Chapter Fourteen: The Refugee
Disclaimer: Sonic and others belong to the guys at SEGA and Archie Comics. (What am I doing? That disclaimer was so lame . . .)
Reconstruction of Knothole commenced immediately when they got back to their home. Entire huts had to be rebuilt. As Sally and SU-Sonic set up the warning bell, Sally noticed that Sonic seemed to be a bit depressed.
"Anything wrong, Sonic?" She asked.
"It's my fault that all of you people almost got captured by Robotnik," He replied.
"It's not your fault; Robotnik has cameras all over the place," Sally explained sympathetically. "Besides, this'll actually teach us not to take life down here for granted."
Sonic was about to reply when a gigantic flash of light filled the sky above them.
"Say what!?" Sonic cried. Everyone in Knothole was staring at this now.
"What's . . . going on?" Sally asked, covering her eyes. Antione, Bunnie, and Rotor came out to see what was up, too.
Suddenly, the light faded, and a red and blue streaked ball landed on the ground. Knuckles and the other Chaotix, including new-comer Julie-Su, stared at it.
"What is it?" Julie-Su asked.
"Don't ask me," Knuckles replied.
Suddenly, the ball uncurled to reveal a bruised, battered, and half-dead young hedgehog. Everyone gasped.
"That poor lil' boy!" Bunnie exclaimed. Julie-Su placed her ear over his chest. "He's alive, but barely." She picked him up and gave him to Dr. Quack. "Take him to Intensive care, now!"
"Right!" Dr. Quack got him under some tents and proceded to tend to his injuries. Everyone stopped working because they were worried. After a few hours of waiting, Dr. Quack came out with a solemn expression on his face.
Sally saw the look on his face and feared the worst. "Doctor . . . is he going to be ok?"
He looked up at her. To be honest, Princess, I can't tell at this point. But according to the nature of his injuries, this was no accident."
"What do you mean?"
"It looks as though he was beaten repeatedly." Dr. Quack replied as Julie-SU walked in.
"Whoever did that is cruel! Who would beat a little boy nearly to death!?" she fumed in anger.
"I honestly don't know."
*******************************************************************************************
"WHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" Dr. Robotink yelled as he saw the Master Computer. Snively looked into the prisoner's quarters to see Metal Sonic's remains on the floor. Upon seeing the carnage, he screamed. "NOOOOOO!"
"WHAT IS IT, SNIVELY!?" Robotnik stomped over to see Metal Sonic, destroyed.
"It looks like there was some kind of struggle going on, but I can't remember . . ." Robotnik suddenly got a headache and grabbed his forehead.
Snively crawled over to Metal Sonic. "No . . . My greatest creation . . . DESTROYED!"
"I told you not to build things without my permission . . . you should listen to me more."
Robotnik immediately thought abot this. "Wait a minute . . . when did you build this anyway?"
Snively was about to answer when he instantly forgot. "I . . . have no idea, sir," he said, bewildered.
"Well . . . DON'T MAKE ANY MORE!!!" Robotnik commanded.
Robotnik looked at the computer. "That's going to take you a while to fix, sir," Snively commented.
"Correction, Snively . . . That's going to take YOU a while to fix!" He handed Snively a tool kit. "GET TO WORK!!!"
*******************************************************************************************
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST THE BOY!?" The Shadow Lord bellowed in the Fifth Dimension.
"Well, we had him in the palm of our hands, but then . . .
FLASH
Maxamillion Hedgehog ran through the Shadow Lord's forest outside of his castle, desperately trying to get the Master Key to work. He was being chased by five Palace Guards.
"C'mon! Please work, Magic thing!" He starts biting it to get it to work, when he tripped over a tree root and fell on the ground. He managed to grab it and hide it before the guards got to him.
"Thought you could get away from us, huh?" One of them said as he kicked him.
"That outta teach you to run away from us!" He pulled out a whip. "This'll teach ya even more!"
Screams were heard as the guards whipped and stomped on his body. When they were about to finish him off, The Master Key shot off an extremely bright light. When the light faded, the boy and the key were gone.
FLASH
"You fools let him tap into the powers of the Master Key!?" The Shadow Lord roared.
"Master, I--" He was dead before he could finish his sentence.
The lord lowered his staff and looked up at the hologram. "It doesn't matter, I already know where he is, anyway," he said with a smile.
*******************************************************************************************
Meanwhile, in the SATAM Universe, Six hours had passed, and much progress had been done. Despite this, however, everyone was depressed. That changed however, when Dr. Quack called Sally and Sonic over to the tent.
"How is he?" They both asked in unison.
"He just woke up," he said, more relieved than before. "He said he wanted to speak to whoever was in charge. Since you're both royalty, I figured you two were the ones to call."
"Good," Sally said. The doctor led Sally to where he was. Wrapped in many bandages, the boy looked up at Sally.
"Hello," Sally said.
"Hi. Are you really a princess?"
"Yes," Sally replied.
He looked at her and said, "I gotta tell ya something," he said urgently.
"What?"
"You're all gonna get attacked!"
Sally, startled by the sudden warning, asked,"By who?"
"Yeah, by who?" SU-Sonic walked into the room.
"You're gonna get attacked by--," the boy was about to finish when he saw Sonic enter. Immediately, his eyes opened wide with fear, like he was staring at Satan himself.
"What? What is it?" Sally asked, concerned.
The boy dove under his covers. "KEEP HIM AWAY!! PLEASE!!"
Everyone looked at Sonic. "I'm not goin' to hurt ya, kid!"
The child said nothing. Sounds of crying could be heard underneath the blanket.
"Sonic, you had better go," Dr. Quack said solemnly.
Sonic, seeing how thing were worstening, decided to leave. "See ya later, Sal," he said as he left.
"Needless to say, this child has suffered greatly," Dr. Quack whispered to Sally.
"I feel bad," Sally replied, "Maybe I should try cheering him up."
"Agreed," Dr. Quack said. "Listen, princess, don't talk to him about what happened until he's willing to talk; he needs to recover first."
Sally looked over at the boy. He was still crying under there. How could one boy have so many problems? she asked to herself.
Disclaimer: Sonic and others belong to the guys at SEGA and Archie Comics. (What am I doing? That disclaimer was so lame . . .)
Reconstruction of Knothole commenced immediately when they got back to their home. Entire huts had to be rebuilt. As Sally and SU-Sonic set up the warning bell, Sally noticed that Sonic seemed to be a bit depressed.
"Anything wrong, Sonic?" She asked.
"It's my fault that all of you people almost got captured by Robotnik," He replied.
"It's not your fault; Robotnik has cameras all over the place," Sally explained sympathetically. "Besides, this'll actually teach us not to take life down here for granted."
Sonic was about to reply when a gigantic flash of light filled the sky above them.
"Say what!?" Sonic cried. Everyone in Knothole was staring at this now.
"What's . . . going on?" Sally asked, covering her eyes. Antione, Bunnie, and Rotor came out to see what was up, too.
Suddenly, the light faded, and a red and blue streaked ball landed on the ground. Knuckles and the other Chaotix, including new-comer Julie-Su, stared at it.
"What is it?" Julie-Su asked.
"Don't ask me," Knuckles replied.
Suddenly, the ball uncurled to reveal a bruised, battered, and half-dead young hedgehog. Everyone gasped.
"That poor lil' boy!" Bunnie exclaimed. Julie-Su placed her ear over his chest. "He's alive, but barely." She picked him up and gave him to Dr. Quack. "Take him to Intensive care, now!"
"Right!" Dr. Quack got him under some tents and proceded to tend to his injuries. Everyone stopped working because they were worried. After a few hours of waiting, Dr. Quack came out with a solemn expression on his face.
Sally saw the look on his face and feared the worst. "Doctor . . . is he going to be ok?"
He looked up at her. To be honest, Princess, I can't tell at this point. But according to the nature of his injuries, this was no accident."
"What do you mean?"
"It looks as though he was beaten repeatedly." Dr. Quack replied as Julie-SU walked in.
"Whoever did that is cruel! Who would beat a little boy nearly to death!?" she fumed in anger.
"I honestly don't know."
*******************************************************************************************
"WHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?" Dr. Robotink yelled as he saw the Master Computer. Snively looked into the prisoner's quarters to see Metal Sonic's remains on the floor. Upon seeing the carnage, he screamed. "NOOOOOO!"
"WHAT IS IT, SNIVELY!?" Robotnik stomped over to see Metal Sonic, destroyed.
"It looks like there was some kind of struggle going on, but I can't remember . . ." Robotnik suddenly got a headache and grabbed his forehead.
Snively crawled over to Metal Sonic. "No . . . My greatest creation . . . DESTROYED!"
"I told you not to build things without my permission . . . you should listen to me more."
Robotnik immediately thought abot this. "Wait a minute . . . when did you build this anyway?"
Snively was about to answer when he instantly forgot. "I . . . have no idea, sir," he said, bewildered.
"Well . . . DON'T MAKE ANY MORE!!!" Robotnik commanded.
Robotnik looked at the computer. "That's going to take you a while to fix, sir," Snively commented.
"Correction, Snively . . . That's going to take YOU a while to fix!" He handed Snively a tool kit. "GET TO WORK!!!"
*******************************************************************************************
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST THE BOY!?" The Shadow Lord bellowed in the Fifth Dimension.
"Well, we had him in the palm of our hands, but then . . .
FLASH
Maxamillion Hedgehog ran through the Shadow Lord's forest outside of his castle, desperately trying to get the Master Key to work. He was being chased by five Palace Guards.
"C'mon! Please work, Magic thing!" He starts biting it to get it to work, when he tripped over a tree root and fell on the ground. He managed to grab it and hide it before the guards got to him.
"Thought you could get away from us, huh?" One of them said as he kicked him.
"That outta teach you to run away from us!" He pulled out a whip. "This'll teach ya even more!"
Screams were heard as the guards whipped and stomped on his body. When they were about to finish him off, The Master Key shot off an extremely bright light. When the light faded, the boy and the key were gone.
FLASH
"You fools let him tap into the powers of the Master Key!?" The Shadow Lord roared.
"Master, I--" He was dead before he could finish his sentence.
The lord lowered his staff and looked up at the hologram. "It doesn't matter, I already know where he is, anyway," he said with a smile.
*******************************************************************************************
Meanwhile, in the SATAM Universe, Six hours had passed, and much progress had been done. Despite this, however, everyone was depressed. That changed however, when Dr. Quack called Sally and Sonic over to the tent.
"How is he?" They both asked in unison.
"He just woke up," he said, more relieved than before. "He said he wanted to speak to whoever was in charge. Since you're both royalty, I figured you two were the ones to call."
"Good," Sally said. The doctor led Sally to where he was. Wrapped in many bandages, the boy looked up at Sally.
"Hello," Sally said.
"Hi. Are you really a princess?"
"Yes," Sally replied.
He looked at her and said, "I gotta tell ya something," he said urgently.
"What?"
"You're all gonna get attacked!"
Sally, startled by the sudden warning, asked,"By who?"
"Yeah, by who?" SU-Sonic walked into the room.
"You're gonna get attacked by--," the boy was about to finish when he saw Sonic enter. Immediately, his eyes opened wide with fear, like he was staring at Satan himself.
"What? What is it?" Sally asked, concerned.
The boy dove under his covers. "KEEP HIM AWAY!! PLEASE!!"
Everyone looked at Sonic. "I'm not goin' to hurt ya, kid!"
The child said nothing. Sounds of crying could be heard underneath the blanket.
"Sonic, you had better go," Dr. Quack said solemnly.
Sonic, seeing how thing were worstening, decided to leave. "See ya later, Sal," he said as he left.
"Needless to say, this child has suffered greatly," Dr. Quack whispered to Sally.
"I feel bad," Sally replied, "Maybe I should try cheering him up."
"Agreed," Dr. Quack said. "Listen, princess, don't talk to him about what happened until he's willing to talk; he needs to recover first."
Sally looked over at the boy. He was still crying under there. How could one boy have so many problems? she asked to herself.