15
Uncle Chuck came up the steps from his laboratory, and spoke to Rotor.
"Rotor," said he, "I've almost completed my deroboticizer. Soon, you should be
back to normal."
"Thanks, Chuck," he replied, "for all you've done, and all your help."
"It is my pleasure," replied Uncle Chuck, "to do anything I can to help in the
war against Robotnik. I'm going to get back to work on the deroboticizer now.
The sooner I finish it, the better."
"Okay."
**********
Tarahassas Mountains…
Ruben led the Knothole Freedom Fighters (and Caero) to his band of Fighters'
hideaway in the Tarahassas Mountains. Ruben approached a door carved into the
rock at the base of the mountain. He pulled on a branch on a nearby tree,
serving as a lever that opened the door. The door slowly opened, and Ruben,
Sonic, Sally, Caero, Bunnie, and Antoine stepped inside. Ruben then pressed a
button at the side of the door, on the inside, and the door closed slowly.
Ruben then led the Knothole Freedom Fighters (and Caero) down a corridor, around
a few corners, and then, finally, into a large meeting room.
A goat stood up and demanded to Ruben, "Where is Dirk and who are they?" As he
said they, he motioned toward Sonic.
Ruben said, "These are Freedom Fighters from the Great Forest who helped me
escape Robotnik."
"And where's Dirk?"
In a lower voice, Ruben replied, "Uh, Dirk, he, uh, um, Dirk, uh, he got, umm…"
"Answer the question," demanded the goat, now in an angry tone.
In almost a whisper, "Dirk got roboticized," was said by Ruben.
Bunnie stepped in now, and said, "We were there too. Ruben and us tried to save
Dirk, but when we finally escaped from the roboticizer waiting cell, Dirk had
already been roboticized."
"I'm sorry for my tone," said the goat. "It's just that I thought that might
have happened when Ruben was stalling like that, and it just upset me. I'm not
upset at Ruben. I'm upset at Robotnik! Anyway, it sure is nice to know that
there are more Freedom Fighters who have a common cause with us: to defeat
Robotnik. Anyway, if you need our help, you know where to find us now. Show
them the door, Zoru. We must now mourn for Dirk."
A bobcat, apparently known as Zoru, escorted the Freedom Fighters (and Caero)
out of the hideaway.
Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine started off toward Knothole, and Sonic said to Caero,
"C'mon, let's go to Knothole too, unless you want to go back to your clan."
"I'd like to continue fighting with you, Sonic," replied Caero, "so, let's go to
Knothole!"
"Okay, let's go!" said Sonic.
Sonic and Caero headed toward Knothole, following behind Sally, Bunnie, and
Antoine.
**********
Knothole, Great Forest…
"So," said Sally, "now maybe you can explain who your friend is and why you took
him to Knothole. Knothole is supposed to be secret!"
"As I said before, this is Caero." said Sonic, motioning to Caero. "He rescued
me from Robotnik. Robotnik had gotten me in some sort of freeze chamber, and I
almost froze to death, but, somehow, Caero shut it down and saved me. I didn't
know it was him until after that though. We have been working together to
attack Robotnik since I found his clan. I brought him to Knothole earlier, when
nobody was here, to meet you guys. I was expecting you to give him a warm
welcome!"
Sally responded, "That's great that he saved you, and we should be thankful for
that, but, as I said before, Knothole is secret, and you aren't supposed to
reveal its location to anyone!"
Caero stepped up and spoke, "I won't reveal the location of Knothole to anyone!
I swear!"
Sally stepped up to Sonic and whispered to him, "Did you tell him about the
underground portion of Knothole?"
Sonic whispered back, "No, I didn't, and I won't unless you give me permission."
"Okay, Sonic," said Sally, louder this time.
"Thanks, Sal," said Sonic.
Sonic stepped up to the podium, to make an announcement to everyone in the room,
which would be Sally, Caero, Bunnie, and Antoine.
"Everyone," announced Sonic. "We should return to Robotropolis for Tails and
Rotor."
"I agree," replied everyone, even Antoine.
Antoine then asked, "Should we get the Tarahassas Freedom Fighters to help?"
Bunnie responded, "No, they're probably mourning the loss of Dirk right now, and
we don't have another deroboticizer to help Dirk. Besides, this isn't a mission
to fight Robotnik. It's just a mission to save one of our own."
All agreed.
And so the Freedom Fighters set out again on the quest to find Tails and Rotor.
**********
Great Forest…
"This time, I'll be ready if Snively pulls a move like that," said Sonic. "I've
got my tornado move to wipe out at least ten of the Combots.
"Let's just hope that that doesn't happen again," said Sally, "and not worry
about it happening again."
"Good idea," said Antoine, "I really don't want to theenk about those horrid
Combots."
"Let's hope that this time, our mission is successful, y'all," said Bunnie.
"Yeah," said Caero.
The five fighters walked off toward Robotropolis.
**********
Uncle Chuck's Hideaway, Robotropolis…
Uncle Chuck came up from his lab again, but this time he was holding something,
apparently the deroboticizer.
"It's finished, Rotor!" exclaimed Uncle Chuck.
"All right! Let's go for it!" replied Rotor enthusiastically.
"Okay!" Uncle Chuck engaged the deroboticizer. Blue light drenched Rotor, and
then the whole room flashed blue, temporarily making vision impossible through
the intense light. When the color cleared, Rotor was still a robot!
**********
Great Forest…
The five fighters were now approaching the boundary of Robotropolis.
"Whoa," exclaimed Sonic, "look at the heavy security!"
Sonic was right. The perimeter of Robotnik's city was swarming with robots.
"This must be on account of the escape alarm that was sounded when I got out of
the cell," said Sally, "but they're probably trying to keep me from leaving the
city."
"But, obviously, you've already left!" said Caero.
"Yeah, it is strange. Normally their alerts aren't so slow that I was able to
rescue Ruben, Bunnie, Antoine, and you." (meaning Caero, who last spoke)
"Maybe there was a temporary break in the Robotropolis system, causing delays in
commands being sent," said Nicole, who Sally had clipped to her boot.
"No matter, anyway," said Bunnie, "they're not keeping you from leaving, but
they do present a problem in us getting in."
"What should we do?" asked Antoine.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake beneath the Freedom Fighters' feet! A large
tree fell, blocking the Freedom Fighters' path back to Knothole, and trapping
Antoine's leg under it. The ground must have been weak here, because it began
to crack. Sally fell into one of the large crevices, and was unable to grab
onto the ground. She fell below the ground completely, and finally was able to
grab onto a tree root jutting into the crack. Where she was holding onto was
about two feet under the ground, and her grip would not be able to hold much
longer.
**********
Uncle Chuck's Hideaway, Robotropolis…
Rotor looked at himself, and when he realized that the deroboticizer had not
worked, he screamed, "Oh, no!"
"What could have gone wrong?" Uncle Chuck asked himself, but as he felt the
shaking, that question left his mind. He quickly went over to his spy center,
to search for the source of the quake.
After looking through files generated by satellites that Robotnik had orbiting
Mobius, he concluded that this was a natural quake, not caused by Robotnik or
his machines, and that Robotnik was suffering from the quake as well. His
SWATbot-manufacturing plant had gone off-line, as had his Combot-manufacturing
plant. His control center computer had been going on and off since its
power-source and mainframe had been disrupted by the quake.
Uncle Chuck left his spy center and thought more about what could have gone
wrong with Rotor's deroboticization. Then he got an idea: the neural-override
chip could somehow be disrupting the process.
"Rotor, do you still have the neural-override chip on your person?"
"Yessir," said Rotor, "I do."
"Take it off and I'll try to deroboticize you again," said Uncle Chuck. "The
chip could be disrupting the process."
Rotor removed the neural-override chip and told Uncle Chuck to try again. Uncle
Chuck reactivated the deroboticizer and, again, the room was flooded with blue
light. But this time, when the light cleared, Rotor was no longer a robot.
"Woo-hoo!" yelled Rotor.
**********
Great Forest Boundary…
"Sally!" screamed Sonic.
"Sonic…" gasped Sally. "Help me, please."
Caero and Bunnie were trying to pull the tree off of Antoine's leg before he was
pulled into a crevice caused by the tree's fall.
Sonic wasted no time in trying to rescue Sally. He used such speed that as he
ran vertically up the side of a tree, gravity could not pull him down. Sonic
jumped onto a branch and snapped a piece of a vine off of the tree. Sonic ran
back down the side of the tree to meet Sally again.
"Sonic…" gasped Sally, "I can't hold on much longer!"
Sonic tossed one end of the vine down the crevice and told Sally to grab onto
it. Sally did this and Sonic slowly pulled Sally up, and when she reached the
top of the crevice, Sonic grabbed her and lifted her out. Sonic set Sally back
on the ground.
At this point, Antoine had been pulled out from under the tree. About half a
minute later, the ground stopped shaking.
Sonic walked toward Robotropolis, and saw that the SWATbots, or at least the
majority of them, had been destroyed in the quake. Sonic said so, and told
everyone that they could now enter Robotropolis.
Sally walked toward Sonic, but he sped off into Robotropolis. Bunnie, Antoine,
and Caero followed. Sally then followed as well.
**********
Uncle Chuck's Hideaway, Robotropolis…
"Chuck, I'm going to head back to Knothole to meet up with my friends," said
Rotor.
"Okay, Rotor," said Uncle Chuck, "that's a good idea."
Uncle Chuck pressed a button and the door to his hideaway opened. Rotor headed
out into Robotropolis, seeing the destruction caused by the quake. Metal was
scattered everywhere, and some towers had even toppled over.
After about a minute of walking, Rotor met up with Bunnie, Antoine, and Sally.
He saw Caero, and asked who he was.
Caero responded, "My name is Caero, and I'm a friend of Sonic's."
Rotor asked, "Where's Sonic?"
"Sugah-hog's up ahead, as usual!" replied Bunnie.
Antoine asked Rotor, "So, what happened to ya anyway?"
Sally said, "He can tell us later. Right now, lets make like Sonic and head for
Robotropolis."
Sally, Caero, Bunnie, and Antoine headed for Robotropolis. Rotor followed them.
**********
Later, in the Main Structure…
Sonic stood in the Main Structure, tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for his
friends.
Eventually, Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, and Caero entered. Then, Rotor enters
behind them.
"Hey, Rote!" said Sonic. "Nice of you to join us! Now, let's go!"
The six fighters headed through the corridors in search of a seventh fighter.
The lights fade on and off as an effect of the quake.
**********
Robotropolis Control Center, Main Structure…
Robotnik sat in his control chair, and Snively stood by. Robotnik, frustrated,
tried to get his systems and robot-manufacturing plants back up and running,
unsuccessful for the most part.
"Snively, we're running low on SWATbots, since the manufacturing plants are down
and many were destroyed in the quake," said Robotnik, with the back of his chair
to Snively, "so go to the manufacturing plant and see if you can repair the
damage from there. My system's connection to the manufacturing plant is still
broken."
"Yessir," responded Snively, who left the control center.
"This is so frustrating," said Robotnik to himself, "that my camera system's
connection to my control center is broken. If the princess, or any of the other
Mobians that escaped, are here, there'll be no way for me to know, and not
enough robots to sent against them."
Robotnik went back to working on his system.
**********
Main Structure, Robotropolis…
Sally observed, "There sure is a lack of robots around here."
"Maybe the production of robots has been stopped because of the quake," said
Rotor.
"And a lot of the robots were destroyed in the quake," added Bunnie.
"I sure hope that Tails didn't get destroyed!" said Sonic.
The six continued down the corridor until they reached a reactor. Upon closer
inspection, Sonic saw that, instead of mechanics, Tails "the MileBot" was inside
the reactor, visible through the glass, providing energy.
"Oh my gosh," gasped Bunnie as she saw Tails, "Robotnik said Tails was gonna be
used for defense."
"Well, Robotnik eesn't one to be usually trusted," commented Antoine.
"No wonder we haven't seen him around on patrol lately," said Sally.
"I'll free him," said Rotor, who took out a wrench and swung it at the glass.
The glass shattered and Tails fell to the ground. Sonic quickly pulled out his
deroboticizer and activated it. Tails was surrounded with a blue glow, and then
he was Tails, the fox, and was no longer robotic. Tails tried to get up, but
having wasted almost all of his energy powering the reactor, fell back to the
ground, too weak to get up.
"I'll carry him," said Sonic. Sonic lifted Tails onto his back and Tails
clinged to Sonic with all his remaining strength, which wasn't much.
Sonic and Tails, Sally, Bunnie, Rotor, Antoine, and Caero walked out of the
now-deserted Robotropolis, together and united.
**********
Later…
The band of fighters now approached the fallen tree.
"It's too thick for me to spin through," said Sonic.
"I can handle this one," said Rotor, who took out a bomb and threw it at the
center of the massive tree trunk. The bomb exploded, and blew a path through
the trunk. Rotor went through, and the rest of the warriors followed.
**********
Control Center, Robotropolis m
Robotnik turned his chair around, and walked over to the balcony adjacent to the
Control Center. He saw the Freedom Fighters, and then saw that Sonic was with
them, and that he had Tails (and that he was deroboticized), and that Rotor was
no longer a robot.
"Why, that blasted hedgehog!" yelled Robotnik. "But I have a much larger scheme
just waiting, and this time the rodent and his band of rabble rousers will not
escape! This plan is much bigger than only Knothole! Much larger!"
Robotnik cackled, and his laugh echoed throughout Robotropolis.
**********
Sonic's hut, Knothole…
Sonic lay on his bed, relaxing after all that had happened since that first
mission in which he was fried and almost frozen, but saved by his newfound
friend.
Sally walked into Sonic's hut.
"Sonic, you here?"
"Yeah, Sal."
Sonic rose into a sitting position and then got out of his bed and stood up.
"I just wanted to thank you," said Sally, "for saving my life today."
"No problem, Sal," said Sonic, "you're a fellow Freedom Fighter and…" Sonic
stopped.
"And what?"
"Nothing," said Sonic, hiding his feelings.
"Well," said Sally, "thanks again for saving my life!"
Sally kissed Sonic on the cheek, and left his hut.
And the first volume of the epic adventure ended.
What is Robotnik's massive plan?
Will Caero continue to fight with Sonic, or return to his clan?
Will the Tarahassas Freedom Fighters be able to help in the war against
Robotnik?
This and much, much more in Volume II - "The War Begins[4]"
*The End (of the BEGINNING)*
© 1997, 1999, 2001 Brandon, aka Escee "SC" Takeshi.
Sonic, Tails, Robotnik, and related characters and indicia, are trademarks of
SEGA. Other characters such as Princess Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine, are
trademarks of DiC or Archie Comics. Caero, Ruben, and other related characters
are works of Escee.
Sonic: Take it All the Way is a work of Brandon. See http://www.escee.com for
contact information for Brandon, aka Escee "SC" Takeshi.
Escee.com and related companies are subsidiaries of JB Computer Technologies
(http://www.jbcomptech.com) and are owned by Brandon.
Uncle Chuck came up the steps from his laboratory, and spoke to Rotor.
"Rotor," said he, "I've almost completed my deroboticizer. Soon, you should be
back to normal."
"Thanks, Chuck," he replied, "for all you've done, and all your help."
"It is my pleasure," replied Uncle Chuck, "to do anything I can to help in the
war against Robotnik. I'm going to get back to work on the deroboticizer now.
The sooner I finish it, the better."
"Okay."
**********
Tarahassas Mountains…
Ruben led the Knothole Freedom Fighters (and Caero) to his band of Fighters'
hideaway in the Tarahassas Mountains. Ruben approached a door carved into the
rock at the base of the mountain. He pulled on a branch on a nearby tree,
serving as a lever that opened the door. The door slowly opened, and Ruben,
Sonic, Sally, Caero, Bunnie, and Antoine stepped inside. Ruben then pressed a
button at the side of the door, on the inside, and the door closed slowly.
Ruben then led the Knothole Freedom Fighters (and Caero) down a corridor, around
a few corners, and then, finally, into a large meeting room.
A goat stood up and demanded to Ruben, "Where is Dirk and who are they?" As he
said they, he motioned toward Sonic.
Ruben said, "These are Freedom Fighters from the Great Forest who helped me
escape Robotnik."
"And where's Dirk?"
In a lower voice, Ruben replied, "Uh, Dirk, he, uh, um, Dirk, uh, he got, umm…"
"Answer the question," demanded the goat, now in an angry tone.
In almost a whisper, "Dirk got roboticized," was said by Ruben.
Bunnie stepped in now, and said, "We were there too. Ruben and us tried to save
Dirk, but when we finally escaped from the roboticizer waiting cell, Dirk had
already been roboticized."
"I'm sorry for my tone," said the goat. "It's just that I thought that might
have happened when Ruben was stalling like that, and it just upset me. I'm not
upset at Ruben. I'm upset at Robotnik! Anyway, it sure is nice to know that
there are more Freedom Fighters who have a common cause with us: to defeat
Robotnik. Anyway, if you need our help, you know where to find us now. Show
them the door, Zoru. We must now mourn for Dirk."
A bobcat, apparently known as Zoru, escorted the Freedom Fighters (and Caero)
out of the hideaway.
Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine started off toward Knothole, and Sonic said to Caero,
"C'mon, let's go to Knothole too, unless you want to go back to your clan."
"I'd like to continue fighting with you, Sonic," replied Caero, "so, let's go to
Knothole!"
"Okay, let's go!" said Sonic.
Sonic and Caero headed toward Knothole, following behind Sally, Bunnie, and
Antoine.
**********
Knothole, Great Forest…
"So," said Sally, "now maybe you can explain who your friend is and why you took
him to Knothole. Knothole is supposed to be secret!"
"As I said before, this is Caero." said Sonic, motioning to Caero. "He rescued
me from Robotnik. Robotnik had gotten me in some sort of freeze chamber, and I
almost froze to death, but, somehow, Caero shut it down and saved me. I didn't
know it was him until after that though. We have been working together to
attack Robotnik since I found his clan. I brought him to Knothole earlier, when
nobody was here, to meet you guys. I was expecting you to give him a warm
welcome!"
Sally responded, "That's great that he saved you, and we should be thankful for
that, but, as I said before, Knothole is secret, and you aren't supposed to
reveal its location to anyone!"
Caero stepped up and spoke, "I won't reveal the location of Knothole to anyone!
I swear!"
Sally stepped up to Sonic and whispered to him, "Did you tell him about the
underground portion of Knothole?"
Sonic whispered back, "No, I didn't, and I won't unless you give me permission."
"Okay, Sonic," said Sally, louder this time.
"Thanks, Sal," said Sonic.
Sonic stepped up to the podium, to make an announcement to everyone in the room,
which would be Sally, Caero, Bunnie, and Antoine.
"Everyone," announced Sonic. "We should return to Robotropolis for Tails and
Rotor."
"I agree," replied everyone, even Antoine.
Antoine then asked, "Should we get the Tarahassas Freedom Fighters to help?"
Bunnie responded, "No, they're probably mourning the loss of Dirk right now, and
we don't have another deroboticizer to help Dirk. Besides, this isn't a mission
to fight Robotnik. It's just a mission to save one of our own."
All agreed.
And so the Freedom Fighters set out again on the quest to find Tails and Rotor.
**********
Great Forest…
"This time, I'll be ready if Snively pulls a move like that," said Sonic. "I've
got my tornado move to wipe out at least ten of the Combots.
"Let's just hope that that doesn't happen again," said Sally, "and not worry
about it happening again."
"Good idea," said Antoine, "I really don't want to theenk about those horrid
Combots."
"Let's hope that this time, our mission is successful, y'all," said Bunnie.
"Yeah," said Caero.
The five fighters walked off toward Robotropolis.
**********
Uncle Chuck's Hideaway, Robotropolis…
Uncle Chuck came up from his lab again, but this time he was holding something,
apparently the deroboticizer.
"It's finished, Rotor!" exclaimed Uncle Chuck.
"All right! Let's go for it!" replied Rotor enthusiastically.
"Okay!" Uncle Chuck engaged the deroboticizer. Blue light drenched Rotor, and
then the whole room flashed blue, temporarily making vision impossible through
the intense light. When the color cleared, Rotor was still a robot!
**********
Great Forest…
The five fighters were now approaching the boundary of Robotropolis.
"Whoa," exclaimed Sonic, "look at the heavy security!"
Sonic was right. The perimeter of Robotnik's city was swarming with robots.
"This must be on account of the escape alarm that was sounded when I got out of
the cell," said Sally, "but they're probably trying to keep me from leaving the
city."
"But, obviously, you've already left!" said Caero.
"Yeah, it is strange. Normally their alerts aren't so slow that I was able to
rescue Ruben, Bunnie, Antoine, and you." (meaning Caero, who last spoke)
"Maybe there was a temporary break in the Robotropolis system, causing delays in
commands being sent," said Nicole, who Sally had clipped to her boot.
"No matter, anyway," said Bunnie, "they're not keeping you from leaving, but
they do present a problem in us getting in."
"What should we do?" asked Antoine.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake beneath the Freedom Fighters' feet! A large
tree fell, blocking the Freedom Fighters' path back to Knothole, and trapping
Antoine's leg under it. The ground must have been weak here, because it began
to crack. Sally fell into one of the large crevices, and was unable to grab
onto the ground. She fell below the ground completely, and finally was able to
grab onto a tree root jutting into the crack. Where she was holding onto was
about two feet under the ground, and her grip would not be able to hold much
longer.
**********
Uncle Chuck's Hideaway, Robotropolis…
Rotor looked at himself, and when he realized that the deroboticizer had not
worked, he screamed, "Oh, no!"
"What could have gone wrong?" Uncle Chuck asked himself, but as he felt the
shaking, that question left his mind. He quickly went over to his spy center,
to search for the source of the quake.
After looking through files generated by satellites that Robotnik had orbiting
Mobius, he concluded that this was a natural quake, not caused by Robotnik or
his machines, and that Robotnik was suffering from the quake as well. His
SWATbot-manufacturing plant had gone off-line, as had his Combot-manufacturing
plant. His control center computer had been going on and off since its
power-source and mainframe had been disrupted by the quake.
Uncle Chuck left his spy center and thought more about what could have gone
wrong with Rotor's deroboticization. Then he got an idea: the neural-override
chip could somehow be disrupting the process.
"Rotor, do you still have the neural-override chip on your person?"
"Yessir," said Rotor, "I do."
"Take it off and I'll try to deroboticize you again," said Uncle Chuck. "The
chip could be disrupting the process."
Rotor removed the neural-override chip and told Uncle Chuck to try again. Uncle
Chuck reactivated the deroboticizer and, again, the room was flooded with blue
light. But this time, when the light cleared, Rotor was no longer a robot.
"Woo-hoo!" yelled Rotor.
**********
Great Forest Boundary…
"Sally!" screamed Sonic.
"Sonic…" gasped Sally. "Help me, please."
Caero and Bunnie were trying to pull the tree off of Antoine's leg before he was
pulled into a crevice caused by the tree's fall.
Sonic wasted no time in trying to rescue Sally. He used such speed that as he
ran vertically up the side of a tree, gravity could not pull him down. Sonic
jumped onto a branch and snapped a piece of a vine off of the tree. Sonic ran
back down the side of the tree to meet Sally again.
"Sonic…" gasped Sally, "I can't hold on much longer!"
Sonic tossed one end of the vine down the crevice and told Sally to grab onto
it. Sally did this and Sonic slowly pulled Sally up, and when she reached the
top of the crevice, Sonic grabbed her and lifted her out. Sonic set Sally back
on the ground.
At this point, Antoine had been pulled out from under the tree. About half a
minute later, the ground stopped shaking.
Sonic walked toward Robotropolis, and saw that the SWATbots, or at least the
majority of them, had been destroyed in the quake. Sonic said so, and told
everyone that they could now enter Robotropolis.
Sally walked toward Sonic, but he sped off into Robotropolis. Bunnie, Antoine,
and Caero followed. Sally then followed as well.
**********
Uncle Chuck's Hideaway, Robotropolis…
"Chuck, I'm going to head back to Knothole to meet up with my friends," said
Rotor.
"Okay, Rotor," said Uncle Chuck, "that's a good idea."
Uncle Chuck pressed a button and the door to his hideaway opened. Rotor headed
out into Robotropolis, seeing the destruction caused by the quake. Metal was
scattered everywhere, and some towers had even toppled over.
After about a minute of walking, Rotor met up with Bunnie, Antoine, and Sally.
He saw Caero, and asked who he was.
Caero responded, "My name is Caero, and I'm a friend of Sonic's."
Rotor asked, "Where's Sonic?"
"Sugah-hog's up ahead, as usual!" replied Bunnie.
Antoine asked Rotor, "So, what happened to ya anyway?"
Sally said, "He can tell us later. Right now, lets make like Sonic and head for
Robotropolis."
Sally, Caero, Bunnie, and Antoine headed for Robotropolis. Rotor followed them.
**********
Later, in the Main Structure…
Sonic stood in the Main Structure, tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for his
friends.
Eventually, Sally, Bunnie, Antoine, and Caero entered. Then, Rotor enters
behind them.
"Hey, Rote!" said Sonic. "Nice of you to join us! Now, let's go!"
The six fighters headed through the corridors in search of a seventh fighter.
The lights fade on and off as an effect of the quake.
**********
Robotropolis Control Center, Main Structure…
Robotnik sat in his control chair, and Snively stood by. Robotnik, frustrated,
tried to get his systems and robot-manufacturing plants back up and running,
unsuccessful for the most part.
"Snively, we're running low on SWATbots, since the manufacturing plants are down
and many were destroyed in the quake," said Robotnik, with the back of his chair
to Snively, "so go to the manufacturing plant and see if you can repair the
damage from there. My system's connection to the manufacturing plant is still
broken."
"Yessir," responded Snively, who left the control center.
"This is so frustrating," said Robotnik to himself, "that my camera system's
connection to my control center is broken. If the princess, or any of the other
Mobians that escaped, are here, there'll be no way for me to know, and not
enough robots to sent against them."
Robotnik went back to working on his system.
**********
Main Structure, Robotropolis…
Sally observed, "There sure is a lack of robots around here."
"Maybe the production of robots has been stopped because of the quake," said
Rotor.
"And a lot of the robots were destroyed in the quake," added Bunnie.
"I sure hope that Tails didn't get destroyed!" said Sonic.
The six continued down the corridor until they reached a reactor. Upon closer
inspection, Sonic saw that, instead of mechanics, Tails "the MileBot" was inside
the reactor, visible through the glass, providing energy.
"Oh my gosh," gasped Bunnie as she saw Tails, "Robotnik said Tails was gonna be
used for defense."
"Well, Robotnik eesn't one to be usually trusted," commented Antoine.
"No wonder we haven't seen him around on patrol lately," said Sally.
"I'll free him," said Rotor, who took out a wrench and swung it at the glass.
The glass shattered and Tails fell to the ground. Sonic quickly pulled out his
deroboticizer and activated it. Tails was surrounded with a blue glow, and then
he was Tails, the fox, and was no longer robotic. Tails tried to get up, but
having wasted almost all of his energy powering the reactor, fell back to the
ground, too weak to get up.
"I'll carry him," said Sonic. Sonic lifted Tails onto his back and Tails
clinged to Sonic with all his remaining strength, which wasn't much.
Sonic and Tails, Sally, Bunnie, Rotor, Antoine, and Caero walked out of the
now-deserted Robotropolis, together and united.
**********
Later…
The band of fighters now approached the fallen tree.
"It's too thick for me to spin through," said Sonic.
"I can handle this one," said Rotor, who took out a bomb and threw it at the
center of the massive tree trunk. The bomb exploded, and blew a path through
the trunk. Rotor went through, and the rest of the warriors followed.
**********
Control Center, Robotropolis m
Robotnik turned his chair around, and walked over to the balcony adjacent to the
Control Center. He saw the Freedom Fighters, and then saw that Sonic was with
them, and that he had Tails (and that he was deroboticized), and that Rotor was
no longer a robot.
"Why, that blasted hedgehog!" yelled Robotnik. "But I have a much larger scheme
just waiting, and this time the rodent and his band of rabble rousers will not
escape! This plan is much bigger than only Knothole! Much larger!"
Robotnik cackled, and his laugh echoed throughout Robotropolis.
**********
Sonic's hut, Knothole…
Sonic lay on his bed, relaxing after all that had happened since that first
mission in which he was fried and almost frozen, but saved by his newfound
friend.
Sally walked into Sonic's hut.
"Sonic, you here?"
"Yeah, Sal."
Sonic rose into a sitting position and then got out of his bed and stood up.
"I just wanted to thank you," said Sally, "for saving my life today."
"No problem, Sal," said Sonic, "you're a fellow Freedom Fighter and…" Sonic
stopped.
"And what?"
"Nothing," said Sonic, hiding his feelings.
"Well," said Sally, "thanks again for saving my life!"
Sally kissed Sonic on the cheek, and left his hut.
And the first volume of the epic adventure ended.
What is Robotnik's massive plan?
Will Caero continue to fight with Sonic, or return to his clan?
Will the Tarahassas Freedom Fighters be able to help in the war against
Robotnik?
This and much, much more in Volume II - "The War Begins[4]"
*The End (of the BEGINNING)*
© 1997, 1999, 2001 Brandon, aka Escee "SC" Takeshi.
Sonic, Tails, Robotnik, and related characters and indicia, are trademarks of
SEGA. Other characters such as Princess Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine, are
trademarks of DiC or Archie Comics. Caero, Ruben, and other related characters
are works of Escee.
Sonic: Take it All the Way is a work of Brandon. See http://www.escee.com for
contact information for Brandon, aka Escee "SC" Takeshi.
Escee.com and related companies are subsidiaries of JB Computer Technologies
(http://www.jbcomptech.com) and are owned by Brandon.