by Dustin Lawson (dustinman77@hotmail.com)
Sonic, Tails, Sally, Rotor, Bunnie, etc. are © Sega, Archie Comics, and Dic. Used by me! without permission, since... oh, geez, it's a fanfic!
Damien, Enosh, and Simone are my characters; please do not use them without permission. Thanx. Bane is ©Bane Keldare.
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SonicWorlds
Chapter 4
"Triple Vision"
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Chapter 4
"Triple Vision"
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They were all gathered in the hangar, ready to take off. A small team had been selected to retrieve the portal generator: Sonic, for his speed; Bunnie, for her strength; and Damien, not only for his strength, but he would als be able to ascertain whether or not it could be salvaged.
"Gentlemen, and lady," Princess Sally began, "I wish you the best of luck. Be careful out there; Robotnik is certain to be watching Knothole very closely, and I'd like to see all three of you again." She gave a heavy sigh. "I only wish I could come too."
"Don't worry, Your Majesty," Damien said with a salute. "This mission will not fail. Not if I can help it."
She smiled. "Thank you for offering to lead the team."
"No problem."
As they made their way up the stairs and onto their black jet, Sonic hesitated at the bottom.
"Princess, I th-"
"You shouldn't keep the team waiting, Sonic."
He glanced up at the hatch in the plane, where he could see Bunnie disappearing into the interior, then back toward the young squirrel princess. As she noticed him looking at her, she shifted her gaze toward the ground.
"Uh... right."
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"We are ovair zee drop zone," Antoine called from the cockpit.
"Alright, troops," Damien said. "Let's make this fast. We need to get in, get the goods, and get out. Any questions?"
Sonic and Bunnie exchanged a glance, then shook their heads.
"Good. Let's go!"
The hatch opened, and the trio plunged from the sky toward the ground far below. Sonic pulled the ripcord on his parachute, and as they neared the ground, Damien and Bunnie switched on their jets.
They landed in what was left of the commons. All around them were the remains of destroyed huts, blackened and useless. Many huts were still intact, but they could only hope one of them was the hut that contained Bane and Sonic's only way home.
"There it is!"
They turned to see where Sonic was pointing. Lo and behold, the building that housed the dimensional vortex was miraculously still standing. It appeared that only a small section of the roof had caved in, presumably due to all the debris flying about from the blasts. Things were beginning to look on the positive side.
As they were walking toward the hut, Bunnie's ears twitched. "Y'all heah that?"
Sonic stopped. "What?"
"Listen." She swiveled her head in all directions, trying to catch it again. Then she whirled around to face them. "We got company, fellas!"
The words had hardly escaped her lips when a horde of Shadowbots came thundering into the village, laser cannons raised and ready for a fight to the death. But the team didn't disappoint them. As Damien and Bunnie readied their arm-mounted blasters, Sonic surprised them by revealing a hidden feature of his guitar; it doubles as a high-power laser rifle.
"ATTACK!"
Our heroes began to plow through the advancing robot squadron, picking them off in hopes of evening the odds before they actually reached their position. Metallic soldiers fell, one after another, unable to override their programming that told them they were to far away to attempt firing on the enemy, for fear of inaccuracy. A fatal design flaw, in the least.
As they finally began to get close enough to take a few shots at them, Sonic put his guitar away again, opting to "spinball" them instead. He showed the same patented speed, agility, and razor-sharp qualities of his counterpart. No doubt, this was Sonic from another Mobius. He picked up a decapitated robot's flattened dome.
[-MUST APPREHEND S-S-S-]
"Forget it, oilpan. This just ain't your day to earn a raise." He threw it with great force into two approaching sentries. "And the ultimate frisbee trophy goes toooo..."
Meanwhile, Bunnie was having a good time of her own, removing various components from the robots, taking them out of comission. Her bionic parts made it almost child's play. Sometimes she wished she was really that strong, without the hardware. But she had been working her flesh-and-blood arm, and though she would never match it with the other in strength, at least she could deliver a good right hook.
Suddenly, she noticed a shadowy figure out of the corner of her eye. She prepared for the worst, but then realized it wasn't moving to attack them; rather, it was fleeing, specifically from their direction. She broke away from the melee and pursued at full tilt. As she neared the mysterious stranger, they noticed and picked up speed.
"Hey, honey!" She leapt forward and ignited her sole jets, rocketing forward and tackling the dark figure.
"Now, y'all got some 'splainin' to d- ooh..."
As she yanked off the hood of the black cloak, she was startled to behold the face of none other than Princess Sally Acorn.
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"Yuck. This dungeon is the pits."
Suddenly there was the sound of the heavy security door opening. She hated to admit it, but it sent a wave of excitement through her. It had been pretty mundane since they threw her in here, and any diversion was a welcome one.
She could hear voices; that of the warden on duty, and another of a higher pitch. Then the door slammed shut, and all she could hear were footsteps. They seemed to go on for hours, growing louder ever so slowly. Then, their owner appeared from around the corner.
"Oh. It's you."
Tails slowly walked up to the bars. It had been quite some time since she had seen him; he had been cute (like Pokemon-cute) then, but now he was on the verge of handsome. Those features were contorted into a curious mix of contempt and sorrow. She expected the hatred; it was the latter that caught her off guard.
"Well..." she began hesitantly. "What do ya want?"
"What are you doing here?" he spat, a sharp edge to his voice.
"Well, you see, when my mom and dad went on their second honeymoon, th-"
"You know what I mean, Evil Sally."
"Don't call me that," she said, pulling her dark robe tightly around her neck. "Call me Wild Sally, or Sally x2, or-"
"Cut the crap!" the young fox half-shouted, grasping the bars. "Why were you snooping around our old village? What are you even doing in this dimension?!"
"It's a long story." She stood and walked over to him. "And I'm too tired to tell it. So I suggest you hasta la bye-bye so I can get my beauty sleep."
"Yeah," he said angrily. He sighed and began to turn away. "Like you need it."
"What was that, twerp?"
As he turned around, she spotted a funny look in his eyes, a kind of wistfulness. "Do you really care?"
Genuinely curious now, the dark squirrel folded her arms. "Yeah, I do."
He walked up to the bars and grasped them on either side of her, his face only centimetres from her own, his voice barely above a whisper. "I liked you. I actually liked you once. But all that mattered to you was satisfying your need to torture and manipulate people. I still don't know what you had to do with my being imprisoned in that cave, but it's just another item on the long, long list."
"What?" She tilted her head slightly. "What cave?"
Tails rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. Don't play dumb with me."
"No, I really don't know what you're babbling about. I never stuck you in any cave." She laughed. "I'd heard foxes catch senility sooner, but I didn't think it started this young. You're off your nut, small fry."
His fists clenched. For her to even insinuate that it was all in his mind made his blood boil.
"Awww, whassamatter, freak? Did Bad, Bad Sally hurt your little feelings?"
"You, you, you-"
"Me, me, me! Nice comeback, Pavoratti."
Tails didn't know what to do he was so furious. So he did the one thing she least expected.
He kissed her.
He reached through the bars and pulled her head down toward his, and engaged her in a powerful liplock. She fought him with every fiber of her being for those few, eternal seconds. Then he released her. Panting, she darted away from the bars.
"Not bad for a 'freak', eh?"
It was her turn to be tongue-tied. "Well, uh, um... I-it, you can't!!!"
"But I did." He ran his hand through his hair. "I don't know why, but there it is."
"I..." Then she smiled. "Oh, Tails, why didn't I see it before? Come here, you big lug, and give me another one!"
"Fine." There was something about that smile he didn't like. He put the key in the lock and opened the door, pacing towards her. She walked toward him, arms outstretched.
"Oh, my... SUCKER!" She vaulted over his head, kicking it as she passed. She landed in the doorway and turned to him, outrage written all over her face. "Don't you ever do that to me again!"
"Fine."
She started to make a break, then turned back to him. "Hey, foxy, why aren't you trying to stop me?"
"Oh, yeah. Stop, guldarn it, or I'll shoot."
"You don't have a gun."
"Stop, or I won't shoot."
Her eyes narrowed. "You planned all this. There's a bajillion guards outside, waiting to carry me off to the firing squad."
"Now, what have you done to deserve the death penalty?" He stood up. "Besides, there's no such number as bajillion."
"Don't grammar-check me, you two-tailed weirdo! I'm outta here, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!"
"Nothing?"
"Correctamundo!"
He shrugged. "Then I'll see you around."
She turned and paced out. Or was going to. About five steps into it, she looked over her shoulder to where Tails was leaning against the door jamb. She stopped.
"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" he asked. There was a strange, cold look in his eyes. He almost looked like he was-
He was. He was crying.
"Ha. Wuss." She ran to the window and jumped up to it. There were bars on it, but they were old and decrepit. She would have them off in no time.
"You'd better hurry," he said from right behind her. "Those bars have an alarm."
"Buzz off," she said. Unfortunately, she didn't put as much emphasis into it as she meant to. Well, no matter. One more bar-
"So, where you gonna go?"
This made her hesitate. She had no idea. She didn't even know where they'd taken her, besides "a Freedom Fighter base."
"That's none of your beeswax, shorty."
"Oh, right. Silly me."
Finally! The bars were off. She looked out. There was a rocky slope beneath her, and mostly barren land stretching up to the tree line less than a mile away. Luckily, the slope wasn't too steep, and she'd be able to slide down.
"Could you do me a favor before you go?"
She sighed and turned around. "What now?"
"Could you kick me in the face?"
"WHAT?"
He looked away. "I don't want them to know I just let you go. I want it to look like I at least tried to stop you."
"No, get in your own trouble." She started to crawl out, then suddenly turned and gave him a crushing blow to the forehead, sending him flying into the opposite wall.
He slid down, clutching his poor head. "Oh, geez..." He pulled his hand away and saw a little bit of blood staining his glove.
"Don't say I never did nothin' for you, kid." Then she was gone.
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"So, what happened in there?"
Tails tugged at the bandages. The nurse had put them on too tight, and now his head itched. "I'm not sure."
Princess Sally crossed her arms. "Oh, really? Well, you've got a head injury and my doppelganger has escaped. Doesn't seem like something you'd forget very easily."
"I know."
"Why were you in there, anyway? And why did you unlock the cell door?"
"I don't wanna talk about it."
She put her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Tails. This is worrying me. I can see her stealing the keys from you, but why would you have them anyway? Now, come on, tell me the truth."
"I..." What could he tell her? It was too weird, especially since they shared the same DNA. "I just wanted to see if I could get it out of her. You know, why she was at Knothole." It was the truth, if only in part.
"Well, you shouldn't have gone in there alone, Miles. You know better than that."
"Aunt Sally..."
She sighed. "Sorry, but it IS your name." She patted him on the shoulder, standing up. "Well, you're good to go. You don't have a concussion or anything."
"Good. Sorry I let you all down."
"It's okay. It didn't really look like she was too much of a threat, anyway. I just wish we could've found out why she was there..."
As they walked out toward the front desk, Tails wondered why he'd done what he'd done. Had he been trying to win her over? He guessed that must've been it. A mistake. Too late to correct now.
He decided to change the subject. "So, how's the portal coming?"
"Hmm? Oh, fine. There wasn't any damage, so it won't take long to reassemble here. Though it's not a big deal right now; Bane and S- his brother aren't going home until we get all this settled."
"Oh." Tails wondered why she didn't mention Sonic by name. It must just be too tender of a subject, since her hedgehog was God-knows-where.
"Hello," said the young lizard girl behind the counter. "How may I help you?"
Tails held up the wrist that bore the medical bracelet. "Miles Prower to check out."
"Okay," she said, pulling up his records on the terminal in front of her. She adjusted her glasses. "There you are. Hope you enjoyed your stay, and we hope we don't see you anytime soon."
"Heh, me too."
She smiled and waved as they walked toward the exit.
Suddenly, the doors burst open, and in ran a strange woman carrying-
Sally gasped. "It's her!"
"Evil Sally?" He rushed over to them. "Who are you? What happened to her?"
"One side, young man," she shouted, rushing to the desk. "Where may I take her? She has severe contusions and bleeding, possible broken bones!"
"Oh, no!" The receptionist pointed down a hall. "The ER is that way! Room 5 is unoccupied, I believe! I'll get someone to work on her right away!"
"Many thanks," she shouted, running toward the door with a nurse and several interns at her heels, while the girl moved to the intercom and paged Dr. Quack.
Tails looked after them until the double doors swung shut, then he turned to Sally. "What's going on?"
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"Princess?"
Sally and Tails looked up. "Oh, hi, Dr. Quack," she said. "How is she?"
"Not too well, I'm afraid." He wiped his forehead. "She's stable, and there's still plenty of hope to go around, but she's in bad shape. I don't know what happened, but she probably shouldn't do it again."
"Thank you," Tails said. "Can we see her?"
"Sorry. Staff only right now."
"Oh." He thought a minute. "Well, can we talk to that other lady? You know, the one who brought her in?"
"Sure. She's standing outside the other Sally's door, down that hall and to the right." He shook his head. "I never will understand things around here..."
"Thanks." The two of them stood and walked toward the indicated corridor. When they turned the corner, they saw the woman.
In the rush, Tails hadn't really noticed what she looked like. She was a brown-furred squirrel, about Sally's height. She had long, wavy auburn hair with streaks of blonde, and blue eyes, like Sally's. Come to think of it, she looked a lot like Sally, except for a few things here and there. She was as lean, but not in the muscular sense, as she was a more frail creature. She was wearing a long white robe with a hood (which wasn't covering her head at the moment), several pendants, and carrying a golden sceptre, which she was leaning on from exhaustion.
"Hello, ma'am," Sally said, hesitantly.
She looked up wearily, then was suddenly alert. "What sorcery-? Two of them, now?!"
"Excuse me?"
"Oh, gods, what have I done to deserve this task?" She raised her hand to her brow. "Wherefore am I the chosen one?"
Both Tails and Sally were getting more confused by the moment. It was Tails who spoke. "Ma'am, who are you?!"
"My name is Callista," she said with a sigh. "High wizardress and princess of Mobitopia." She turned toward Sally. "And simply put... I am you."
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the end
(chapter 5 is
on the horizon)
the end
(chapter 5 is
on the horizon)
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Guess what? That's right... Callista is © Me, too!