Chapter 8

The first thing I was aware of was energy flowing through my tired body. I tried to move, but I was too weak. I needed to store up power before attempting anything. Then I remembered what happened. Sonic! Sonic! Are you all right? Sonic, please answer me! No response. Oh god, did he not make it? Sonic, if you're alive, say something! I can't bear to lose you. Sonic! I tried to open my eyes. They flicked on, but I could hardly see for lack of power. I rerouted some off the incoming power to my optic sensors. Instantly, the room became focused. I must have been in some kind of workshop, with all the spare parts littering the floor. I turned my gaze to myself. I had apparently been repaired, but who could have done so? I gazed over to my right. I gasped. Lying on the table was Sonic, but he wasn't moving. Sonic! Try to pull through. It can't end like this, not now! No change. NO! I cried out mentally. I closed my eyes tight, and called out with all my heart. SONIC!!!!!! Suddenly, I felt a familiar presence in my head. Sonic! Is that you? Who else would it be, Snivley? I heard him think. I cried out with joy. You're alive! Yeah. Geez, what happened? Last thing I remember was being smothered by cement. Me too. I believe your friends dug us out of the rubble, and have repaired us. I opened my eyes and looked over at him. He still wasn't moving, but at least I knew he was alive. I thought I had lost you, Sonic. Hey, it takes more than a collapsing building to stop me. His eyes flickered to life, and he turned and looked at me. He flashed me a tiny smile. I returned the gesture. I felt my systems at 10 percent power and rising fast. "It's.good to.have.you.back," I said. "It's.great.to be.back," he replied. I pushed upward, trying to sit up. This way, my systems could absorb the incoming power faster. After a few unsuccessful attempts, I was sitting up, and my power level was a 30 percent. I turned to Sonic, who had also sat up. "Hey, if your friends repaired us, then where are they?" I asked. Sonic shrugged. "I honestly don't know," he replied. He looked over at a sheet of paper hanging on the wall. "Oh my god!" "What is it?" "The date.today is the 15th!" "What about it?" "We went into Robotropolis on the 1st! That means we've been off- line for two weeks!" Whoa. That couldn't have been good. "That is strange." I said. "Perhaps your friends went to get something to eat, or gave up on reviving us." He looked back at me. "I'm hoping that the first option is the right one," he replied.

"How is your power level, Sonic?" I asked him. "I am at 70 percent power." "Mine is around 50 percent. Whadya say after we finish charging, we go see what's up in the village? Maybe freak them out a little?" I saw a mischievous sparkle in his eyes. I am certain that I had a similar glint in my own. "You mean make them think were ghosts?" He nodded. "But do we really want to scare them like that? Especially your girlfriend?" He dwelled on that thought for a moment. "You're right. How 'bout we just waltz right up to town square, and see how they will react without doing anything?" "Sounds fine to me." My power was fully restored. I disconnected the cable in my back, and hopped of the table to the floor. I stood there, waiting for Sonic. My audio sensors were picking up fragments of speech. I flicked my ears back, so that I could hear more acutely. "Today.we honor two beings who.gave up.save us." It made no sense to me. "Hey Sonic, can you hear that?" He had just gotten off the table. "Huh?" He stopped and we listened together. "They were.heroes.no one.ever.replace." Sonic and I looked at each other. "Sounds like a memorial service to me," said Sonic. "Yeah, but who died?" I asked. "Let's go find out," he said. He crossed over to the door, and opened it just a crack. He peered outside. "It looks like everybody has gathered at the town square. C'mon." I followed him out the door. The sun was hiding behind the clouds, as if it were embarrassed about something. Sonic motioned for me to follow him. I pulled him back. "Wait. Let's use our cloaking fields so they won't know of our approach." I said. "Good idea," Sonic replied. I activated mine, but I stayed close enough to Sonic so that we were in each other's shield. That way we could see each other. We crept closer to the center of town. I could hear the voice more clearly now. "We have failed them.I hope that wherever they are they can forgive us." We rounded the corner, and found ever villager from Knothole present. They were all clad in black, and many were crying. The princess was standing on a podium, and was delivering the speech. "When we were in the city, and things were looking grim, help came from an unlikely source; two almost identical robotic hedgehogs, one of which claimed to be Sonic. We had believed them then, we would not be here today, grieving for them. We." I nudged Sonic in the side. "You know what this means, right?" I whispered. "They think we're dead," he whispered back. "Let's wait a few minutes until the right time, and then let ourselves be known," I told him. He nodded. I continued listening in to Sally's speech. "This has been a terrible loss, but do not keep their memory in vain. Let us reminisce about the good times, not the bad. Think of all the pleasures we've had. They would not want us to be sad. May god watch over them, and keep their souls at peace." "Sonic, let's do it," I whispered. "Right." We walked forward until we were in the aisle between the groups of seats, our shields still up. "Okay, let's drop the shields," I said. I dropped mine, and Sonic did likewise. "Come on Sal, enough of the mushy stuff, I'm gonna rust over here from crying," Sonic called out. The princess's head instantly snapped up, as the other villagers turned in their seats to face us. "So---Sonic? And Me-Mecha?" she choked out. "In the metal," said Sonic, giving me a small wink. Sally's eyes grew wide, and next thing I knew she was running straight for us. Before I had a chance to react, Sally had run into us at full speed, knocking us to the ground, trying to hug us both. I felt a bit uncomfortable with this, but deeper down it felt quite pleasurable. "Oh my god, you guys are alive!" she sobbed, holding tight to us. We were instantly surrounded by the other Freedom Fighters, including Knuckles. They were all bending down and hugging Sonic and I, tears flowing down their faces. "Hey, enough of the choke holds here," I said, but nobody paid any attention. Hey Sonic, you'd think they're happy to see us or somethin'. Yeah, or something, he thought back. "Hey, can you guys lay off for a minute so we can get up?" he asked. Sally finally let go of us, and we climbed to our feet. "Thanks," he said. Sally was giving Rotor a cold look. "Why didn't you say they could still come on-line?" she asked him fiercely. "You told us that they wouldn't." Rotor was shaking badly. "I ho-onestly had n-no idea th-that they would, p-princess," he replied. I stepped forward. "Perhaps I can explain better, princess," I said. "We had been damaged so badly, that all of our energy, including emergency and back-up, had been depleted. Those amounts of energy needed to be restored before our main power could even begin to be replaced. Therefore, it took longer than normal for us to fully come on-line, because our power was not high enough." Everybody, including Sonic, just stared at me. "What? Why are you all staring at me? Do I have an exposed wire or something?" Rotor shook his head. "It makes sense," he said. "Usually it only takes three minutes to fully recharge a robot your size, but because you had so little energy, it would have taken longer than normal. I can't believe I missed something so simple as that." Sally walked over to where Rotor was standing. "Well next time," she started off sweetly, "DON'T MISS IT!" He staggered back under her sudden outburst. I stepped back involuntarily. Whoa, she can really dish it out, I thought. You should see her when she's really mad, Sonic thought back. She can be a real bitch. You don't want to mess with her when she's like that, that's for sure. We grinned at each other. While Sally was over yelling at Rotor, Knuckles came over to Sonic and I. "Hey Knux, what's up?" said Sonic. Knuckles just looked at the ground. He slowly raised his gaze so that it met Sonic's. "I just.I just wanted to say I'm sorry for not believing you, you know, back there." he said. Sonic reached out and put his hand on Knuckles' shoulder. "No hard feelings pal," Sonic said. "Besides, I was the one who was brash and went into Robotropolis on my own. I shouldn't have done so in the first place." Sally, finished ranting at Rotor, walked back over to the twin hedgehogs. "Sonic, I'm not going to punish you for disobeying my orders. I think you've already learned your lesson." Sonic lowered his head in shame. Sally gazed sternly at him. "Look at me." He did. "Why don't you show Mecha around Knothole? I'm sure he'd like that." Gasps arouse from the crowd. I could feel their mistrust growing. "Has she gone insane?" "He shouldn't be here!" "He could betray us!" I turned to the princess. "Perhaps.it would be better if I left." I said slowly. "It seems the other inhabitants don't care for my being here." "Nonsense! You are as welcome here as anyone else is." "The others don't seem to think so." "Don't listen to them. They don't know what you're like. Because of Robotnik, they've grown prejudiced against robots. They'll just have to get used to you being here. Besides, where else would you go?" She had a point. There really was no place for me to go if I left. I looked at Sonic. He nodded slightly, just enough so that I could see it. Please stay, he thought. You can stay with me. I'm not sure Sonic; the others aren't taking well to my being here. Hey, the mess with you, and they'll have to talk with me. They mistrust us because of how we look. We're gonna have to prove ourselves to them, and that won't be easy. Please stay. "Very well. I shall stay, if you will have me." Sally smiled at me. "Of course. You saved my life.I owe you. This is the least I can do. Until we can build you your own hut, you can room with Sonic." "Thank you princess." "Please.call me Sally, like everyone else." I nodded. It was going to be awhile before I actually could feel at home here. I would have to face many challenges and obstacles before I they would accept me as a Freedom Fighter. But that.is another story. ************************************************************************ Whoohoo, part one is completely reformatted! ^_^ Don't be expecting the second part anytime soon ^^'' I'm really into working on Der Schatten Des Zero and My alternate reality Eva fic. But don't worry. This will be finished.eventually O.o'