The Team Chaos Chronicles-- Episode IV
Worldwide Chaos
Prologue-- Raleigh-Durham Int'l Airport, Raleigh, NC
"You realize the chances of us winning a trip to Europe are close to
nil?" Wes asked discomfortingly as we finished our perparations at the
airline ticket counter. I reflected on his statement as we headed for
the airport security scanners and the gate. Wes was never very
optimistic.
"Never quote me the odds," I replied with a lopsided grin that could
only be matched by the great Han Solo.
"It just seems weird, that's all," he continued. "I mean, no offense,
but you have never won anything like this in your _life_."
I nodded. He had a valid point. I had a hard time winning at tic-tac-
toe. Who was I to even think about trying to win a 21-day, all-expense-
paid trip to Europe against several hundred thousand people?
"Well, come on. Our baggage is checked in and I want to get to the
plane sometime this century," Christie interrupted. She always had a
knack for being patient.
Then Wes, Christie and I met up with the rest of the team, seven
intrepid teens in all, and headed to the gate, completely unaware of
the dark, green-eyed shadow that had been observing all the while.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robotnik's Complex, Planet Mobius
"You succeeded in your objective?"
"Absolutely. That remote teleporter works great. Too bad it's random."
"That's why you need to track them to make sure that they don't find the
rings."
"I'm on my way. I have a telegram to send."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over the Atlantic Ocean
The in-flight movie was UHF, so I put my Game Boy down and cranked my
headphones up. When the movie was over I turned to Jason. "I ought to
visit Knothole when we get to the hotel."
"Don't you mean New Knothole?"
"Oh, yeah, they did move again, didn't they? And for all I know they
may be out at Eagle's Nest. I wonder if Sal has that locator finished
yet."
"Well, you'll probably find out when you get there whether it is or not."
"Yeah, you're right. Well, I don't want a case of jet-lag-induced
insomnia. Good night, Jason."
"Good night, Ryan."
"Good night, John Boy; good night, Mary Ellen!"
I gave Wes a deserved swat with my pillow before I went to sleep.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Knothole, Mobius
Slasher stuck her head into the hut where Sally, Serena, Rotor, and
Spark were working. "How's it coming?"
Sally pushed her bangs out of her face. "It's slow work. The wide
range tracker works great, but the tracking glasses lock onto Sonic
whenever he comes by."
"Ah, I wondered why he and Tails were out fishing instead of in here
helping you out."
"Yeah, having Sonic around kinda defeated the pupose of working on the
glasses."
"Well, how about a break for some lunch?"
"Lunch? Someone say lunch?" Spark inquired, obviously hungry after a
morning of welding and soldering.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frankfurt, Germany
We had just settled into our hotel suites when the bomb dropped. We
all discovered that our rings were missing. All seven. And we knew
that we all had packed the rings before we left home.
"We've got to find those rings!" Lisa was about to go psycho. Unusual
for her.
"The tracker," I said.
"Huh?" Cliff asked.
"Slash is working on an energy signature tracker... actually two. One
is more localized than the other. If we use them in conjunction with
each other, we should be able to find the rings!"
"Good idea," Christie said. "Let's set up the Dimensionalizer."
Jason booted up his laptop PC while the rest of us put together the
portal frame. When the frame was completely assembled and hooked up
to the PC, I entered the coordinates (I have since added preset links
to save time; typing in the coordinates by hand is just too time-
consuming) and jumped through the portal.
I could see that the scanner glasses weren't finished, but I was desperate.
I grabbed them off the table and headed back to the portal.
"Hi, Sonic; bye, Sonic!" I said as I raced through the still-open gate.
"What's he in a rush about? _I_ can't even run that fast," Tails noted.
"Ya got me. Come on, it smells like chili dogs, and I'm hungry."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in Frankfurt, we set the tracker up to gather data fom the
nearest geostationary satellite. (At least that's what Cliff said he
did.) We compared an atlas, an almanac, and the tracker data to
eliminate energy sources such as geothermic vents, hot springs, nuclear
power plants, and such. We had nearly eliminated all the other points,
but we still had a good dozen points on the map that we were unsure about.
Just then, Sonic and Tails came through the gate. "Slash figured that
you guys had the trackers, but I just came to check."
"Great, I'm glad you're here," Cliff said. "How can we pinpoint the
emerald rings?"
"The RINGS??? THAT'S why you snagged the trackers?!? Man, you guys
ARE in trouble!!!"
"N'duh," I replied. "Can you answer the question?"
"Yeah, just input the specific energy resonance signature."
"The what?" Cliff asked, clearly in over his head.
"Type in 'Chaos Emerald' and see what happens."
Cliff did so, and all but seven of the points disappeared. "Bingo,"
Cliff said.
"How did you know to do that?" Lisa asked.
Sonic nonchalantly replied, "Sal used the emeralds as test data in the
early stages of development. It's been one of her pet projects for a
while."
Sonic and Tails wished us luck and headed back to Mobius.
I had a feeling we'd need a lot more than luck on _this_ adventure.
End Part 1
Worldwide Chaos
Prologue-- Raleigh-Durham Int'l Airport, Raleigh, NC
"You realize the chances of us winning a trip to Europe are close to
nil?" Wes asked discomfortingly as we finished our perparations at the
airline ticket counter. I reflected on his statement as we headed for
the airport security scanners and the gate. Wes was never very
optimistic.
"Never quote me the odds," I replied with a lopsided grin that could
only be matched by the great Han Solo.
"It just seems weird, that's all," he continued. "I mean, no offense,
but you have never won anything like this in your _life_."
I nodded. He had a valid point. I had a hard time winning at tic-tac-
toe. Who was I to even think about trying to win a 21-day, all-expense-
paid trip to Europe against several hundred thousand people?
"Well, come on. Our baggage is checked in and I want to get to the
plane sometime this century," Christie interrupted. She always had a
knack for being patient.
Then Wes, Christie and I met up with the rest of the team, seven
intrepid teens in all, and headed to the gate, completely unaware of
the dark, green-eyed shadow that had been observing all the while.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robotnik's Complex, Planet Mobius
"You succeeded in your objective?"
"Absolutely. That remote teleporter works great. Too bad it's random."
"That's why you need to track them to make sure that they don't find the
rings."
"I'm on my way. I have a telegram to send."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over the Atlantic Ocean
The in-flight movie was UHF, so I put my Game Boy down and cranked my
headphones up. When the movie was over I turned to Jason. "I ought to
visit Knothole when we get to the hotel."
"Don't you mean New Knothole?"
"Oh, yeah, they did move again, didn't they? And for all I know they
may be out at Eagle's Nest. I wonder if Sal has that locator finished
yet."
"Well, you'll probably find out when you get there whether it is or not."
"Yeah, you're right. Well, I don't want a case of jet-lag-induced
insomnia. Good night, Jason."
"Good night, Ryan."
"Good night, John Boy; good night, Mary Ellen!"
I gave Wes a deserved swat with my pillow before I went to sleep.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
New Knothole, Mobius
Slasher stuck her head into the hut where Sally, Serena, Rotor, and
Spark were working. "How's it coming?"
Sally pushed her bangs out of her face. "It's slow work. The wide
range tracker works great, but the tracking glasses lock onto Sonic
whenever he comes by."
"Ah, I wondered why he and Tails were out fishing instead of in here
helping you out."
"Yeah, having Sonic around kinda defeated the pupose of working on the
glasses."
"Well, how about a break for some lunch?"
"Lunch? Someone say lunch?" Spark inquired, obviously hungry after a
morning of welding and soldering.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frankfurt, Germany
We had just settled into our hotel suites when the bomb dropped. We
all discovered that our rings were missing. All seven. And we knew
that we all had packed the rings before we left home.
"We've got to find those rings!" Lisa was about to go psycho. Unusual
for her.
"The tracker," I said.
"Huh?" Cliff asked.
"Slash is working on an energy signature tracker... actually two. One
is more localized than the other. If we use them in conjunction with
each other, we should be able to find the rings!"
"Good idea," Christie said. "Let's set up the Dimensionalizer."
Jason booted up his laptop PC while the rest of us put together the
portal frame. When the frame was completely assembled and hooked up
to the PC, I entered the coordinates (I have since added preset links
to save time; typing in the coordinates by hand is just too time-
consuming) and jumped through the portal.
I could see that the scanner glasses weren't finished, but I was desperate.
I grabbed them off the table and headed back to the portal.
"Hi, Sonic; bye, Sonic!" I said as I raced through the still-open gate.
"What's he in a rush about? _I_ can't even run that fast," Tails noted.
"Ya got me. Come on, it smells like chili dogs, and I'm hungry."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Back in Frankfurt, we set the tracker up to gather data fom the
nearest geostationary satellite. (At least that's what Cliff said he
did.) We compared an atlas, an almanac, and the tracker data to
eliminate energy sources such as geothermic vents, hot springs, nuclear
power plants, and such. We had nearly eliminated all the other points,
but we still had a good dozen points on the map that we were unsure about.
Just then, Sonic and Tails came through the gate. "Slash figured that
you guys had the trackers, but I just came to check."
"Great, I'm glad you're here," Cliff said. "How can we pinpoint the
emerald rings?"
"The RINGS??? THAT'S why you snagged the trackers?!? Man, you guys
ARE in trouble!!!"
"N'duh," I replied. "Can you answer the question?"
"Yeah, just input the specific energy resonance signature."
"The what?" Cliff asked, clearly in over his head.
"Type in 'Chaos Emerald' and see what happens."
Cliff did so, and all but seven of the points disappeared. "Bingo,"
Cliff said.
"How did you know to do that?" Lisa asked.
Sonic nonchalantly replied, "Sal used the emeralds as test data in the
early stages of development. It's been one of her pet projects for a
while."
Sonic and Tails wished us luck and headed back to Mobius.
I had a feeling we'd need a lot more than luck on _this_ adventure.
End Part 1