The Team Chaos Chronicles: Episode II
Initial Reality
by Ryan Carroll
---------------------------------------------------------------------
What went wrong?
That's the question that echoed through my head as I watched the
scene unfold. I was lying on the ground, conscious but wishing with
all my heart that I wasn't. The pain was unbearable. Sonic was
nearby, in a crumpled-up heap on the ground, as if he'd been tossed
there like an old shoe. I couldn't see the belt now, but I knew that
Robotnik was wearing it. He laughed hysterically...
My vision started to fade. "I'm sorry..." I started to say, then
I drifted into peaceful blackness.
What went wrong?...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The next thing I was aware of was Jason's voice.
"Hey, La-Z-Boy, wake up!"
Huh? I opened my eyes with a start. What happened? How did I get
home?... Oh, man, what a nightmare! At least that's all it was...
or was it? Better not tell the others about it.
"What?"
"We're about to head out to Adventure Landing and you're drifting
off to sleep!"
"Oh, sorry. Was I, uh, you know, like-- talking in my sleep?"
"Not that I could tell... Are you okay? You look a little pale."
"No, no; I'm fine."
I was anything _but_ fine.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
When we got to Adventure Landing I had completely forgotten about the
dream. All seven of us (the new guardian-bearers of the chaos
emeralds) headed for the shooting games. While Jason and I worked
on beating Time Crisis II, Cliff and Wes played The Lost World:
Jurassic Park, another shooting game. The girls watched.
I overheard Wes jokingly say to Cliff, "If Slasher saw us playing
this, she'd filet us!"
Slasher. Sonic. The dream came back as vivid as before. The idea
that something could go so wrong because of me...
"Hey, what's with you?" Jason's voice cut in.
"Huh?"
"You just got 100% accuracy on that last round."
"So?"
"Nothing personal, but you _never_ get 100% accuracy on this game."
My cover was blown. "I'll tell you later."
Later I beat the record score on Laser Tag and the record time on
the go-kart track.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
When we got back to my house we discussed my problem, aka the dream.
Lisa came up with the idea. "Let's relax in Knothole for a while.
It's nice and peaceful there."
Yeah. Famous last words. She was actually thinking about going
_to_ the place where Robotnik was?!? Then I realized that it would
be nice to chill in the forest for a while. And maybe I could warn
Sonic...
I checked the remote that was attached to the gateway frame of the
Dimensionalizer. (We had moved it back into my room after our
last use with it; no weird magnetic fields existed anywhere _near_
my house.) The green light signaled "all clear" for transport.
Somewhat reluctantly, I punched in the coordinates and off we went.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Mobius side of the portal, the gateway frame had been moved
to Knothole. A flashing light indicated that we were coming through.
The village was deathly quiet. "Is it just me, or is the place
empty?" Vicki asked.
Silence. "It isn't just you," I replied.
More silence. Then a groan. "Hello?" I called.
The reply was faint. "Ryan? Is that you?"
"Slasher? Where are you?"
"Over here."
"Uh... it would help if I knew where 'here' is."
"About 20 paces to your right."
The winged velociraptor that I had come to know and love was lying
on the ground, breathing shallowly. She was really beat up.
Whoever got the drop on her had been _really_ stealthy in their
approach-- normally no one could get within 100 feet of her without
her knowing it.
"What happened to you?"
"Robotnik knows about you. He kidnapped all the others as bait
and left the village the way it was as a decoy."
"O-kay, but that still doesn't tell me what happened to _you_."
"I was out scouting, and when I got back R.K. got the jump on me.
You can't rescue them!"
"And just WHY NOT?"
"It's a trap. He wants _you_... all of you."
Lisa cut in. "Hey, what's this?"
We all looked at her. She was holding what looked like a belt
made of vinyl and studded with gems.
"Sonic's belt!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Seven scaled down Mechs entered Robotropolis.
I ran through the battle plan. "Okay, guys, you run interference
while I find the prison."
"You got Sonic's belt?"
"Wearing it right now. Slasher even showed me how to activate it."
"Godspeed, Ryan!"
"Amen to that!"
I held back and started sweeping the area for life signs that
matched Sonic's parameters. The others went in full speed to
attract attention. The sensor sweep was taking forever, it seemed...
Come on... Bingo! I selected normal mode and my Mech seemed to
collapse, leaving only a suit of armor occupied by one determined
individual. I pulled out my lightsaber for defense and headed
for the prison.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Sonic and the others were chained up in their cells, but a few
quick sweeps with my saber blade took care of that. I replaced the
lightsaber and selected "mass transport". The armor quickly
expanded into a bus-sized hovercraft. With that many onboard,
however, the top speed was only about 60 mph. If the super
emeralds were charged up... maybe I could get this sucker going...
That's when I made the biggest mistake of my life. I activated the
belt.
The hovercraft disappeared as the armor deactivated. I looked at
Sonic. His face registered disbelief.
What had I just done?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Robotnik had been watching the entire battle from his office.
Perfect. Time to strike.
"Robo Knux, initiate Plan Hidden Palace."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It wasn't long before the other team members found me.
"What did you do?!?"
"Look, I didn't know that would happen!"
"Well, deactivate it!"
"All right, I will!" The second I did, a red robot appeared out of
nowhere and snagged the belt right off my waist. "Robo Knux," I said
through clenched teeth.
"After him!" I was halfway through "after" when everyone took off
after the robot, with Sonic in the lead. With the belt deactivated,
the seven of us were able to suit up again. R.K. headed straight
into a dead-end alley. Like cats chasing a mouse, we followed him
in.
The next few seconds felt like an eternity. Robotnik was waiting at
the end of the alley. Robo Knux passed the belt to him. The seven
of us and Sonic pounced on him just as he activated the belt.
My nightmare came back to haunt me... only this time, it wasn't a
dream. I was lying on the ground, conscious but wishing with all
my heart that I wasn't. The pain was unbearable. Sonic was nearby,
in a crumpled-up heap on the ground, as if he'd been tossed there
like an old shoe. I couldn't see the belt now, but I knew that
Robotnik was wearing it. He laughed hysterically...
My vision started to fade. "I'm sorry..." I started to say, then I
drifted into peaceful blackness.
To Be Continued...
Initial Reality
by Ryan Carroll
---------------------------------------------------------------------
What went wrong?
That's the question that echoed through my head as I watched the
scene unfold. I was lying on the ground, conscious but wishing with
all my heart that I wasn't. The pain was unbearable. Sonic was
nearby, in a crumpled-up heap on the ground, as if he'd been tossed
there like an old shoe. I couldn't see the belt now, but I knew that
Robotnik was wearing it. He laughed hysterically...
My vision started to fade. "I'm sorry..." I started to say, then
I drifted into peaceful blackness.
What went wrong?...
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The next thing I was aware of was Jason's voice.
"Hey, La-Z-Boy, wake up!"
Huh? I opened my eyes with a start. What happened? How did I get
home?... Oh, man, what a nightmare! At least that's all it was...
or was it? Better not tell the others about it.
"What?"
"We're about to head out to Adventure Landing and you're drifting
off to sleep!"
"Oh, sorry. Was I, uh, you know, like-- talking in my sleep?"
"Not that I could tell... Are you okay? You look a little pale."
"No, no; I'm fine."
I was anything _but_ fine.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
When we got to Adventure Landing I had completely forgotten about the
dream. All seven of us (the new guardian-bearers of the chaos
emeralds) headed for the shooting games. While Jason and I worked
on beating Time Crisis II, Cliff and Wes played The Lost World:
Jurassic Park, another shooting game. The girls watched.
I overheard Wes jokingly say to Cliff, "If Slasher saw us playing
this, she'd filet us!"
Slasher. Sonic. The dream came back as vivid as before. The idea
that something could go so wrong because of me...
"Hey, what's with you?" Jason's voice cut in.
"Huh?"
"You just got 100% accuracy on that last round."
"So?"
"Nothing personal, but you _never_ get 100% accuracy on this game."
My cover was blown. "I'll tell you later."
Later I beat the record score on Laser Tag and the record time on
the go-kart track.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
When we got back to my house we discussed my problem, aka the dream.
Lisa came up with the idea. "Let's relax in Knothole for a while.
It's nice and peaceful there."
Yeah. Famous last words. She was actually thinking about going
_to_ the place where Robotnik was?!? Then I realized that it would
be nice to chill in the forest for a while. And maybe I could warn
Sonic...
I checked the remote that was attached to the gateway frame of the
Dimensionalizer. (We had moved it back into my room after our
last use with it; no weird magnetic fields existed anywhere _near_
my house.) The green light signaled "all clear" for transport.
Somewhat reluctantly, I punched in the coordinates and off we went.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
On the Mobius side of the portal, the gateway frame had been moved
to Knothole. A flashing light indicated that we were coming through.
The village was deathly quiet. "Is it just me, or is the place
empty?" Vicki asked.
Silence. "It isn't just you," I replied.
More silence. Then a groan. "Hello?" I called.
The reply was faint. "Ryan? Is that you?"
"Slasher? Where are you?"
"Over here."
"Uh... it would help if I knew where 'here' is."
"About 20 paces to your right."
The winged velociraptor that I had come to know and love was lying
on the ground, breathing shallowly. She was really beat up.
Whoever got the drop on her had been _really_ stealthy in their
approach-- normally no one could get within 100 feet of her without
her knowing it.
"What happened to you?"
"Robotnik knows about you. He kidnapped all the others as bait
and left the village the way it was as a decoy."
"O-kay, but that still doesn't tell me what happened to _you_."
"I was out scouting, and when I got back R.K. got the jump on me.
You can't rescue them!"
"And just WHY NOT?"
"It's a trap. He wants _you_... all of you."
Lisa cut in. "Hey, what's this?"
We all looked at her. She was holding what looked like a belt
made of vinyl and studded with gems.
"Sonic's belt!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Seven scaled down Mechs entered Robotropolis.
I ran through the battle plan. "Okay, guys, you run interference
while I find the prison."
"You got Sonic's belt?"
"Wearing it right now. Slasher even showed me how to activate it."
"Godspeed, Ryan!"
"Amen to that!"
I held back and started sweeping the area for life signs that
matched Sonic's parameters. The others went in full speed to
attract attention. The sensor sweep was taking forever, it seemed...
Come on... Bingo! I selected normal mode and my Mech seemed to
collapse, leaving only a suit of armor occupied by one determined
individual. I pulled out my lightsaber for defense and headed
for the prison.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Sonic and the others were chained up in their cells, but a few
quick sweeps with my saber blade took care of that. I replaced the
lightsaber and selected "mass transport". The armor quickly
expanded into a bus-sized hovercraft. With that many onboard,
however, the top speed was only about 60 mph. If the super
emeralds were charged up... maybe I could get this sucker going...
That's when I made the biggest mistake of my life. I activated the
belt.
The hovercraft disappeared as the armor deactivated. I looked at
Sonic. His face registered disbelief.
What had I just done?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Robotnik had been watching the entire battle from his office.
Perfect. Time to strike.
"Robo Knux, initiate Plan Hidden Palace."
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It wasn't long before the other team members found me.
"What did you do?!?"
"Look, I didn't know that would happen!"
"Well, deactivate it!"
"All right, I will!" The second I did, a red robot appeared out of
nowhere and snagged the belt right off my waist. "Robo Knux," I said
through clenched teeth.
"After him!" I was halfway through "after" when everyone took off
after the robot, with Sonic in the lead. With the belt deactivated,
the seven of us were able to suit up again. R.K. headed straight
into a dead-end alley. Like cats chasing a mouse, we followed him
in.
The next few seconds felt like an eternity. Robotnik was waiting at
the end of the alley. Robo Knux passed the belt to him. The seven
of us and Sonic pounced on him just as he activated the belt.
My nightmare came back to haunt me... only this time, it wasn't a
dream. I was lying on the ground, conscious but wishing with all
my heart that I wasn't. The pain was unbearable. Sonic was nearby,
in a crumpled-up heap on the ground, as if he'd been tossed there
like an old shoe. I couldn't see the belt now, but I knew that
Robotnik was wearing it. He laughed hysterically...
My vision started to fade. "I'm sorry..." I started to say, then I
drifted into peaceful blackness.
To Be Continued...