Chapter 5 – United We Stand
T2 and Petya sat side by side at the edge of the village. Miles and Alicia were playing a little way off. T2 yawned. It was approaching late afternoon and the smell of dinner wafted across the entire village.
"I hope Sonia gets it right this time." he said with a snigger.
"Nothing can be worst than those muffins." replied Petya.
"Well it smells good anyway."
"It does."
Just then the wind started to pick up. A cold wind swept past them making T2 shiver.
"That's odd." he said.
"Do you see that?" asked Petya.
T2 looked at where she was pointing. A small whirlwind was passing across the plain below. It suddenly veered to the side and headed straight for the village.
"General alarm!" cried T2.
Petya suddenly closed her eyes and thought. In a hut a fair distance away a computer received the incoming thought. A loud siren went off around the village. The whirlwind continued to approach the village. Just then it started to spin slower. Its width increased and it came to a stop a few meters outside the village. Sonia, Manic, Charles and Bunnie had arrived now and were standing beside T2 and Petya. Miles and Alicia had run back into the village. They were now standing on either side of Bunnie looking slightly worried.
The Whirlwind gave a final twist and exploded outwards. Everyone instinctively covered there eyes and huddle up as the wind brushed past them. They looked up and gasped. Standing where the center of the whirlwind had been was a blue fox. Around him stood a metal fox, Sally and Chalk. The blue fox spun a large golden staff around and hit it off the floor. As he did there was a clap of thunder. Everyone jumped.
"Sally! Chalk! What's going on? Who is this?!" cried T2.
The four of them looked over at T2. Slowly they walked towards the group. Suddenly Bunnie screamed.
"OH MA STARS! It's….it's…….TAILS!" she cried.
"TAILS?!" cried Manic.
"Hello Bunnie." replied the metal fox calmly.
"Tails?" said T2 staring at the fox, "It is really you Tails?"
"It is T2." said Sally.
"What is going on here?!" cried Sonia.
Sally slowly explained all that Tails had told her with a little help from Chalk. Tails and Links stood silently outside the group waiting for the response. Finally T2 walked over to them. He looked Tails directly in the eye for a moment.
"Tails?" he said.
Tails nodded. T2 looked at him for a second and then threw his arms around him.
"I'm so glad to see you again." he said, "I can't believe what Sally has just told us."
"Believe it." said Links, "It's all true."
T2 looked over at Links.
"So you're Tails' uncle." he said.
"Yes."
"You'll forgive me if I remain a little touchy about you."
"Of course." replied Links.
"Well Tails. I still can't believe it but…welcome back to us and welcome to Knotlake." said Petya stepping forwards.
As Petya said this Tails suddenly stumbled. He blinked heavily and clutched his head. Everyone stared at him. He suddenly screamed and fell to his knees. Sally was by his side in a second.
"Tails? Tails what's wrong?!" she said.
"Argh! I can feel it coming back!" groaned Tails.
His eyes started to flash red.
"OH GOD!" cried Sally leaping back up, "His robotosation programming is coming back."
"WHAT?!" roared Links.
He quickly swung his staff round and pointed it at Tails. The gem glowed and a beam of energy leapt from it hitting Tails. Tails groaned.
"It's coming back!" he cried, "The tracker program is activated and………"
Tails suddenly collapsed from the energy. T2 spun to Links.
"What did you do?!" he said quickly.
"I disabled his programming again but I fear I was too late. This new robotosation technology is unknown to me." said Links.
"Tails said something about a tracking system being activated." said Chalk suddenly.
T2 spun round and stared at her. No he thought.
"A tracker program!" he said, "I have to get in there. Manic give me a hand here."
Manic quickly stepped forwards and helped T2 pick up Tails. They quickly carried him over to a hut and went in. Inside was the same computer T2 had used earlier to debug the data disc. They put Tails down next to it and T2 quickly attached a set of electrodes to Tails head.
"I'm going in Manic." he said quickly putting on a set of electrodes and a glove.
"Be careful." said Manic.
T2 nodded and closed his eyes. He opened them to find himself in a large arena like structure. In the center of it was a large antenna looking device. It was a physical representation of the tracker program. It was definitely active. T2 ran towards it but was thrown back by an unseen foe. He scrambled to his feet and looked around. A metal twin tailed fox was standing a few meters away. Its eyes glowed red.
"Tails get out of the way!" screamed T2, "I have to deactivate that antenna!"
"No." replied the fox, "I am not Tails. Once this program is active it will broadcast the location of Knotlake to my master. He will destroy you all."
"Tails why are you doing this!" cried T2.
"I am not Tails. I am the program which controls him. The robotisisation process put me in here. I was knocked out by that annoying Links character but not destroyed. The trigger was the name. That wolf friend of yours has sealed your fate. Mentioning Knotlake's name activated me again. Now I will take control again and you will all die!"
"Not as long as I'm here!" cried T2 raising his hand, "You will not control my friend any longer!"
A huge bolt of energy sailed upwards from T2's hand. It arced towards the metal fox and collided with the ground where he had been standing. The fox dodged the shot and threw his hands up. Suddenly a number of large laser cannons activated around the side of the arena. They all aimed at T2 and fired. He quickly took off to avoid the incoming fire. As fast as he could he flew to the antenna and grabbed onto the upper antenna array. He thrust his palm down on the surface and screamed. His palm glowed brightly and in a massive flash the antenna array exploded. T2 was flung backwards against the side of the arena. He groaned and tried to get up but couldn't. Just then the metal fox landed on top of him. The foxes tail blades were out and he closed them around T2's neck.
"You will pay for that fox! You destroyed the tracking program. No matter. If I kill you here you will die out there. A body cannot live without its mind. T2 felt the blades close around his neck. He couldn't do anything about it. He was paralyzed. At least Knotlake is safe he thought to himself. He closed his eyes and waited for the end. It didn't come. Suddenly he felt the blades rip from his neck. They caught part of his fur but T2 didn't care about this little injury. He opened his eyes and starred. A bright orange fox had appeared from nowhere and had hit the metal fox off to one side.
"Tails?!" cried T2.
The orange fox looked at him and smiled. He quickly looked back at the metal fox who was pulling himself out of the arena wall.
"Now we finish this!" said Tails, "I haven't been strong enough to face you until now. But finally your time has come!"
The metal fox was suddenly encased in a large black cube. The cube shook for a second and then turned completely opaque. Tails gritted his teeth and flung his arms outwards. The cube exploded into fragments taking the metal fox with it. Tails collapsed to his knees exhausted. T2 found his strength returning and he made his way slowly over to Tails. He put a hand on him and closed his eyes.
He opened then and promptly collapsed to the ground. Petya darted to his side and helped him up. He looked around the room. Everyone else including the children had now entered the room. T2 glanced over at Tails. He was stirring slightly. They waited and gradually he woke. He blinked his metal eyes and then shook his head. He rose his head and looked at everyone. He finally stopped on T2.
"Thank you." he said slowly and collapsed to the ground again.
Links walked over to Tails and placed the end of his staff on his back. The gem glowed and Tails was encased in a bright blue glow. Suddenly Tails sprang to his feet shocking everyone.
"It's gone." he said half to himself.
"What's gone Tails?" asked Chalk.
"The tracker program….the program itself…..everything! I can feel my whole mind again!" he said almost frantically.
"You're truly free now nephew." said Links.
Tails suddenly stopped and looked down at himself.
"Free of everything but this." he said brushing his hand across his metal body.
Sally suddenly jumped forwards and grabbed Tails' arm.
"We can fix that Tails. Come on." she said pulling his arm.
Tails resisted and pulled his arm away from Sally. She turned and looked at him with surprise.
"Tails?" she said.
"No Sally. Not yet. Someday but not yet." replied Tails.
"What do you mean Tails?" asked Manic.
"I've been like this for two years and so has…." Tails took a deep breath, "……and so has Amy."
"Tails? What are you saying?" asked Sonia.
"Amy and I were captured together. We were robotisised together and we will be de-robotisised together." replied Tails.
"Tails…….no." said Petya.
"Yes Petya." replied Tails looking at her, "I will stay like this. I will stay like this until we rescue Amy. And then we will be de-robotisised together."
Suddenly Charles flew in through the door. He almost fell over in his haste. T2 turned to look at him.
"Charles?" he said, "What is it?"
"It's Lavender. I can't find her anywhere."
"What?!" cried Tails barging to the front of the crowd, "What do you mean you can't find her?"
"She isn't in the village." said Charles.
"Then where is she?!" cried Tails.
"I think I might know." said Links behind them.
They all turned to look at him. Links was actually looking nervous. It didn't fit his proud figure. He just didn't look right.
"You're daughter is the Guardian of Mobius and the Protector of the Vault of Forever is she not." he said.
"How do you know that?" said Tails.
"Do you forget? I have watched you since you were born. I have always taken an interest in how you were doing and since the incident two years ago involving my brother I have followed your daughters path very closely."
"Ok then, yes she is. What's that got to do with anything?" said Tails.
"She can sense things. Things you wouldn't even notice if it wasn't for her." continued Links.
"Actually she has been acting a little funny." said Bunnie virtually to herself.
Links heard her.
"What has she been doing?" he said.
"Oh it's probably nothing. She said she sensed 'them', as she calls them, again." said Bunnie.
"Them?!" said Tails, "You mean my parents?"
Links shook his head.
"It is as I feared. She felt my presence. I may not be a member of Pholon anymore but I do carry the energy and the signature of them. I cannot escape that anymore than I can escape my own death." said Links.
"What does that mean then?" said Sally.
"She must have gone out looking for me and was……"
Tails face hit the floor.
"……..and was captured." he said blinking.
"Captured!" said T2, "You mean by…."
"By Robotnik." said Links slowly.
Sonia gasped.
"Then he might……." she started to say.
"He might robotisise her." finished Links.
"No." said Tails quietly.
"We have to move." said T2 quickly, "NOW!"
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Lavender huddled in a corner of her cell. She was cold, hungry and most of all scared. Her true six year form had come out and she had lost all thoughts other than fear. A cold wind blew down the corridor and whistled around the empty prison cells. Lavender was the only person here. She whimpered softly to herself.
Just then she heard footsteps coming down the corridor. They weren't the same as before. They made a loud metallic clang as they hit the floor. Lavender yelped as a robotic hedgehog came round the edge of her cell. The robot looked down at her and it's eyes flashed. There was a slight pinkish tint to the hedgehog's metal body. The door of the cell swung open and the hedgehog entered. It grabbed Lavender by the arm and yanked her up. Lavender tried to struggle but couldn't get free. The hedgehog pulled her from her cell and down the corridor. Lavender suddenly realized who it was.
"Mother?" she said nervously.
The hedgehog glanced back at her and its eyes flashed again. It turned away and continued to pull her down the corridor. Lavender started struggling even more.
"Mother don't do it! Please mother! Amy stop please!" she wailed at the top of her voice, "PLEASE!"
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A large whirlwind came to rest on a small hill outside Robotropolis. It dispersed to reveal Links, Tails, Chalk, Bunnie, Petya, T2 and Sally. Tails looked at the city.
"No time to lose Links. We have to go!" he said.
Links nodded at him. The lines of dark blue fur on his body started to move faster. He rose his staff.
"Remember the plan." he said quickly.
Another whirlwind ripped up from the ground. It scooped up Links, Tails and Chalk and carried them into the city. T2 watched for a second and then turned to the other.
"Come on we have to hurry!" he said.
T2, Petya, Bunnie and Sally ran down the small hill towards the city.
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"PLEASE DON'T!" cried Lavender, "STOP MOTHER! NO!"
The capsule suddenly slammed down around her and she stopped screaming. She looked upwards and then back down. The robotisised Amy left the room. Lavender looked after her a tear starting to form in her eye.
"Mother." she said quietly.
"Oh she can't help it." said a voice.
Lavender gulped as Robotnik appeared in the room.
"Since I robotisised her she has made an excellent servant." he said.
Lavender backed away, flattening herself against the glass at the back of the capsule. Robotnik placed his hand on a large lever on a console next to him.
"And now you will be one too." he said.
Just then there a whistling sound. Robotnik removed his hand and turned around. The large metal door that covered the entrance to the room was turning blue in colour. Suddenly the door shattered into a multitude of fragments. Robotnik ducked as several shards nearly hit him. He stood up to see three figures standing in the doorway. They were Chalk, a blue fox and the robotic Tails. Tails had his tails blades extended and had used then to shatter the door when Links had frozen it solid with a blast of ice.
"YOU!" roared Robotnik.
"Yes me!" cried Tails.
"WHAT!" cried Robotnik, "What's going on here?!"
"That was down to me." said Links stepping forwards.
"Don't worry Lavender! We'll get you out of there!" cried Chalk.
Lavender suddenly leaped forwards and pressed her nose against the glass.
"CHALK!" she cried happily.
Chalk stepped forwards and swung her gun round. She aimed it at the robotisiser and fired. The shot hit it but to her surprise bounced off. Robotnik laughed.
"Do you think I'd be stupid enough to build my robotisiser so you could destroy them like that?" he said.
Before anyone could react he reached over and pulled the level. The robotisiser activate and Lavender started to panic. Robotnik laughed but was cut short as the entire building shook. The lights flickered and suddenly went out. Tails let out a cry.
"Looks like the others got the power supply!" he cried as the robotisiser shut off.
"Cure you, you retched Freedom Fighters!" roared Robotnik, "But your little victory will be short lived! The robotisisers run off a separate power supply!"
As if to confirm what he just said the robotisiser suddenly came back online. Links suddenly felt a surge of anger. He hadn't felt anything like it in a long time. Not since he had left Pholon. It built inside him like a train out of control. He found it impossible to control himself. He didn't know what was happening. The dark blue lines all over his body glowed brightly and suddenly changed colour to yellow. Chalk and Tails gasped. Links rose his staff.
"You will not get away with this Robotnik! Feel my anger you cowardly scum! WIND! WATER! FLAMES! LIGHTNING! ICE! COME TO ME NOW!" cried Links.
Energy built around the ends of his staff. He swung it round and the roof of the building was suddenly ripped away. Storm clouds like nothing seen before were forming in the sky. They glowed with a yellow glow. Links pointed his staff at the robotisiser and almost instantly a huge lightning bolt soared out of the sky and hit it. The robotisiser exploded on contact causing a huge explosion. Lavender was knocked to the floor. Robotnik was looking worried now. He scrambled to his feet and ran to a small hatchway in the wall. He dived through it just as Links turned his attention to him. He fired a gigantic wall of ice towards the door but it was too late, Robotnik had escaped. Tails ran over to where Lavender had fallen. He picked her up. Remarkable she was totally unharmed just a little shaken.
"Lavender? Lavender, you ok?" said Tails.
Slowly Lavender opened her eyes. She saw Tails' face and screamed. Tails hugged her tighter.
"It's ok Lavender. I'm back. It's me." he said.
"Tails?" said Lavender slowly, "Tails is it really you?"
"Yes." he said.
Lavender flung her arms around him and they both stayed like that. Chalk walked over to Links. He was staring at the iced off doorway.
"Looks like he got away." she said.
"He can't run forever." replied Links slowly, "One day he will be defeated. One day."
Chalk put an arm on his shoulder and he smiled.