! As I'm sure 99% of us think that is the case [even if it does extend to us too]. xD
Oh, and I didn't describe the other E-100 series by their designated names because I'm saving that for when he meets them all later. And I haven't decided on it yet, but I don't think I'll be covering the Tikal flash that Gamma has in the entitled game, though if it fits in I might do if just for the 'This presents a problem' line. He will see Beta in that room, though.
The Chun-Nun titbit was obviously a reference to the fact that sadly, most things in the world do seem to be made in China…
As for the obvious Heroes-inspired title, 'In This Machine', it was rather a random first choice out of my 'Chapter Titles List' but I thought it worked better than I first thought in the end.
As you have the parallel between the beginning and end of the chapter with the 'silent kidnapper / assassin who knows his purpose' with ZERO and the 'non-silent, hard-working but confused robot' in E-102 Gamma.
ZERO is also the 'alpha' [first] robot of the E series class of robots, whereas Gamma is the latest in the line [until Omega that is], so it shows a progressing in sentience as time has passed and new models have been built.
I hope you enjoyed this, and the chapters so far, any comments or ratings would be nice and appreciated! ^-^
'The Ice Cap Wastelands' is the next chapter, starring the Freedom Fighters and Knuckles… [Although don't expect it anytime soon, as I want to work on my illustrations portfolio for abit, so it'll probably be next month or the next]
Take care ya'll *smiley face*