12 /08 /03; reformatted: 12 /14 /03
**FREEDOM FIGHTERS OF MOBIUS**
Sonic the Hedgehog Neo Redux
By Antipode Echidna
e-mail: SonicNeoRedux@yahoo.com
Mobian Time Frame: Year 3237, Day 098
Episode: DOOM, Part 2 -- Recon
Story (c) 2003 by the author. Based on characters created by Sega, DiC Productions, and/or Archie Comics Group, used without permission, but protected by totally rad copyright laws... Woo-hoo!
Other characters:
Bookshire Draftwood (c) Bookshire Draftwood / David Pistone.
Kara and Grease (c) Antipode Echidna / Adam Czech. Please ask permission before using any of my charas, thanx!
Tails made his way slowly through the streets of Robotropolis, humming nervously to himself as he stayed alert for any sign of movement. He adjusted the straps on his pack, which was heavy on his shoulders. Several times in the past hour he had thought that he was lost, but figured out where he was again soon enough. He had been here before, with Sonic, so he knew what he was doing. He wished Sonic was there with him now, though, at least then he wouldn't feel so alone.
And scared.
It was cold. Tails reached down to zip his jacket as he walked. He was almost to the Imperial Tower, he thought. Or was he? He couldn't really be sure. Night was falling, and everything looked different.
The fox kid stopped, bringing down his knapsack and opening it. On the top, resting on all the equipment the pack contained, was his letter, folded carefully into thirds. He reached past it, finding the torch on the side of the pack. He pulled it out, screwing on the attachment that turned it into a unidirectional flashlight.
He clicked it on, shining it around him at the darkness of the city. He was getting tired, but he had to keep going. He had to deliver his message, then he could go home and sleep.
"Tails, come in. Tails!"
He looked around frantically, not realizing for the first couple moments that the voice was coming from his radio. He pulled it from inside his jacket and pressed the button. "Sonic? Is that you?"
The hedgehog did his best to restrain his anger. "*Don't move*, little bro. I'm gonna come getcha. Just don't move!"
Tails stared at the radio for a moment after Sonic's voice stopped, blinking. He didn't really know where he was going, anyway, so he was happy Sonic finally found him. He took a seat on the sidewalk, looking around and hoping he wasn't too far away.
That's when he heard it: the rhythmic metallic march of SWATbots.
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
Sonic glanced down at the screen as he ripped through the city streets, trying to get a fix on Tails' position. It was a scanner capable of tracing a comm signal from the radios they used at Knothole, so as long as it was on he would know where Tails was. His brows were set in a look of complete determination, and he wished he could find someone to blame for all this.
*How could Tails have done this?* he thought to himself. *He knows it's dangerous to go to Robotropolis alone! Too dangerous...* the words echoed in his mind, reminding him of when Sally used to say such things to him, when he was trying to... bring Tails to Robotropolis with him. Could Tails have gotten this crazy idea from him?
He shook his head to himself. No way. Tails was smarter than that, he had to be. *Tails is a cool kid,* Sonic thought. *He wouldn't do something like this unless he had a good reason, or at least a good reason to him.*
He skidded around the corner at an intersection, now heading north. He was close now, he could see. It wouldn't be too far until...
Sonic slowed to a stop as he neared the signal point, helplessness coming back to him as he saw that Tails wasn't there. Only his radio, nearly smashed to pieces, resting on the cracked concrete of the sidewalk.
He swore as he bent over to examine the remains. Robotnik had him now. He stood and turned until he could see the pinnacle of the Imperial Tower rising through the smog. "You've got two options, hedgehog," he said to himself. "Go back to Knothole and tell 'em Ro-Buttnik got Tails, or..."
It was just him, against however many SWATbots he had in the building. Not very good odds, he had to admit. Still, time was of the essence, and he was the only one out here. "Get ready, little bro," he whispered. "I'm comin' for ya."
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
Tails groaned as his eyes fluttered open. His head hurt. He tried sitting up, but his wrists and ankles were shackled to a table, rotated forty-five degrees from the floor. He remembered the SWATbots coming, and he tried to run, but they got him anyway. Now he guessed he was in Robotnik's dungeon, or something.
No sooner had he regained consciousness than the door before him slid open silently, and Doctor Robotnik stepped in. At first Tails thought he looked kind of funny: he was really fat, for one, the sort of fat that made you really round in the middle, like an egg. The humor in his physique faded as soon as he saw his robotic arm, and both of his false, dark eyes staring at him. He shivered.
"So, it seems I've captured a little whelp in my streets," he hissed. "Where did you come from?"
"I ain't tellin' you anything, Ro-Buttnik!" Tails spat.
The man straightened. "I see you fraternize with a certain hedgehog I've grown to hate. That must mean you know the location of their base. Tell me where it is and I may show you mercy."
"No way."
"I see," he said slowly, then turned to Snively. "Prepare the roboticizor and inject this miscreant with the serum."
"Oh, at once, sir," Snively replied with a touch of sadistic glee.
"Did you have the SWATbots search him?"
"Yes, sir," the balding little man replied from behind him. "He wasn't armed, *obviously*, but he did have this in his backpack."
"What is it, Snively?" he asked staring down at the paper in his iron fist.
"It was addressed to you, sir. I felt it would be intrusive to-"
"Just shut up and inject him already!"
"Yes, sir," Snively nearly growled, tapping the tip of the green-filled syringe.
Tails looked out of the corner of his eye at Snively, who glanced back with an evil grin on his face. The needle was lowered to his neck and the man prepared to strike. The fox shouted out at Robotnik. "Aren't ya even gonna read it first, Egg-head?"
"Oh, fine," he answered, rolling his eyes, "if not just to shut you up." He unfolded the paper and tried to navigate Tails' scribbly manuscript:
"Dear Doctor Robotnik,
"I am writing you this letter to tell you a little about myself. I am 9 years old. My name is Miles, but everyone calls me Tails. I have two of them, because I grew up next to a river that you polluted. I have always known this, but I was thinking about it today I got angry at you.
"I am a Freedom Fighter, and we are constantly fighting you and your robots to take back things you stole from us. But you took away something that I can never get back. You took away the chance for a normal childhood for me, the chance to grow up in a city as great as Mobitropolis, and you made me a mutant. You changed me, Doctor Robotnik, and not with your stupid old 'Robotcisor.' You made me different in a way no one can ever reverse.
"We will defeat you, Doctor Robotnik. We will defeat your army and bring you to justice. I only hope that I will be there to help defeat your 'great empire.'
"You're going down. That is a threat. That is my promise.
"Sincerely,
"Miles 'Tails' Prower"
Robotnik looked up slowly at the prisoner strapped to his torture table. He now saw how angry the kid was as he glared back at him, and now was aware of the two tails that draped to the floor behind him. There was another moment of silence, then Robotnik spoke again in his low, throaty voice, his eyes returning to their usual scowl: "You spelled roboticizor wrong."
"Wait, I-"
"Snively! Inject the mutant!"
"At once, sir!"
The needle was forcibly jabbed into Tails' neck, and he cried out as its contents were slowly and painfully forced into his bloodstream. After what seemed like an eternity it was finally removed, and he was left panting and sweating on the table. Snively calmly placed the syringe back into its case and stood to leave.
Tails groggily opened his eyes, squinting as his vision began to blur. Robotnik's mouth started moving, but there was an obnoxious buzzing in his ears that prevented him from hearing what was said. He squeezed his eyes shut again, wishing the pain would stop, but it kept getting stronger and harder.
When he cracked them open again the room was bathed in red, a flashing red light from an alarm somewhere. Robotnik and Snively quickly departed, and he was left alone. But soon a familiar blue hedgehog ran into the room and began undoing the table's restraints. "Don't worry, buddy," his mouth moved silently. "You're safe now..."
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
"Whaddya mean, 'there's nothing you can do?'"
"Exactly that," Bookshire answered. "The only thing Robotnik did was inject him with the roboticizor serum. The only way to remove that is a full blood transfusion."
"But he couldn't see or hear me?" Sonic protested, fists clenched. "That sounds like he did somethin'!"
The doctor shook his head. "That's worn off by now, he's responding just fine. He's going to be weak for a while, but there's no lasting damage."
Sally looked past Bookshire's shoulder at Tails' sleeping form. "Try not to be too hard on him, Princess?" the doctor suggested. "He is a child, after all."
She sighed. "Yes... he is."
Granted, it was a stupid thing that Tails had done, going off to Robotropolis, nonetheless alone. He was lucky to be alive, to tell the truth. But he was, and for that Sally was grateful. Everyone loved Tails, and if he would have been lost...
Sonic looked back to his friend in the bed. "Is he awake?"
Bookshire nodded. "You can talk to him, but be kind. He's been through enough hell for one day..."
Sonic slowly approached the bed, being struck that he had his best friend in one cot, and his long-lost uncle in the one over. He sat down between them, wondering what he was supposed to feel at a time like this. Anger? Sadness? Grim irony?
He sighed and smiled to himself, whatever he was feeling being drowned out by his outward projection. "Hey, buddy..."
Tails slowly opened his eyes, turning his head to look at Sonic. "Hey, Sonic," he managed, his voice weaker than usual.
"How ya feelin', Little Bro?"
"Pretty lousy," the kid forced a smile, glad that Sonic wasn't yelling at him.
He nodded. "Bookshire says you're gonna be fine, though. You just gotta get some rest, all right?"
"Okay."
Sonic hung his head, glancing down at the floor of the hut. His adrenaline was wearing off, and his head felt light. His eyes squeezed shut, and he could feel the moisture under the lids.
Tails noticed, too. "Sonic, are you cryin'?"
"Naw," he answered quickly, "just got somethin' in my eye, that's all."
The fox smiled, knowing all too well Sonic's tactics at avoiding discussing his feelings. He rolled onto his side to face him. "Sonic... Thanks, for rescuin' me."
"Hey, no prob, buddy. If I didn't get ya outta there, who would?"
He smiled, then rolled back over to get some rest. Sonic waited a moment, then stood, and headed for the door.
"Sonic?"
He smiled and turned. "Yeah, Tails?"
In the darkness he could hear his stirring. "Have you... ever seen Robotnik? Face to face?"
He thought. "No, I don't think I ever have. Why, is he scary?"
"No," the kid almost giggled. "He's kinda funny. He's fat as an egg!"
"An egg?" Sonic chuckled.
"Yeah!" Tails sat up in the cot. "He's an Egg-head!"
Sonic laughed. "An Egg-face!"
"He's an Egg-man!"
It took a moment before the laughter between them faded. "G'night, buddy."
"G'night, Sonic."
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
Morning came too quickly for everyone. For Sonic it was only six hours of sleep, for Sally only slightly more. They met in the commons, both looking haggard and neither saying a word, which was a first.
"Good morning, Sonic," Sally yawned. "How's Tails?"
"I checked on him this morning, it's like nothin' ever happened to him. The kid's gotta quick recovery time."
"Good, because Kara was telling me that the Freedom Stormer should be finished today. It would be a shame of Tails had to miss that."
"The Freedom what?"
"That's what Tails calls the plane. It was so cute, it stuck."
He nodded, then stopped. "Hey, Sal, there's something that Tails said last night that got me thinkin': how many of us have actually seen Robotnik? In person?"
She stopped eating her breakfast and thought for a moment. "And came back to Knothole? It can't be that many... Bunnie saw him, I know that..."
"And she got, ya know," he said, gesturing with his left arm.
"Yeah. Apart from Bunnie and Tails, no one comes to mind. Well, *I* saw him, too, but that was a while ago."
"Wow..." he breathed. "That just blows *my* mind. I mean, *I* haven't even seen him, really."
"How's Uncle Chuck? Is he awake yet?" she asked and took a bite.
"Not yet, but Booker said it should be any time today."
"Good. Sir Charles has a lot of information concerning my father and the resistance. It would do well to have him back at full capacity as soon as possible."
"Couldn't agree more, Sal," Sonic said, taking a bite of his own breakfast. "I was plannin' on seeing 'em again after breakfast, wanna come?"
"I think I will. I was headed that way myself."
They ate quickly, then headed for the med-hut. As they neared the door they could hear Bookshire's agitated voice: "Please eat something!"
"No, no! I wanna go out an' eat with Sonic!"
"And I told you, you can go out as soon as you eat something, now here."
Sonic and Sally exchanged glances before pushing the door open. "Do what Booker says, Tails."
The raccoon looked over at them and sighed. "Thank you."
"Oh, fine," Tails grumped and took the plate the doctor had been trying to give him. He sat down in the bed and set it on his lap, taking a bite as he watched them enter.
"I see Tails is doing well," Sally smiled at the kid.
"And he's a pain to handle when he's not sedated," Bookshire smiled back. "I promised him he could leave as soon as I saw him eat a decent breakfast."
"How's the other patient?"
Bookshire turned to face Uncle Chuck's bed. "He's still out, unfortunately. I did some tests, though, and his implants are going into remission, as planned." He sighed. "But, like Tails, he still has the nanobots in his system, those won't be coming out."
Sonic looked up. "Won't that mean he'll get roboticized again?"
"No, it just means that Robotnik won't have to inject him again before turning on his machine. Any nearby power source seems to trigger the nanobots to resume their programming, but we're talking about a *massive* power generator. Nothing else I've seen comes close to the roboticizor, so they should have no problems."
There was a short clatter as Tails dropped the tray onto the table beside his bed. "I'm done. Can I go now?"
"Yes you can, Tails," Bookshire answered. "Thank you for cooperating with me."
Tails ran for the door, and Sally called out to him. "Tails, go talk to Kara! She was looking for you before!"
There was a stirring in the next bed over. "Can't a guy get some sleep around here?"
All heads in the room turned to face Chuck, who was struggling to sit up in his bed. "Unc!" Sonic cried, embracing him a tight hug.
"Oh! Glad to see you, too, Sonic," he chuckled in his low, gravely voice. "Now, would someone mind telling me what in blazes is going on?"
"Sal can take care of that," Sonic answered.
Bookshire stepped out of the way for Sally to approach. "Hello, Charles."
"Princess Sally Alicia," he said slowly, a smile coming to his old face. "My, it has been a long time. The last time I saw you, you were knee-high to a grasshopper! You're the very image of your mother."
She smiled, almost blushing. "We've freed you from Robotnik. You're in Knothole Village, west of Robotropolis."
"I figured that much," he said, looking around the interior of the hut. "I've completely lost track of time, though. How long has Robotnik been in power?"
"Almost twelve years now," she replied, sitting at the foot of the bed. "How much do you remember, since you've been roboticized?"
"Oh, I remember all of it," he sighed, as if that was a curse.
Sonic spoke up. "But I thought when you're roboticized, you-"
"Don't know what's going on?" Chuck finished. "Oh, we know, we just can't *do* anything about it. All our actions are controlled by Robotnik's computers."
"Bookshire, is Charles well enough to leave the bed? If he can walk we could show him around Knothole, and introduce him to everyone here."
"I suppose it's all right," he answered slowly. "But, just to warn you, there has been some atrophy in his muscles. That will take time to heal."
"Well, then some walkin' will do ya some good!" Sonic said. "Let's go, Unc!"
Sonic and Bookshire helped Chuck out of bed, and he stumbled slightly when his feet hit the ground. "I can get a wheelchair," Bookshire offered, "if you want-"
"I don't need any wheelchair, doc," Chuck replied steadfastly. "I've got to learn how to walk eventually, might as well start now."
Sally and Sonic were able to help Chuck outside with a minimum of difficulty. As Sonic helped him down the steps, Sally cried out loud enough for everyone to hear: "Could I have everyone's attention, please! I'd like you all to meet Sir Charles, our first successful target of deroboticization!"
An uproar went up from around the courtyard, and the assorted freedom fighters quickly made their way over to them, shouting and laughing and all talking at once. They were able to guide Chuck over to the commons, where he very gratefully took a seat and let the swarm of Mobians surround him.
"Chuck! Hey, Chuck! Excuse me, please..."
The crowd parted as much as it could to allow Rotor to squeeze through until he could see the man plainly. "It worked! Oh, man!"
Sonic put a hand on the techie's shoulder. "Unc, this is Rotor. He's the one who's been working on the deroboticizor all this time."
"Rotor, of course! I remember you. You used to come to the palace at times, and play with Sally and the others at the preschool, right?"
He chuckled. "That was a long time ago, but yes, sir, that's me. Let me tell you I'm a big fan of your work, sir. I've been going through the 'pre-Robotnik' records and a lot of your designs... well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
Uncle Chuck looked around at the crowd, seeing mostly strangers. "If Rotor's here with you two, then that must mean..." He spotted the two coming over to their table. "Or course, here they come!"
"*Bonjour*, Uncle Chuck!"
"Hey, Charlie!"
Antoine and Bunnie got as close as they could to the table, all smiles. "I remember you two! Antoine, still working on that accent, I see."
He smiled. "I am getting there."
Chuck tried remembering back past the decade. "And... Georgia, wasn't it?"
"Well, yeah," she answered. "But I ain't heard that name in a long time." She brought up her metallic left arm so he could see it. "Ever'body mostly calls me 'Bunnie Rabbot.' Kind of a nickname."
"Oh. So, you've been looking forward to this more than anybody."
She nodded. "You could say that. Oh, I cain't believe this is finally happenin'!" Bunnie laughed.
"Anothair step to a free Mobius," Antoine nodded.
Charles sighed. "You've all grown up so much."
Chuck was distracted from his reverie by a tugging on his left sleeve, and looked down to see the small fox kid looking up at him. "Hi, Uncle Chuck!" he spouted enthusiastically. "I'm Tails!"
"You certainly are!" he laughed, giving his hair a shake. "Well, aren't you the adorable little nipper?"
Sally and Sonic introduced Chuck to the rest of the Knothole freedom fighters for the next couple hours, which was somewhat exhausting for all of them. They spent the time until lunch discussing Bookshire's treatment plan for him, so that he would feel in the loop. They found Rotor eating with them, and he gradually influenced the conversation to turn to Chuck's past experiments.
"So, Chuck," Rotor had started, talking around the food in his mouth. "What were you working on before the roboticizor project?"
"Oh, let me think... That was a *long*, long time ago. The roboticizor was the culmination of my years of cybernetic research, implants and bio-mechanics and what-have-you. Before that I was mainly concerned with electronics in general, that's when I built Nicole."
Sonic's eyes widened. "Whoa, you built Nicole, too?"
"The prototype, anyway. It took until shortly before Robotnik's takeover to iron out all the bugs. That's when King Max commissioned me to build one for you, Princess Sally, as a birthday gift."
"I remember," Sally smiled, mind recollecting events from happier times.
"They were set to go on the market in only a couple months, even though they were deathly expensive. Suffice it to say, the coup put a dent in our development schedule."
"Oh!" Rotor remembered, reaching into his vest pocket and producing a black-and-white photocopy, which he set on the table. "Speaking of your latest projects, what's that thing, anyway?"
Sally and Sonic both leaned in to see. "Aw, man," Sonic groaned. "I almost forgot about that one."
Chuck took a look at the picture, skepticism crossing his features. "When did you take this?"
"We were there a couple times," Rotor replied, taking another bite as if they were talking about the weather. "It's called Doomsday, right?"
"Yes..." Chuck's mind seemed preoccupied. "It's a weapon Robotnik's building. There were construction sites all over Robotropolis making pieces of it. About a year-and-a-half, two years ago all the pieces were moved to another position entirely and put together by another team."
"Yeah, but what is it?" Sonic asked.
"To tell you the truth, Sonie, I just don't know. Robotnik only gave us enough information to let us build our section of it. He's paranoid that way."
Rotor pulled out a rough blueprint of the machine and placed it on top of the photo. "So what do all these sections do?" He noticed the amused look Sonic was giving him. "What? I was bored one day, I drew up a schem."
"It's one of the launch/control arms. It's a two-man cockpit. Their goal is to send out the weapons pods and control them remotely from the safety of the air."
"Wait," Sally held up her hands. "Weapons... pods? Perhaps you should explain, Charles."
"Right, sorry. As far as I can tell, the Doomsday sends out small hover-pods filled with short-range weaponry, that can be controlled by each cockpit setup. I guess Robotnik plans on searching all of Mobius for the resistance cells, wiping them out one by one."
"So, he's finally graduated past 'annoyed,'" she grinned. "I think I know where it's being built, too. Some of the other cells reported seeing a massive structure being built not far from Blue Canyon. Based on the description they gave us it could be Doomsday."
"Do you have a remote uplink terminal here?" Charles asked, mind already working out a plan.
"Yeah," Rotor replied, "in the lab. Why?"
"I may be able to hack into Robotnik's data network and find the exact location of Doomsday. I still remember most of the codes he *downloaded* into me, so it might work."
"If you think you're up to it, Charles, by all means, go ahead. Rotor will help you out with whatever you need."
"Thank you, Sally," he smiled. "It's not hard to see why everyone here looks up to you."
Kara approached the rail at the edge of the commons and leaned her head in. "Princess Sally? Can I see you for a second?"
"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen," she said and stood. She crossed the short distance to the edge of the commons. "What is it, Kara?"
"We're making arrangements for the Freedom Stormer's maiden flight," the mechanic told her, "and we've got a seat extra. You interested?"
"Sure, I'll come. I'm glad you thought of me."
"Well, you were first on the list. With all the hours you put in flying the old cargo pod we used to have, you were a natural candidate."
"When were you planning on leaving?"
"We're starting pre-flights now. If you come on over I can show you the controls."
"I'll be over as soon as I'm done here," she said. Kara nodded and left, and Sally returned to the table. She wasted no time getting back to business. "Sonic, we need visual confirmation on the Doomsday tower. If Charles is right, we're going to need a battle plan, and quickly."
"So ya want me to juice out there and take a look? No prob!"
She nodded. "When you get within visual range, call back to Charles on the radio and tell him what it looks like, and where the exact coordinates are. If it is Doomsday, we need to get moving."
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
Like the fine-tuned machine Knothole had been developed to be, the two plans went swiftly into action. As Sonic departed for the Blue Canyon in the west, the Freedom Stormer took off from their impromptu airstrip in a clearing away from camp. Kara was flying, with Sally in the copilot's seat, and Grease and Tails in the back.
Using Uncle Chuck's directions Sonic was able to reach the canyon in just under an hour. He looked around, unable to see anything resembling a deadly super-weapon. "Where is it, Unc?" he spoke into the radio. "I don't see anything."
"It's there, Sonie, about a league north. It will be kind of hard to find -- most of it's underground."
The hedgehog took off again, jumping down into the canyon and speeding off as soon as he hit the ground. It wasn't long after he exited the ravine that he saw the massive structure emerging from the ground ahead. Compared to most of the buildings in Robotropolis it was nothing special, but in pretty much the middle of nowhere it dwarfed everything around it.
Sonic stopped to make sure he was out of sight of whomever might have been guarding the place, then picked up his radio. He described the building to Chuck, who sighed as soon as he was finished. "That's it, Sonie, I'm sure of it. Head on back, we can tell Princess Sally when she returns."
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
After an hour or two of flying and putting the plane through its paces, Kara decided to make a landing and inspect the engine. They were able to spot a small glen below them, one wide enough to allow for the wingspan of the craft. While Kara inspected the plane Sally began looking around, realizing that she had never been this way before. The trees and plants around the clearing were unfamiliar to her, and she took a small sampling of what she saw to bring back to Knothole.
The ride back was a quiet flight, until the little monkey decided to inject some excitement into the trip. Grease leaned over to Tails, eyes narrowed. "So, kid..." he said slowly, sounding like some kind of drug dealer. "I heard you, uh, took off and went to Robotropolis, huh?"
Tails turned to him, shocked. "You know about that?"
"Pssh. The whole *camp* knows about that! Everyone's talkin' about what a stupid little kid you are."
"I'm not stupid," Tails pouted, trying to inch farther away from him. "I got confused, that's all."
"Whatever, buddy. You're just lucky Robotnik didn't get to you, or you'd never see Knothole again."
"He did get me..." Tails replied slowly, rubbing the spot on his neck where he had been injected. "But I'm still here."
Grease obviously didn't hear him, and began looking out the window. When a loud *thump* sounded in the cabin he looked up quickly. "What was that?"
"Just a little turbulence," Kara called back. "Looks like a small storm starting up. Nothing big."
But in only a few minutes, the storm had grown in intensity, until they could barely see out their windows from the rain coming down. The pattering of the drops on the outer skin of the plane made it hard to hear anything else. "We're still okay," Kara yelled. "I've got autopilot set to Knothole."
"How far away are we?" Sally called.
"We'll be back in three minutes," she answered. "That is, if we don't-"
The windows around the plane suddenly lit up, and the air was torn by the titanic crash of thunder. Then the lightning was inside, sparking and dancing off the control board. It lashed out like fire across the two front chairs, playing off the walls and ceiling before finally dying down. The plane violently lurched to one side and began a corkscrewing descent to the ground.
"What was that?" Grease freaked. He looked up, seeing that Sally and Kara had both slumped forward in their chairs, and were not moving. "Oh my god, oh my god! No one's flying the plane! We're gonna die!"
"Chill out!" Tails unbuckled his belt and worked his way up into the front of the cockpit. "Aunt Sally?" No response.
Tails had to act quickly. "Grease, help me move 'em."
The chimp stammered a reply, then helped Tails unbuckle the two women and move them to the back. Tails jumped into the pilot's chair, ordering Grease to the one beside. "Now do exactly as I tell you, or we're going to die."
He nodded vigorously. Tails gripped the steering yoke tightly, pulling back with all his might. It took a moment for the controls to respond, but the plane was eventually leveled a good distance from the ground. "See if the radio works," he told him, concentrating on flying the plane. He had never flown in conditions like that before, and had only been in the air a handful of times besides. But he had helped build almost every inch of the craft, and liked to think he knew what he was doing.
"The radio's out!" Grease flipped out again.
"The lightning shorted out all the electronics," Tails observed. "Which means the autopilot's gone, too."
"Ah! What're we gonna do!"
"We're going to land, somewhere," he answered, peering out the window and trying to make out anything outside. He looked for the window wiper controls, but they were already at maximum, which didn't help in the downpour.
Tails had to check the artificial horizon to make sure he was going straight. Now he was grateful he had been talking to Kara while she was fixing the plane, and knew what direction they had been heading before. He tapped the compass on the dash, then made the changes to his heading accordingly. Now all that was left was to find a suitable landing area.
As he was looking out the window the rain suddenly slowed; not stopped, but noticeably diminished. He could see the forest around him, much closer than Tails expected it to be. Then he saw a clearing in the cloud of trees ahead, which was as good a place as any. He extended the landing gear, his mind running through the landing procedures Kara had taught him.
It was shorter than the landing strip, but it was too late to change now. As soon as they cleared the trees he dropped the plane sharply, the wheels skidded against the ground. Tails reached over to kill the engine, and the plane made a bone-jarring drop onto the grass. When at long last the craft slowed to a stop mere feet from the tree line, Tails released his breath. He had done it.
He turned to Grease, who was clutching his chair in a white-knuckled grip. "Let's get back to Knothole. Sally and Kara need help."
**END OF CHAPTER**
MESSAGE FROM THE MAN: Workin' Mah Way Up...
Putting my fics up on FanFiction.net (FF.N for those in the know) has been great! I've got three reviews now! So, lemme give a shout out to Ambre, Angnix, and Aiglon15: *arigato* ya'll! (Ya see, I got this all figured out, start at the A's and work my way up from there ^_^)
-AE
AS WE WENT TO PRINT:
RamenNoodles from FF.N was gracious enough to send me a review as well, along with the shocking news that NONE OF NICOLE'S DIALOGUE WAS SHOWING UP! GOOD GOOGA-MOOGA! The prob was that instead of quotation marks ("") I was using triangular brackets (, see they don't show up!), which the FF.N compiler recognizes as HTML tags, heh... I went through and changed it all to straight brackets (||), so it's there now, if you want to go back and re-read it. You didn't miss much, but I suggest you read the opening scene to Chapter 4 (Light); SatAM fans should remember and get a kick out of that. Again, sorry 'bout that. Nevermind the bullocks... -AE
**FREEDOM FIGHTERS OF MOBIUS**
Sonic the Hedgehog Neo Redux
By Antipode Echidna
e-mail: SonicNeoRedux@yahoo.com
Mobian Time Frame: Year 3237, Day 098
Episode: DOOM, Part 2 -- Recon
Story (c) 2003 by the author. Based on characters created by Sega, DiC Productions, and/or Archie Comics Group, used without permission, but protected by totally rad copyright laws... Woo-hoo!
Other characters:
Bookshire Draftwood (c) Bookshire Draftwood / David Pistone.
Kara and Grease (c) Antipode Echidna / Adam Czech. Please ask permission before using any of my charas, thanx!
Tails made his way slowly through the streets of Robotropolis, humming nervously to himself as he stayed alert for any sign of movement. He adjusted the straps on his pack, which was heavy on his shoulders. Several times in the past hour he had thought that he was lost, but figured out where he was again soon enough. He had been here before, with Sonic, so he knew what he was doing. He wished Sonic was there with him now, though, at least then he wouldn't feel so alone.
And scared.
It was cold. Tails reached down to zip his jacket as he walked. He was almost to the Imperial Tower, he thought. Or was he? He couldn't really be sure. Night was falling, and everything looked different.
The fox kid stopped, bringing down his knapsack and opening it. On the top, resting on all the equipment the pack contained, was his letter, folded carefully into thirds. He reached past it, finding the torch on the side of the pack. He pulled it out, screwing on the attachment that turned it into a unidirectional flashlight.
He clicked it on, shining it around him at the darkness of the city. He was getting tired, but he had to keep going. He had to deliver his message, then he could go home and sleep.
"Tails, come in. Tails!"
He looked around frantically, not realizing for the first couple moments that the voice was coming from his radio. He pulled it from inside his jacket and pressed the button. "Sonic? Is that you?"
The hedgehog did his best to restrain his anger. "*Don't move*, little bro. I'm gonna come getcha. Just don't move!"
Tails stared at the radio for a moment after Sonic's voice stopped, blinking. He didn't really know where he was going, anyway, so he was happy Sonic finally found him. He took a seat on the sidewalk, looking around and hoping he wasn't too far away.
That's when he heard it: the rhythmic metallic march of SWATbots.
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
Sonic glanced down at the screen as he ripped through the city streets, trying to get a fix on Tails' position. It was a scanner capable of tracing a comm signal from the radios they used at Knothole, so as long as it was on he would know where Tails was. His brows were set in a look of complete determination, and he wished he could find someone to blame for all this.
*How could Tails have done this?* he thought to himself. *He knows it's dangerous to go to Robotropolis alone! Too dangerous...* the words echoed in his mind, reminding him of when Sally used to say such things to him, when he was trying to... bring Tails to Robotropolis with him. Could Tails have gotten this crazy idea from him?
He shook his head to himself. No way. Tails was smarter than that, he had to be. *Tails is a cool kid,* Sonic thought. *He wouldn't do something like this unless he had a good reason, or at least a good reason to him.*
He skidded around the corner at an intersection, now heading north. He was close now, he could see. It wouldn't be too far until...
Sonic slowed to a stop as he neared the signal point, helplessness coming back to him as he saw that Tails wasn't there. Only his radio, nearly smashed to pieces, resting on the cracked concrete of the sidewalk.
He swore as he bent over to examine the remains. Robotnik had him now. He stood and turned until he could see the pinnacle of the Imperial Tower rising through the smog. "You've got two options, hedgehog," he said to himself. "Go back to Knothole and tell 'em Ro-Buttnik got Tails, or..."
It was just him, against however many SWATbots he had in the building. Not very good odds, he had to admit. Still, time was of the essence, and he was the only one out here. "Get ready, little bro," he whispered. "I'm comin' for ya."
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
Tails groaned as his eyes fluttered open. His head hurt. He tried sitting up, but his wrists and ankles were shackled to a table, rotated forty-five degrees from the floor. He remembered the SWATbots coming, and he tried to run, but they got him anyway. Now he guessed he was in Robotnik's dungeon, or something.
No sooner had he regained consciousness than the door before him slid open silently, and Doctor Robotnik stepped in. At first Tails thought he looked kind of funny: he was really fat, for one, the sort of fat that made you really round in the middle, like an egg. The humor in his physique faded as soon as he saw his robotic arm, and both of his false, dark eyes staring at him. He shivered.
"So, it seems I've captured a little whelp in my streets," he hissed. "Where did you come from?"
"I ain't tellin' you anything, Ro-Buttnik!" Tails spat.
The man straightened. "I see you fraternize with a certain hedgehog I've grown to hate. That must mean you know the location of their base. Tell me where it is and I may show you mercy."
"No way."
"I see," he said slowly, then turned to Snively. "Prepare the roboticizor and inject this miscreant with the serum."
"Oh, at once, sir," Snively replied with a touch of sadistic glee.
"Did you have the SWATbots search him?"
"Yes, sir," the balding little man replied from behind him. "He wasn't armed, *obviously*, but he did have this in his backpack."
"What is it, Snively?" he asked staring down at the paper in his iron fist.
"It was addressed to you, sir. I felt it would be intrusive to-"
"Just shut up and inject him already!"
"Yes, sir," Snively nearly growled, tapping the tip of the green-filled syringe.
Tails looked out of the corner of his eye at Snively, who glanced back with an evil grin on his face. The needle was lowered to his neck and the man prepared to strike. The fox shouted out at Robotnik. "Aren't ya even gonna read it first, Egg-head?"
"Oh, fine," he answered, rolling his eyes, "if not just to shut you up." He unfolded the paper and tried to navigate Tails' scribbly manuscript:
"Dear Doctor Robotnik,
"I am writing you this letter to tell you a little about myself. I am 9 years old. My name is Miles, but everyone calls me Tails. I have two of them, because I grew up next to a river that you polluted. I have always known this, but I was thinking about it today I got angry at you.
"I am a Freedom Fighter, and we are constantly fighting you and your robots to take back things you stole from us. But you took away something that I can never get back. You took away the chance for a normal childhood for me, the chance to grow up in a city as great as Mobitropolis, and you made me a mutant. You changed me, Doctor Robotnik, and not with your stupid old 'Robotcisor.' You made me different in a way no one can ever reverse.
"We will defeat you, Doctor Robotnik. We will defeat your army and bring you to justice. I only hope that I will be there to help defeat your 'great empire.'
"You're going down. That is a threat. That is my promise.
"Sincerely,
"Miles 'Tails' Prower"
Robotnik looked up slowly at the prisoner strapped to his torture table. He now saw how angry the kid was as he glared back at him, and now was aware of the two tails that draped to the floor behind him. There was another moment of silence, then Robotnik spoke again in his low, throaty voice, his eyes returning to their usual scowl: "You spelled roboticizor wrong."
"Wait, I-"
"Snively! Inject the mutant!"
"At once, sir!"
The needle was forcibly jabbed into Tails' neck, and he cried out as its contents were slowly and painfully forced into his bloodstream. After what seemed like an eternity it was finally removed, and he was left panting and sweating on the table. Snively calmly placed the syringe back into its case and stood to leave.
Tails groggily opened his eyes, squinting as his vision began to blur. Robotnik's mouth started moving, but there was an obnoxious buzzing in his ears that prevented him from hearing what was said. He squeezed his eyes shut again, wishing the pain would stop, but it kept getting stronger and harder.
When he cracked them open again the room was bathed in red, a flashing red light from an alarm somewhere. Robotnik and Snively quickly departed, and he was left alone. But soon a familiar blue hedgehog ran into the room and began undoing the table's restraints. "Don't worry, buddy," his mouth moved silently. "You're safe now..."
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
"Whaddya mean, 'there's nothing you can do?'"
"Exactly that," Bookshire answered. "The only thing Robotnik did was inject him with the roboticizor serum. The only way to remove that is a full blood transfusion."
"But he couldn't see or hear me?" Sonic protested, fists clenched. "That sounds like he did somethin'!"
The doctor shook his head. "That's worn off by now, he's responding just fine. He's going to be weak for a while, but there's no lasting damage."
Sally looked past Bookshire's shoulder at Tails' sleeping form. "Try not to be too hard on him, Princess?" the doctor suggested. "He is a child, after all."
She sighed. "Yes... he is."
Granted, it was a stupid thing that Tails had done, going off to Robotropolis, nonetheless alone. He was lucky to be alive, to tell the truth. But he was, and for that Sally was grateful. Everyone loved Tails, and if he would have been lost...
Sonic looked back to his friend in the bed. "Is he awake?"
Bookshire nodded. "You can talk to him, but be kind. He's been through enough hell for one day..."
Sonic slowly approached the bed, being struck that he had his best friend in one cot, and his long-lost uncle in the one over. He sat down between them, wondering what he was supposed to feel at a time like this. Anger? Sadness? Grim irony?
He sighed and smiled to himself, whatever he was feeling being drowned out by his outward projection. "Hey, buddy..."
Tails slowly opened his eyes, turning his head to look at Sonic. "Hey, Sonic," he managed, his voice weaker than usual.
"How ya feelin', Little Bro?"
"Pretty lousy," the kid forced a smile, glad that Sonic wasn't yelling at him.
He nodded. "Bookshire says you're gonna be fine, though. You just gotta get some rest, all right?"
"Okay."
Sonic hung his head, glancing down at the floor of the hut. His adrenaline was wearing off, and his head felt light. His eyes squeezed shut, and he could feel the moisture under the lids.
Tails noticed, too. "Sonic, are you cryin'?"
"Naw," he answered quickly, "just got somethin' in my eye, that's all."
The fox smiled, knowing all too well Sonic's tactics at avoiding discussing his feelings. He rolled onto his side to face him. "Sonic... Thanks, for rescuin' me."
"Hey, no prob, buddy. If I didn't get ya outta there, who would?"
He smiled, then rolled back over to get some rest. Sonic waited a moment, then stood, and headed for the door.
"Sonic?"
He smiled and turned. "Yeah, Tails?"
In the darkness he could hear his stirring. "Have you... ever seen Robotnik? Face to face?"
He thought. "No, I don't think I ever have. Why, is he scary?"
"No," the kid almost giggled. "He's kinda funny. He's fat as an egg!"
"An egg?" Sonic chuckled.
"Yeah!" Tails sat up in the cot. "He's an Egg-head!"
Sonic laughed. "An Egg-face!"
"He's an Egg-man!"
It took a moment before the laughter between them faded. "G'night, buddy."
"G'night, Sonic."
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
Morning came too quickly for everyone. For Sonic it was only six hours of sleep, for Sally only slightly more. They met in the commons, both looking haggard and neither saying a word, which was a first.
"Good morning, Sonic," Sally yawned. "How's Tails?"
"I checked on him this morning, it's like nothin' ever happened to him. The kid's gotta quick recovery time."
"Good, because Kara was telling me that the Freedom Stormer should be finished today. It would be a shame of Tails had to miss that."
"The Freedom what?"
"That's what Tails calls the plane. It was so cute, it stuck."
He nodded, then stopped. "Hey, Sal, there's something that Tails said last night that got me thinkin': how many of us have actually seen Robotnik? In person?"
She stopped eating her breakfast and thought for a moment. "And came back to Knothole? It can't be that many... Bunnie saw him, I know that..."
"And she got, ya know," he said, gesturing with his left arm.
"Yeah. Apart from Bunnie and Tails, no one comes to mind. Well, *I* saw him, too, but that was a while ago."
"Wow..." he breathed. "That just blows *my* mind. I mean, *I* haven't even seen him, really."
"How's Uncle Chuck? Is he awake yet?" she asked and took a bite.
"Not yet, but Booker said it should be any time today."
"Good. Sir Charles has a lot of information concerning my father and the resistance. It would do well to have him back at full capacity as soon as possible."
"Couldn't agree more, Sal," Sonic said, taking a bite of his own breakfast. "I was plannin' on seeing 'em again after breakfast, wanna come?"
"I think I will. I was headed that way myself."
They ate quickly, then headed for the med-hut. As they neared the door they could hear Bookshire's agitated voice: "Please eat something!"
"No, no! I wanna go out an' eat with Sonic!"
"And I told you, you can go out as soon as you eat something, now here."
Sonic and Sally exchanged glances before pushing the door open. "Do what Booker says, Tails."
The raccoon looked over at them and sighed. "Thank you."
"Oh, fine," Tails grumped and took the plate the doctor had been trying to give him. He sat down in the bed and set it on his lap, taking a bite as he watched them enter.
"I see Tails is doing well," Sally smiled at the kid.
"And he's a pain to handle when he's not sedated," Bookshire smiled back. "I promised him he could leave as soon as I saw him eat a decent breakfast."
"How's the other patient?"
Bookshire turned to face Uncle Chuck's bed. "He's still out, unfortunately. I did some tests, though, and his implants are going into remission, as planned." He sighed. "But, like Tails, he still has the nanobots in his system, those won't be coming out."
Sonic looked up. "Won't that mean he'll get roboticized again?"
"No, it just means that Robotnik won't have to inject him again before turning on his machine. Any nearby power source seems to trigger the nanobots to resume their programming, but we're talking about a *massive* power generator. Nothing else I've seen comes close to the roboticizor, so they should have no problems."
There was a short clatter as Tails dropped the tray onto the table beside his bed. "I'm done. Can I go now?"
"Yes you can, Tails," Bookshire answered. "Thank you for cooperating with me."
Tails ran for the door, and Sally called out to him. "Tails, go talk to Kara! She was looking for you before!"
There was a stirring in the next bed over. "Can't a guy get some sleep around here?"
All heads in the room turned to face Chuck, who was struggling to sit up in his bed. "Unc!" Sonic cried, embracing him a tight hug.
"Oh! Glad to see you, too, Sonic," he chuckled in his low, gravely voice. "Now, would someone mind telling me what in blazes is going on?"
"Sal can take care of that," Sonic answered.
Bookshire stepped out of the way for Sally to approach. "Hello, Charles."
"Princess Sally Alicia," he said slowly, a smile coming to his old face. "My, it has been a long time. The last time I saw you, you were knee-high to a grasshopper! You're the very image of your mother."
She smiled, almost blushing. "We've freed you from Robotnik. You're in Knothole Village, west of Robotropolis."
"I figured that much," he said, looking around the interior of the hut. "I've completely lost track of time, though. How long has Robotnik been in power?"
"Almost twelve years now," she replied, sitting at the foot of the bed. "How much do you remember, since you've been roboticized?"
"Oh, I remember all of it," he sighed, as if that was a curse.
Sonic spoke up. "But I thought when you're roboticized, you-"
"Don't know what's going on?" Chuck finished. "Oh, we know, we just can't *do* anything about it. All our actions are controlled by Robotnik's computers."
"Bookshire, is Charles well enough to leave the bed? If he can walk we could show him around Knothole, and introduce him to everyone here."
"I suppose it's all right," he answered slowly. "But, just to warn you, there has been some atrophy in his muscles. That will take time to heal."
"Well, then some walkin' will do ya some good!" Sonic said. "Let's go, Unc!"
Sonic and Bookshire helped Chuck out of bed, and he stumbled slightly when his feet hit the ground. "I can get a wheelchair," Bookshire offered, "if you want-"
"I don't need any wheelchair, doc," Chuck replied steadfastly. "I've got to learn how to walk eventually, might as well start now."
Sally and Sonic were able to help Chuck outside with a minimum of difficulty. As Sonic helped him down the steps, Sally cried out loud enough for everyone to hear: "Could I have everyone's attention, please! I'd like you all to meet Sir Charles, our first successful target of deroboticization!"
An uproar went up from around the courtyard, and the assorted freedom fighters quickly made their way over to them, shouting and laughing and all talking at once. They were able to guide Chuck over to the commons, where he very gratefully took a seat and let the swarm of Mobians surround him.
"Chuck! Hey, Chuck! Excuse me, please..."
The crowd parted as much as it could to allow Rotor to squeeze through until he could see the man plainly. "It worked! Oh, man!"
Sonic put a hand on the techie's shoulder. "Unc, this is Rotor. He's the one who's been working on the deroboticizor all this time."
"Rotor, of course! I remember you. You used to come to the palace at times, and play with Sally and the others at the preschool, right?"
He chuckled. "That was a long time ago, but yes, sir, that's me. Let me tell you I'm a big fan of your work, sir. I've been going through the 'pre-Robotnik' records and a lot of your designs... well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
Uncle Chuck looked around at the crowd, seeing mostly strangers. "If Rotor's here with you two, then that must mean..." He spotted the two coming over to their table. "Or course, here they come!"
"*Bonjour*, Uncle Chuck!"
"Hey, Charlie!"
Antoine and Bunnie got as close as they could to the table, all smiles. "I remember you two! Antoine, still working on that accent, I see."
He smiled. "I am getting there."
Chuck tried remembering back past the decade. "And... Georgia, wasn't it?"
"Well, yeah," she answered. "But I ain't heard that name in a long time." She brought up her metallic left arm so he could see it. "Ever'body mostly calls me 'Bunnie Rabbot.' Kind of a nickname."
"Oh. So, you've been looking forward to this more than anybody."
She nodded. "You could say that. Oh, I cain't believe this is finally happenin'!" Bunnie laughed.
"Anothair step to a free Mobius," Antoine nodded.
Charles sighed. "You've all grown up so much."
Chuck was distracted from his reverie by a tugging on his left sleeve, and looked down to see the small fox kid looking up at him. "Hi, Uncle Chuck!" he spouted enthusiastically. "I'm Tails!"
"You certainly are!" he laughed, giving his hair a shake. "Well, aren't you the adorable little nipper?"
Sally and Sonic introduced Chuck to the rest of the Knothole freedom fighters for the next couple hours, which was somewhat exhausting for all of them. They spent the time until lunch discussing Bookshire's treatment plan for him, so that he would feel in the loop. They found Rotor eating with them, and he gradually influenced the conversation to turn to Chuck's past experiments.
"So, Chuck," Rotor had started, talking around the food in his mouth. "What were you working on before the roboticizor project?"
"Oh, let me think... That was a *long*, long time ago. The roboticizor was the culmination of my years of cybernetic research, implants and bio-mechanics and what-have-you. Before that I was mainly concerned with electronics in general, that's when I built Nicole."
Sonic's eyes widened. "Whoa, you built Nicole, too?"
"The prototype, anyway. It took until shortly before Robotnik's takeover to iron out all the bugs. That's when King Max commissioned me to build one for you, Princess Sally, as a birthday gift."
"I remember," Sally smiled, mind recollecting events from happier times.
"They were set to go on the market in only a couple months, even though they were deathly expensive. Suffice it to say, the coup put a dent in our development schedule."
"Oh!" Rotor remembered, reaching into his vest pocket and producing a black-and-white photocopy, which he set on the table. "Speaking of your latest projects, what's that thing, anyway?"
Sally and Sonic both leaned in to see. "Aw, man," Sonic groaned. "I almost forgot about that one."
Chuck took a look at the picture, skepticism crossing his features. "When did you take this?"
"We were there a couple times," Rotor replied, taking another bite as if they were talking about the weather. "It's called Doomsday, right?"
"Yes..." Chuck's mind seemed preoccupied. "It's a weapon Robotnik's building. There were construction sites all over Robotropolis making pieces of it. About a year-and-a-half, two years ago all the pieces were moved to another position entirely and put together by another team."
"Yeah, but what is it?" Sonic asked.
"To tell you the truth, Sonie, I just don't know. Robotnik only gave us enough information to let us build our section of it. He's paranoid that way."
Rotor pulled out a rough blueprint of the machine and placed it on top of the photo. "So what do all these sections do?" He noticed the amused look Sonic was giving him. "What? I was bored one day, I drew up a schem."
"It's one of the launch/control arms. It's a two-man cockpit. Their goal is to send out the weapons pods and control them remotely from the safety of the air."
"Wait," Sally held up her hands. "Weapons... pods? Perhaps you should explain, Charles."
"Right, sorry. As far as I can tell, the Doomsday sends out small hover-pods filled with short-range weaponry, that can be controlled by each cockpit setup. I guess Robotnik plans on searching all of Mobius for the resistance cells, wiping them out one by one."
"So, he's finally graduated past 'annoyed,'" she grinned. "I think I know where it's being built, too. Some of the other cells reported seeing a massive structure being built not far from Blue Canyon. Based on the description they gave us it could be Doomsday."
"Do you have a remote uplink terminal here?" Charles asked, mind already working out a plan.
"Yeah," Rotor replied, "in the lab. Why?"
"I may be able to hack into Robotnik's data network and find the exact location of Doomsday. I still remember most of the codes he *downloaded* into me, so it might work."
"If you think you're up to it, Charles, by all means, go ahead. Rotor will help you out with whatever you need."
"Thank you, Sally," he smiled. "It's not hard to see why everyone here looks up to you."
Kara approached the rail at the edge of the commons and leaned her head in. "Princess Sally? Can I see you for a second?"
"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen," she said and stood. She crossed the short distance to the edge of the commons. "What is it, Kara?"
"We're making arrangements for the Freedom Stormer's maiden flight," the mechanic told her, "and we've got a seat extra. You interested?"
"Sure, I'll come. I'm glad you thought of me."
"Well, you were first on the list. With all the hours you put in flying the old cargo pod we used to have, you were a natural candidate."
"When were you planning on leaving?"
"We're starting pre-flights now. If you come on over I can show you the controls."
"I'll be over as soon as I'm done here," she said. Kara nodded and left, and Sally returned to the table. She wasted no time getting back to business. "Sonic, we need visual confirmation on the Doomsday tower. If Charles is right, we're going to need a battle plan, and quickly."
"So ya want me to juice out there and take a look? No prob!"
She nodded. "When you get within visual range, call back to Charles on the radio and tell him what it looks like, and where the exact coordinates are. If it is Doomsday, we need to get moving."
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
Like the fine-tuned machine Knothole had been developed to be, the two plans went swiftly into action. As Sonic departed for the Blue Canyon in the west, the Freedom Stormer took off from their impromptu airstrip in a clearing away from camp. Kara was flying, with Sally in the copilot's seat, and Grease and Tails in the back.
Using Uncle Chuck's directions Sonic was able to reach the canyon in just under an hour. He looked around, unable to see anything resembling a deadly super-weapon. "Where is it, Unc?" he spoke into the radio. "I don't see anything."
"It's there, Sonie, about a league north. It will be kind of hard to find -- most of it's underground."
The hedgehog took off again, jumping down into the canyon and speeding off as soon as he hit the ground. It wasn't long after he exited the ravine that he saw the massive structure emerging from the ground ahead. Compared to most of the buildings in Robotropolis it was nothing special, but in pretty much the middle of nowhere it dwarfed everything around it.
Sonic stopped to make sure he was out of sight of whomever might have been guarding the place, then picked up his radio. He described the building to Chuck, who sighed as soon as he was finished. "That's it, Sonie, I'm sure of it. Head on back, we can tell Princess Sally when she returns."
-=*=-=*=-=*=-=*=-
After an hour or two of flying and putting the plane through its paces, Kara decided to make a landing and inspect the engine. They were able to spot a small glen below them, one wide enough to allow for the wingspan of the craft. While Kara inspected the plane Sally began looking around, realizing that she had never been this way before. The trees and plants around the clearing were unfamiliar to her, and she took a small sampling of what she saw to bring back to Knothole.
The ride back was a quiet flight, until the little monkey decided to inject some excitement into the trip. Grease leaned over to Tails, eyes narrowed. "So, kid..." he said slowly, sounding like some kind of drug dealer. "I heard you, uh, took off and went to Robotropolis, huh?"
Tails turned to him, shocked. "You know about that?"
"Pssh. The whole *camp* knows about that! Everyone's talkin' about what a stupid little kid you are."
"I'm not stupid," Tails pouted, trying to inch farther away from him. "I got confused, that's all."
"Whatever, buddy. You're just lucky Robotnik didn't get to you, or you'd never see Knothole again."
"He did get me..." Tails replied slowly, rubbing the spot on his neck where he had been injected. "But I'm still here."
Grease obviously didn't hear him, and began looking out the window. When a loud *thump* sounded in the cabin he looked up quickly. "What was that?"
"Just a little turbulence," Kara called back. "Looks like a small storm starting up. Nothing big."
But in only a few minutes, the storm had grown in intensity, until they could barely see out their windows from the rain coming down. The pattering of the drops on the outer skin of the plane made it hard to hear anything else. "We're still okay," Kara yelled. "I've got autopilot set to Knothole."
"How far away are we?" Sally called.
"We'll be back in three minutes," she answered. "That is, if we don't-"
The windows around the plane suddenly lit up, and the air was torn by the titanic crash of thunder. Then the lightning was inside, sparking and dancing off the control board. It lashed out like fire across the two front chairs, playing off the walls and ceiling before finally dying down. The plane violently lurched to one side and began a corkscrewing descent to the ground.
"What was that?" Grease freaked. He looked up, seeing that Sally and Kara had both slumped forward in their chairs, and were not moving. "Oh my god, oh my god! No one's flying the plane! We're gonna die!"
"Chill out!" Tails unbuckled his belt and worked his way up into the front of the cockpit. "Aunt Sally?" No response.
Tails had to act quickly. "Grease, help me move 'em."
The chimp stammered a reply, then helped Tails unbuckle the two women and move them to the back. Tails jumped into the pilot's chair, ordering Grease to the one beside. "Now do exactly as I tell you, or we're going to die."
He nodded vigorously. Tails gripped the steering yoke tightly, pulling back with all his might. It took a moment for the controls to respond, but the plane was eventually leveled a good distance from the ground. "See if the radio works," he told him, concentrating on flying the plane. He had never flown in conditions like that before, and had only been in the air a handful of times besides. But he had helped build almost every inch of the craft, and liked to think he knew what he was doing.
"The radio's out!" Grease flipped out again.
"The lightning shorted out all the electronics," Tails observed. "Which means the autopilot's gone, too."
"Ah! What're we gonna do!"
"We're going to land, somewhere," he answered, peering out the window and trying to make out anything outside. He looked for the window wiper controls, but they were already at maximum, which didn't help in the downpour.
Tails had to check the artificial horizon to make sure he was going straight. Now he was grateful he had been talking to Kara while she was fixing the plane, and knew what direction they had been heading before. He tapped the compass on the dash, then made the changes to his heading accordingly. Now all that was left was to find a suitable landing area.
As he was looking out the window the rain suddenly slowed; not stopped, but noticeably diminished. He could see the forest around him, much closer than Tails expected it to be. Then he saw a clearing in the cloud of trees ahead, which was as good a place as any. He extended the landing gear, his mind running through the landing procedures Kara had taught him.
It was shorter than the landing strip, but it was too late to change now. As soon as they cleared the trees he dropped the plane sharply, the wheels skidded against the ground. Tails reached over to kill the engine, and the plane made a bone-jarring drop onto the grass. When at long last the craft slowed to a stop mere feet from the tree line, Tails released his breath. He had done it.
He turned to Grease, who was clutching his chair in a white-knuckled grip. "Let's get back to Knothole. Sally and Kara need help."
**END OF CHAPTER**
MESSAGE FROM THE MAN: Workin' Mah Way Up...
Putting my fics up on FanFiction.net (FF.N for those in the know) has been great! I've got three reviews now! So, lemme give a shout out to Ambre, Angnix, and Aiglon15: *arigato* ya'll! (Ya see, I got this all figured out, start at the A's and work my way up from there ^_^)
-AE
AS WE WENT TO PRINT:
RamenNoodles from FF.N was gracious enough to send me a review as well, along with the shocking news that NONE OF NICOLE'S DIALOGUE WAS SHOWING UP! GOOD GOOGA-MOOGA! The prob was that instead of quotation marks ("") I was using triangular brackets (, see they don't show up!), which the FF.N compiler recognizes as HTML tags, heh... I went through and changed it all to straight brackets (||), so it's there now, if you want to go back and re-read it. You didn't miss much, but I suggest you read the opening scene to Chapter 4 (Light); SatAM fans should remember and get a kick out of that. Again, sorry 'bout that. Nevermind the bullocks... -AE