Chapter 4 Paradise
Under Julian's direction, the troops that he had assembled waged war against the advancing Overlanders. According to the oldest existing scrolls, which were kept in the castle library, no Mobian was to ever hurt another Mobian for any reason. Thus, Julian's troops all carried non-lethal weapons such as paintballs, slingshots, and sleeping gas grenades. The Overlanders had more troops than the Mobians did, but the Mobians had Julian on their side. As fast as the war came to them, it was over with. Julian was able to force the Overlanders to withdraw, but not before there were some injuries. Jules Hedgehog, along with those in his family, and anyone else who was able-bodied who were old enough fought in the war. Jules suffered from a broken leg and arm while the majority of the rest who fought suffered from minor injuries, mostly cuts, bruises, and scrapes. Jules' brother, Charles, immediately went back to work on his invention. If completed and tested successfully, it would prove to be a medical breakthrough; he had designed it to rebuild an injured person's injury making it mechanical. While Charles worked on finishing his invention, Julian approached the King and announced his plan to dismantle the military, as he saw no reason to keep it going since the war had been won.
"Jules, I should have my Roboticizer completed by tomorrow. I just need to test it a couple times and make sure it's working right." Charles said as he led his brother back to his hut. Jules was father to Sonic Hedgehog, the fastest runner in the village. Sonic had been born five years ago, but he had learned to run faster than anyone in Mobotropolis before he could walk. Unknown to Charles Hedgehog, Julian had been watching him work on the Roboticizer. Jules had successfully roboticized a flower and a Mobian Trout and, convinced that it would work as planned, had went back to his hut for the night. Once he was sure that the hedgehog inventor was asleep, Julian stalked from shadow to shadow until he reached Julian's workshop. Once he reached the lab, he snuck inside as quietly as possible and set about inspecting the old hedgehog's work. After taking extensive notes and making a few adjustments, Julian went back to his hut and, quietly laughing to himself, fell asleep for the night.
The next day, Charles was up at the crack of dawn and immediately went to work making sure his machine was ready and that nothing would go wrong during the process. Once he was sure that it was ready, he went and woke up his brother and Sonic's father Jules.
"Today's the day, my friend… together, we'll make history! The machine is ready and calibrated… all I need is you and it'll be over with. You'll be healthy again and broken limbs will be fixed with the simple flick of a switch instead of months of slow healing." Charles said as he led Jules back to his lab where the Roboticizer stood. Standing as tall as the ceiling, the machine did not look like much; a six-foot tall glass tube topped by some odd-looking machinery and a multitude of tubes and hoses and cables running to a nearby bank of computers. The whole contraption rested on a metal base inside which encased more electronic nonsense that no one else other than Jules knew what its purpose was. Without a word, Jules slowly climbed the stairs to the tube and got inside it. Jules was nervous; his brothers' invention tested out with a plant and a fish, but he still could not help having a feeling that something like this was better left to natural means of healing. Jules hobbled up the platform and took his place inside the glass cylinder. Charles slid the glass tube in place and started warming the machine up. Within a matter of seconds the machine was ready.
"Jules, I'm about to throw the switch. In a matter of seconds, you'll be fine as your son's quills!" Charles said through the one-way intercom he installed between the control panel and the machine. Jules gave a weak thumbs-up to Charles in reply. Charles revved the generator up and started the countdown. Once the generator was at full power and the countdown was complete, the machine started up.
The inside of the tube filled with a non-poisonous gas and the air around the machine filled with static electricity as it worked. The inside view of the glass tube was obscured by a misty-looking smoke as it had when Charles had tested it on the flower and the Mobian Trout. Within a matter of seconds, the displays on the readout indicated that the process was done. Charles walked over, cut the power to it, and opened the tube.
On opening their eyes, Sam and Aaron found themselves on a road that seemed to be suspended in mid-space. All around them were planets of varying sizes and colors. Aaron brought the car to a stop on the road and opened the door.
"Aaron! What're you doing? You'll get sucked out!" Sam screamed at him. Aaron poked his head out as quickly as possible and then pulled his head back in and closed the door. He looked at Sam and said,
"There's air out there. The road appears to just float in space suspended on nothin', but there's air. I'm gonna try to step out onto the road… it's got my curiosity going." Aaron opened his door again and wrapped his seatbelt around his hand in case he did fall and slid out of the car. As he got his feet almost level with the road the car was on, the road expanded to provide adequate ground for Aaron to stand on. Letting go of the seatbelt, he walked around so he was in front of the car. Aaron jumped twice and landed as hard as he could on it. The road had a little give to it, almost as if it was made of a stiff rubber-like material. Aaron turned around so he was facing the car and motioned for Sam to come out and join him. She opened her door, but did not get out right away. She reached her hand down and brought it within an inch of the road, which expanded so her hand would not go over the edge of it. Once satisfied that she would not fall off the edge, she got out of the car and walked over to where Aaron was standing.
"Aaron… this can't be possible. Something like this can't exist; it's impossible! A long road that goes no place and that is suspended in space by nothing can't exist! If it's real… how'd we get here? In a car? How would you explain that to someone?" Samantha asked Aaron. Aaron just shook his head and started walking back to the car.
"I don't know… but I think we should continue heading straight ahead incase there happens to be answers ahead someplace." Aaron said as he climbed back into the car. When the car had morphed into its longer and faster state, several extra gauges had appeared in the instrument cluster. After checking them to make sure they were still within the marked limits, Aaron turned the car on and listened as the electric motors, which were still engaged, sped up to full speed. Once the gauge for them showed they were ready, Aaron shifted into 'Drive' and they sped down the road. After driving for another forty minutes, they came to a signpost and Aaron stopped to take a look at it.
"Sam… What do ya think a signpost would be doing in the middle of nowhere?" Sam looked up from the display in front of her where she had been searching for some kind of map, and saw the signpost.
"No clue. Think one of us should get out and take a look at it?" Sam asked. Aaron nodded and got out of the car, again pausing to let the road expand to allow him to stand on it. He half-walked/half-jogged up to the sign and could not believe what he saw on it.
The sign was large, painted black with white lettering on it. Each of the signs pointed to a separate branch in the road ahead of them. From top to bottom, the signs were each written in some language that Aaron could not read. There were three that he could read right away; one sign appeared to be written in Klingon and there were two that were written in English that pointed straight ahead and one that pointed in the direction that they had just come from. They read Mobius and Earth, with the Earth sign pointing towards where they had just come from and the Mobius one pointing straight ahead. Aaron recognized the name Mobius from a video game he had back home: Sonic the Hedgehog. Walking back to the car, Aaron relayed his findings to Sam, who was still looking through the computers trying to find some kind of map in them.
"There're only two signs I can read; one pointing back to Earth and one pointing to Mobius. There's a third that looks like Klingon and the rest of them don't look like anything I've seen. I say we head to Mobius and check it out. If nothing else, it should give us a place to turn around and get back on here headin' in the right direction." Aaron explained. Sam looked at Aaron.
"You wanna just go to a strange planet; a planet that no one's ever been to and ask them if we can turn around in the middle of their city? You have any idea how crazy that sounds?" Sam asked him. They just looked at each other for a few more seconds before Sam spoke up again, "At least, can I make a sketch of the signpost? I wanna at least have some kind of record that we were here." Sam said. Aaron pulled the car up closer to the sign and Sam hopped out with a pad of paper and a drawing pencil from her backpack. She walked up to the sign and started drawing out all the languages on it and their signs and which way they pointed. After about twenty minutes, she came back to the car and they were off to Mobius. As fast as the car was, it still took them near two hours to make the journey there.
"Sam… We're almost there! Be prepared for anything." Aaron said as he slowed the car as he neared where the road came to an end on the planet's surface.
The entire village heard the screams of Sir Charles Hedgehog.
"For the love of Mobius… no!" At once, Charles ran over to what had been his brother and tried to talk to it. After only a couple minutes of trying to speak with the now-roboticized Jules, Charles finally broke down sobbing in his lab. He cried for what seemed like hours, and when he was done, it was already night. After locking up his labs and nailing the doors shut, Charles wandered around the forest lost in thought for the rest of the night.
"What have I done? The machine tested perfect with the flower and the trout… what went wrong?" He kept repeating to himself as he wandered around the Kingdom in the moonlight. Finally, nearing exhaustion, Charles came to an old shop that had been abandoned for what looked like years. He recognized it as having belonged to a certain rabbit couple a couple years back. They had been two of the Mobians lost in the Great War. No one seemed to know what happened to their daughter, Bunnie; some thought she had simply run away while others believed that another couple without children had adopted her. Charles thought then to give up on being a scientist and open the chili dog stand that his nephew had tried talking him into many times before. His nephew, Sonic, was the biggest fan of his chili dogs and Charles knew that Sonic would be so happy that his Uncle finally decided to open the long-dreamt of chili dog stand. Now totally worn-out from the hours of wandering through the forest and city, Charles finally fell asleep sitting on a stool with his head resting on his arms.
When he woke up the next morning, it was already late afternoon and the day's activities were drawing to a close. Coming from Castle Acorn, he could hear the King's daughter and what sounded like his nephew, Sonic, arguing over something. This brought both a smile to his face and tears to his eyes for he had not broken the news to Sonic or his mother yet. Knowing that it would be near impossible to bring himself to do so, let alone try to explain it to a five year old, he kept trying to push it out of his mind and set about trying to clean up the small building he was still in.
Inside the castle, King Acorn was busy with a video call from MegaCentral, the capital of New America.
"King Acorn, what has become of my missing scientist? Any word from him?" President Monroe asked. King Max was hesitant to reply for fear that he would be forced to send his newly instated Warlord away.
"No word yet, President. I've had my finest men searching the woods, but there hasn't been any sign of him yet. You'll be the first to know if we find him." King Max said, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
"Good, good. I can't afford to have any deserters on the loose. Any word on your wife, Queen Alicia?" The President asked. King Acorn sighed and then replied,
"No word yet. I've called every place I can think of and then some. No one has seen her at all. I'm beginning to worry… if something happened to her…" The King trailed off, not wanting to speak the words that had troubled his sleep for the past four nights. He had been forced to celebrate his daughter's Royal Commencement without his wife present the day before the War abruptly began and ended a mere twelve hours after beginning on their territory.
"King Max, don't worry… I'm sure she's fine. She'll be home before you know it… I'm positive. King Acorn, I'm sorry but I must go… my kids are calling for me and I think dinners almost ready here. I'll call you if I hear anything about your wife."
"And, I'll contact you if I hear anything about your missing scientist. Thank you, President Monroe." The President nodded before disconnecting the call. King Acorn sat where he was for a couple minutes lost in thought. Once his head cleared and he had reassured himself that nothing bad had happened to his wife, he walked outside.
As the car came out of the portal that had opened up in front of the vehicle, Aaron and Sam were speechless. They had prepared for anything except what lay in front of them; they had come out of the portal in the middle of a town of humans and Earth-like buildings. Aaron stopped the car where it was and stared in disbelief.
"Sam… It looks like we're in downtown Manhattan or something! If I didn't know we just traveled a couple million miles, I wouldn't know we left Earth!" Aaron said while staring up through the sloped windshield at the tall buildings that loomed overhead. Out of the corner of his eye, Aaron saw the person in a futuristic police uniform approaching the car.
"Aaron… looks like we have company. Should we get out of the car?" Sam asked, looking out through the drivers' side window at the officer-type being approaching them. Aaron nodded and they both opened their doors and got out of the car. The officer came up to them.
"You should know that this is a pollution-free zone. I'm afraid I'll have to impound your car until President Monroe can see you." The officer said through his helmet. Aaron and Sam looked at each other before Sam spoke.
"The car is electric. We're new here… from Earth. Somehow, we all of a sudden ended up here." Sam spoke up. The police officer raised his visor. Aaron and Sam were totally confused because underneath the helmet and the uniform was a human of no more than forty years of age.
"Would it be possible to talk to the President?" Aaron asked. The officer just plucked his radio from his belt and contacted the President's secretary, who also served as dispatch for the police officers. He called into her that he had two people who wanted to talk to the President and she called into the President. After a short pause she radioed back to the officer to show them in. After some walking, Aaron and Sam were shown to the Presidential offices. Once inside, a jolly-looking man in his late fifties greeted them.
"Hello… hello. You must be the newcomers. Welcome to MegaCentral, New America. I'm President Vincent Monroe." The President said as he shook hands with Aaron and Samantha.
"Yes, we are. I'm Samantha and this is Aaron. We just got here from Earth in Aaron's car and thought we'd stop in and ask a couple questions." Samantha explained in short as she and Aaron were directed to two comfortable-looking chairs in front of the President's desk.
"Would you like something to drink? Mobian coffee? Tea?" The President asked as he walked over to a wall that turned out to be a fridge. Sam asked for a coffee while Aaron just asked for a glass of water. He came back with a cup of sweet-smelling coffee and a glass of the cleanest water Aaron had ever seen.
"This is delicious coffee, Mr. President. We don't mean to impose on you or anything, we just ended up here, and headed for the nearest town we saw. How did humans end up here?" Samantha asked as she sipped her coffee. To her, it was almost like a sweet espresso but it was not as strong.
"Well, back in the nineteen-seventies by Earth time, about an eighth of the population you see outside were flying from Miami, Florida to the Bermuda Islands when we suddenly ended up here. Our best guess is that we flew into the Bermuda Triangle on accident and it acted as some sort of gateway and we ended up here. Our jetliner crashed into Mt. Mobius south of here and the Mobian King was kind enough to help us get it out of there and provide us with enough supplies to start our cozy little city. And, after about thirty Earth years, this is the result." He said as he motioned around the room.
"Haven't you guys tried to get back to Earth or at least send word that you're here?" Aaron asked.
"We did launch a space mission a few years back; we launched four astronauts towards the stars in hopes that at some point, they'll drift into Earth orbit. The last signal we got from them was five years ago and as best we could figure, they were nearing the edge of this solar system. I guess all we can do is wait and see what happens." President Monroe said. "If you kids would like, I can put you up in our best hotel."
"Thank you, Mr. President, but we're only here for a short time. Aaron's car can make it back to Earth overnight and we're looking forward to getting back to Earth. But, if you could… could you give us directions to the Mobian King and his territory?" Sam asked.
"Of course. Is there any way that you could take a few of us back with you when you head back?" President Monroe asked as he dug through his desk for a piece of paper.
"I'm afraid not… my car only has room enough for two people. If I had the room, I would." Aaron answered as he got the directions from the President. "Thank you, sir. Oh, and where's the nearest stretch of road? We'll need it to make it back."
"Uh… the longest road around here is north of here. It's an old highway leading to the northern city of Megalopolis. When you get back to Earth, will you make sure to let everyone know that Flight One-eighty-two is safe and sound on a distant planet?" President Monroe asked as he walked them to the door.
"Absolutely! Thank you, Mr. President!" Aaron said as he and Sam walked from the building to Aaron's car, which was still parked where he had left it, though it was surrounded by a group of people who had obviously never seen anything like it.
"Okay, Sam… Let's get going and visit this King. It's a ways down there from what he said." Aaron said as they got in the car and started it up. After about an hour of driving, they came to a forest surrounding where they planned to go. Getting out of the car, they walked the rest of the way into the Kingdom. They made it as far as the border of the city before they saw something that neither of them could explain. Animals that walked on their hind legs and lived in small houses inhabited the Kingdom. Afraid of what might happen if they were seen, Aaron and Samantha hid in the shadows until they reached the castle. After some quick discussion on their part, Aaron and Sam decided it best not to just walk in there and make themselves known. Instead, they hid behind one of the pillars that made up the palace gardens and observed the people. In the middle of the courtyard were two young children fighting about something.
"I'm smarter than you!" The young girl said.
"Sez who?" The young boy who was arguing with the young girl asked.
"I say!"
"You say?"
"Yeah!" The girl shot back. "I do!" The King walked up. The children stopped as the King approached them.
"What seems to be the problem, Sonic and Sally?" The King asked.
"Nothing important, daddy!" Sally naively said.
"Nossir! We were just having fun!" Sonic added.
"I see." King Acorn replied, a little confused.
"I hate to interrupt, King Acorn. But, I have matters of urgent importance to discuss!" A stranger said from the shadows.
"Ah, Warlord Julian Kintobar! I've been looking for you. Run along, children! We'll settle this later." The King said as he motioned for the kids to leave him and Warlord Julian alone.
"Come on, Sal! Last one to the tree house is a rotten chilidog!" Sonic told Sally as she followed a short distance behind.
"We've a reception tonight!" The King said.
"A reception, Sire?" Julian asked.
"Yes, I'm announcing your appointment as Minister of Science. I've also approved your plans for dismantling the military! Implementation may begin at once!" King Acorn was looking to get rid of the military that Julian Kintobar had built up and now that they had won the Great War, he had no need for a military.
"Of course, Sire!" Julian attentively said. In the back of his mind, he kept thinking how great of an opportunity this was. He had plans, but he had to wait with them until the time was right.
"One more thing… it is imperative that the transition proceed immediately. I'm confident you're more than up to the task, Warlord Julian." King Acorn said.
"Better than you know, Sire."
"Very good! I'll see you tonight, then!" The King said as he headed towards the door.
"Alert the troops to be ready for my signal, Snively!" Julian said to his short assistant who stood to Julian's side in the shadows.
"Just say the word, Sir!" Snively said. In his hand, Snively held a small remote control of sorts. On it was one button; one button that would unleash the attack that had for so long been planned and redrawn.
"The word is given, Snively… Commence attack… now!" At his mark, Snively pushed the button and Julian's army marched into the city from just beyond its border. At first glance, they appeared to be normal troops. But as they got closer, Sonic could tell that something was not right about them. Beyond the castle walls, an airship could be seen landing.
"Sal… it's like the war is starting up again! But, I've never seen troops like these!" Sonic said in awe. Sonic and Sally had been just a year old at the time of the first Great War and had been told all about it in school and had read about it. From what either could remember, these troops were very much unlike the troops that marched in the Great War.
"What do they want, Julayla?" Sally asked.
"As I'm at a loss to explain this, I think it better that we return to the palace and find Rosie, my dear!" Julayla, the Princesses mentor, said, "I'm sure the King is aware of the situation!" A startled King looked onward as Julian approached him. In the background, the airship had unloaded dozens of SWATbots and other robotic troops.
"Julian! What's going on here?" The King asked. The royal guards of the King started to approach but were held back by a wall of the robots.
"Your Majesty… members of the royal courts… I've now assumed control! Henceforth, what was once known as Mobotropolis will now be Robotropolis, the capitol of my kingdom! My army of SWATbots have struck simultaneously at various key points all over the kingdom, virtually halting any chance of any resistance!" Julian said to the King, "That could change, however, if the royal subjects were to rally around the King and crown!" King Acorn had been raised to never give up and he had no plans to give up now no matter how bad it seemed.
"Give it up, Julian! You can't succeed!" The King exclaimed.
"The name is no longer Julian! From this day forward, I am Robotnik! As for you, King Acorn, I hereby banish you to The Zone Of Silence… forever!" Robotnik evilly cackled. Julayla, who had been standing on the balcony of her classroom gasped as she heard the words that Robotnik had spoken, carried in on the wind.
"Have you no honor, Julian? No sense of responsibility or loyalty?" The King asked.
"Oh, but I do! I have a responsibility to restore order from chaos!" Robotnik said, "And, with the aid of my latest discovery, I have the means necessary to carry out my plans! SWATbot, bring me the creator of this device, Sir Charles Hedgehog!" Robotnik turned to Charles, "After making a few changes to it, I will control the planet!" Charles then turned to the King.
"Sire, I made it so if someone breaks a leg or arm, I can roboticize that limb, but after Julian stole it and tampered with the controls, it completely roboticized my brother! You killed my brother!" Charles finished, turning to Robotnik.
"Now, you may join your brother in my army of robots! The machine will transform any living creature into a mindless robot, free to obey my every command and order!"
"Sally, Sonic, Julayla, Rosie run for your lives! Escape from this place!" The King shouted to the others. "This is Monstrous!" He said as he turned back to Robotnik. They boarded the airship, which flew them back to Ivo's labs. Inside the largest was housed the Zone Of Silence.
"That depends on your point of view! In my version, you are the enemy and must be eliminated for the good of all!" Robotnik said.
"No matter how long it takes, Julian, somehow I will stop you!" The previous Warlord had a lackey who was a powerful wizard. Using his magic and the tactical knowledge of Warlord Kodos, Ixis Naugus and Warlord Kodos had created the Zone Of Silence; a zone where sound failed to reverberate and light had no meaning. Kodos had an obsession with weapons of destructive power and had made several various weapons until his sudden disappearance just days before Robotnik was instated as Warlord. Once Warlord, Robotnik had discovered all the marvelously destructive weapons and gadgets that Kodos and Ixis had left behind; including the Zone, which at that time was contained within a wall.
"Courageous words Sire! But, where you are going that won't be possible! Open the portal! May I present to you The Zone Of Silence! Impressive, isn't it? Be sure to give Ixis Naugus, its inventor and Kodos, your former warlord, my regards! An unsafe journey, my once and former King!"
"I'll get you, Julian!" The King said as he was tossed into the Zone as if he was a scrap of paper thrown out a window.
(End of Chapter 4)