>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Sonic pressed his nose against the canopy of the X-Tornado and frowned at what he saw. "Okay," he said to his twin-tailed pilot, "I know Eggman's tried a lot of crazy stuff before but … a shopping mall??? Why would he wanna take over a shopping mall???"
The split-winged jet with its large thrusters circled the mall at its softest speed, making continual passes over the three-story marketplace of merchandise and the saucer-topped form of Eggfort Two 2 consuming the entire parking lot.
"Egghead is nuts, Sonic. He doesn't need a reason for all the stuff he does." The truth was, Tails didn't know any more than Sonic as to why The Doctor was here, and if what Amy had told him was true, then if they couldn't explain the madman's presence, no one could.
Tails converted to X-Cyclone mode and the bipedal mecha-plane landed atop a looping parkade across the street. The fox hoped it was enough distance to keep their ride out of that ship's firing range. "I would be so relieved if I could figure out where he keeps all these ships," he explained to Sonic. "It's like he's got some never-ending supply."
The ground team linked up hands and Sonic dashed them across the moonlit street and towards the mall. Eggfort Two 2 was patrolled by giant E-12 Sentinel's and Sonic decided it was best to avoid the ivory hunchbacks lest one send out a distress signal and wake the entire crew of mechas aboard the ship. He dashed round to the back and halted at a large, riveted supply entrance where semi-trucks unloaded their wares into the mall, and he gave his crew a firm look-over.
There was Tails, of course, since he was the only one who could fly the X-Tornado. The fox shifted around and waited for the order to toss a power ring. Amy had come along too. She was annoying and near useless, but considering that leaving her behind meant taking loony ol' Grandpa Chuck instead, Sonic almost always took Amy and her wacky hammer on these excursions. She was getting rather giggly from all the tension, but she had just enough sense to keep out of danger.
When he chose to ride inside the cockpit, The X-Tornado had room for one more, and it was always Sonic's most difficult decision to pick a fourth member. Chris was ill; Cream was suffering brain damage and he didn't know who was the better pick: an eccentric old geezer who worked on his laptop in the bathtub, or a nutty family butler whose internet chat-name was sxy_s@murai55.
"You guys ready?" Sonic checked.
"I'm all set," Tails confirmed. "I can't wait to get to some action after that ride; it was so long."
"That's because Eggman was finished at the records hall when we got there," Amy told him. "And we had to fly around the whole city, trying to find up his ship's energy signatures."
Tails picked up the story. "And it was tough because this latest ship has some weird cloaking device. It was only pure luck that we found it parked here."
Sonic blinked a few times. "Err, I know that guys; I was with you all the time."
"We know," Tails and Amy muttered sullenly.
"It's just that," Amy started, "Well, Tails started going, and I just … well, I felt I had to tell what had happened, like there was someone who didn't know what we had just done."
"Not that there was anything interesting to tell," their fourth team member said with a smirk.
Sonic looked upwards at scrutinized the human. "So, how 'bout you, all set?"
"I believe I am," the human nodded. "It was rather unexpected, your offer to bring me along, I mean."
"We were pretty surprised too when you just popped up by the hangar."
"Yeah," Tails chimed in. "Well, we're all glad you could come along and help."
"My pleasure," the human smiled.
Sonic grinned back. "No, pal, we really mean it. Thanks so much for coming along."
"You are most welcome, my blue friend."
Sonic gave a chuckle. "And you are most welcome on our journeys anytime you wish, my human buddy."
Amy snapped, conveying an annoyance shared by a greater body. "Well?? Isn't someone going to say his name and tell us who he is????"
The hedgehog and fox gave her a most bizarre look. "Jeez Amy, don't get all fussy," Tails grumbled. "We all know his name, we've met him before."
"Yeah," Sonic butt in. "And I was just going say that we'll make the best team ever: Sonic the Hedgehog! Tails! Amy Rose and …"
...
"AAANND????" Amy's distress was not that different from a child who needed to use the bathroom.
"Sorry," Sonic said. "I was just stopping to pick this broccoli out of my teeth. Okay there … almost got it … almost … Almost … there! Ah, whadya know! It was really just a piece of spinach. Weird how I get those two mixed up, although … I don't remember eating spinach recently. And broccoli? Well, you can imagine how often that makes my diet…"
"JUST FINISH THE STUPID ROLE CALL!!!!"
"…"
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain Sonic speaking. In the interest of keeping my head affixed to my shoulders, I'm going to skip ahead to the important stuff.
"Okay, as I was saying, we're going to be the best and baddest team ever!" And as he spoke, he felt such a rush of power blaze through his body! He could almost feel energy swirling through the air in streaking, colourful motion lines, bringing his monologue to heights of interest and excitement that words alone could not accomplish!
"Sonic the Hedgehog!" (For no great reason, merely because the spinning world energized him so, he spun around, gave a thumbs-up and shifted into a cool pose. A flash of light seemed to accompany his modeling.)
"Miles "Tails" Prower!" (Tails punched the air with his fist and posed as well. Sonic could almost feel the air exploding behind the fox.)
"Amy Rose!" (Amy blew a kiss and performed a complicated, multi-phased curtsy. Everything seemed to blaze sugary pink hearts.)
"And our latest addition, the one, the only, the…."
"STUART!"
All the energy Sonic had imagined materializing dissolved into nothing as the grade-school teacher struck a battle stance that had most likely originated on the dance floor of a disco parlor. They were just three little anthropomorphs in a back alley, watching a slightly longhaired ex-Hippie growing more and more self-conscious as he took in their deadpan looks.
"Umm… Stuart?" he tried again. "Stuart the Human?" Sonic noticed an awful lot of crickets in the night.
"Err… my apologies," Sensei Stuart said with a blush as he resumed a natural stance. His eyes squinted shut and he gave the back of his head a sheepish scratch. "I suppose I got carried away in the excitement of the moment."
"Yeeahhhh." Sonic's confidence rushed out with his air.
"Do we have a team name?" Tails inquired.
And suddenly all that energy was back! "We sure do," Sonic said with a wild-man's grin. He felt like the world was spinning around him in blue flashes of horizontal light; he felt like he was on a crag of rock and being lifted high above his surroundings in a position of power and strength! "We sure do!" he said again, executing a complicated series of spins and poses. "We're the meanest, the baddest, the coolest! We're …" here came the big explosion, "TEAM GOOD GUYS!"
Back to the alley. The wind rustled and crickets chirped. Tails blinked and Stuart scratched his head. Amy coughed.
Sonic frowned. "Oh, forget it! My genius is wasted on you simpletons. Let's just get inside." And with a flash, he had carved a human-sized doorway through the supply entrance.
"Okay, here's the deal: we go quietly, and we go carefully. I can zip by and not be noticed, but you three have to keep it down or else one of the robots will spot you." He was never this cautious, but something about their midnight time frame implanted a serious tone in the hedgehog's brain. It was as if the elements in all of their darkness were giving him a sort of forewarning of the danger that might lie ahead.
But that was just being silly.
"Okay, Tails you first … okay, Amy get in, you next. Stuart, you set?"
The lanky human nodded and gave a dark smile. "I look forward to seeing you in action, Sonic."
Sonic tried to smile back, but he didn't think he got his usual cheery impression across. Who was this guy? He didn't have much to go on except Chris' after-school reports and apparently Sensei Stuart was a nice guy and well meaning, but not very bright. Still, Sonic couldn't help but feel a chill run up his spine whenever he was around the man. Something about him … maybe it was his overly calm demeanor or maybe his icy smiles, but something about him gave Sonic the impression of ulterior motives and of secret thoughts.
He couldn't quite pin the man down yet. The cool way he moved suggested that he was well adapted to stress and danger. The way Stuart popped up in his affairs like a bug off the wall spoke of more than a passing interest in the hedgehog. The way the light flashed across his half-moon spectacles in a thinly veiled manner seemed to say, look at me, I'm a spy! Ha ha ha! But whoever Stuart really was, Sonic still couldn't figure him out.
"Okay then, let's do this."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Walking through the dark and abandoned shopping mall gave Amy such a chill. Not a shopkeeper, not a soul anywhere; just the whispered rush of their nervous breathing. She pushed past Miles and scooted up to her true-blue hero.
"Sonic?" she asked in an unsteady voice.
"Huh?" His mind was focused on the walkway ahead. "Whadya want?"
She burst. "Can we stay and camp out??? I could be first in line for all the coolest shops!"
Stuart, Sonic and Tails all shushed her.
"Hey wait, what was that?" Sonic's quills had sprung up like loose springs.
"What was what?" Stuart whispered nervously.
"Ssh. I think we're getting close to Eggman."
Amy was puzzled. "Howd'ya know that?"
"Because the background music just changed."
"A, G, F, e, g#, A, G, F, e, g#…"
Sonic raised his finger at the humming fox. "Ssh. We've gotta be super quiet from here on in."
One-by-one, Tails air-lifted them to the second-floor railing that ran across the walls where the stores and boutiques were stacked in convenient little columns that brought shopping to new heights. They crept on, guided by moon spilling through the skylights.
With every step they took, the whine of motorized limbs and moaning voices grew louder until Team Good Guys found themselves in a tall, open plaza where the walkway ran around as a hexagon. Normally the expansive first floor would be set aside for car sweepstakes or, at Christmastime, Santa Claus's winter wonder-town. But tonight, some very sinister merchandise was being prepared for display.
"Move it, loafers! … Watch where you put that! … That's fragile, be careful!!"
Eggman was buzzing around in his hoverpod and chastising his labor crew of E-12 Sentinels rather excessively. The ten-foot giant drones gave no indictable response, but monotonously went about their stacking and positioning of the doctor's soundstage.
Besides the draping back curtain with Robotnik's grinning countenance, the girder construct was very much like an ordinary stage, with spotlights blaring multiple colours and black speakers stacked to the sides. There were two levels, the top holding a metal pulpit that was obviously for the brains of this operation. The lower was showcasing five tall, steel crates, each highlighted in a beam of light. The Sentinels lifted about larger equipment while Robotnik's gold and silver assistants wheeled in a container of manageable size. The Messanjah-Robo, with which Sonic and his friends were better acquainted, was loafing about atop a metal chest.
Four sets of eyes spied all this, crouched behind the circling railing of the second floor. "Whoa," Tails remarked. "They're putting together some sort of soundstage!"
Sonic snorted. "Not anymore. Stand back guys, I'm ending this now."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
At about the same time that Robotnik was debating the cruel and unloving tactics he used to enforce his troops and the relation his demeanor might have with his mechas rate of internal-heating and stress levels, one of the Sentinels exploded.
His eyes went wide and he was on the verge of reforming his ways of cruelty when he noticed the blue streak of light skidding to a halt in the middle of the plaza. "Sonic," he hissed.
"And company!" came another voice, and a chain of three companions, holding each other by the feet, puttered down from the balcony. The fox at the top was hyperventilating over the weight of his passengers.
The mechas stopped and went into stiff ready-positions. Someone screamed, maybe Decoe. Robotnik scowled and lowered his pod so he could hop down onto the soundstage. "Well, well," he mused. "Heroes. Let's see whom we have tonight. Sonic: the overlooked protagonist; Miles: the minister of the department of power-up items; Amy, the damsel in distress who tries hard to overcome the stereotype and … hmph, some random human picked off the street to act out the audience's surrogate reactions. How predictable."
"It's over Egghead!" Sonic snapped. "If you come quietly, maybe we'll throw out the shoplifting charges!"
"Yeah!" the other three chimed in unison.
"But there's one thing I don't understand," Sonic mused. "Why a shopping mall! Of all the targets, why this dump?" Amy gave a cry of protest.
"Law of Exotic Locations," Robotnik shrugged. "I'm required to attack landmarks which the audience may easily distinguish and recognize." The Doctor gave a sneer.
"Well," he continued, strolling over to the pulpit while the mammals watched him tensely and his robots waited for the attack order, "I was hoping to put my plan into action tomorrow when I would have a great crowd to terrorize, but, ho ho! this is all I really wanted. Hedgehog! Prepare to meet your doom!"
As a warrior might draw his sword, the madman drew a pen from his pocket, tore off the cap with a flourish and jabbed it into the podium. Everyone flinched over the shriek of scraping metal, but the Eggman seemed the most surprised to find there was nothing at all on the pulpit.
His eyes bulged out again. "The book … the book … WHERE'S THE BOOK!!!"
Decoe and Bocoe panicked. "Gahh!!! It's still in the box!!!!"
Sonic's eyebrow pricked up. "So… you're lookin' for some dumb paperback, eh?" He spun to face the quivering stooges, who had just pulled the sacred manuscript from the chest they attended. "Oh, never mind, I found it." Decoe and Bocoe shivered ten times faster.
Robotnik snapped. "Keep your paws off!!! All mechas: get the book! You, Little Black Thing: smokescreen!"
LBT took to the air and dug into his satchel, tossing a handful of dark marbles like a fan of ninja stars. They exploded, sending bursts of light over the scene and screams of blindness into plaza.
"No, you fool!" Robotnik cried as he shielded his eyes and pulled down his safety goggles. "Smokescreen, not flash bombs!"
It was too late, and the night was lit up with chaotic explosions of light. The Eggman, observing the scene through his filtered vision, was the only one who could see thing consistently. Decoe had the book and was running for the stage. The pink hedgehog made chase and was raising her hammer.
FLASH! Decoe was on the ground; Amy had the book. LBT was swooping down for a tackle.
FLASH! The messenger was flat on the claw of a Sentinel. Amy was being carried by Sonic.
FLASH! A Sentinel's fist swung. The hedgehogs sailed through the air. The book went wild.
FLASH! An E-12 had the book and was stomping towards him. The fox hovered behind.
FLASH! The goliath was down! The fox had the ball. Two more giants moved to intercept with laser fire.
FLASH! Two more Sentinels burned! The teacher stood tall with a mirror in his hand. Bocoe went after the low-flying Tails.
FLASH! Sentinels cornered the teacher. Bocoe tackled the fox. The girl screamed.
FLASH! Bocoe was running for the soundstage like a football player on a hot streak! Yes, go Bocoe, go!
FLASH! Sentinels falling to pieces, a blue buzz saw looming over the gray 'bot. Oh no…
The last flash packet exploded and from the light was tossed the dismembered body parts of Robotnik's security chief. He flinched as a gray skullcap landed near his feet.
"I'm beginning to notice a pattern here…"
Bocoe's hand still gripped the book, and the limb was sailing through the air. The Sentinels were all scrap; the fox was down; Decoe and the female were tangled. Sonic jogged for an easy interception…
"Wheeeeee!!!"
And then, buzzing through the air like some giant nuisance of a mosquito came Little Black Thing! The courier snatched the book just before Sonic could grab it and jetted to the soundstage! Robotnik cackled. "Oh YES!"
The oversized pest circled his head and landed on the podium, dropping the book into place. At once, the pages flew open and a golden light exploded from the text, whipping a fierce wind through the room. LBT was blown away. Sonic and Amy yelped and stood their ground against the onslaught of the supernatural. Outside, storm clouds brewed and lightning struck the glass ceiling. Stuart stopped his examination of Tails and looked up in distress.
A vortex of energy was firing from the book, catching Robotnik's figure in a terrifying, teeth-gnashing gold. His mustache whipped like trees in the wind. Decoe and Little Black Thing backed away to the side of the soundstage, holding each other in a terrified hug.
Robotnik cackled, and through the storm of power his voice grew deep and vast. "And now, Sonic the Hedgehog," he announced with demon-like baritone, "Prepare to meet your end." His hand thrust into the air; the black, inky tip of the pen gave an evil glimmer and he stabbed the book, writing some foul, dark spell into the ancient pages and causing the elements to shift to total chaos!
Lightning shattered the skylights. Amy screamed and ducked into her hero's embrace. Rain fired into the room like bullets, sending bursts of sparks from the Sentinel corpses. Tails jumped back to life and knocked over Stuart. Decoe and Little Black Thing shrieked for mercy; through it all, Robotnik only laughed and laughed and continued to pen his dark magic into the book. Thunder crashed and electrical bolts fired into each of the five crates on the stage, charging them with a terrible glow.
"It's done!" he announced, dropping his pen to the floor and silencing the madness. Anthropomorphs and robots slowly unclenched their eyes and looked about the quiet place. Gentle rain drizzled through the shattered rooftops. The five metal crates continued to glow. Robotnik breathed heavily, gripping the pulpit to stay on his feet. "It's done," he panted, smoke rising from his hand. "My ultimate creations are ready."
He weakly raised a fist and let gravity slam it down to the podium and into a Big Red Button. Air hissed and the steel crates opened along their edges, slowly unfolding, sides clattering on the stage, contents revealed.
"ENTER THE E-ONE-HUNDRED SERIES!"
Five figures stood tall in the rain. Sonic thought they looked like bipedal frogs with their floppy, backwards limbs; long feet and round, hunched bodies which were head and torso fused together. "Ultimate, shmultimate!" he snorted. "Tails!"
On cue, the fox reached behind his back and tossed a gold Frisbee through the air. Sonic snapped his palm around the power ring and let the golden energy flow through him. Amy stepped away in awe.
"I'll get rid of your super-bots before they even activate!" he declared, and let himself curl for a spin-dash.
Sonic leapt into the air and launched himself into a continuous homing attack, firing into the first robot and catapulting into the next. Whrrrrrr-EAW! EAW! EAW! WAW! WHAP! The hedgehog landed back on the floor in a cool resting pose and five explosions followed suite.
Robotnik only kept laughing. "You FOOL! Take a look and see what your one-hit knock-out technique won you today!"
Sonic's Team reassembled into a group and looked together. They gasped. "The mechas!" Tails yelped.
"They're still alive!" Amy declared.
"But how?" they asked as one.
Robotnik laughed again. "My turn at expository dialogue: This book, Sonic, is a record of all the otherworldly beings who constructed this place. Every last name of every entity who ever lent a hand in the creation of this world! The directors; the animators; the writers; all here, sealed in ink! There is even the muse behind your vocal cords, mine as well!
And now, I've added the voice actors of my new mechas to the list of credits! HA! It's impossible to destroy them, Sonic, because the E-100 series is now a part of the regular cast! They are just as essential as Decoe or myself, and so they cannot be defeated in one measly hit! They. Are. INVULNERABLE!"
The mad scientist swept his arms open and let spotlights illuminate his body. "And now, ARISE my E-100 Series! AWAKEN, your Master commands it!"
Five sets of green eyes pierced the rain.
The heroes yelped. Sonic jumped to the front and spread his arms protectively before the others. The mechs moved into ready position, legs shoulder-width apart, grasping hands gripping their firearms across the chest. The leader stepped forward, charcoal black and distinguished by his bulky dual arm-cannons instead of a smaller blaster-hand.
"And now, hedgehog, let me introduce my greatest creations… BETA! The pompous wiseass!"
The black leader cocked his arm-cannons at Amy and gave a mock fire. "LADIES!" It crooned in an arrogant voice seemingly amplified by a megaphone. "Just call me Ee Wun Oh Yeah!"
"GAMMA! The chivalric and compassionate killer!"
The red one stepped forward. "Greetings," it spoke in a noble voice reserved for superheroes. "Kindly raise your hands and surrender, villains!"
"DELTA! The brooding, gothic loner!"
The blue bot dragged forward with a tone of ennui. "Death is inevitable," it wheezed in a stony voice. "The end comes for us all. I am merely the catalyst."
"EPSILON! The trigger-happy cowboy!"
The orange marched up. "Howdy partners," it declared in a thickly accented vox. "I reckon' ahm 'bout ready t'kick some kiester!"
"And ZETA! The disgruntled one."
The last mech stomped up with its arms crossed and pouted. "Oh sure! Leave ME for last! Who cares, it's not like I have feelings!"
Robotnik laughed again, and with Decoe and Little Black Thing flanking, he stepped around the podium to stand tall above his E-100s. "And now, my minions of malevolence, my soldiers of sin; destroy the blue hedgehog and his companions! CRUSH THEM!"
Multiple safety locks went loose. "Okay boys!" Beta crooned. "Iiiiiit's partay time!"
"The night shall bear no refuge, villains!"
"Black Death comes for you on the carrion-wings of the vulture."
"Lez whoop these tin-horns inta shape!"
"Oh yay, I am like, so enthusiastic if you haven't noticed."
Sonic stood tall and held the line for his friends, but he could not help but utter a small "uoh!" as five monsters lunged from the podium, arms clawing the air, targeting scopes sweeping their bodies, blasters zapping the air. For an instant, everything was so intense that his eyes frosted over with mist, and the world froze in black and white, streaked with sharp lines of motion. And in the moment of pause, he thought to himself.
Oh man, we walked into a trap! Am I gonna be able to defeat these guys? I just don't know! But the answers are coming soon! Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of SONIC X! DON'T MEESIT!
And then he woke, and wondered 'What the heck was that'?
And then the battle began.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
NEXT TIME: Prepare yourself for the mother of all fight scenes as Team Good Guys faces down the unstoppable crew of Dr. Robotnik's elite E-100 series!
Hang tight, dear readers! I'll be back before someone from Netraptor's Message Board can say, "I am offended!"
--Tylec Asroc.