main chapter finished 10 /01 /03;
reformatted: 12 /14 /03;
revised/reformatted: 08 /04 /04
Antipode Evangel Presents:
Freedom Fighters of Mobius
Sonic the Hedgehog Neo Redux
Year 3235, Day 311
Rite
Story (c) 2003 by the author. Based on characters created by Sega and DiC Productions, used without permission, but protected by applicable copyright laws... So there.
Other characters: Bookshire Draftwood is (c) Bookshire Draftwood.
All other characters (c) Antipode Evangel / Adam Czech.
The forest was slightly muggy in the heat of the day, but pleasant nonetheless. On a quiet day one could stroll through the Great Forest, listening to the birds singing in the treetops above, watching the shafts of sunlight streaming in through the leaf-filled canopy. Sonic Hedgehog made his way down the path through the trees, paying attention to these things only in passing. There was something more important he had to focus his senses on.
His green eyes flashed from bush to bush, alert to any movement, any sound, that would give his quarry away. He had been tracking him off and on for the past two hours. He knew he was being tracked, of course. That was part of the fun.
And then he saw it: the small tuft of fur attempting to mingle with the foliage, to ill effect. Sonic crouched down, inching closer to his prey, careful to make no sound on the wooded path. Closer and closer, then, when the moment was right, he struck, jumping as close to his target as he could without landing on him. "GOTCHA!"
"AHH!" Tails screamed, jumping a meter into the air. He landed in a bush, then got up and brushed himself off. He sighed. "How do ya do it, Sonic?"
"What, sneak up on ya? Easy."
"No, hide in these stupid bushes," he demonstrated his wrath by kicking one nearby. "They're not big enough, and their color doesn't help much either."
"Well, little bro, I think the problem is that..."
"Yeah?" he asked anxiously. Tails was always glad to get pointers from Sonic.
"...Ya move your tails around too much."
The fox looked behind him, at his bushy twin tails twitching back and forth reflexively. "I guess you're right," he mumbled, then had a thought. "So that's how you do it! You don't have a tail!"
"Hey!" Sonic exclaimed, crossing his arms. "I got a tail!"
Tails giggled. "Not much of one."
"All right, all right, big guy, let's see how well you do with searching now. Close your eyes and give me five."
"Okay, Sonic," Tails replied, reaching up to cover both his eyes. "One... Two... Three... Four... Five!" He opened his eyes and looked around for Sonic, who had already hidden himself from view. Tails frowned, trying to remember which way he heard him go when his eyes were closed. He started down the path in the direction he thought the hedgehog had gone, but still had no idea where he was. With his speed he could be half-way to Robotropolis by now, he thought to himself.
Then he remembered: his goggles! Tails reached into his vest pocket for the pair of aviator goggles Rotor had given him for his birthday two weeks ago; he still had them from before Sonic and he started this search training. He slipped the strap over his ears, sliding the round lenses into place in front of his eyes. A press of the button on his right temple and his view changed to almost a blinding shade of red floating before his eyes. Tails winced, reaching to turn down the sensitivity. It must be picking up bugs, he thought, as the streaks resolved into shades of black, with all large heat sources lit up bright red.
Tails looked around through the thick glasses as he searched for Sonic, not seeming to find anything large enough to be a hedgehog hiding in the bushes. He sighed as he kept on through a bend in the path, head swiveling from side to side. After a couple steps he stopped, noticing a glowing red mass beneath a tree ahead, crouched down in the bushes. He appeared to be laughing silently to himself.
The young fox grinned, getting on all fours and crouching closer to Sonic's position. He was just about to enter the foliage when he stopped and devised a plan of attack, like Sonic taught him to. Then he thought of a better way. He wound up his two tails as tight as he could, then jumped into the air, spinning his tails fast enough to keep him aloft as he crossed the distance between him and Sonic. Tails landed right on top of him, which surprised them both. Sonic let out a shout as he fell to the ground. Tails tumbled onto his back nearby.
Sonic got up, rubbing his head. "Whoa, little bro. You really..."
His voice trailed off as Tails got up as well, and the hedgehog could see the infrared goggles strapped to his head. "Hey, you were cheatin'!"
"Was not."
Sonic put his thumbs and forefingers together and held them up to his eyes. "Were too! You were usin' those goggles!"
Tails grinned as he pulled the eyewear off. "Aunt Sally says that part of bein' a good Freedom Fighter is," here he put on his most official tone of voice, like Sally when addressing the camp, "knowing how to use your equipped-ment in an a-pope-riate siturations."
Sonic thought about it for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah, guess you're right, little bro." The two made their way through the trees and back to the path. "That's enough training for today. Race ya home!"
Tails clenched his fist. "You're on!"
As always Sonic gave Tails a head-start, running just fast enough to pass him by a handful of strides. He reached the camp first, but Tails was right behind, huffing and puffing as he tried to catch his breath. "Did you... see, Sonic? I... almost... beat'cha."
"The practice must be payin' off," Sonic lauded, which evoked a grin from the cub. "I'm gonna go visit Bunnie. Wanna come?"
By now Tails had doubled over, hands on his knees. "No... thanks. Go on... without me," he gave a mock groan and collapsed to the ground.
Sonic laughed and started off across the compound, but that laugh faded as he neared Bunnie's hut. All the curtains in the windows were drawn, and no light was visible within, reminding Sonic that this was her "place of solitude," and he felt bad disturbing her. He paused before the door, fist hovering before him. Bunnie had started segregating herself from the rest of Knothole ever since the mission two weeks ago, when her implants had suddenly reactivated. They had managed to bring her back to Bookshire Draftwood, the camp medic, who had run some tests and found that Robotnik had somehow hit her with an energy pulse which had turned on all of the nanobots in her systems. The implants had continued with their original programming and spread. After they managed to shut the 'bots down, she had spent the next week recovering, then shut herself in her room for the week after that. When she was out and about she was more distant than usual, and everyone was worried about her.
Sonic finally mustered up the courage to rap lightly on the door, and it was a long moment before he heard her quiet voice from inside. "C'min."
The hedgehog slowly opened the door, allowing his eyes to adjust to the room's darkness as he entered. Bunnie's bedroom was neat and tidy; Sonic remembered how all of them had chipped in with the housekeeping while she was recuperating. It took him a moment to find her, sitting in a chair with her back to the door, looking out a window at the forest around the camp.
Sonic came forward, reverent to her introspection. He made it to the center of the room and just stood there, feeling he was somehow intruding. "I, uh, just came to see how ya were doin', Bunnie."
"Hi, Sonic," she answered, not turning her head from the window. "Ah'm fine, ah guess."
"You okay in here? Can I get ya anything?"
Bunnie turned her head ever so slightly, just enough that the sunlight from the window reflected off her left eye; or rather, where it would have been, for now it was an edged metallic plate embedded in her skull. Sonic fought hard to repress the shudder at seeing the new amendments to her condition again. It was one of those things that took some time to get used to. "No, ah'm okay, sugar-hog. Just need ta be alone fer a while, that's all."
Sonic swallowed. "All right, just thought I'd check," he turned to leave.
"How's Tails doin'? With his trainin', ah mean."
He stopped, turning to face her again. "Oh, he's doin' pretty good. Better than I was at that age. More ingen... ingenuitous? Is that a word?"
Bunnie made an obvious effort to smile around the plating by her mouth. "Ah think the word is 'clever,' sugar-hog."
"Yeah, clever, that's it."
She turned back to the window. "Proud o' the little fella," she mused, seemingly to herself. "He's gonna make one heckuva Freedom Fighter."
"Yeah... Well, hey Bunnie, if there's nothin' ya need, lemme just say that, uh, I hope you feel better. We all do."
She looked down at her metallic left arm resting on the windowsill. "Yeah. Me, too."
Sonic stepped outside into the warm glow of the setting sun. He took a moment to look around Knothole, seeing how many Mobians there were that had joined the fight against Robotnik. All had their reasons for being there, but how many had to end up like Bunnie? The pain she must go through every day -- and not just physical, either. Sonic shook his head. There were some things he would never know.
As he walked around the camp in the direction of nothing in particular, he noticed Rotor in the kitchen behind the mess hall, a flurry of motion as he scurried about making... something on the counter. Sonic checked his watch as he ran over -- it was almost eight o' clock, but computer technicians were known for keeping odd schedules.
Sonic stopped in the doorway and tried to make sense of what he was seeing. "Hey, Rote. Why're you in such a rush, man?"
"Sorry, Sonic, can't talk," he answered, slapping the final piece of bread on one of the thickest sandwiches Sonic had ever seen. "I've almost got it figured out. Just need something to eat before I get back."
Rotor grabbed his sandwich in one hand and a clipboard almost as thick in the other, content with leaving the kitchen a mess as he hurried back to his lab. "Yo, almost done with what?"
"The Roboticizor plans!" Rotor called back over his shoulder. "I've almost figured out what the heck they mean!"
Sonic shook his head. It had been two weeks! How long did it take to read a set of stupid blueprints, anyhow?
"Sonic! Sonic!"
He turned to see Tails running toward him from the forest path. "What is it, big guy?"
Tails pointed down the path in the direction he had come from. "Aunt Sally's comin' back!"
Sonic smiled. Sally had left that morning with a six-man team to one of Robotnik's remote drilling towers on the outskirts of the forest, to attempt a "forced shutdown" of the plant. It was a routine mission, really, but like every mission the other Knothole Freedom Fighters were glad when it was over, and they could breathe a little easier now that Robotnik had another dent in his regime.
He quickly spread the word of the returning team, and by the time Sally rounded the bend in the path, everyone else was there to cheer their approach. Sonic cheered with them, until he was the first to notice Sally's posture: slumped over, feet almost dragging in the dirt. It wasn't long before the rest of the throng realized it, too, as Sally and one other made their way into the camp. The cheering quickly died down, and Sonic approached Sally, concern covering his face. "Hey, Sal... What happened?"
"They... must have known we were coming somehow," she answered, her voice weak. "We had hardly gotten close to the tower when..." her voice trailed off, and she batted at the moisture at the corner of her eyes. "The SWATbots captured them; Devon and I were the only ones that escaped."
The Freedom Fighters gathered around hung their heads and slowly dispersed over the compound. "So the tower's still up?" Sonic asked, and Sally nodded. "Hey, it's okay, Sal. Ya win some, ya lose some, right?"
"It's not that easy, Sonic," she answered harshly. "They were trusting me. Putting their faith in me. And I let them down."
Not knowing what else to say, Sonic merely nodded, then turned away and went into his hut, if only to avoid confrontation with the Princess.
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
The rest of the night was spent in silence, in memory of those brave souls who had fallen. Dinner was made, but no one really felt like eating much. As the sun finally set and the moon shone in the sky the Mobians of Knothole each retired to bed, hoping that somehow in the morning the terrible events of the mission would be put to rest, and the war would continue once more.
Princess Sally Alicia was one of the last to finally turn in. She sat at a table in the commons until everyone else had gone then, as sleep began to gently tug at her heart, she finally got up and silently closed the door to her hut behind her. She pulled off her boots and dropped them to the floor, then collapsed onto her bed and stared at the ceiling, remembering as she often did all those who had fallen to the enemy. Her mind raced, trying to remember the names -- or at the very least, faces -- of those who were no longer with them; she found with anger that she couldn't recall many of them. How many memories, she thought, would have to fade before this infernal war was complete?
Gradually her eyes closed in slumber, her contemplation put to temporary rest. In dreamstate, she found herself back at Robotnik's generator tower, trying futilely again and again to accomplish the mission already failed. And again and again she was forced to watch her compatriots be captured and led away to a horrible unseen fate.
Slowly the imaginary world around her began to fade, first the tower, than the ground beneath her feet, until all that surrounded her was a smoky haze. Unlike most dreams, though, she was still aware of these blank surroundings, and looked around wonderingly, blinking her blue eyes as she tried to make sense of it. She was fully conscious, as if not sleeping at all, merely... detached from her body.
Daughter...
The voice came to her from the haze, a voice she had not heard in a long time. She hardly recognized it, until it repeated its message, and she found the strength to answer. "Daddy?"
A wavering figure was barely visible through the mist before her, and for some reason she didn't follow her initial instinct and run blindly toward it. Instead she stood where she was, staring at the image of King Maximilian Acorn, an echo of the past.
"Is it really you?" she called out, the sorrow she felt from yesterday's mission again surfacing, but for a different reason.
"It's me, Bean," he seemed to smile as he used his old nickname for her. "I have found you at last."
"No, this isn't real," she shook her head, trying to clear her mind. "This is just a dream. You're not here."
"I can't expect you to believe anything I say, especially considering the circumstances." There was a long pause that seemed to stretch for minutes. "Oh, I'm sorry I can't be there for you now. All that you must be going through."
"I've been okay, Daddy," she answered, not truly knowing why she was humoring this figment of her imagination. "Where are you? Can I get to you?"
"I've been imprisoned by Robotnik. Have been since the day he took over; it took me this long to locate you."
"How... are you doing this?"
"It's a long story, Bean. But I can tell you how to find me, if you dare risk your life and the lives of your friends for saving me."
"Father, you're heir to the throne of Mobius! I can't just leave you in Robotnik's dungeon!"
He hung his head. "As you wish. The gateway is in one of the sublevels of the Imperial Palace; I'm not quite sure which one, but just make it inside. I can guide you from there. There's something you must see, for the safety of Mobius itself."
The image began to flicker and waver, and the king's voice grew distressed. "Oh no, he's found me. If you risk it, Bean, come quickly. I'll be waiting for you."
A tear rolled down Sally's cheek. "I will... I love you, Father."
"I love you, too, Sally."
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
Sonic stood on the front porch of his hut, stretching and yawning and greeting the new day. Although it seemed as if everyone went to bed disappointed the night before, they were all in seemingly bright spirits in the morning, including himself. He jumped to the ground and headed for the commons, greeting his fellow Freedom Fighters as he saw them.
As he passed the lab he saw Tails coming out, and called him over to join him for breakfast. "Hey, little bro, what were ya doin' in Rotor's lab?"
Tails rolled his eyes. "Rotor fell asleep at work again. I was givin' him a blanket."
"Good thinkin', buddy," Sonic said as he found a seat at an unoccupied table, and Tails threw himself into the adjacent chair. It wasn't long before Felix, who had drawn kitchen duty for the day, came over to take their order.
"What'll it be, gents?" he asked, pad of paper and pencil in his hands, ridiculously cliché chef's hat perched on his head.
Sonic folded his hands on the table and raised his eyebrows, adopting one of his strange accents. "What's the special today, my good cat?"
He shrugged. "Eh, whatever."
"I'll take that. How 'bout you, little bro?"
"Bowl of cereal, please."
"All right, you got it, guys," he put the pad away and retreated to the kitchen.
"And I want it brought hot, you hear me, buddy!" Sonic called after him, standing on his chair, raising his fist to the air in mock outrage. "At least, if it's supposed to be! Otherwise not!"
He sat back down, and couldn't resist to smile in response to Tails' suppressed giggling. "Yeah, you think it's funny, don'cha? See how funny it is if you get cold food."
"Cereal's s'posed to be cold, Sonic."
"You know what I mean."
Tails regained composure. "So what trainin' are we gonna to do today?"
Sonic thought about it for a moment. "Well, depends if Sal's got a mission for today or not. Otherwise, maybe we can do some more stuff in the woods. I think next we should do tracking."
"Oooh, tracking," he echoed, genuinely interested. "Sounds like fun."
"Well, maybe," he pondered as Felix returned with their food. "Depends on how we do it." Sonic looked down at the plate set before him, hesitantly prodded its contents with a fork. "Oh, yeah, that's whatever, all right."
"Don't say I didn't warn ya," he answered as he turned back to the kitchen.
Sonic was about to say "when did you warn me?" when a sound behind him caught his attention. He swiveled his head to look, and saw Sally running into the commons, her hair a mess, her clothes wrinkled, her vest collar askew. His thoughts went back to the meeting two weeks before, when she had almost railed off on him for looking like the living dead. Now we'll see who bugs who, he thought to himself, taking a bite of what he hoped were scrambled eggs.
She quickly spotted Sonic and Tails' table, then hurried over and planted her hands down with such force that they both jumped. "He contacted me."
"Who contracted you, Aunt Sally?" Tails asked, sticking a huge spoon of cereal into his mouth.
She got the feeling of the stares around her and took a seat. "My father. He called me last night, Sonic."
"Say what?" he replied, not giving her the chance to ruin his already failing appetite and taking another bite.
"I... don't know how to explain it, but he called me -- telepathically, I guess. He told me where he was and that we should rescue him."
"Tele-pathetic, what now?" Sonic's eyebrows shot up.
"Isn't that where ya talk to their minds?" Tails put his hands to his temples and rocked back and forth in the imitation of some kind of a zombie. Sonic laughed.
"Fine!" Sally jumped to her feet. "I knew you wouldn't understand!" She spotted Antoine across the room, and headed over to him.
"We were jus' havin fun, Aunt Sally," Tails called after her, then returned to his cereal. "Didn't mean nothin' by it."
"Aw, forget about her, little bro," he answered, watching her go as well. "Women, huh? Can't live with 'em... pass the salt."
Tails obliged, not quite getting what he was talking about, in any case. And deep inside, Sonic didn't mean it, anyway.
The rest of breakfast passed quickly, Sonic and Tails chatting it up in their corner of the commons, posing a danger to passers-by with their frequent edible projectiles. When they were finished they went outside, spending some hours in the forest by Sonic teaching Tails about the many foot-marks found in the trees and how you could tell which animal they belonged to. Sonic didn't really put any thought into what Sally was talking about before until they returned to Knothole and found Sally and Antoine armed with knapsacks and heading out into the Great Forest.
"Whoa-ho! Where're you guys goin'?"
"Robotropolis," Sally replied casually. "Not that you'd care."
He ran in front of her. "Just you guys? What'd you have for breakfast, paint thinner? Ro-butt-nik's guards'll squash you before you can get close!"
"So you want to come?"
He crossed his arms. "Now jussa minute. I didn't say that."
"Then please step aside. Antoine and I have things to do."
Sally and Sonic initiated a staring contest of sorts, one so intense Tails found himself backing slowly away. It was a long while before Sonic threw up his hands in disbelief. "Oh, fine! I'm comin'! Can't talk ya out of it, and can't let ya get yourself killed goin' by yourself!"
"And Antoine."
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Antoine, too."
Antoine growled as Sonic ran to the equipment hut to grab a supply pack, then quickly returned, ready to go. The three were about to set off when they heard a faint voice calling out to them. "Wait a sec', you guys. Ah'm comin', too."
They turned wide-eyed to see Bunnie at the door of her hut, trying to make it down the stairs. Sonic zipped over to help her down.
"Are you sure, Bunnie?" Sally asked her. "Do you think you're up to it?"
"More than 'up to it,' Sally-girl," she answered, trying to keep her balance as Sonic let go. "Ah figure ah cain't stay locked up forever. 'Sides, this's important to yah, right? Yer dad'n everything."
"But, Bunnie," Sonic observed. "Your legs. Are they..."
"Aw, they're fine. Just ain't used 'em in a while, that's all. Ah should be back to normal bah the time we reach Robotropolis. That is, if ya'll let me join ya."
"Of course, Bunnie," Sally replied. "Glad to have you back."
"Glad ta be back, Sally-girl," she said, flexing her left arm to loosen the joint. "Jus' lemme get a pack and we'll be off."
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
Tails stood idly by while Sonic and the others left into the forest. Sometimes he wished he could go with them, but he knew what they would say: "No, Tails, you're too young. It's too dangerous. You might get hurt." It didn't even pay to ask. When at last they were out of sight he turned back to the camp, dragging his feet as he wandered.
It was at this point that Rotor woke up at his desk and meandered outside to get a cup of coffee. He saw Tails shuffling by, and noticed the dejected look on his face. "Hey, little guy. What's up?"
Tails looked up. "Sonic's left again. Him 'n Sally 'n Bunnie 'n Ant left to find Sally's dad... or somethin.'"
"Sally's dad... King Acorn?" he asked skeptically through the steam from his mug. "I thought he was long gone by now."
Tails shrugged. "Sally said somethin' 'bout him callin' her tele-pathetically."
"You mean telepathically?"
"Yeah, that."
"Man, what is Mobius coming to," he muttered as he started for his lab. "I'm out of it for a couple hours and everyone starts getting delusions..."
Tails trotted beside Rotor into the lab, watching his step for the piles of junk -- what everyone but Rotor called it -- scattered about. In one corner, by the desk, was a relatively clean area, but standing smack in the middle of it was a platform almost as tall as Tails was, with steps leading up to it and wires snaking out like tentacles. On the desk was a large schematic printout, and all three of the monitors on the desktop were on. Rotor threw himself into the chair and rolled over to the desk, picking up where he left off.
"What'cha doin', Rotor?"
He looked down to see the young fox head peeking up over the edge of the table. "Trying to make some sense out of these Roboticizor plans," he answered, gesturing at the printout and the screens. "I almost got it last night, but there seems to be a lot of components that either we don't have, or don't fit quite right. I'm making up a list to give to Sally, of all the parts we need."
"Can I help?"
He mulled it over for a moment, trying to think of something the cub could do that wouldn't get in the way too much. "Uh, sure. You can hand me the tools I need when I ask for them, all right?"
That made Tails' day. "'Kay," he squeaked, quickly finding Rotor's toolbox and scraping it all the way to the desk. "Ready!"
Rotor smiled, knowing that this would take longer than it had to, but at the very least Tails might learn something about cybernetic mechanics. Wouldn't that be something, Rotor thought to himself, if Tails grows up to be a techie like me.
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
The Imperial Tower was the highest point in Robotropolis, but it looked much different than it did the last time Sally was inside. Now its surfaces seemed dark, as if with some kind of inherent evil. That's somewhat true, she thought. There is a great evil within these walls.
Their first objective would be to locate the hidden back door to the palace, one that she still remembered from her childhood. In fact, all four of them may remember it; they used to play here as children, hiding and seeking in the Palace's many hidden nooks and crannies. At times during the trek she would look back at her teammates, seeing their faces betray their inner feelings connected with the place. So many memories, from so long ago.
Their thoughts were preoccupied even as they traveled the streets patrolled by SWATbots and spy drones, but they were able to reach the rear of the tower without incident. It was formerly the "delivery entrance," which led to the kitchens and the storerooms. Hopefully, she pondered as she activated Nicole and proceeded to open the locked door, Robotnik hadn't changed the facility too much.
The door slid open and the four quickly made their way inside; the door closed and sealed shut, enveloping them in darkness. Antoine started to whine, and Sonic started to threaten as Sally reached into her pack for a torch and switched it on with a snapping hiss. The shadows around them were dispelled, and they found themselves in the dusty, ravaged remains of the main kitchen.
"Guess Buttnik doesn't like to cook much," Sonic offered, looking around at the room's disrepair.
"He wouldn't need to, not with a mechanized army," Sally replied dryly, taking in her surroundings as well.
"Ah doubt Robotnik's much of a cook, anyhoo," Bunnie chuckled, looking downright eerie with the glow of the torch reflecting off her left arm and false eye.
"Can we please to be stopping ze chitty-chatter and be leaving zis place? It is to be giving me ze -- as you say -- heebie-jeepers."
"Antoine's right. Let's try to find the door to the south hall. It should wind around the main areas of the palace and lead to an elevator."
Sally led the way as they found the door to the hallway, as she recalled, and into the south hallway, which was almost as desolate as the kitchen. As they proceeded by the glow of the torch, she pulled Nicole from her belt. "Nicole, please analyze the status of the palace power grid."
[Working, Sally... Sections Three through Thirty and Sections Forty-Two through Forty-Nine are offline. The power grid is currently running at ninety-eight-point-six percent output.]
"What's up Sal?" Sonic asked, seeing the look of concentration on her face.
"Robotnik's turned off the power in about half of the Palace, but the output's almost the same. He must have some pretty big machinery working somewhere."
"Sal, this is Robotnik. He's got the Roboticizor, SWATbot factories, comm towers..."
"Not all in the same building," she answered, turning her head to face him as she walked. "He doesn't have any production facilities in this whole sector; our own recon proved that. And his main Roboticizor is three kilometers away."
"Oh. Well, maybe he's got the palace stocked full of-"
"Booby traps?" Sally finished, her voice seeming to echo ominously through the hallway.
"... That's not what I was gonna say," he replied too quickly.
"Still, everyone be careful where you step."
The four continued on through the darkness of the hallway, all eyes peeled for SWATbots or any kind of trap on the walls. Fortunately, though, Robotnik didn't think of any obvious security measures for the south end of the palace, and they were able to evade detection. As they neared the elevator, however, the thought nagging at Sally's mind generated a cohesive thought. "There's no power." Everyone turned to look at her; she elaborated. "How is the elevator supposed to work with no power to this section?"
An inaudible moan was shared by all. "Hey, no prob," Sonic spoke up. "We just gotta go to the power station and flip a switch, right? No biggie."
"Yes, biggie," Sally replied. "First of all, it's going to be guarded. Heavily. Second of all, I don't even think it's in this building, if I remember the maps right."
Bunnie blinked her good eye. "So what're we gonna do, Sally-girl?"
A whisper. Sally spun on her heel, lifting the torch and peering into the darkness down the hallway. There was nothing she could see, but she was sure she heard something. "Did you guys hear that?"
"Hear what, Sal?"
She squinted in concentration. "It was... something."
"I am not 'earing anything, Princess," Antoine said; then, after a pause. "Per'aps it is your father come to 'elp you."
Sonic gave a loud sigh. "Oh, gimme a break, Ant! Sal's dad is locked in prison, remember? He's not gonna sneak out to help us rescue him!"
"Maybe it was," Sally whispered. "He said we'd have to get in, then he'd guide us along."
Even Sonic stayed quiet at that one. There was a long moment where no sound was uttered, save for the mute hissing of the torch in Sally's hand. Then came the impatient tap, tap, tap of Sonic's sneaker on the floor.
"Wait. Do you hear that?"
"Sorry," Sonic answered.
"Not you," Sally scowled. "Listen."
It was a high-pitched whine that rose in crescendo all around them, seeming to come from the very walls of the corridor. Sally's quickly doused the torch, and they could plainly see the lights in the ceiling beginning to glow brighter, sparking occasionally. "It's a power surge!" Sally shouted above the din. "Come on!"
They took off at a run down the hallway, Sally hoping that the elevator was somewhere nearby. The electric whine of the surge grew in intensity around them, and she could feel the hairs on her neck standing up. The elevator was now visible around the bend, the door snapping open and closed spasmodically. "Everyone inside!"
"Allow me, Sally-girl," Bunnie called, running past the group and placing herself in the doorway, using her left arm to keep the erratic machinery from crushing them on their way in. They all jumped in, then Bunnie entered herself, allowing the door to slide shut.
As soon as it did, it sealed shut, and the lights in the car died. "Zat is all, yes?" Antoine asked worriedly.
Then the aftershock came. The doors stayed closed, but now the main lights began flickering on and off, then the button controls started flashing sporadically. The entire car was acting -- for lack of better word in Sally's vocabulary -- possessed.
Then as soon as it had started it was over once more. The lights stayed on this time, and everyone looked around, each of their faces asking "What the heck was that?"
"So then..." Bunnie swallowed. "Where to?"
Antoine's mouth opened and he pointed to the controls. "It looks as if someone has already shosen for us."
They all looked, to see the selector LED for "S4" -- sublevel four -- was lit up. A beep sounded, followed by a click, then the entire car lurched into descent. Unable to do anything about their destination, Sally played the defensive card. She pulled the pistol from her bag, taking the right side of the door while ordering Antoine to cover the left. Sonic and Bunnie stayed behind them, ready as backup. After each floor came a ding until the car slowed as it reached the fourth basement level. The doors slid silently open to reveal...
Nothing. The group breathed a collective sigh of relief, then exited out into a new hallway, one that Sally couldn't quite remember the floor plan for. She reached for her computer. "Nicole, switch to auto-map mode, please."
The palmtop's screen changed to a schematic of winding lines to represent their position, and the lines kept drawing themselves as they continued down the hall to the east. Okay, father. Which way? she thought silently to herself, hoping somehow he could hear her.
The hallway seemed to stretch for meters, and Sally faintly recalled hearing about how the subterranean tunnels covered an area far wider than the base of the palace; she wondered exactly how far. At long last the interior lighting of the section of corridor beyond was visible, and Sally extinguished the torch as they neared, slowly.
There were doors on each side of the hall, labeled as to their contents. Most were storage rooms, but one in particular caught Sally's eye: it read, simply "RECORDS." She opened it, glad to see it both unlocked and unguarded. Inside were stacks of printed media, probably taken from the old palace library. In the center of the room was a large cylindrical server, with a control panel in front. She approached it slowly, knowing how fond Robotnik was of making things appear too easy. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, hoping this wasn't some trap they had walked into. After weighing the options she tapped a key, then jumped back as the machine switched on, commands being entered automatically from the prompt.
"Sal, what'd you do?" Sonic asked, coming up behind her.
"N-nothing! It's running by itself!"
The text finally stopped scrolling, and Sally looked at the screen. It now displayed the historical records pertaining to the year 3224, the year of Robotnik's coup of the throne. Her eyes flashed as she read the accounts, especially the last one, where the cursor had stopped printing: "3225 (103): Acorn banished to Void." It was short and succinct, chilling in its simplicity. "Void?" What was that?
"Oh my gosh," she shook her head, pulling out Nicole and ordering a download of the information on the screen. Not willing to press her luck with any other tampering, she closed down the terminal and hurried back to the hallway.
"What was that all about?" Sonic asked. "She looked like she'd seen a ghost."
"A ghost is what we will becoming if we are not getting out of 'ere!"
"Quiet, Antoine," Bunnie scolded. "Are we leavin' now, Sally-girl?"
The Princess looked over the information, then closed her eyes. Whatever the voice was that had come to her upstairs, it was still pushing her onward, as if they weren't quite finished here yet. "We're going on."
After they had passed the storage wing, there was another long stretch of empty corridor, as if the palace engineers had just kept building the hallway without thinking of putting anything in it. It continued for some time, until there was also a set of large double doors in the left wall. Sally looked at them curiously, then to her teammates. They slid open at her approach, and the four entered, staring at disbelief at the sight before them. "Well," Sonic offered, "there's your machinery, Sal."
It was a room almost as wide as the palace itself, stretching for two -- maybe three -- floors. Worker 'bots of all shapes and sizes milled about, running for equipment and working on the large device in the center of the space. As it was in a largely unfinished state, and it was obviously only part of a larger machine, it was impossible to tell what it was, other than huge.
Sally spoke distractedly to her computer. "Nicole, begin recording."
[Complying, Sally.]
"Whoa," was all Sonic could say. Antoine was speechless.
"'Something I need to show you...'"
Sonic looked to Sally. "Huh?"
"That's what my father said, or whoever it was in my head last night. He said, 'There's something I need to show you, for the safety of Mobius.'"
"So it's some kind of weapon, Sal?"
"Or a part of one. It's far from finished, whatever it is. I'll show Rotor the tapes, maybe he can make sense of it."
"Oh mah stars..." Bunnie voice finally found her. "Ah can hear them."
"Say what?" Sonic spun around to face her.
"Ah can hear the 'bots, in my head. Ah hear what they're sayin' to each other."
Sally and Sonic exchanged worried glances. Bookshire said that one of the effects of Bunnie's new condition was that she could pick up communications frequencies of 'bots in her vicinity. No one knew exactly what kind of effect that would have, or if she could be remotely controlled by Robotnik as well. Now it seemed as if his theory was proving correct.
"What are they saying, Bunnie?"
"Ah... don't know. There's too many of 'em," she raised her hands to her ears, but it did no good. "They're talkin' 'bout somethin' called... Doomsday."
"That ain't good," Sonic stated the obvious.
"All right, that's enough," Sally spoke up, putting away her equipment and turning to the door. "We've done all we can. We're leaving."
They helped Bunnie out into the hall, and her breathing came easier as the voices in her head faded. They doubled back to the elevator, which had stayed on from the power surge, then headed back to Knothole.
-=:=-=:=-=:=-=:=-
Rotor sat hunched over his desk, eyes glued to the computer screen, hand over his mouth as he focused on what it was he was seeing. "Well, it's big, that's for sure."
"We already knew that, Rote," Sonic replied, tapping his foot impatiently.
He pushed his swivel chair away. "Other than that, there's not much I can tell you. It's not finished enough."
"Is there anything you can tell us, Rotor?" Sally approached. "Anything at all?"
"Well..." he answered slowly, turning back. "See this here?" He pointed to a point on the monitor. "That's got to be a power supply of some kind, kind of small but who knows what it's for? This over here looks like a cockpit, two-man. Again, there's nothing in it right now so I can't tell you what they're controlling."
Sally frowned. "That's better than nothing, I suppose. Thanks Rotor."
"No problem, ma'am," Rotor replied and moved to turn off the monitor.
"Whoa, hold it!" Sonic yelled, running over to the desk, staring at it intently. "That part right there! Rote, can you blow that up?"
"Uh, sure, hold on." He tapped some buttons on his console, and the part of the screen Sonic motioned to was magnified.
"Holy Mobius, that's him!"
"Who, Sonic?" Sally asked, peering over his shoulder.
He spun to face her, pointing at the worker bot from the background. "That's Uncle Chuck!"
::END OF CHAPTER::
Revision history:
08 /04 /04 :: added HTML formatting, revised Bunnie's accented dialogue (I was getting complaints from my southern girlfriend )
reformatted: 12 /14 /03;
revised/reformatted: 08 /04 /04
Antipode Evangel Presents:
Freedom Fighters of Mobius
Sonic the Hedgehog Neo Redux
Year 3235, Day 311
Rite
Story (c) 2003 by the author. Based on characters created by Sega and DiC Productions, used without permission, but protected by applicable copyright laws... So there.
Other characters: Bookshire Draftwood is (c) Bookshire Draftwood.
All other characters (c) Antipode Evangel / Adam Czech.
The forest was slightly muggy in the heat of the day, but pleasant nonetheless. On a quiet day one could stroll through the Great Forest, listening to the birds singing in the treetops above, watching the shafts of sunlight streaming in through the leaf-filled canopy. Sonic Hedgehog made his way down the path through the trees, paying attention to these things only in passing. There was something more important he had to focus his senses on.
His green eyes flashed from bush to bush, alert to any movement, any sound, that would give his quarry away. He had been tracking him off and on for the past two hours. He knew he was being tracked, of course. That was part of the fun.
And then he saw it: the small tuft of fur attempting to mingle with the foliage, to ill effect. Sonic crouched down, inching closer to his prey, careful to make no sound on the wooded path. Closer and closer, then, when the moment was right, he struck, jumping as close to his target as he could without landing on him. "GOTCHA!"
"AHH!" Tails screamed, jumping a meter into the air. He landed in a bush, then got up and brushed himself off. He sighed. "How do ya do it, Sonic?"
"What, sneak up on ya? Easy."
"No, hide in these stupid bushes," he demonstrated his wrath by kicking one nearby. "They're not big enough, and their color doesn't help much either."
"Well, little bro, I think the problem is that..."
"Yeah?" he asked anxiously. Tails was always glad to get pointers from Sonic.
"...Ya move your tails around too much."
The fox looked behind him, at his bushy twin tails twitching back and forth reflexively. "I guess you're right," he mumbled, then had a thought. "So that's how you do it! You don't have a tail!"
"Hey!" Sonic exclaimed, crossing his arms. "I got a tail!"
Tails giggled. "Not much of one."
"All right, all right, big guy, let's see how well you do with searching now. Close your eyes and give me five."
"Okay, Sonic," Tails replied, reaching up to cover both his eyes. "One... Two... Three... Four... Five!" He opened his eyes and looked around for Sonic, who had already hidden himself from view. Tails frowned, trying to remember which way he heard him go when his eyes were closed. He started down the path in the direction he thought the hedgehog had gone, but still had no idea where he was. With his speed he could be half-way to Robotropolis by now, he thought to himself.
Then he remembered: his goggles! Tails reached into his vest pocket for the pair of aviator goggles Rotor had given him for his birthday two weeks ago; he still had them from before Sonic and he started this search training. He slipped the strap over his ears, sliding the round lenses into place in front of his eyes. A press of the button on his right temple and his view changed to almost a blinding shade of red floating before his eyes. Tails winced, reaching to turn down the sensitivity. It must be picking up bugs, he thought, as the streaks resolved into shades of black, with all large heat sources lit up bright red.
Tails looked around through the thick glasses as he searched for Sonic, not seeming to find anything large enough to be a hedgehog hiding in the bushes. He sighed as he kept on through a bend in the path, head swiveling from side to side. After a couple steps he stopped, noticing a glowing red mass beneath a tree ahead, crouched down in the bushes. He appeared to be laughing silently to himself.
The young fox grinned, getting on all fours and crouching closer to Sonic's position. He was just about to enter the foliage when he stopped and devised a plan of attack, like Sonic taught him to. Then he thought of a better way. He wound up his two tails as tight as he could, then jumped into the air, spinning his tails fast enough to keep him aloft as he crossed the distance between him and Sonic. Tails landed right on top of him, which surprised them both. Sonic let out a shout as he fell to the ground. Tails tumbled onto his back nearby.
Sonic got up, rubbing his head. "Whoa, little bro. You really..."
His voice trailed off as Tails got up as well, and the hedgehog could see the infrared goggles strapped to his head. "Hey, you were cheatin'!"
"Was not."
Sonic put his thumbs and forefingers together and held them up to his eyes. "Were too! You were usin' those goggles!"
Tails grinned as he pulled the eyewear off. "Aunt Sally says that part of bein' a good Freedom Fighter is," here he put on his most official tone of voice, like Sally when addressing the camp, "knowing how to use your equipped-ment in an a-pope-riate siturations."
Sonic thought about it for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah, guess you're right, little bro." The two made their way through the trees and back to the path. "That's enough training for today. Race ya home!"
Tails clenched his fist. "You're on!"
As always Sonic gave Tails a head-start, running just fast enough to pass him by a handful of strides. He reached the camp first, but Tails was right behind, huffing and puffing as he tried to catch his breath. "Did you... see, Sonic? I... almost... beat'cha."
"The practice must be payin' off," Sonic lauded, which evoked a grin from the cub. "I'm gonna go visit Bunnie. Wanna come?"
By now Tails had doubled over, hands on his knees. "No... thanks. Go on... without me," he gave a mock groan and collapsed to the ground.
Sonic laughed and started off across the compound, but that laugh faded as he neared Bunnie's hut. All the curtains in the windows were drawn, and no light was visible within, reminding Sonic that this was her "place of solitude," and he felt bad disturbing her. He paused before the door, fist hovering before him. Bunnie had started segregating herself from the rest of Knothole ever since the mission two weeks ago, when her implants had suddenly reactivated. They had managed to bring her back to Bookshire Draftwood, the camp medic, who had run some tests and found that Robotnik had somehow hit her with an energy pulse which had turned on all of the nanobots in her systems. The implants had continued with their original programming and spread. After they managed to shut the 'bots down, she had spent the next week recovering, then shut herself in her room for the week after that. When she was out and about she was more distant than usual, and everyone was worried about her.
Sonic finally mustered up the courage to rap lightly on the door, and it was a long moment before he heard her quiet voice from inside. "C'min."
The hedgehog slowly opened the door, allowing his eyes to adjust to the room's darkness as he entered. Bunnie's bedroom was neat and tidy; Sonic remembered how all of them had chipped in with the housekeeping while she was recuperating. It took him a moment to find her, sitting in a chair with her back to the door, looking out a window at the forest around the camp.
Sonic came forward, reverent to her introspection. He made it to the center of the room and just stood there, feeling he was somehow intruding. "I, uh, just came to see how ya were doin', Bunnie."
"Hi, Sonic," she answered, not turning her head from the window. "Ah'm fine, ah guess."
"You okay in here? Can I get ya anything?"
Bunnie turned her head ever so slightly, just enough that the sunlight from the window reflected off her left eye; or rather, where it would have been, for now it was an edged metallic plate embedded in her skull. Sonic fought hard to repress the shudder at seeing the new amendments to her condition again. It was one of those things that took some time to get used to. "No, ah'm okay, sugar-hog. Just need ta be alone fer a while, that's all."
Sonic swallowed. "All right, just thought I'd check," he turned to leave.
"How's Tails doin'? With his trainin', ah mean."
He stopped, turning to face her again. "Oh, he's doin' pretty good. Better than I was at that age. More ingen... ingenuitous? Is that a word?"
Bunnie made an obvious effort to smile around the plating by her mouth. "Ah think the word is 'clever,' sugar-hog."
"Yeah, clever, that's it."
She turned back to the window. "Proud o' the little fella," she mused, seemingly to herself. "He's gonna make one heckuva Freedom Fighter."
"Yeah... Well, hey Bunnie, if there's nothin' ya need, lemme just say that, uh, I hope you feel better. We all do."
She looked down at her metallic left arm resting on the windowsill. "Yeah. Me, too."
Sonic stepped outside into the warm glow of the setting sun. He took a moment to look around Knothole, seeing how many Mobians there were that had joined the fight against Robotnik. All had their reasons for being there, but how many had to end up like Bunnie? The pain she must go through every day -- and not just physical, either. Sonic shook his head. There were some things he would never know.
As he walked around the camp in the direction of nothing in particular, he noticed Rotor in the kitchen behind the mess hall, a flurry of motion as he scurried about making... something on the counter. Sonic checked his watch as he ran over -- it was almost eight o' clock, but computer technicians were known for keeping odd schedules.
Sonic stopped in the doorway and tried to make sense of what he was seeing. "Hey, Rote. Why're you in such a rush, man?"
"Sorry, Sonic, can't talk," he answered, slapping the final piece of bread on one of the thickest sandwiches Sonic had ever seen. "I've almost got it figured out. Just need something to eat before I get back."
Rotor grabbed his sandwich in one hand and a clipboard almost as thick in the other, content with leaving the kitchen a mess as he hurried back to his lab. "Yo, almost done with what?"
"The Roboticizor plans!" Rotor called back over his shoulder. "I've almost figured out what the heck they mean!"
Sonic shook his head. It had been two weeks! How long did it take to read a set of stupid blueprints, anyhow?
"Sonic! Sonic!"
He turned to see Tails running toward him from the forest path. "What is it, big guy?"
Tails pointed down the path in the direction he had come from. "Aunt Sally's comin' back!"
Sonic smiled. Sally had left that morning with a six-man team to one of Robotnik's remote drilling towers on the outskirts of the forest, to attempt a "forced shutdown" of the plant. It was a routine mission, really, but like every mission the other Knothole Freedom Fighters were glad when it was over, and they could breathe a little easier now that Robotnik had another dent in his regime.
He quickly spread the word of the returning team, and by the time Sally rounded the bend in the path, everyone else was there to cheer their approach. Sonic cheered with them, until he was the first to notice Sally's posture: slumped over, feet almost dragging in the dirt. It wasn't long before the rest of the throng realized it, too, as Sally and one other made their way into the camp. The cheering quickly died down, and Sonic approached Sally, concern covering his face. "Hey, Sal... What happened?"
"They... must have known we were coming somehow," she answered, her voice weak. "We had hardly gotten close to the tower when..." her voice trailed off, and she batted at the moisture at the corner of her eyes. "The SWATbots captured them; Devon and I were the only ones that escaped."
The Freedom Fighters gathered around hung their heads and slowly dispersed over the compound. "So the tower's still up?" Sonic asked, and Sally nodded. "Hey, it's okay, Sal. Ya win some, ya lose some, right?"
"It's not that easy, Sonic," she answered harshly. "They were trusting me. Putting their faith in me. And I let them down."
Not knowing what else to say, Sonic merely nodded, then turned away and went into his hut, if only to avoid confrontation with the Princess.
The rest of the night was spent in silence, in memory of those brave souls who had fallen. Dinner was made, but no one really felt like eating much. As the sun finally set and the moon shone in the sky the Mobians of Knothole each retired to bed, hoping that somehow in the morning the terrible events of the mission would be put to rest, and the war would continue once more.
Princess Sally Alicia was one of the last to finally turn in. She sat at a table in the commons until everyone else had gone then, as sleep began to gently tug at her heart, she finally got up and silently closed the door to her hut behind her. She pulled off her boots and dropped them to the floor, then collapsed onto her bed and stared at the ceiling, remembering as she often did all those who had fallen to the enemy. Her mind raced, trying to remember the names -- or at the very least, faces -- of those who were no longer with them; she found with anger that she couldn't recall many of them. How many memories, she thought, would have to fade before this infernal war was complete?
Gradually her eyes closed in slumber, her contemplation put to temporary rest. In dreamstate, she found herself back at Robotnik's generator tower, trying futilely again and again to accomplish the mission already failed. And again and again she was forced to watch her compatriots be captured and led away to a horrible unseen fate.
Slowly the imaginary world around her began to fade, first the tower, than the ground beneath her feet, until all that surrounded her was a smoky haze. Unlike most dreams, though, she was still aware of these blank surroundings, and looked around wonderingly, blinking her blue eyes as she tried to make sense of it. She was fully conscious, as if not sleeping at all, merely... detached from her body.
Daughter...
The voice came to her from the haze, a voice she had not heard in a long time. She hardly recognized it, until it repeated its message, and she found the strength to answer. "Daddy?"
A wavering figure was barely visible through the mist before her, and for some reason she didn't follow her initial instinct and run blindly toward it. Instead she stood where she was, staring at the image of King Maximilian Acorn, an echo of the past.
"Is it really you?" she called out, the sorrow she felt from yesterday's mission again surfacing, but for a different reason.
"It's me, Bean," he seemed to smile as he used his old nickname for her. "I have found you at last."
"No, this isn't real," she shook her head, trying to clear her mind. "This is just a dream. You're not here."
"I can't expect you to believe anything I say, especially considering the circumstances." There was a long pause that seemed to stretch for minutes. "Oh, I'm sorry I can't be there for you now. All that you must be going through."
"I've been okay, Daddy," she answered, not truly knowing why she was humoring this figment of her imagination. "Where are you? Can I get to you?"
"I've been imprisoned by Robotnik. Have been since the day he took over; it took me this long to locate you."
"How... are you doing this?"
"It's a long story, Bean. But I can tell you how to find me, if you dare risk your life and the lives of your friends for saving me."
"Father, you're heir to the throne of Mobius! I can't just leave you in Robotnik's dungeon!"
He hung his head. "As you wish. The gateway is in one of the sublevels of the Imperial Palace; I'm not quite sure which one, but just make it inside. I can guide you from there. There's something you must see, for the safety of Mobius itself."
The image began to flicker and waver, and the king's voice grew distressed. "Oh no, he's found me. If you risk it, Bean, come quickly. I'll be waiting for you."
A tear rolled down Sally's cheek. "I will... I love you, Father."
"I love you, too, Sally."
Sonic stood on the front porch of his hut, stretching and yawning and greeting the new day. Although it seemed as if everyone went to bed disappointed the night before, they were all in seemingly bright spirits in the morning, including himself. He jumped to the ground and headed for the commons, greeting his fellow Freedom Fighters as he saw them.
As he passed the lab he saw Tails coming out, and called him over to join him for breakfast. "Hey, little bro, what were ya doin' in Rotor's lab?"
Tails rolled his eyes. "Rotor fell asleep at work again. I was givin' him a blanket."
"Good thinkin', buddy," Sonic said as he found a seat at an unoccupied table, and Tails threw himself into the adjacent chair. It wasn't long before Felix, who had drawn kitchen duty for the day, came over to take their order.
"What'll it be, gents?" he asked, pad of paper and pencil in his hands, ridiculously cliché chef's hat perched on his head.
Sonic folded his hands on the table and raised his eyebrows, adopting one of his strange accents. "What's the special today, my good cat?"
He shrugged. "Eh, whatever."
"I'll take that. How 'bout you, little bro?"
"Bowl of cereal, please."
"All right, you got it, guys," he put the pad away and retreated to the kitchen.
"And I want it brought hot, you hear me, buddy!" Sonic called after him, standing on his chair, raising his fist to the air in mock outrage. "At least, if it's supposed to be! Otherwise not!"
He sat back down, and couldn't resist to smile in response to Tails' suppressed giggling. "Yeah, you think it's funny, don'cha? See how funny it is if you get cold food."
"Cereal's s'posed to be cold, Sonic."
"You know what I mean."
Tails regained composure. "So what trainin' are we gonna to do today?"
Sonic thought about it for a moment. "Well, depends if Sal's got a mission for today or not. Otherwise, maybe we can do some more stuff in the woods. I think next we should do tracking."
"Oooh, tracking," he echoed, genuinely interested. "Sounds like fun."
"Well, maybe," he pondered as Felix returned with their food. "Depends on how we do it." Sonic looked down at the plate set before him, hesitantly prodded its contents with a fork. "Oh, yeah, that's whatever, all right."
"Don't say I didn't warn ya," he answered as he turned back to the kitchen.
Sonic was about to say "when did you warn me?" when a sound behind him caught his attention. He swiveled his head to look, and saw Sally running into the commons, her hair a mess, her clothes wrinkled, her vest collar askew. His thoughts went back to the meeting two weeks before, when she had almost railed off on him for looking like the living dead. Now we'll see who bugs who, he thought to himself, taking a bite of what he hoped were scrambled eggs.
She quickly spotted Sonic and Tails' table, then hurried over and planted her hands down with such force that they both jumped. "He contacted me."
"Who contracted you, Aunt Sally?" Tails asked, sticking a huge spoon of cereal into his mouth.
She got the feeling of the stares around her and took a seat. "My father. He called me last night, Sonic."
"Say what?" he replied, not giving her the chance to ruin his already failing appetite and taking another bite.
"I... don't know how to explain it, but he called me -- telepathically, I guess. He told me where he was and that we should rescue him."
"Tele-pathetic, what now?" Sonic's eyebrows shot up.
"Isn't that where ya talk to their minds?" Tails put his hands to his temples and rocked back and forth in the imitation of some kind of a zombie. Sonic laughed.
"Fine!" Sally jumped to her feet. "I knew you wouldn't understand!" She spotted Antoine across the room, and headed over to him.
"We were jus' havin fun, Aunt Sally," Tails called after her, then returned to his cereal. "Didn't mean nothin' by it."
"Aw, forget about her, little bro," he answered, watching her go as well. "Women, huh? Can't live with 'em... pass the salt."
Tails obliged, not quite getting what he was talking about, in any case. And deep inside, Sonic didn't mean it, anyway.
The rest of breakfast passed quickly, Sonic and Tails chatting it up in their corner of the commons, posing a danger to passers-by with their frequent edible projectiles. When they were finished they went outside, spending some hours in the forest by Sonic teaching Tails about the many foot-marks found in the trees and how you could tell which animal they belonged to. Sonic didn't really put any thought into what Sally was talking about before until they returned to Knothole and found Sally and Antoine armed with knapsacks and heading out into the Great Forest.
"Whoa-ho! Where're you guys goin'?"
"Robotropolis," Sally replied casually. "Not that you'd care."
He ran in front of her. "Just you guys? What'd you have for breakfast, paint thinner? Ro-butt-nik's guards'll squash you before you can get close!"
"So you want to come?"
He crossed his arms. "Now jussa minute. I didn't say that."
"Then please step aside. Antoine and I have things to do."
Sally and Sonic initiated a staring contest of sorts, one so intense Tails found himself backing slowly away. It was a long while before Sonic threw up his hands in disbelief. "Oh, fine! I'm comin'! Can't talk ya out of it, and can't let ya get yourself killed goin' by yourself!"
"And Antoine."
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Antoine, too."
Antoine growled as Sonic ran to the equipment hut to grab a supply pack, then quickly returned, ready to go. The three were about to set off when they heard a faint voice calling out to them. "Wait a sec', you guys. Ah'm comin', too."
They turned wide-eyed to see Bunnie at the door of her hut, trying to make it down the stairs. Sonic zipped over to help her down.
"Are you sure, Bunnie?" Sally asked her. "Do you think you're up to it?"
"More than 'up to it,' Sally-girl," she answered, trying to keep her balance as Sonic let go. "Ah figure ah cain't stay locked up forever. 'Sides, this's important to yah, right? Yer dad'n everything."
"But, Bunnie," Sonic observed. "Your legs. Are they..."
"Aw, they're fine. Just ain't used 'em in a while, that's all. Ah should be back to normal bah the time we reach Robotropolis. That is, if ya'll let me join ya."
"Of course, Bunnie," Sally replied. "Glad to have you back."
"Glad ta be back, Sally-girl," she said, flexing her left arm to loosen the joint. "Jus' lemme get a pack and we'll be off."
Tails stood idly by while Sonic and the others left into the forest. Sometimes he wished he could go with them, but he knew what they would say: "No, Tails, you're too young. It's too dangerous. You might get hurt." It didn't even pay to ask. When at last they were out of sight he turned back to the camp, dragging his feet as he wandered.
It was at this point that Rotor woke up at his desk and meandered outside to get a cup of coffee. He saw Tails shuffling by, and noticed the dejected look on his face. "Hey, little guy. What's up?"
Tails looked up. "Sonic's left again. Him 'n Sally 'n Bunnie 'n Ant left to find Sally's dad... or somethin.'"
"Sally's dad... King Acorn?" he asked skeptically through the steam from his mug. "I thought he was long gone by now."
Tails shrugged. "Sally said somethin' 'bout him callin' her tele-pathetically."
"You mean telepathically?"
"Yeah, that."
"Man, what is Mobius coming to," he muttered as he started for his lab. "I'm out of it for a couple hours and everyone starts getting delusions..."
Tails trotted beside Rotor into the lab, watching his step for the piles of junk -- what everyone but Rotor called it -- scattered about. In one corner, by the desk, was a relatively clean area, but standing smack in the middle of it was a platform almost as tall as Tails was, with steps leading up to it and wires snaking out like tentacles. On the desk was a large schematic printout, and all three of the monitors on the desktop were on. Rotor threw himself into the chair and rolled over to the desk, picking up where he left off.
"What'cha doin', Rotor?"
He looked down to see the young fox head peeking up over the edge of the table. "Trying to make some sense out of these Roboticizor plans," he answered, gesturing at the printout and the screens. "I almost got it last night, but there seems to be a lot of components that either we don't have, or don't fit quite right. I'm making up a list to give to Sally, of all the parts we need."
"Can I help?"
He mulled it over for a moment, trying to think of something the cub could do that wouldn't get in the way too much. "Uh, sure. You can hand me the tools I need when I ask for them, all right?"
That made Tails' day. "'Kay," he squeaked, quickly finding Rotor's toolbox and scraping it all the way to the desk. "Ready!"
Rotor smiled, knowing that this would take longer than it had to, but at the very least Tails might learn something about cybernetic mechanics. Wouldn't that be something, Rotor thought to himself, if Tails grows up to be a techie like me.
The Imperial Tower was the highest point in Robotropolis, but it looked much different than it did the last time Sally was inside. Now its surfaces seemed dark, as if with some kind of inherent evil. That's somewhat true, she thought. There is a great evil within these walls.
Their first objective would be to locate the hidden back door to the palace, one that she still remembered from her childhood. In fact, all four of them may remember it; they used to play here as children, hiding and seeking in the Palace's many hidden nooks and crannies. At times during the trek she would look back at her teammates, seeing their faces betray their inner feelings connected with the place. So many memories, from so long ago.
Their thoughts were preoccupied even as they traveled the streets patrolled by SWATbots and spy drones, but they were able to reach the rear of the tower without incident. It was formerly the "delivery entrance," which led to the kitchens and the storerooms. Hopefully, she pondered as she activated Nicole and proceeded to open the locked door, Robotnik hadn't changed the facility too much.
The door slid open and the four quickly made their way inside; the door closed and sealed shut, enveloping them in darkness. Antoine started to whine, and Sonic started to threaten as Sally reached into her pack for a torch and switched it on with a snapping hiss. The shadows around them were dispelled, and they found themselves in the dusty, ravaged remains of the main kitchen.
"Guess Buttnik doesn't like to cook much," Sonic offered, looking around at the room's disrepair.
"He wouldn't need to, not with a mechanized army," Sally replied dryly, taking in her surroundings as well.
"Ah doubt Robotnik's much of a cook, anyhoo," Bunnie chuckled, looking downright eerie with the glow of the torch reflecting off her left arm and false eye.
"Can we please to be stopping ze chitty-chatter and be leaving zis place? It is to be giving me ze -- as you say -- heebie-jeepers."
"Antoine's right. Let's try to find the door to the south hall. It should wind around the main areas of the palace and lead to an elevator."
Sally led the way as they found the door to the hallway, as she recalled, and into the south hallway, which was almost as desolate as the kitchen. As they proceeded by the glow of the torch, she pulled Nicole from her belt. "Nicole, please analyze the status of the palace power grid."
[Working, Sally... Sections Three through Thirty and Sections Forty-Two through Forty-Nine are offline. The power grid is currently running at ninety-eight-point-six percent output.]
"What's up Sal?" Sonic asked, seeing the look of concentration on her face.
"Robotnik's turned off the power in about half of the Palace, but the output's almost the same. He must have some pretty big machinery working somewhere."
"Sal, this is Robotnik. He's got the Roboticizor, SWATbot factories, comm towers..."
"Not all in the same building," she answered, turning her head to face him as she walked. "He doesn't have any production facilities in this whole sector; our own recon proved that. And his main Roboticizor is three kilometers away."
"Oh. Well, maybe he's got the palace stocked full of-"
"Booby traps?" Sally finished, her voice seeming to echo ominously through the hallway.
"... That's not what I was gonna say," he replied too quickly.
"Still, everyone be careful where you step."
The four continued on through the darkness of the hallway, all eyes peeled for SWATbots or any kind of trap on the walls. Fortunately, though, Robotnik didn't think of any obvious security measures for the south end of the palace, and they were able to evade detection. As they neared the elevator, however, the thought nagging at Sally's mind generated a cohesive thought. "There's no power." Everyone turned to look at her; she elaborated. "How is the elevator supposed to work with no power to this section?"
An inaudible moan was shared by all. "Hey, no prob," Sonic spoke up. "We just gotta go to the power station and flip a switch, right? No biggie."
"Yes, biggie," Sally replied. "First of all, it's going to be guarded. Heavily. Second of all, I don't even think it's in this building, if I remember the maps right."
Bunnie blinked her good eye. "So what're we gonna do, Sally-girl?"
A whisper. Sally spun on her heel, lifting the torch and peering into the darkness down the hallway. There was nothing she could see, but she was sure she heard something. "Did you guys hear that?"
"Hear what, Sal?"
She squinted in concentration. "It was... something."
"I am not 'earing anything, Princess," Antoine said; then, after a pause. "Per'aps it is your father come to 'elp you."
Sonic gave a loud sigh. "Oh, gimme a break, Ant! Sal's dad is locked in prison, remember? He's not gonna sneak out to help us rescue him!"
"Maybe it was," Sally whispered. "He said we'd have to get in, then he'd guide us along."
Even Sonic stayed quiet at that one. There was a long moment where no sound was uttered, save for the mute hissing of the torch in Sally's hand. Then came the impatient tap, tap, tap of Sonic's sneaker on the floor.
"Wait. Do you hear that?"
"Sorry," Sonic answered.
"Not you," Sally scowled. "Listen."
It was a high-pitched whine that rose in crescendo all around them, seeming to come from the very walls of the corridor. Sally's quickly doused the torch, and they could plainly see the lights in the ceiling beginning to glow brighter, sparking occasionally. "It's a power surge!" Sally shouted above the din. "Come on!"
They took off at a run down the hallway, Sally hoping that the elevator was somewhere nearby. The electric whine of the surge grew in intensity around them, and she could feel the hairs on her neck standing up. The elevator was now visible around the bend, the door snapping open and closed spasmodically. "Everyone inside!"
"Allow me, Sally-girl," Bunnie called, running past the group and placing herself in the doorway, using her left arm to keep the erratic machinery from crushing them on their way in. They all jumped in, then Bunnie entered herself, allowing the door to slide shut.
As soon as it did, it sealed shut, and the lights in the car died. "Zat is all, yes?" Antoine asked worriedly.
Then the aftershock came. The doors stayed closed, but now the main lights began flickering on and off, then the button controls started flashing sporadically. The entire car was acting -- for lack of better word in Sally's vocabulary -- possessed.
Then as soon as it had started it was over once more. The lights stayed on this time, and everyone looked around, each of their faces asking "What the heck was that?"
"So then..." Bunnie swallowed. "Where to?"
Antoine's mouth opened and he pointed to the controls. "It looks as if someone has already shosen for us."
They all looked, to see the selector LED for "S4" -- sublevel four -- was lit up. A beep sounded, followed by a click, then the entire car lurched into descent. Unable to do anything about their destination, Sally played the defensive card. She pulled the pistol from her bag, taking the right side of the door while ordering Antoine to cover the left. Sonic and Bunnie stayed behind them, ready as backup. After each floor came a ding until the car slowed as it reached the fourth basement level. The doors slid silently open to reveal...
Nothing. The group breathed a collective sigh of relief, then exited out into a new hallway, one that Sally couldn't quite remember the floor plan for. She reached for her computer. "Nicole, switch to auto-map mode, please."
The palmtop's screen changed to a schematic of winding lines to represent their position, and the lines kept drawing themselves as they continued down the hall to the east. Okay, father. Which way? she thought silently to herself, hoping somehow he could hear her.
The hallway seemed to stretch for meters, and Sally faintly recalled hearing about how the subterranean tunnels covered an area far wider than the base of the palace; she wondered exactly how far. At long last the interior lighting of the section of corridor beyond was visible, and Sally extinguished the torch as they neared, slowly.
There were doors on each side of the hall, labeled as to their contents. Most were storage rooms, but one in particular caught Sally's eye: it read, simply "RECORDS." She opened it, glad to see it both unlocked and unguarded. Inside were stacks of printed media, probably taken from the old palace library. In the center of the room was a large cylindrical server, with a control panel in front. She approached it slowly, knowing how fond Robotnik was of making things appear too easy. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, hoping this wasn't some trap they had walked into. After weighing the options she tapped a key, then jumped back as the machine switched on, commands being entered automatically from the prompt.
"Sal, what'd you do?" Sonic asked, coming up behind her.
"N-nothing! It's running by itself!"
The text finally stopped scrolling, and Sally looked at the screen. It now displayed the historical records pertaining to the year 3224, the year of Robotnik's coup of the throne. Her eyes flashed as she read the accounts, especially the last one, where the cursor had stopped printing: "3225 (103): Acorn banished to Void." It was short and succinct, chilling in its simplicity. "Void?" What was that?
"Oh my gosh," she shook her head, pulling out Nicole and ordering a download of the information on the screen. Not willing to press her luck with any other tampering, she closed down the terminal and hurried back to the hallway.
"What was that all about?" Sonic asked. "She looked like she'd seen a ghost."
"A ghost is what we will becoming if we are not getting out of 'ere!"
"Quiet, Antoine," Bunnie scolded. "Are we leavin' now, Sally-girl?"
The Princess looked over the information, then closed her eyes. Whatever the voice was that had come to her upstairs, it was still pushing her onward, as if they weren't quite finished here yet. "We're going on."
After they had passed the storage wing, there was another long stretch of empty corridor, as if the palace engineers had just kept building the hallway without thinking of putting anything in it. It continued for some time, until there was also a set of large double doors in the left wall. Sally looked at them curiously, then to her teammates. They slid open at her approach, and the four entered, staring at disbelief at the sight before them. "Well," Sonic offered, "there's your machinery, Sal."
It was a room almost as wide as the palace itself, stretching for two -- maybe three -- floors. Worker 'bots of all shapes and sizes milled about, running for equipment and working on the large device in the center of the space. As it was in a largely unfinished state, and it was obviously only part of a larger machine, it was impossible to tell what it was, other than huge.
Sally spoke distractedly to her computer. "Nicole, begin recording."
[Complying, Sally.]
"Whoa," was all Sonic could say. Antoine was speechless.
"'Something I need to show you...'"
Sonic looked to Sally. "Huh?"
"That's what my father said, or whoever it was in my head last night. He said, 'There's something I need to show you, for the safety of Mobius.'"
"So it's some kind of weapon, Sal?"
"Or a part of one. It's far from finished, whatever it is. I'll show Rotor the tapes, maybe he can make sense of it."
"Oh mah stars..." Bunnie voice finally found her. "Ah can hear them."
"Say what?" Sonic spun around to face her.
"Ah can hear the 'bots, in my head. Ah hear what they're sayin' to each other."
Sally and Sonic exchanged worried glances. Bookshire said that one of the effects of Bunnie's new condition was that she could pick up communications frequencies of 'bots in her vicinity. No one knew exactly what kind of effect that would have, or if she could be remotely controlled by Robotnik as well. Now it seemed as if his theory was proving correct.
"What are they saying, Bunnie?"
"Ah... don't know. There's too many of 'em," she raised her hands to her ears, but it did no good. "They're talkin' 'bout somethin' called... Doomsday."
"That ain't good," Sonic stated the obvious.
"All right, that's enough," Sally spoke up, putting away her equipment and turning to the door. "We've done all we can. We're leaving."
They helped Bunnie out into the hall, and her breathing came easier as the voices in her head faded. They doubled back to the elevator, which had stayed on from the power surge, then headed back to Knothole.
Rotor sat hunched over his desk, eyes glued to the computer screen, hand over his mouth as he focused on what it was he was seeing. "Well, it's big, that's for sure."
"We already knew that, Rote," Sonic replied, tapping his foot impatiently.
He pushed his swivel chair away. "Other than that, there's not much I can tell you. It's not finished enough."
"Is there anything you can tell us, Rotor?" Sally approached. "Anything at all?"
"Well..." he answered slowly, turning back. "See this here?" He pointed to a point on the monitor. "That's got to be a power supply of some kind, kind of small but who knows what it's for? This over here looks like a cockpit, two-man. Again, there's nothing in it right now so I can't tell you what they're controlling."
Sally frowned. "That's better than nothing, I suppose. Thanks Rotor."
"No problem, ma'am," Rotor replied and moved to turn off the monitor.
"Whoa, hold it!" Sonic yelled, running over to the desk, staring at it intently. "That part right there! Rote, can you blow that up?"
"Uh, sure, hold on." He tapped some buttons on his console, and the part of the screen Sonic motioned to was magnified.
"Holy Mobius, that's him!"
"Who, Sonic?" Sally asked, peering over his shoulder.
He spun to face her, pointing at the worker bot from the background. "That's Uncle Chuck!"
Revision history:
08 /04 /04 :: added HTML formatting, revised Bunnie's accented dialogue (I was getting complaints from my southern girlfriend )