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=The Legacy of Winter=
PART II: The Next Level
-By Anthony Young AKA "Anthonius"
(ajyoung@roadrunner.nf.net)
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PG-13
Okay, here I go again, with a brand new fic! I'm sure that
if you hated my first one, this one is BOUND to be just as
bad, so... if that be the case, cease reading this junk and
read something by Dan Drazen or something... I'll never be
as big as any of them, but then again, I can try, can't I?
Ah well. As always, this has been formatted to fit ANY
screen resolution including 640x480. Every character is ©
Copyright of their respective owner(s). So let's get to it
then!
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It was a mere few days since Daniel's arrival on Mobius,
and since the 'Frei from Hell' had dissipated. Every
Mobian wanted to thank him for his efforts, but he had
stayed isolated from them, staying in his hut for as long
as he possibly could, coming out only when necessary.
Sally decided to have a talk with him.
"Now... if I can just get this connected here..." Daniel
said, his eyes fixed on an old computer liberated from
one of Robotnik's facilities. It was in pretty bad shape,
but Daniel decided to go at it anyway. He was carefully
placing the processor into its slot when there was a knock
at his door. He was startled by this, and he dropped the
processor. "Aah! NO!" he said, watching it fall
and smash on the floor. He got up and went to the door.
"This had better be important..." he mumbled as he turned
the knob and pulled the door open.
"Hello..." said Sally, detecting that Daniel was upset.
"Hi" Daniel said, agitated.
"What are you doing? You seem to be pretty caught up in
it..." she said.
"I WAS working on that old computer, but I dropped the
processor... as you can see... now I can't finish it..."
"Well... that's not entirely important right now. Anyway,
I was wondering, since we were going to have a party
tonight, welcoming you into our group-"
"I don't want you to go through that much trouble just
for me," he interrupted.
"Well, it's already planned, so you're going to HAVE to
come!"
"There's nothing you can do to make me go..."
"Don't tell me you're afraid to go to a little get
together..."
"Well, uhm, you see... erm... yes... I am... I am afraid.
I have to admit it... I hate having attention"
"HA! You can't tell me that you weren't afraid of Robotnik,
but you're afraid of US?"
"Yes..." he said, looking down. "I guess it's just that
I'm used to dealing with people, not with... with..."
"Okay, I can understand that, but what YOU have to
understand, is that we're JUST LIKE YOU! We're no different.
Even in appearance, you're the same as us. Maybe that's not
what you're used to, but we are NO DIFFERENT." Sally lectured.
"Well... maybe it's just a mental thing..."
"I hope so... if you can't socialize with anyone in your
OWN PARTY, then I don't think you'll ever be able to."
"I guess I'll be there..."
"And try to be out more... there are a lot of people
who'd at least like to shake your hand for your help the
other day..."
"Okay..."
"So it's settled? You'll at least TRY to be more socially
active?"
"Yes! Yes, already!"
"Good. I'll see you tonight, then, at 19:30 in the center of
Knothole." Sally said, departing from the hut.
"Yeah, see ya..." he said, waving. He closed the door and
retreated back inside his hut. "What have I gotten myself
into?" he said. He remembered back in his elementary school
days, how he used to try to do things right and fit in, only
to be laughed at and rejected. He wondered if anything would
be different this time. "Probably not," he said to himself.
"but now that I'm stuck with this mess, I may as well try
anyway.... maybe things WILL be different."
Later that night, everything was set up in the way that it
normally was... just a normal get together, just like all the
other ones for the new recruits. It was 19:15 in Mobian
Standard 24 hour time units. Half the population (which wasn't
much) was already there. Daniel, however, was not. He was still
in his hut, ponderingas to whether or not he should go. He was
pacing back and forth, wondering if he would ever grow up.
He told himself that he needed to forget about what happened
so many years ago, and that he needed to start anew. He
checked the clock on the wall. 19:25. He got up his courage
and left. He walked into the center of Knothole, which was
where he had been told to go. It looked like a group of
people, roughly the same size as an ordinary class of students,
had accumulated there, most likely for the party. He started
walking towards them. One of them turned around and looked
at him.
"Hey! There he is! That's the one who thinks he's better than
us!" The one who had turned around shouted.
"Huh? What?" Daniel said, confused.
"Hey! You sure that you want to come out here? We might bite!"
"Yeah! You wouldn't want that, now, would you, Mr. Decadent?"
"Let's get him!" The crowd became rowdy and started towards him.
"What's going on?" Daniel said, confused even more.
"GET HIM!!!" The crowd began to charge at him.
"Whaa... AAH!!" He shouted, running away. He madly looked around,
looking for shelter, finding only his hut. Instinctively, he ran
for it. Once he got inside, he barred the door, and started to pant.
"Well, well... what kind of social outcast do we have here?"
Sally's voice called from the shadows.
"What?... Sally?!" Daniel said.
"Yeah, surprised you know my name, considering you're nothing to
me but the dirt beneath my feet. Oh, look... here's my friends
now... I think they want to play..." Sally said, in an evil tone.
The mob started to bang on the door. Daniel quickly looked around
for some place to run, finding nothing. "Don't worry... they'll make
it quick and painless for you..." Sally said. The banging ensued.
Then, everything turned black. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Only
the sound of a fist beating on the door. Daniel opened his eyes, and
sat up on his bed. He looked at the clock. 19:12.
"Wow... what a dream..." he said, shaking his head. The banging
sound continued. "Oh no... WAS it a dream?"
"Hey, Daniel! Wake up! It's soon going to be time to go!" the
familiarly cheerful voice of Sally called from outside. Daniel
let out a sigh of relief as he went to the door, rubbing his eyes.
He opened it. Sonic and Sally were both there, waiting.
"Hey, come on, ya slo-mo! We don't got all day!" Sonic said,
impatiently. "I can hardly stand just standing here!"
"Sonic..." Sally said, "why don't you go back and make sure
everything's going according to plan?"
"Sure thing, Sal... but I don't know why I have to put up with
waiting like this!" Sonic said, as he began to speed off.
"Okay. Now, it's almost time to go, so you'd better get ready.
I'm going to go back with Sonic now. You come when you're ready."
Sally said.
"Sure. I'll do that now, and be over there within a few minutes."
Daniel said. He closed the door and went to his mirror. "Heh...
I look better than I did back home... hmm... okay... I look fine.
Let's go!"
And so, Daniel departed for the center of Knothole, where he would
face his fears. He noticed that it was set up exactly the same way
as in his dream. He walked up closer. Sally came out to greet him.
"Well, come on! Everyone's waiting!" Sally said, taking Daniel by
the arm. She dragged him up to the stage. She went to the podium.
"Hello, everyone, and good evening. As you may very well know, we have
a visitor here in Knothole, and this visitor wishes to help us. So,
tonight, we will initiate him as a member of the freedom fighters!
Now, without further ado, I give you, Daniel Winters!" She announced
as she motioned for Daniel to come over to the podium. The small crowd
applauded.
"Okay, then. I don't have a speech or anything, so I'll just say
thanks to you guys for giving me hospitality, and I hope things will
work out in the future. Thank you..." he said, stepping back so Sally
could get to the podium again. More applause came from the crowd.
"Okay, now. Let's get this party going!" Sally shouted as everyone
cheered. The crowd dispersed from the tight formation they were in,
and began to socialize and have fun. Soon, refreshments were set up,
then snacks. The party was now in full motion. Daniel wasn't doing much,
except stand around, sipping some fruit punch.
"This isn't so bad.." he said to himself.
"Hey, Daniel!" Sally called to him from a few meters away. "Over
here!" Daniel, fairly confused, decided to finish the punch he was
drinking and go over to join her.
"Hello.." he said.
"I thought that you were going to socialize some more." Sally said.
"Well... I don't normally fit in too well..." Daniel said.
"Oh well... At any rate, these are some friends of mine." She
started, motioning to the group. "You already know Sonic and Bunnie...
and this here is Rotor," she said, motioning to Rotor.
"Hi!" Rotor said.
"Hello" Daniel replied, calmed by the friendliness of Rotor's voice.
"This is Tails," she said motioning to Tails.
"Hiya!" Tails said, excited that he could stay up so late.
"Hello there.." Daniel said, looking down at the two-tailed kit.
"And... this... is Antoine" she said, motioning to Antoine.
"Eet is a pleaseure to be meeting you" Antoine said.
"The same to you." Daniel said.
"Now, I'll be right back. I need to go over here for a minute and
make sure that everything's okay." Sally said. She went over to a table
and hid behind it, watching them. She noticed that they already were
engaged in conversation. "Good. He'll fit in fine." She said to herself,
getting up and walking back towards them.
"And then, I took the electrical cable and fried the SWAT-Bots!"
Daniel exclaimed, telling Tails the story of what happened a few days
ago.
"COOL!" Tails shouted.
"Yeah, well, I was the one who distracted the SWAT-Butts in the first
place!" Sonic said, standing up for his pride and position as Tails'
hero.
"You all need to grow up!" Sally shouted at them with a smile. The
party lasted for hours and hours, until finally everyone felt the
strains of fatigue, and went home. Daniel laid down on his bed.
"Well. I did it... Tonight, I made friends..." he said to himself.
"I suppose tomorrow will bring the same old things again, though..."
he said, starting to drift to sleep.
The next morning, Daniel awoke to a knock at his door. He got up,
rubbed his eyes, and went to the door. He reached out, turned the
doorknob, and pulled the door open. Sally stood there at the door.
"Yes?" Daniel asked, sleepily.
"Time to wake up... I've got a mission planned and you're part of
it, so shake a leg and meet me outside, okay?" Sally said.
"Uh, sure. I'll get ready" he said with a yawn. He closed the door
and went to wash his face. He splashed the cold water over his face.
It soaked into his fur. "Doesn't run off like it used to..." he said
with a chuckle "guess it's time for a shave!" He got fully dressed
and walked outside. The air had a chill to it. He looked around,
looking to find Sally. Nowhere. "Hmm... where did she go?" he said,
starting to walk around, looking for her. She emerged from the
mission planning hut and called him over.
"Okay, now that we're all here..." she began. "We can discuss
today's mission. Nicole, display the information I requested."
"Displaying, Sally." Nicole droned as the holographic projector
came to life.
"Now, this is a map of Robotropolis, as some of you are already
familiar with..." she said. "This mission is very delicate, and
it is imparative that it be done right. This is a SWAT-Bot factory."
She said, pointing to a building. "We need to destroy it. Now, the
delicate part of this mission is that we CANNOT be detected, or else
the factory will be locked down. If this happens, abort the mission
and get back to Knothole. There isn't much room for error here." she
said, finishing the briefing. "Does anyone want to back out?"
"Oui..." Antoine said in a worried tone.
"Antoine, do yah have tah be such a chicken? Yah don't see me
complainin', and ah'm scared!" Bunnie said to Antoine.
"Okay, so nobody wants to back out?" Sally asked again. No response.
"Then it's settled. Let's go!" She said. They then started for
Robotropolis. A few hours later, they came to where the Great Forest
ends, and where Robotropolis starts. They made their way through
Robotropolis and got to the SWAT-Bot factory.
"What now, shugah?" Bunnie asked.
"Bunnie, you and Daniel go inside from that way and open up a the
security doors so that we can get through and place the charges.
Sonic and I will wait, then go in and set the charges once you're out.
Antoine will watch for SWAT-Bot patrols. Is everyone clear on what
they have to do?" She said.
"Yes!" everyone said, but Antoine, who was busy looking for places
to hide.
"Then let's go!" She said. Daniel and Bunnie went through the door.
Beyond that was a corridor with a door at the end, security locked.
Daniel went to the panel and started to type. After a couple of minutes,
the door opened and they continued down the hallway. They came across
more doors, none of which could either withstand Daniel's hacking or
Bunnie's strength.
"According to the map I saw earlier, we should be near the core. When
we open that door, we can go through... surprising, though, that there
were no-" he was cut off by an alarm. Bunnie gasped.
"Oh, no! They spotted us!" Bunnie shouted in depair.
"It was a trap!" Daniel said. He ran to a security panel to try and
override the system, but to no avail. The room started to fill with
sleep gas as the alarm rang. Daniel covered his face with his t-shirt
as he frantically attempted to override the system. SWAT-Bots stormed
the room and aimed their lasers at Daniel. He turned around. "Uh...
heheh... this isn't good..." he said. One of them fired a stream of
electricity at him. He was electrocuted with enough energy to render
him unconscious. He crumpled to the floor next to Bunnie, whom had
already succombed to the gas.
A few hours later, Sonic, Sally and Antoine returned to Knothole.
"Sal! We gotta go back to get them!" Sonic shouted in a fury.
"Sonic, it won't do you any good to be captured and roboticized...
You need a power ring." Sally said.
"I will be staying here zis time, if eet is okay with you, mon
princesse." Antoine said.
"Fine, Antoine, stay here." Sally said.
"I can't stand this! What if 'Buttnik decides to roboticize 'em
right away!" Sonic said, deeply concerned.
"A power ring!" Sally said, pointing at the ring pool.
"Great! Get it and I'm outta here!" Sonic said as Sally handed him
the ring. "Juicin' time!" he said as he sped off.
"Hey... hey, shugah... wake up... are you alright?" Bunnie's voice
echoed through the halls of the holding cell block. She tried to shake
him back to consciousness but to no avail. "He's still breathin',
and he's got a pulse... but whah cain't ah wake him up?" she said,
sitting next to Daniel. She sighed as she lay down on the cement floor
of the cell. She she looked over at Daniel. He stirred a little.
"Hey, wake up!" she said to him, sitting up.
"Unh... oah... my head..." he said, in pain. He sat up and tried to
make sense of his surroundings and regain his senses. Bunnie put her
hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, sugar... you okay?" she asked him, concerned.
"I feel like I've been hit by a train..." he said. "I don't think
I'm hurt, though..."
"Good. now, how the heck are we supposed to get out of here?"
"I don't know..."
"I doubt that either one of you will be escaping from here. There's
no possible way you can escape." A deep voice called over a crackling
loudspeaker.
"Robotnik!" Bunnie shouted. Daniel was too disoriented to think.
"Your powers of deduction never cease to amaze me." he said,
sarcastically. "Soon, I shall finish what I started so long ago, and
get rid of that big-mouthed fox friend of yours. This is going to be
fun. Get a good night's sleep tonight... it shall be your last. I've
ordered your roboticization for the morning. As for you, you pesky
little wretch, I've fired up a roboticizer for you especially, and
to pay for what you did to my computer, it's being prepared by the
end of the hour. I hope you don't suffer too much.. HAHAHAHA!" Bunnie
gasped.
"You wouldn't!" Bunnie said. "He hasn't done anything ta deserve ta
be roboticized!"
"Oh, really? He is a freedom fighter. That is enough to convince me
that he deserves it!" Robotnik snapped. Daniel was still trying
to recover enough so that he could understand what was going on.
"Ungh... disorientation is a bad thing... everything's spinning!"
Daniel shook his head. "What just happened?" he asked.
"Robotnik's gonna roboticize us!" Bunnie said in complete and
utter despair.
"Roboticize?"
"Yeah, turn flesh into steel, stuff like that."
"Oh, man... I don't want to find out what that's like..."
"Almost there! Can't be too late!" Sonic said to himself, racing
through the streets of Robotropolis. He ran into a building and ignored
the guards. He went to the elevator and drilled through - no time
for waiting. He climbed the cords until he got to the prison levels.
"Okay, they've got to be on one of these floors!" he said, looking
around. Then Sonic heard Bunnie's voice echo from further down the
corridor. He couldn't make out anything, but it was her voice, he could
tell. He ran down the corridor and spun through the guards at the cell,
destroying them. "Yo, Bunnie!" Sonic said as he walked towards the
bars. Bunnie got up.
"He's gone..." she said.
"Who's gone and where?"
"Daniel... they took him away... ta be roboticized!"
"Oh, man, not cool. I'm gonna shut off the lasers." Sonic said as
he pressed some buttons, making the lasers fade to nothing.
"Thanks, shugah-hog, but we need ta get ta Daniel, and quick!"
"I know, Bunnie... hold on!" he said, as Bunnie threw her arms around
Sonic's neck. They then sped down the side of the elevator shaft and
down to the roboticizing deck. The lights were dimmer here, showing a
large amount of power consumption, most likely caused by charging
a roboticizer up.
"Ya maght want ta hurry up there, shugah-hog... looks like somethin'
big was just turned on!" Bunnie said
"You don't have to tell me twice! Let's juice!" He said, taking off
down the corridor at max speed.
"You don't have any last requests?" Robotnik asked with a smile.
"How about letting me go?" Daniel said, while being strapped to the
roboticizer.
"You know I can't do that. In a matter of thirty seconds, you will
be completely under my control. Don't worry, though. I won't make you
work TOO hard" Robotnik said, laughing.
"ROBOTICIZER ENERGY INPUT: SEVENTY FIVE PERCENT AND RISING" a worker
drone said.
"Good... very good. Exactly how long until it's fully charged?"
Robotnik asked, impatiently.
"APPROXIMATELY TWENTY SECONDS."
"I won't let you do that, Ro-buttnik!" Sonic's voice called.
"Sonic! Talk about cutting it close!" Daniel said.
"You take one step further, rodent, and I'll activate the roboticizer!"
Robotnik shouted.
"Yeah, right. Bunnie, pull the plug." Sonic said.
"INITIALIZE!!!" Robotnik yelled.
"ENERGY OUTPUT HAS NOT YET REACHED OPTIMAL LEVELS."
"I DON'T CARE!!!! INITIALIZE!!!" Robotnik yelled. The drone pushed
a button. Daniel flinched as a bright light surrounded him.
"BUNNIE! PULL THE PLUG!!" Sonic shouted.
"Got it, shugah!" Bunnie said, ripping the massive cord from its
socket. The lights brightened.
"GAH!!! GET THEM!" Robotnik yelled as four SWAT-Bots ran into the room.
"Let's go to work, Bunnie!" Sonic said, spinning into two of them,
as Bunnie kicked one away. Robotnik took this opportunity to flee from
the freedom fighters. Bunnie then picked up the other SWAT-Bot with
her metallic arm and threw it against a wall, smashing both the wall
and the SWAT-Bot. They ran over to Daniel, who was unconscious. They
then unstrapped him, picked him up and ran back to Knothole.
"So? How is he?" Sonic asked.
"He seems fine... he's just unconscious. Luckily, the Roboticizer
didn't affect him... you guys got him out just in time." Sally reported.
"Cool! So nothing happened to him?"
"Not that Nicole or I can detect." Sally said.
"Cool... so the whole thing was a trap..." Sonic said.
"It would appear so... a trap that would've worked had you not shown
up on time." Sally said as Bunnie walked in.
"Hey, guys. How's he doin'?" Bunnie asked.
"Fine. He's only unconscious; the roboticizer didn't do anything to
him; you guys got there on time." Sally replied.
"Good... ah was worried... that..." Bunnie started.
"No. Nothing happened to him." Sally said.
"Great... ah don't think he'd evah wanna go through what ah did..."
Bunnie said, looking at her robotic arm.
"Bunnie, when we get the de-roboticizer fully completed, you won't
have to deal with it any more." Sally said.
"Really?" Bunnie asked.
"Really" Sally said. Daniel started to fully regain consciousness.
"Ugh... what... happened?" He asked, waking up.
"You were saved just in time from the roboticizer!" Sally said.
"What? ... Oh, my head... I don't remember anything since we were
gassed back at the SWAT-Bot factory..." Daniel said, holding his head.
"Well, the main thing is, you're safe, and Bunnie's safe." Sally said.
"Now, we're going to try again at another key point tomorrow, so get
some rest so you can be ready for tomorrow."
"Easier said than done... do you have any pain killers? My head is
killing me..." Daniel said, in partial agony.
"Bunnie... could you get the Acetaminophen from the medical cabinet?"
"Sure. Which shelf?" Bunnie said, looking through the cabinet.
"Second from the top"
"Ah, here it is!" Bunnie said, reaching up and grabbing a bottle. She
walked over to Daniel, opened the bottle and gave him some tablets.
"Thank you." Daniel said, popping the tablets into his mouth.
"Okay, let's get back to our huts and get some sleep." Sally said.
"we're going to need it." She said, walking to the door. Bunnie and
Sonic followed.
The next morning, Daniel awoke to the sunrise. He got up and rubbed
his forehead and his eyes. He walked to the window to see the sunset,
almost tripping over himself because he wasn't much of a morning person.
"Wow... that's a beautiful sight..." Daniel said, admiring the view.
He proceeded to get cleaned up for the day and got dressed. Afterwards,
for the first time since he got there, he went to the cupboards of his
hut and brought out some food suitable for a breakfast. He poured what
looked, felt, and tasted like oatmeal into a bowl and mixed some water
into it. He took a spoon and sat at his table, and started to eat. He
glanced at the clock. 05:42, Mobian Standard 24 hour Time. VERY early
for him. He finished off the last of it and decided to go for a walk.
He walked outside and then into the forest paths. He walked around for
a while, until he came to a clearing. "Hmm... wow... such nice scenery
here..." he said to himself as he continued into it. He noticed
something - a sparkle; a shine of light as if something metal were
present. He started towards it. As he got closer, he could make out
the form of what the metal belonged to; it was Bunnie. "Hey, Bunnie..."
he called from a short distance.
"Huh? Oh, hi, Daniel... what're you doing out here so early?" she
asked, semi-startled.
"I guess it's just that I woke up at the time I did..." he said.
"What is this place? The scenery is beautiful." He asked, looking
around. The clearing was a green, grassy meadow, mountain ranges
visible in the distance, the sun rising over them.
"Well... this is just where ah come ta think, and relax... nobody
else knows where it is... but ah guess you know now, huh?" Bunnie
said.
"Actually, no... I came here by accident... I just went for a walk,
and ended up here."
"Really? Well, if it's that easy ta find..." Bunnie started.
"No... it was completely random... anyway, what's on your mind now?"
"Well, nothin' you'd want ta bothah yourself with..." she said,
looking away.
"And why not?"
"'Cause y'all'd think it's silly..."
"No I wouldn't. Try me."
"Well, if ya really wanna know..." she said, looking at her robotic
arm.
"Your robotic parts are what's upsetting you?"
"Yeah..." she said "It's somethin' nobody wants to have done to 'em.
Ah was worried that maybe... maybe you'd have suffered the same thing.
Ah couldn't live with it if somebody else had to go through what ah
went through. It just wouldn't be right..."
"It's okay, Bunnie..."
"No it's not! It's not okay!" Bunnie snapped. "These things aren't so
bad, but the fact that ah can nevah get mah real arms back, and how
much pain ah went through..." she said, a tear streaming down her cheek.
"Bunnie, when all this is over, just like Sally said, we'll find a
way to get you back to normal. In fact, I'll do my best to make sure
that happens!" Daniel said. Bunnie looked at him.
"You really sure that a deroboticizer would work?" Bunnie said.
"Almost positive. I've seen how it works, as you remember. With a
small change in programming, I'm sure it would work!" Bunnie's face
lit up. She threw her arms around Daniel.
"Oh, thank yah! You've gone and made mah day!" Bunnie said.
"Uh... y-you're.. welcome." he stuttered, trying to analyze the
situation.
"Ya don't know how much what you just said means ta me." Bunnie said,
pushing herself away. She checked her watch. 07:06. "Oh, mah stars!
Sally's gonna be lookin' for us... Let's get back to Knothole." She
said.
"So... Daniel... what's it like where you come from?" Bunnie said
as they walked along the path.
"Nothing like this place..." he said, looking around and admiring
the scenery. "The nature here is wonderful... I've never seen anything
like it... Back home, we have cities, and rarely are able to see anything
remotely like this... The people there aren't all nice, either... most
just want money, some just want to help others, but money is pretty much
everything back home... I suppose the air back home is thicker than the
air here, mainly because it's filled with greenhouse gases, from our
vehicles and factories..." he said as they walked down another path, with
Knothole in sight.
"Well... it was nice talkin' to ya... ah gotta get ready... see y'all in
a few" she said as she headed towards her hut. Some light snow began to
fall. Daniel walked over to his hut, went inside, and lay down on his bed.
He stared up at the ceiling and thought for a while. He sighed. He looked
at his hands.
"So this is what I'm destined to look like for the rest of my life..."
he said, staring at his hand. "I guess I've gotta learn to live with it,
and learn how to take advantage of it, just like Bunnie and her roboticized
parts..." He said. It was the first time he had ever thought of someone as
a role-model type person for as long as he could remember. He clenched
his fist. "Exactly! I can't be sitting here, whining about this for the
rest of my life! I've got to learn to accept it for what it is, and take
advantage of it!" he said as he sat up and slid off the bed. "It's a new
challenge, and it's time to take it head-on!"
"Okay, is everyone here?" Sally asked, looking around the table. She
glanced around, and said "Okay, now... let's get down to business..."
she started as she picked up Nicole. "What you're about to see is the
location of several key points in Robotropolis." She said as Nicole
displayed the map. "These points are heavily guarded facilities, used
for top-secret military experiments run by Robotnik. Our mission is to
infiltrate and destroy these facilities, after figuring out what
Robotnik's up to. Any questions?" She said. Silence followed. "Okay, then.
You'll be given more instructions when we get there. We'll meet outside
in fifteen minutes. Be there." she said, ending the briefing. Everyone
started to file out as Nicole's holographic projector shut off with a
whine. Daniel was about to leave when Sally stopped him.
"Yeah?" he said.
"I want to show you something." Sally said, walking up to a wall.
"What's so special about a wall?" He said as Sally pulled a panel aside.
"These are the weapons we found on you when you were brought here. They
may be useful here..." she said, handing him his pistol. "I don't quite
know how these work, but I trust you'll be careful." she said as Daniel
holstered his pistol inside his vest. She handed him some clips, which
he put on his belt, then his assault rifle. He strung the strap across his
shoulder.
"Are you sure you want to give me these things? I mean, for all you know,
I might shoot you guys while your backs are turned."
"in the past few days, Daniel, I've grown to trust you... I just have
a certain feeling of trust about you... I don't know why, but it's there.
Now... we'll all need these," she said, handing him a pair of small
binoculars. He put them in one of his large pockets on his vest. She
took out three more and replaced the panel. "Now... I want you to be
ABSOLUTELY SURE you keep those weapons away from the children..." she
said. "If anything happened to them..."
"Don't worry. I'll keep them locked in a safe place."
"Good. Let's get going!" she said, as she went out the door. Daniel
followed.
Sally, Sonic, Bunnie and Daniel started on the trail for Robotropolis.
Sonic looked a little uncomfortable as he walked along behind Daniel.
"Sal" he whispered to Sally. "You really think he should have that
stuff?"
"I don't know, Sonic, but I just have a feeling we'll need it here."
she said back to him. "Okay, everyone, we only need to hit one of the
facilitiess today. The rest can be done some other time." She said out
loud. Half an hour later, they came to the outskirts of the city, where
the forest ends and a desolated wasteland stands, surrounding robotropolis
like a moat around a castle. The group quickly crossed the desert, in
fear of being detected by a scout drone. They ran into the city and took
cover. "Okay, we'll wait to see if the coast is clear. Sonic, could you
scout ahead?"
"Sure thing, Sal... back in a flash!" Sonic said. With that, he sped off.
Daniel took this opportunity to see how the binoculars worked, and what
they could do. He flipped a switch on them, and looked through. The switch
was obviously for infra-red sensory mode, because he could see heat
patterns through walls and such. He put them away.
"Interesting technology." he said, as a sonic boom could be heard from
a distance. Sonic raced up to the three.
"The place is crawling with SWAT-Butts! Must be some important stuff in
there." Sonic said, looking back. "It's probably gonna be pretty hard to
get in"
"As would be expected. Sonic, you'll have to distract the guards outside
so we can get in. Follow us after you've disabled them... be careful,
Sonic." Sally said to him.
"Let's do it to it!" Sonic said, holding out his fist as he and Sally
did their handshake. "I'm outta here!" he shouted as he sped off again.
The three remaining slower freedom fighters made their way to the facility
slowly, and stealthily as Sonic distracted the guards. They finally got to
the building, and waited in the shadows. They watched as Sonic made the
SWAT-Bots fall for his decoy trick and run off. After the guards had begun
to persue Sonic, the trio ran to the building.
"Bunnie, the door." Sally said.
"Got it..." Bunnie said as she forced the door open. They made their way
inside, and took cover behind some machinery. "Okay, Sally-girl, where to
now?" Sally looked around. SWAT-Bots were patrolling everywhere. Suddenly,
they all started to head for the exit, most likely to persue Sonic.
"That way!" She said, pointing to an unguarded door on the other side of
the room. They got up and ran for it. Daniel readied his assault rifle as
they ran. They were in a heavily guarded area now, and it would be needed.
They burst through the door and looked around. Nothing. An empty supply
room. "Come on! Let's get going!" Sally said, running out the door, the
others following. She threw open a door next to the one they were just in.
A stair well. "Hurry! Let's go, before they come back!" Sally said to them
as they ascended the stairs. They got to the top floor and stopped.
"What now?" Daniel asked.
"We'll try the binoculars in IR sensor mode and see what's behind the
door." Sally said, procuring a pair from her backpack. She looked through.
"One, maybe two SWAT-Bots are in there" she whispered.
"So, what do we do?"
"This is where your weapons help" Sally said. "When I open the door, you
open fire on the guards. Okay?"
"Okay" he said, lifting his assault rifle to his shoulder and taking the
safety off. Sally threw the door open and dove out of the way. Daniel
acquired his targets, and squeezed the trigger. The gun came to life as
the bullets ripped through the metal plating of the SWAT-Bot guards and
completely destroying their circuitry. The guards only had time to turn
around before falling to the floor. SWAT-Bots from another room had
obviously heard the noise, as they burst through a door on the other side
of the room. Daniel pulled the trigger again as the SWAT-Bots turned from
state-of-the-art security drones to piles of metallic debris. He lowered
the rifle and motioned the others to get up. He walked into the room, the
others behind him. They heard a noise. Daniel tightened his grip on his
rifle as the others tried to locate the noise. Then, Sonic crashed down
from a ventillation shaft on the ceiling and hit the floor with a thud.
"Whoa... what a ride..." he said, getting back onto his feet. "Huh? Oh,
I'm just in time! Hey, guys..." he said. "Those SWAT-Butts are probably on
the other side of Robotropolis looking for me by now."
"Good job, Sonic. Now... let's find out what Robotnik's up to!" Sally
said as she started towards the door the other SWAT-Bots came through. The
others followed. In the next room, they found what looked like the biggest
computer either of them had ever seen. Sally walked over to it. "hmm..."
she said, looking at what was displayed on the screen. "Seems like I'll
need that disk of yours again, Daniel." she said. Daniel reached into his
pocket and produced his disk. He put it into the computer as Sally shut
it down and then turned it back on again. They waited as the computer
started. The disk started to be read by the computer. A message came up
from the program on the disk stating that because of the encryption, the
code will take a few minutes to crack. Sally pressed a key and the disk
went furiously to work. A few minutes later, the disk stopped and displayed
another message reading 'Decryption: Complete. Please remove the disk'.
"That didn't come up before..." Daniel said. "Oh well, we're in, anyway"
Sally typed away at the computer, until something caught her eye; VOID.PRJ.
"What's this?" she said as she opened it. It showed the plans of an
advanced version of the void, useable as a field weapon.
"THAT is NOT cool" Sonic said.
"You've got that right. Sonic, if Robotnik finishes this, he can use the
void against us regardless of where we are! You DO know what the Void does,
right?"
"Of course, Naugus and the king are trapped in it. If 'Buttnik's able to
pull this one off, we'll be toast!"
"Sonic, why, all of a sudden, are you starting to sound intelligent?"
Sally asked, looking at him with a smile.
"I'm just reading, Sal... it's on the screen." Sonic said, pointing to
the screen.
"Well, now we know what he's up to. Let's set the charges." Sally said.
They went back down the stair well and placed some charges along the walls.
Then, they started towards the exit, going as fast as possible, in fear
that the SWAT-Bots would return to their posts. They made it outside the
building and ran down the streets of Robotropolis, looking for a place to
hide that was minimum safe distance from the blast.
"FREEDOM FIGHTERS. HALT. SURRENDER YOURSELVES BY ORDER OF ROBOTNIK." a
robotic voice droned. The four stopped in their tracks and turned around
to face the source of the voice. A SWAT-Bot. Daniel raised his weapon,
and took the safety off.
"LOWER YOUR WEAPON, FREEDOM FIGHTER, AND SURRENDER YOURSELF TO ROBOTNIK."
"Yeah, right." Daniel said as he squeezed the trigger, unleashing a spray
of bullets onto the robotic guard. The SWAT-Bot was riddled by gunfire, and
fell to the ground.
"Let's get the heck outta here, Sally-girl!" Bunnie said.
"We have to detonate those charges first... let's get into that alley
over there and detonate. Then we can go home." Sally replied, starting
towards the alley, the others following her. She took off her backpack and
picked up the detonator inside. She flipped up the safeguard and pressed
the button. The sky lit up as the building exploded into a pile of burning
rock and steel. "Okay... let's get out of here!" Sally yelled.
The four made their way back to Knothole and grouped together in the
mission planning hut.
"Okay... Nicole has the information we found on that computer stored.
The biggest thing I'm worrying about is; how close is it to being
completed?" Sally said.
"Maybe if we take out all the facilities soon, we can stop it" Daniel
suggested.
"Maybe. Okay, everyone, you can go now. We'll meet again tomorrow to
plan another strike." Sally said. Everyone got up and left. Sally did not.
She looked down, a tear forming in her eyes. "Daddy..." she said softly.
"So... what's it like back where you come from?" Sonic asked as he and
Daniel were walking away from the mission planning hut.
"Nothing like this place..."
--================================================================================================================== END: PART II - The Next Level. ==================================================================================================================
=The Legacy of Winter=
PART II: The Next Level
-By Anthony Young AKA "Anthonius"
(ajyoung@roadrunner.nf.net)
---------------------------------------------------------
PG-13
Okay, here I go again, with a brand new fic! I'm sure that
if you hated my first one, this one is BOUND to be just as
bad, so... if that be the case, cease reading this junk and
read something by Dan Drazen or something... I'll never be
as big as any of them, but then again, I can try, can't I?
Ah well. As always, this has been formatted to fit ANY
screen resolution including 640x480. Every character is ©
Copyright of their respective owner(s). So let's get to it
then!
----------------------------------------------------------
It was a mere few days since Daniel's arrival on Mobius,
and since the 'Frei from Hell' had dissipated. Every
Mobian wanted to thank him for his efforts, but he had
stayed isolated from them, staying in his hut for as long
as he possibly could, coming out only when necessary.
Sally decided to have a talk with him.
"Now... if I can just get this connected here..." Daniel
said, his eyes fixed on an old computer liberated from
one of Robotnik's facilities. It was in pretty bad shape,
but Daniel decided to go at it anyway. He was carefully
placing the processor into its slot when there was a knock
at his door. He was startled by this, and he dropped the
processor. "Aah! NO!" he said, watching it fall
and smash on the floor. He got up and went to the door.
"This had better be important..." he mumbled as he turned
the knob and pulled the door open.
"Hello..." said Sally, detecting that Daniel was upset.
"Hi" Daniel said, agitated.
"What are you doing? You seem to be pretty caught up in
it..." she said.
"I WAS working on that old computer, but I dropped the
processor... as you can see... now I can't finish it..."
"Well... that's not entirely important right now. Anyway,
I was wondering, since we were going to have a party
tonight, welcoming you into our group-"
"I don't want you to go through that much trouble just
for me," he interrupted.
"Well, it's already planned, so you're going to HAVE to
come!"
"There's nothing you can do to make me go..."
"Don't tell me you're afraid to go to a little get
together..."
"Well, uhm, you see... erm... yes... I am... I am afraid.
I have to admit it... I hate having attention"
"HA! You can't tell me that you weren't afraid of Robotnik,
but you're afraid of US?"
"Yes..." he said, looking down. "I guess it's just that
I'm used to dealing with people, not with... with..."
"Okay, I can understand that, but what YOU have to
understand, is that we're JUST LIKE YOU! We're no different.
Even in appearance, you're the same as us. Maybe that's not
what you're used to, but we are NO DIFFERENT." Sally lectured.
"Well... maybe it's just a mental thing..."
"I hope so... if you can't socialize with anyone in your
OWN PARTY, then I don't think you'll ever be able to."
"I guess I'll be there..."
"And try to be out more... there are a lot of people
who'd at least like to shake your hand for your help the
other day..."
"Okay..."
"So it's settled? You'll at least TRY to be more socially
active?"
"Yes! Yes, already!"
"Good. I'll see you tonight, then, at 19:30 in the center of
Knothole." Sally said, departing from the hut.
"Yeah, see ya..." he said, waving. He closed the door and
retreated back inside his hut. "What have I gotten myself
into?" he said. He remembered back in his elementary school
days, how he used to try to do things right and fit in, only
to be laughed at and rejected. He wondered if anything would
be different this time. "Probably not," he said to himself.
"but now that I'm stuck with this mess, I may as well try
anyway.... maybe things WILL be different."
Later that night, everything was set up in the way that it
normally was... just a normal get together, just like all the
other ones for the new recruits. It was 19:15 in Mobian
Standard 24 hour time units. Half the population (which wasn't
much) was already there. Daniel, however, was not. He was still
in his hut, ponderingas to whether or not he should go. He was
pacing back and forth, wondering if he would ever grow up.
He told himself that he needed to forget about what happened
so many years ago, and that he needed to start anew. He
checked the clock on the wall. 19:25. He got up his courage
and left. He walked into the center of Knothole, which was
where he had been told to go. It looked like a group of
people, roughly the same size as an ordinary class of students,
had accumulated there, most likely for the party. He started
walking towards them. One of them turned around and looked
at him.
"Hey! There he is! That's the one who thinks he's better than
us!" The one who had turned around shouted.
"Huh? What?" Daniel said, confused.
"Hey! You sure that you want to come out here? We might bite!"
"Yeah! You wouldn't want that, now, would you, Mr. Decadent?"
"Let's get him!" The crowd became rowdy and started towards him.
"What's going on?" Daniel said, confused even more.
"GET HIM!!!" The crowd began to charge at him.
"Whaa... AAH!!" He shouted, running away. He madly looked around,
looking for shelter, finding only his hut. Instinctively, he ran
for it. Once he got inside, he barred the door, and started to pant.
"Well, well... what kind of social outcast do we have here?"
Sally's voice called from the shadows.
"What?... Sally?!" Daniel said.
"Yeah, surprised you know my name, considering you're nothing to
me but the dirt beneath my feet. Oh, look... here's my friends
now... I think they want to play..." Sally said, in an evil tone.
The mob started to bang on the door. Daniel quickly looked around
for some place to run, finding nothing. "Don't worry... they'll make
it quick and painless for you..." Sally said. The banging ensued.
Then, everything turned black. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Only
the sound of a fist beating on the door. Daniel opened his eyes, and
sat up on his bed. He looked at the clock. 19:12.
"Wow... what a dream..." he said, shaking his head. The banging
sound continued. "Oh no... WAS it a dream?"
"Hey, Daniel! Wake up! It's soon going to be time to go!" the
familiarly cheerful voice of Sally called from outside. Daniel
let out a sigh of relief as he went to the door, rubbing his eyes.
He opened it. Sonic and Sally were both there, waiting.
"Hey, come on, ya slo-mo! We don't got all day!" Sonic said,
impatiently. "I can hardly stand just standing here!"
"Sonic..." Sally said, "why don't you go back and make sure
everything's going according to plan?"
"Sure thing, Sal... but I don't know why I have to put up with
waiting like this!" Sonic said, as he began to speed off.
"Okay. Now, it's almost time to go, so you'd better get ready.
I'm going to go back with Sonic now. You come when you're ready."
Sally said.
"Sure. I'll do that now, and be over there within a few minutes."
Daniel said. He closed the door and went to his mirror. "Heh...
I look better than I did back home... hmm... okay... I look fine.
Let's go!"
And so, Daniel departed for the center of Knothole, where he would
face his fears. He noticed that it was set up exactly the same way
as in his dream. He walked up closer. Sally came out to greet him.
"Well, come on! Everyone's waiting!" Sally said, taking Daniel by
the arm. She dragged him up to the stage. She went to the podium.
"Hello, everyone, and good evening. As you may very well know, we have
a visitor here in Knothole, and this visitor wishes to help us. So,
tonight, we will initiate him as a member of the freedom fighters!
Now, without further ado, I give you, Daniel Winters!" She announced
as she motioned for Daniel to come over to the podium. The small crowd
applauded.
"Okay, then. I don't have a speech or anything, so I'll just say
thanks to you guys for giving me hospitality, and I hope things will
work out in the future. Thank you..." he said, stepping back so Sally
could get to the podium again. More applause came from the crowd.
"Okay, now. Let's get this party going!" Sally shouted as everyone
cheered. The crowd dispersed from the tight formation they were in,
and began to socialize and have fun. Soon, refreshments were set up,
then snacks. The party was now in full motion. Daniel wasn't doing much,
except stand around, sipping some fruit punch.
"This isn't so bad.." he said to himself.
"Hey, Daniel!" Sally called to him from a few meters away. "Over
here!" Daniel, fairly confused, decided to finish the punch he was
drinking and go over to join her.
"Hello.." he said.
"I thought that you were going to socialize some more." Sally said.
"Well... I don't normally fit in too well..." Daniel said.
"Oh well... At any rate, these are some friends of mine." She
started, motioning to the group. "You already know Sonic and Bunnie...
and this here is Rotor," she said, motioning to Rotor.
"Hi!" Rotor said.
"Hello" Daniel replied, calmed by the friendliness of Rotor's voice.
"This is Tails," she said motioning to Tails.
"Hiya!" Tails said, excited that he could stay up so late.
"Hello there.." Daniel said, looking down at the two-tailed kit.
"And... this... is Antoine" she said, motioning to Antoine.
"Eet is a pleaseure to be meeting you" Antoine said.
"The same to you." Daniel said.
"Now, I'll be right back. I need to go over here for a minute and
make sure that everything's okay." Sally said. She went over to a table
and hid behind it, watching them. She noticed that they already were
engaged in conversation. "Good. He'll fit in fine." She said to herself,
getting up and walking back towards them.
"And then, I took the electrical cable and fried the SWAT-Bots!"
Daniel exclaimed, telling Tails the story of what happened a few days
ago.
"COOL!" Tails shouted.
"Yeah, well, I was the one who distracted the SWAT-Butts in the first
place!" Sonic said, standing up for his pride and position as Tails'
hero.
"You all need to grow up!" Sally shouted at them with a smile. The
party lasted for hours and hours, until finally everyone felt the
strains of fatigue, and went home. Daniel laid down on his bed.
"Well. I did it... Tonight, I made friends..." he said to himself.
"I suppose tomorrow will bring the same old things again, though..."
he said, starting to drift to sleep.
The next morning, Daniel awoke to a knock at his door. He got up,
rubbed his eyes, and went to the door. He reached out, turned the
doorknob, and pulled the door open. Sally stood there at the door.
"Yes?" Daniel asked, sleepily.
"Time to wake up... I've got a mission planned and you're part of
it, so shake a leg and meet me outside, okay?" Sally said.
"Uh, sure. I'll get ready" he said with a yawn. He closed the door
and went to wash his face. He splashed the cold water over his face.
It soaked into his fur. "Doesn't run off like it used to..." he said
with a chuckle "guess it's time for a shave!" He got fully dressed
and walked outside. The air had a chill to it. He looked around,
looking to find Sally. Nowhere. "Hmm... where did she go?" he said,
starting to walk around, looking for her. She emerged from the
mission planning hut and called him over.
"Okay, now that we're all here..." she began. "We can discuss
today's mission. Nicole, display the information I requested."
"Displaying, Sally." Nicole droned as the holographic projector
came to life.
"Now, this is a map of Robotropolis, as some of you are already
familiar with..." she said. "This mission is very delicate, and
it is imparative that it be done right. This is a SWAT-Bot factory."
She said, pointing to a building. "We need to destroy it. Now, the
delicate part of this mission is that we CANNOT be detected, or else
the factory will be locked down. If this happens, abort the mission
and get back to Knothole. There isn't much room for error here." she
said, finishing the briefing. "Does anyone want to back out?"
"Oui..." Antoine said in a worried tone.
"Antoine, do yah have tah be such a chicken? Yah don't see me
complainin', and ah'm scared!" Bunnie said to Antoine.
"Okay, so nobody wants to back out?" Sally asked again. No response.
"Then it's settled. Let's go!" She said. They then started for
Robotropolis. A few hours later, they came to where the Great Forest
ends, and where Robotropolis starts. They made their way through
Robotropolis and got to the SWAT-Bot factory.
"What now, shugah?" Bunnie asked.
"Bunnie, you and Daniel go inside from that way and open up a the
security doors so that we can get through and place the charges.
Sonic and I will wait, then go in and set the charges once you're out.
Antoine will watch for SWAT-Bot patrols. Is everyone clear on what
they have to do?" She said.
"Yes!" everyone said, but Antoine, who was busy looking for places
to hide.
"Then let's go!" She said. Daniel and Bunnie went through the door.
Beyond that was a corridor with a door at the end, security locked.
Daniel went to the panel and started to type. After a couple of minutes,
the door opened and they continued down the hallway. They came across
more doors, none of which could either withstand Daniel's hacking or
Bunnie's strength.
"According to the map I saw earlier, we should be near the core. When
we open that door, we can go through... surprising, though, that there
were no-" he was cut off by an alarm. Bunnie gasped.
"Oh, no! They spotted us!" Bunnie shouted in depair.
"It was a trap!" Daniel said. He ran to a security panel to try and
override the system, but to no avail. The room started to fill with
sleep gas as the alarm rang. Daniel covered his face with his t-shirt
as he frantically attempted to override the system. SWAT-Bots stormed
the room and aimed their lasers at Daniel. He turned around. "Uh...
heheh... this isn't good..." he said. One of them fired a stream of
electricity at him. He was electrocuted with enough energy to render
him unconscious. He crumpled to the floor next to Bunnie, whom had
already succombed to the gas.
A few hours later, Sonic, Sally and Antoine returned to Knothole.
"Sal! We gotta go back to get them!" Sonic shouted in a fury.
"Sonic, it won't do you any good to be captured and roboticized...
You need a power ring." Sally said.
"I will be staying here zis time, if eet is okay with you, mon
princesse." Antoine said.
"Fine, Antoine, stay here." Sally said.
"I can't stand this! What if 'Buttnik decides to roboticize 'em
right away!" Sonic said, deeply concerned.
"A power ring!" Sally said, pointing at the ring pool.
"Great! Get it and I'm outta here!" Sonic said as Sally handed him
the ring. "Juicin' time!" he said as he sped off.
"Hey... hey, shugah... wake up... are you alright?" Bunnie's voice
echoed through the halls of the holding cell block. She tried to shake
him back to consciousness but to no avail. "He's still breathin',
and he's got a pulse... but whah cain't ah wake him up?" she said,
sitting next to Daniel. She sighed as she lay down on the cement floor
of the cell. She she looked over at Daniel. He stirred a little.
"Hey, wake up!" she said to him, sitting up.
"Unh... oah... my head..." he said, in pain. He sat up and tried to
make sense of his surroundings and regain his senses. Bunnie put her
hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, sugar... you okay?" she asked him, concerned.
"I feel like I've been hit by a train..." he said. "I don't think
I'm hurt, though..."
"Good. now, how the heck are we supposed to get out of here?"
"I don't know..."
"I doubt that either one of you will be escaping from here. There's
no possible way you can escape." A deep voice called over a crackling
loudspeaker.
"Robotnik!" Bunnie shouted. Daniel was too disoriented to think.
"Your powers of deduction never cease to amaze me." he said,
sarcastically. "Soon, I shall finish what I started so long ago, and
get rid of that big-mouthed fox friend of yours. This is going to be
fun. Get a good night's sleep tonight... it shall be your last. I've
ordered your roboticization for the morning. As for you, you pesky
little wretch, I've fired up a roboticizer for you especially, and
to pay for what you did to my computer, it's being prepared by the
end of the hour. I hope you don't suffer too much.. HAHAHAHA!" Bunnie
gasped.
"You wouldn't!" Bunnie said. "He hasn't done anything ta deserve ta
be roboticized!"
"Oh, really? He is a freedom fighter. That is enough to convince me
that he deserves it!" Robotnik snapped. Daniel was still trying
to recover enough so that he could understand what was going on.
"Ungh... disorientation is a bad thing... everything's spinning!"
Daniel shook his head. "What just happened?" he asked.
"Robotnik's gonna roboticize us!" Bunnie said in complete and
utter despair.
"Roboticize?"
"Yeah, turn flesh into steel, stuff like that."
"Oh, man... I don't want to find out what that's like..."
"Almost there! Can't be too late!" Sonic said to himself, racing
through the streets of Robotropolis. He ran into a building and ignored
the guards. He went to the elevator and drilled through - no time
for waiting. He climbed the cords until he got to the prison levels.
"Okay, they've got to be on one of these floors!" he said, looking
around. Then Sonic heard Bunnie's voice echo from further down the
corridor. He couldn't make out anything, but it was her voice, he could
tell. He ran down the corridor and spun through the guards at the cell,
destroying them. "Yo, Bunnie!" Sonic said as he walked towards the
bars. Bunnie got up.
"He's gone..." she said.
"Who's gone and where?"
"Daniel... they took him away... ta be roboticized!"
"Oh, man, not cool. I'm gonna shut off the lasers." Sonic said as
he pressed some buttons, making the lasers fade to nothing.
"Thanks, shugah-hog, but we need ta get ta Daniel, and quick!"
"I know, Bunnie... hold on!" he said, as Bunnie threw her arms around
Sonic's neck. They then sped down the side of the elevator shaft and
down to the roboticizing deck. The lights were dimmer here, showing a
large amount of power consumption, most likely caused by charging
a roboticizer up.
"Ya maght want ta hurry up there, shugah-hog... looks like somethin'
big was just turned on!" Bunnie said
"You don't have to tell me twice! Let's juice!" He said, taking off
down the corridor at max speed.
"You don't have any last requests?" Robotnik asked with a smile.
"How about letting me go?" Daniel said, while being strapped to the
roboticizer.
"You know I can't do that. In a matter of thirty seconds, you will
be completely under my control. Don't worry, though. I won't make you
work TOO hard" Robotnik said, laughing.
"ROBOTICIZER ENERGY INPUT: SEVENTY FIVE PERCENT AND RISING" a worker
drone said.
"Good... very good. Exactly how long until it's fully charged?"
Robotnik asked, impatiently.
"APPROXIMATELY TWENTY SECONDS."
"I won't let you do that, Ro-buttnik!" Sonic's voice called.
"Sonic! Talk about cutting it close!" Daniel said.
"You take one step further, rodent, and I'll activate the roboticizer!"
Robotnik shouted.
"Yeah, right. Bunnie, pull the plug." Sonic said.
"INITIALIZE!!!" Robotnik yelled.
"ENERGY OUTPUT HAS NOT YET REACHED OPTIMAL LEVELS."
"I DON'T CARE!!!! INITIALIZE!!!" Robotnik yelled. The drone pushed
a button. Daniel flinched as a bright light surrounded him.
"BUNNIE! PULL THE PLUG!!" Sonic shouted.
"Got it, shugah!" Bunnie said, ripping the massive cord from its
socket. The lights brightened.
"GAH!!! GET THEM!" Robotnik yelled as four SWAT-Bots ran into the room.
"Let's go to work, Bunnie!" Sonic said, spinning into two of them,
as Bunnie kicked one away. Robotnik took this opportunity to flee from
the freedom fighters. Bunnie then picked up the other SWAT-Bot with
her metallic arm and threw it against a wall, smashing both the wall
and the SWAT-Bot. They ran over to Daniel, who was unconscious. They
then unstrapped him, picked him up and ran back to Knothole.
"So? How is he?" Sonic asked.
"He seems fine... he's just unconscious. Luckily, the Roboticizer
didn't affect him... you guys got him out just in time." Sally reported.
"Cool! So nothing happened to him?"
"Not that Nicole or I can detect." Sally said.
"Cool... so the whole thing was a trap..." Sonic said.
"It would appear so... a trap that would've worked had you not shown
up on time." Sally said as Bunnie walked in.
"Hey, guys. How's he doin'?" Bunnie asked.
"Fine. He's only unconscious; the roboticizer didn't do anything to
him; you guys got there on time." Sally replied.
"Good... ah was worried... that..." Bunnie started.
"No. Nothing happened to him." Sally said.
"Great... ah don't think he'd evah wanna go through what ah did..."
Bunnie said, looking at her robotic arm.
"Bunnie, when we get the de-roboticizer fully completed, you won't
have to deal with it any more." Sally said.
"Really?" Bunnie asked.
"Really" Sally said. Daniel started to fully regain consciousness.
"Ugh... what... happened?" He asked, waking up.
"You were saved just in time from the roboticizer!" Sally said.
"What? ... Oh, my head... I don't remember anything since we were
gassed back at the SWAT-Bot factory..." Daniel said, holding his head.
"Well, the main thing is, you're safe, and Bunnie's safe." Sally said.
"Now, we're going to try again at another key point tomorrow, so get
some rest so you can be ready for tomorrow."
"Easier said than done... do you have any pain killers? My head is
killing me..." Daniel said, in partial agony.
"Bunnie... could you get the Acetaminophen from the medical cabinet?"
"Sure. Which shelf?" Bunnie said, looking through the cabinet.
"Second from the top"
"Ah, here it is!" Bunnie said, reaching up and grabbing a bottle. She
walked over to Daniel, opened the bottle and gave him some tablets.
"Thank you." Daniel said, popping the tablets into his mouth.
"Okay, let's get back to our huts and get some sleep." Sally said.
"we're going to need it." She said, walking to the door. Bunnie and
Sonic followed.
The next morning, Daniel awoke to the sunrise. He got up and rubbed
his forehead and his eyes. He walked to the window to see the sunset,
almost tripping over himself because he wasn't much of a morning person.
"Wow... that's a beautiful sight..." Daniel said, admiring the view.
He proceeded to get cleaned up for the day and got dressed. Afterwards,
for the first time since he got there, he went to the cupboards of his
hut and brought out some food suitable for a breakfast. He poured what
looked, felt, and tasted like oatmeal into a bowl and mixed some water
into it. He took a spoon and sat at his table, and started to eat. He
glanced at the clock. 05:42, Mobian Standard 24 hour Time. VERY early
for him. He finished off the last of it and decided to go for a walk.
He walked outside and then into the forest paths. He walked around for
a while, until he came to a clearing. "Hmm... wow... such nice scenery
here..." he said to himself as he continued into it. He noticed
something - a sparkle; a shine of light as if something metal were
present. He started towards it. As he got closer, he could make out
the form of what the metal belonged to; it was Bunnie. "Hey, Bunnie..."
he called from a short distance.
"Huh? Oh, hi, Daniel... what're you doing out here so early?" she
asked, semi-startled.
"I guess it's just that I woke up at the time I did..." he said.
"What is this place? The scenery is beautiful." He asked, looking
around. The clearing was a green, grassy meadow, mountain ranges
visible in the distance, the sun rising over them.
"Well... this is just where ah come ta think, and relax... nobody
else knows where it is... but ah guess you know now, huh?" Bunnie
said.
"Actually, no... I came here by accident... I just went for a walk,
and ended up here."
"Really? Well, if it's that easy ta find..." Bunnie started.
"No... it was completely random... anyway, what's on your mind now?"
"Well, nothin' you'd want ta bothah yourself with..." she said,
looking away.
"And why not?"
"'Cause y'all'd think it's silly..."
"No I wouldn't. Try me."
"Well, if ya really wanna know..." she said, looking at her robotic
arm.
"Your robotic parts are what's upsetting you?"
"Yeah..." she said "It's somethin' nobody wants to have done to 'em.
Ah was worried that maybe... maybe you'd have suffered the same thing.
Ah couldn't live with it if somebody else had to go through what ah
went through. It just wouldn't be right..."
"It's okay, Bunnie..."
"No it's not! It's not okay!" Bunnie snapped. "These things aren't so
bad, but the fact that ah can nevah get mah real arms back, and how
much pain ah went through..." she said, a tear streaming down her cheek.
"Bunnie, when all this is over, just like Sally said, we'll find a
way to get you back to normal. In fact, I'll do my best to make sure
that happens!" Daniel said. Bunnie looked at him.
"You really sure that a deroboticizer would work?" Bunnie said.
"Almost positive. I've seen how it works, as you remember. With a
small change in programming, I'm sure it would work!" Bunnie's face
lit up. She threw her arms around Daniel.
"Oh, thank yah! You've gone and made mah day!" Bunnie said.
"Uh... y-you're.. welcome." he stuttered, trying to analyze the
situation.
"Ya don't know how much what you just said means ta me." Bunnie said,
pushing herself away. She checked her watch. 07:06. "Oh, mah stars!
Sally's gonna be lookin' for us... Let's get back to Knothole." She
said.
"So... Daniel... what's it like where you come from?" Bunnie said
as they walked along the path.
"Nothing like this place..." he said, looking around and admiring
the scenery. "The nature here is wonderful... I've never seen anything
like it... Back home, we have cities, and rarely are able to see anything
remotely like this... The people there aren't all nice, either... most
just want money, some just want to help others, but money is pretty much
everything back home... I suppose the air back home is thicker than the
air here, mainly because it's filled with greenhouse gases, from our
vehicles and factories..." he said as they walked down another path, with
Knothole in sight.
"Well... it was nice talkin' to ya... ah gotta get ready... see y'all in
a few" she said as she headed towards her hut. Some light snow began to
fall. Daniel walked over to his hut, went inside, and lay down on his bed.
He stared up at the ceiling and thought for a while. He sighed. He looked
at his hands.
"So this is what I'm destined to look like for the rest of my life..."
he said, staring at his hand. "I guess I've gotta learn to live with it,
and learn how to take advantage of it, just like Bunnie and her roboticized
parts..." He said. It was the first time he had ever thought of someone as
a role-model type person for as long as he could remember. He clenched
his fist. "Exactly! I can't be sitting here, whining about this for the
rest of my life! I've got to learn to accept it for what it is, and take
advantage of it!" he said as he sat up and slid off the bed. "It's a new
challenge, and it's time to take it head-on!"
"Okay, is everyone here?" Sally asked, looking around the table. She
glanced around, and said "Okay, now... let's get down to business..."
she started as she picked up Nicole. "What you're about to see is the
location of several key points in Robotropolis." She said as Nicole
displayed the map. "These points are heavily guarded facilities, used
for top-secret military experiments run by Robotnik. Our mission is to
infiltrate and destroy these facilities, after figuring out what
Robotnik's up to. Any questions?" She said. Silence followed. "Okay, then.
You'll be given more instructions when we get there. We'll meet outside
in fifteen minutes. Be there." she said, ending the briefing. Everyone
started to file out as Nicole's holographic projector shut off with a
whine. Daniel was about to leave when Sally stopped him.
"Yeah?" he said.
"I want to show you something." Sally said, walking up to a wall.
"What's so special about a wall?" He said as Sally pulled a panel aside.
"These are the weapons we found on you when you were brought here. They
may be useful here..." she said, handing him his pistol. "I don't quite
know how these work, but I trust you'll be careful." she said as Daniel
holstered his pistol inside his vest. She handed him some clips, which
he put on his belt, then his assault rifle. He strung the strap across his
shoulder.
"Are you sure you want to give me these things? I mean, for all you know,
I might shoot you guys while your backs are turned."
"in the past few days, Daniel, I've grown to trust you... I just have
a certain feeling of trust about you... I don't know why, but it's there.
Now... we'll all need these," she said, handing him a pair of small
binoculars. He put them in one of his large pockets on his vest. She
took out three more and replaced the panel. "Now... I want you to be
ABSOLUTELY SURE you keep those weapons away from the children..." she
said. "If anything happened to them..."
"Don't worry. I'll keep them locked in a safe place."
"Good. Let's get going!" she said, as she went out the door. Daniel
followed.
Sally, Sonic, Bunnie and Daniel started on the trail for Robotropolis.
Sonic looked a little uncomfortable as he walked along behind Daniel.
"Sal" he whispered to Sally. "You really think he should have that
stuff?"
"I don't know, Sonic, but I just have a feeling we'll need it here."
she said back to him. "Okay, everyone, we only need to hit one of the
facilitiess today. The rest can be done some other time." She said out
loud. Half an hour later, they came to the outskirts of the city, where
the forest ends and a desolated wasteland stands, surrounding robotropolis
like a moat around a castle. The group quickly crossed the desert, in
fear of being detected by a scout drone. They ran into the city and took
cover. "Okay, we'll wait to see if the coast is clear. Sonic, could you
scout ahead?"
"Sure thing, Sal... back in a flash!" Sonic said. With that, he sped off.
Daniel took this opportunity to see how the binoculars worked, and what
they could do. He flipped a switch on them, and looked through. The switch
was obviously for infra-red sensory mode, because he could see heat
patterns through walls and such. He put them away.
"Interesting technology." he said, as a sonic boom could be heard from
a distance. Sonic raced up to the three.
"The place is crawling with SWAT-Butts! Must be some important stuff in
there." Sonic said, looking back. "It's probably gonna be pretty hard to
get in"
"As would be expected. Sonic, you'll have to distract the guards outside
so we can get in. Follow us after you've disabled them... be careful,
Sonic." Sally said to him.
"Let's do it to it!" Sonic said, holding out his fist as he and Sally
did their handshake. "I'm outta here!" he shouted as he sped off again.
The three remaining slower freedom fighters made their way to the facility
slowly, and stealthily as Sonic distracted the guards. They finally got to
the building, and waited in the shadows. They watched as Sonic made the
SWAT-Bots fall for his decoy trick and run off. After the guards had begun
to persue Sonic, the trio ran to the building.
"Bunnie, the door." Sally said.
"Got it..." Bunnie said as she forced the door open. They made their way
inside, and took cover behind some machinery. "Okay, Sally-girl, where to
now?" Sally looked around. SWAT-Bots were patrolling everywhere. Suddenly,
they all started to head for the exit, most likely to persue Sonic.
"That way!" She said, pointing to an unguarded door on the other side of
the room. They got up and ran for it. Daniel readied his assault rifle as
they ran. They were in a heavily guarded area now, and it would be needed.
They burst through the door and looked around. Nothing. An empty supply
room. "Come on! Let's get going!" Sally said, running out the door, the
others following. She threw open a door next to the one they were just in.
A stair well. "Hurry! Let's go, before they come back!" Sally said to them
as they ascended the stairs. They got to the top floor and stopped.
"What now?" Daniel asked.
"We'll try the binoculars in IR sensor mode and see what's behind the
door." Sally said, procuring a pair from her backpack. She looked through.
"One, maybe two SWAT-Bots are in there" she whispered.
"So, what do we do?"
"This is where your weapons help" Sally said. "When I open the door, you
open fire on the guards. Okay?"
"Okay" he said, lifting his assault rifle to his shoulder and taking the
safety off. Sally threw the door open and dove out of the way. Daniel
acquired his targets, and squeezed the trigger. The gun came to life as
the bullets ripped through the metal plating of the SWAT-Bot guards and
completely destroying their circuitry. The guards only had time to turn
around before falling to the floor. SWAT-Bots from another room had
obviously heard the noise, as they burst through a door on the other side
of the room. Daniel pulled the trigger again as the SWAT-Bots turned from
state-of-the-art security drones to piles of metallic debris. He lowered
the rifle and motioned the others to get up. He walked into the room, the
others behind him. They heard a noise. Daniel tightened his grip on his
rifle as the others tried to locate the noise. Then, Sonic crashed down
from a ventillation shaft on the ceiling and hit the floor with a thud.
"Whoa... what a ride..." he said, getting back onto his feet. "Huh? Oh,
I'm just in time! Hey, guys..." he said. "Those SWAT-Butts are probably on
the other side of Robotropolis looking for me by now."
"Good job, Sonic. Now... let's find out what Robotnik's up to!" Sally
said as she started towards the door the other SWAT-Bots came through. The
others followed. In the next room, they found what looked like the biggest
computer either of them had ever seen. Sally walked over to it. "hmm..."
she said, looking at what was displayed on the screen. "Seems like I'll
need that disk of yours again, Daniel." she said. Daniel reached into his
pocket and produced his disk. He put it into the computer as Sally shut
it down and then turned it back on again. They waited as the computer
started. The disk started to be read by the computer. A message came up
from the program on the disk stating that because of the encryption, the
code will take a few minutes to crack. Sally pressed a key and the disk
went furiously to work. A few minutes later, the disk stopped and displayed
another message reading 'Decryption: Complete. Please remove the disk'.
"That didn't come up before..." Daniel said. "Oh well, we're in, anyway"
Sally typed away at the computer, until something caught her eye; VOID.PRJ.
"What's this?" she said as she opened it. It showed the plans of an
advanced version of the void, useable as a field weapon.
"THAT is NOT cool" Sonic said.
"You've got that right. Sonic, if Robotnik finishes this, he can use the
void against us regardless of where we are! You DO know what the Void does,
right?"
"Of course, Naugus and the king are trapped in it. If 'Buttnik's able to
pull this one off, we'll be toast!"
"Sonic, why, all of a sudden, are you starting to sound intelligent?"
Sally asked, looking at him with a smile.
"I'm just reading, Sal... it's on the screen." Sonic said, pointing to
the screen.
"Well, now we know what he's up to. Let's set the charges." Sally said.
They went back down the stair well and placed some charges along the walls.
Then, they started towards the exit, going as fast as possible, in fear
that the SWAT-Bots would return to their posts. They made it outside the
building and ran down the streets of Robotropolis, looking for a place to
hide that was minimum safe distance from the blast.
"FREEDOM FIGHTERS. HALT. SURRENDER YOURSELVES BY ORDER OF ROBOTNIK." a
robotic voice droned. The four stopped in their tracks and turned around
to face the source of the voice. A SWAT-Bot. Daniel raised his weapon,
and took the safety off.
"LOWER YOUR WEAPON, FREEDOM FIGHTER, AND SURRENDER YOURSELF TO ROBOTNIK."
"Yeah, right." Daniel said as he squeezed the trigger, unleashing a spray
of bullets onto the robotic guard. The SWAT-Bot was riddled by gunfire, and
fell to the ground.
"Let's get the heck outta here, Sally-girl!" Bunnie said.
"We have to detonate those charges first... let's get into that alley
over there and detonate. Then we can go home." Sally replied, starting
towards the alley, the others following her. She took off her backpack and
picked up the detonator inside. She flipped up the safeguard and pressed
the button. The sky lit up as the building exploded into a pile of burning
rock and steel. "Okay... let's get out of here!" Sally yelled.
The four made their way back to Knothole and grouped together in the
mission planning hut.
"Okay... Nicole has the information we found on that computer stored.
The biggest thing I'm worrying about is; how close is it to being
completed?" Sally said.
"Maybe if we take out all the facilities soon, we can stop it" Daniel
suggested.
"Maybe. Okay, everyone, you can go now. We'll meet again tomorrow to
plan another strike." Sally said. Everyone got up and left. Sally did not.
She looked down, a tear forming in her eyes. "Daddy..." she said softly.
"So... what's it like back where you come from?" Sonic asked as he and
Daniel were walking away from the mission planning hut.
"Nothing like this place..."
--================================================================================================================== END: PART II - The Next Level. ==================================================================================================================
