Here's another chapter. I figured those that read the earlier chaps might forget who Jerome is. It's actually good that it did, cause it proved to me that I didn't take the focus off of the main characters. He was the mouse character that was 'Selim's' roomie. I remember he was in chap 10 for awhile if you want to go back and remember.
Oh and there is a little strong language here and there, but you probably won't mind that, it's only two or four anyway.
Anyway on with the story
00000000
"Uncle Chuck!" Sonic cried as he looked into the cell, he quickly glanced to the side for the access panel, which had its normal hand print symbol on it. He grabbed an empty can and did his Robotnik impression that could fool anything. "Open Cell 359 in Sector D." he stated, but was surprised at the response.
"Access Denied. Voice print invalid. Alarm set for 5 seconds." It called causing Sonic to jump in surprise; his imitation had always worked before. The countdown started and the Hedgehog had to think quickly.
He guessed he had something in his throat, so he cleared it and tried again. "You pile of shit! I ought to send you to the scarp heap! If you don't open this door right this second I'll rip out your wires and use them as floss!"
But once again, it failed. He didn't understand it; maybe Robotnik had deactivated the cell's voice print because he didn't want it opened. Maybe he put Snively in charge of it, but whatever it was he was out of the subtle approaches. "Stand back unc. I'm gonna drill ya outta there." With that the hedgehog spun into his spin dash saw and cut through the lock mechanism in the cell, causing the countdown to abruptly stop and the alarm to instantly come on. Sonic grabbed his uncle's arm, "Hold on, we're gonna juice!" He said before blasting out of the cell and down the hall to escape.
The signal had been sounded. The pieces were in place. Snively laughed in glee as he flew in a cloaked hovercar, heading for sector D. He knew this would work and he wouldn't miss the final fight, the one where the miserable rodent met his maker. He looked out the window and realized he was within the perimeter of the sector so he flipped a switch with a sadistic laugh.
An energy shield came up, it was like the one that Robotnik had used against those dinosaurs, and it would effectively keep everything inside it. Only this one was far better, far stronger, and far bigger then the one the fat one could ever dream of building. There would be no escape, and Sonic would be helpless to fight. The sky turned a lighter blue as the containment field took shape.
The alarm had caught the attention of others as well; Rotor, Bunnie, Roy, were all worried as they heard the alarm go off, they knew a jail break was not part of the plan. Something had gone terribly wrong, and now the walrus was figuring out what. It didn't take too long to find the video that was displayed, it was Uncle Chuck.
"What I can't understand is why Robotnik would display this to all the available computers, if he had Charles wouldn't he want to keep it a secret?" The walrus asked.
"I smell bait…" Roy responded in a dangerous tone.
"Oh my stars, it's a trap!" Bunnie stated. "We gotta go stop Sonic!"
"By now it's too late mate." The kangaroo responded. "That alarm we just heard was the hog breakin' him out."
Bunnie nodded and looked down. "But we hav'ta warn him. Let's go!" She said running out of the pipe, the others following her. When they reached the streets however they stopped dead. A big blue shield like energy field surrounded Sector D. There would be no way in, no way they could help.
"Where the hell is he?" Knuckles whispered harshly, looking over a downed log. Selim couldn't see him either. The fox knew how machines worked; the shot was meant for the echidna. It was programmed to assassinate the guardian to prevent the emeralds from being delivered.
"Knuckles, you're gonna have to distract him, he'll fire at you and then I can get a good fix on his position." The vulpine stated.
The red Mobian jumped a bit. "You want me to get shot at? Why don't you go and I'll smash him."
"Because you're the target, he could care less about what I am doing." He said shaking his head. "I'm sorry, but if you move quickly he should miss. When I find out the general location he is hiding I'm gonna lay down some suppression fire. When that happens you're going to move in, knock him out, don't kill him, he's been robotosized so when you have him down I'll …"
The guardian shook his head. "What the hell are you going to shoot him with?"
The fox opened up his laser gun on his wrist, showing his added deformity. "Old wounds…" He stated looking over the log again. "He's moving in, get ready to move."
Knuckles nodded, he suddenly jumped up and growled loudly. "Come on is that the best ya got? I'm right here come on!" The fox jumped at the suddenness but then got ready listening for the sound of the shot, as he sure Knuckles was, but for a different reason. Selim couldn't help but keep an eye on him and hope he dodged the bullet in time.
There was a sudden crack and a whizzing sound, Mile's ears and eyes watched as the long bronze streak made its way across the forest canopy. He spotted the machine in a tree about 50 yards down, completely unaware that he was spotted, the mouse's red eyes on the guardian. The metal was of white color, indicating without a doubt it was Jerome. He never knew that the coloration would remain with robotization, but Uncle Chuck was another proof of that, the same light blue he is in flesh was the same coloration he was in robotic form.
Damn it, stop thinking and just shoot! A voice popped in his head as he realized his opportunity was slipping away. He pointed his laser at the tree and fired rabidly with light powered attacks as to conserve energy, enough to catch the sniper off guard, enough to divert its attention from its target, who was now the new aggressor.
Knuckles had ran up through the brush, his sound of crashing through the leaves and brush were drowned out by the laser fire, the robotic mouse dazed and confused on the enemy position. It now set its sights on the aggressor, the fox. In order to carry out its assassination objective this pestering canine would also need to be eliminated. In all the flashing of the laser beam fire Selim was unaware his head was in the scope and the mouse was squeezing the trigger.
A shot rang out as the trigger was squeezed, but the bullet barely nicked the vulpine's ear as a sudden jolt caused the mouse to loose balance. Knuckles had come up and gave the tree a nice solid punch causing the timber to come crashing down upon the jungle floor. Jerome was thrown back and landed hard on the ground. The guardian ran up to it and was ready to smash it in the face in hopes of deactivating it. His hand raised up high when suddenly the robot rolled out of the way, the punch hitting the dirt catching the echidna off guard, with the rifle now pointing to his temple.
The guardian closed his eyes; ready for the end he knew would come one day. However today would not be that day, the vulpine that was now running up to the scene shot the hand of the robot causing him to drop the weapon. In retaliation the echidna blasted his knuckle fist into the robotic jaw with a quick uppercut. The mouse was thrown back landing on the ground with a thud. While the robot was stunned and catching its surroundings the fox took the opportunity to cut off its power supply and deactivate it.
"Poor Jerome…" The fox said looking at the cold metal body that lay before him.
"So you did know him?" The echidna said, "I thought so the way you were concerned that I not smash him to bits…"
The vulpine nodded. "Thanks for your help; I'm glad you listened; now he might still have a chance to be changed back. I thought… he was dead."
Knuckles nodded, "I don't know which is worse, death, or ending up as a tool for your enemy." He then turned to Tails. "At least you're more humble then Sonic is."
Tails looked down and sighed. "I've learned that we all need the help of others, and when it is hard to find, that lesson comes hard."
The echidna nods and sighs. "I know what you mean, I've guarded the emeralds alone for a long time, I think I'm the last defender they will have, the echidna's are pretty much an extinct race." He put a hand on the older fox's shoulder. "When we're done with this mission, why not come back here with me, and you can help me guard here until I figure out how to get you home. I'm sure Sally would approve."
With the princess's name mentioned, the vulpine's thoughts suddenly snapped back to Sonic and Sally's welfare. "Oh shit, Knuckle's we got to hurry they're in danger." He said as he ran through the brush.
"Huh?..." Knuckles said as he was dragging the mouse to a hollowed out tree nearby to keep him in. "Wait up!" He cried as he put down the robot, chasing after the rushing fox. "You don't know the way!"
Princess Acorn looked right behind her, a strange wall had materialized, and it looked just like the one when they were rescuing the terepods. When she touched it she almost flew back from the immediate shock she had gotten from it. Now there was no doubt in her mind that this was a trap.
She moved forward through the streets, not a Swatbot in sight, this was very strange indeed. She got to the clearing in front of the prison and saw Sonic hunched over beside the robotic hedgehog that could only be his uncle.
"Are you ok Uncle Chuck?" He asked, to which he got no response.
Had Sonic forgotten? What started this whole thing, the letter from Charles, the letter that had them go to the Junk Yard, the one that allowed the tracer to be planted, the one that lead to Knothole's destruction? Apparently so, she began to run at Sonic trying to stop him before the robotic hedgehog made its move.
She was too late though, with a speed that caught Sonic off guard the robotic hedgehog rose up and punched the blue hero, launching him a good five feet into a couple of garbage cans knocking them over.
"Sonic!" the princess cried as she ran over to the hedgehog. She helped him up to his feet. Though the blow didn't do much physical harm, the hedgehog was emotionally distressed.
"Uncle Chuck?" He asked his voice a little shaky; once again there was no response from the robotic hedgehog.
Snively laughed from his viewing spot, it was working exactly as he hoped. Placing the Gizoid's program into the body of the hedgehog's greatest weakness was an excellent idea. There would be no way the hedgehog could establish a link either, since the pointy nose human had shown the destruction of Knothole as his power, and no one creature could match such a destructive feat as turning a huge forest to ashes. He laughed again, today would be the day the rodent would be eliminated.
Back in the caverns of Lower Mobius the young Tails was sitting on the roof of the living quarters, looking over to the western exit, the one that lead strait to Robotropolis. It had been the way Sonic and the others had left this morning, but he felt something this time that he hadn't before. It was a feeling of foreboding, like they wouldn't come back this time. He stood up and looked around, no one was watching. The fox hopped down, using his tails to lighten his landing and then he rushed out of the haven and toward the city alone.
0000000
That it for today, next update will be in two weeks on February 21. I'm also going to be reading over my texts more to see if I can't slow it down or fix it up. Keep the reviews coming.
