Chapter 5: City Escape!


Northern Robotropolis Metropolitan

Alyx eyes lidded open. Yawning, she rolled over to her stomach, her arm hanging off the bed. She rested her cheek on the sheet, relaxing as she breathed in the stale air. She brought her hand up to her face to rub the sleepiness from her eyes and froze. Her heart jumped, something didn't feel right! The previous day flooded back to her. "Oh yeah..." She mumbled. She pushed herself from the bed, sitting up. She was wide awake now.

Looking around the room, she noticed how much the shapes in the room popped out in the low light. Fine detail was out of the question, but maybe Mobian's had better night vision? She looked over to the corner window, it was blacked out with a sheet. Getting up off the bed, she moved to pull the side so she could peer through. it was lightly raining outside, but it looked like the sun was out. It looked to be daytime.

Letting the sheet drop back in place, she decided to go check on her drying clothes. Moving out to the living room, she noticed Tails curled up on the sofa, his namesakes dangling off the edge. Glancing to her own new limb behind her, she gently grabbed for it. It was soft and seemed to relax in her grip. The black tip was still crooked but at least it didn't hurt anymore. That probably wasn't right... Maybe it didn't heal right? She sighed, letting it go, watching it naturally return behind her. She had heard of people with extra limbs, usually they couldn't feel them or the movement was tied to another body part. This tail felt like it had been apart of her forever.

Tails moved catching her attention. He rolled onto his back, his feet pushing him awkwardly into the armrest. She chuckled under her breath, he was sleeping like a cat! She paused thinking for a moment... No... she knew a few guys back home that could sleep on bricks and pallets. Remembering why she was there she moved to the arm of the couch, grabbing her clothes. Stepping back, she made her way back to the room.

Tails woke to the sound of the door closing down the hall. Lifting his head groggily, he pushed himself up on his elbows. He brought up his watch to checked the time. Squinting at the low light display, he read 8:34 in the morning. Sitting up, he yawned, scratching an itch behind his ear. Blinking sand out of his eyes, he got up, moving for the lightswitch. The overhead can lights kicked on and he noticed Alyx's clothes were gone. She must already be up, he thought. Walking over to Grady, he poked the drone with his foot. "Morning time my dude."

The drones optic iris slowly flickered to life. "Wha? I'm up! I'm up!" The eyespy's red optic settled into its soft glow as the drone rose off the charging pad. The little robot tilted giving a yawn. "That was a strange defrag cycle, I drempt I was part of a motorcycle gang.."

Tails looked confused. "What?" He shook his head. "I still have a hard time believing you dream at all, but... how would you ride a motorcycle with no hands?" He shook his head. "Know what? Never mind... Get up, we got a lot of ground to cover today." He straightened his hoodie. "Whats your charge at?"

"Huh? Oh right, looks to be 64 percent." The drone tilted back and forth as if stretching. "Pshhhh! It was a neat dream though. You were there too! We had matching sunglasses and bro tattoos!"

Tails shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder whats wrong with you." He walked over to the covered up window and peered passed the curtain to check the weather. "Why did the humans ever make AI with such personality... Sometimes I understand why Robotnik suppresses the templates."

The robot swung around him. "Hey! for one, that's rude... It sounds like you're wishing I had brain damage! Second of all... It was a cool tattoo! There was a skeleton hand clasping a... robot skeleton hand... Total bro moment! Maybe we should think about getting something like that?"

Tails glared at him. "Grady, I have fur covering my skin. That's like... most Mobians, you remember that right? Besides where on Mobius would we get a tattoo, I don't want a tattoo!" He quipped, moving over to the kitchen. Starting to rummage through the old prepackaged food in the cupboard, he leaned his head back to look at the robot, a twinkle in his eye. "I could let the kids paint you again if you want though..."

The drone paused hovering in place. "Oh yea... Sometimes I get you guys confused with humans. Both of you guys are made of meat so it gets confusing."

Tails looked unnerved and offended. His expression melting to annoyance he rolled his eyes. "Don't compare me to a Human you tin can."

"Whatever, meatbag!" The bot chirped.

Tails grabbed a couple protein bars. "WOW!" He bobbed his head blinking. The smile on his face grew. "Now who's being rude?" He sarcastically drolled.

The drone tilted as if questioning. "Is that not correct? Your full of meat! Don't start things you don't plan on finishing!"

Tails laughed, biting into his protein bar. "It's just strange the way you say it." He replied, chewing.

Grady turned around darting different directions as if searching. "I just remembered, Where did the lady go?" He hovered around his face.

Tails swallowed. "Probably changing. I thought I heard her grabbing her clothes, that's what woke me up."

The drones optic narrowed as he zoomed up to Tails eyes. "Well that was quick. Do I need to report this back to Sally? Why were her clothes gone?"

The young fox flushed under his fur, backhanding the drone. Grady was sent tumbling. "GRRRRAAAAAHHHH!" Tails grit, clutching his throbbing hand. He glared daggers at Grady. "Don't talk like that! this isn't the time or the place and I don't need you causing stuff I don't need!" He glared at the drone. "She was covered in old blood, so she washed her clothes! She found a bath robe!" His eyes started to sting as he bent over cradling his hand "They were drying next to the heater! NOTHING HAPPENED AND SALLY DOES NOT NEED TO KNOW!"

The drone started to self rightin. "WOW! Now who's now... uhh... BEING RUDE NOW?! HMMM?" The drone dizzily got up, it's internal gyroscope re-calibrating to face him.

Tails eyes were tight as he breathed deep. "My hand..."

The drone broke out in laughter. "Metal skin is neat..." The Bot perked. "OHH! Think you could mount an arm on this so I can try and smack you sometime boss?" He cheered.

The door at the end of the hall opened, Tails ears perked as he forced himself up. Shoving his soar hand by his side he tried to pretend the previous conversation didn't happen. "Morning!" He smiled "How did you sleep?" He watched the scruffy vixen walk into the living room.

"Morning!" She yawned. "Yeah, it was ok..." She put her bag down and started digging through. She pulled out the pulse weapon and attached a smaller blaster looking thing to her thigh. She started putting on her exotic gloves, then looked over to him. "We heading out soon?" She secured the second glove, flexing her digits. "What was it called again? Knothole?"

Grady zoomed over, getting right next to her eye. "So we are going home? You get to see home!" He circled around her head. "Ohh this is so exciting! Its been like Three months!" He backed up a little. "Oh you'll love it there, there's warp zones alllll over the place." She laughed pushing him away, he was way too close. The drone continued on. "I want to see Nicole!"

"Don't annoy Nicole when we get home Grady..." Tails reminded as he pulled out another protein bar. "Hey Alyx!" She met his eyes. "Breakfast." He waved the bar. "Catch!" He tossed it to her.

Lifting a gloved hand, she yanked it mid air. Pulling the food to her palm, she grinned. "Thanks!"

Tails ears twitched and his eyes widened at the tech he so badly wanted to dissect. straining a smile, he quashed the thought. Grabbing his things, he moved back into the living room and unplugged the heater. "We probably should have left earlier. Preferably we travel at night, but Robotnik should be all over South Robotropolis, chasing the team that just blew up one of his reactors." He started packing up his messenger bag. "Knothole is in the Great forest up North." He pulled on his poncho the fluff of his head poking through the neck. "It looks like it may still be raining a bit. We should be safe in non industrial areas, but its still nasty stuff."

The three exited the powered down apartment, heading down the stairs in row. Alyx had a thought cross her mind as she followed the young Mobian. "Hey, do you carry any sort of weapon?"

He glanced back to her. "Hmm? I got my pry-bar and some grenades if things get out of hand."

Her eye brow raised. "You don't have any sort of projectile?" She asked.

He shook his head. "There's a coating on Robotnik's tech that deflects light based projectiles, blasters aren't useful in Robotropolis. We have some kinetic weapons but those are cumbersome with all the ammo."

They made it to the first floor near the old deli and Alyx covered her mouth with her palm. "Ugh!" She muffled "This is surprisingly bad!" She commented as he unlocked the door.

He frowned. "Whats surprising about it?" He gasped, trying to hold his breath. "Its decaying food."

She shrugged. "I don't know what it is, foods usually not this bad. This is like corpse bad..."

They made their way into the alleyway, the two taking deep breaths. He looked at her concerned. "I take it you've been around a lot of death?" He asked nervously. "D-do you want to talk about it?"

She looked a bit surprised. "What? Oh I'm fine. I'm talking about stuff I came across out in the quarantine zone back home." She sighed. "It's just been strange getting used to..." She got a weird embarrassed look on her face. "All this! I'm in a whole different world!" She started to gesture wildly around her. "I knew they existed, but its just, WOW. Never thought I'd experience this." She smiled. "Just strange, thinking of the differences between Earth and Mobius."

He silently nodded as they made their way up the alleyway. There were gray clouds rippling through the sky as the rain slowly continued.

She glanced up concerned. "You said there was toxic rain?"

He gave a odd shrug, his expression stretching. "Out here on the outskirts its just full of soot. Further south it tends to become acidic." He pointed to one of the drains. "One of the problems is the way the drainage system works, for a few days after the underground starts to release toxic fumes from the acid getting mixed with other chemicals." He shook his head. "The day after is usually the worst, especially how the ventilation down there works, but it should be safe to traverse them in a few days."

She nodded as she examined the buildings around them. They continued to make their way to the street. Noticing the sweat building under her arms, she realized how hot she felt. "Hey, what season is it? It seems to be unusually hot for morning."

He glanced back to her. "It's Summer. The weather can be weird here but its not too bad right now, why?"

She stopped. "Give me a minute." She began pulling off her outer jacket revealing a gray hoodie underneath. "It's way too hot for two sweatshirts. Strange how cool it was last night."

He looked at her bewildered. "You were wearing a jacket on top of a hoodie?" an eyebrow raised as he scanned her. "And all that... on top of your fur?"

Her smile was nervous. "It gets cold in the Slavic countries. It was Autumn." She tied the jacket around her waste and re-situated her gun. They continued walking north in the surrounding silence.

Tails noticed the round black logo on her hoodie's front. "Whats that mean?"

Grady examined it. "Hey, that's Black Mesa's logo!"

Surprised, she turned to the drone. "Your right! It was my dads when he worked for them. How do you..." She remembered. "Oh right, AI stolen from Robotnik."

The drone shook its head. "Nuh uh. Aperture's AI. Black Mesa stole technology from Aperture Science's Enrichment Center, that's where I'm from."

The three continued walking down the road. Grady's eye flashed. "Oh I got an emergency band message... Uhh... Tails, I've got Chuck on the line."

*ZZT* The line connected. "Tails? Is that you sunny?" The elder's voice came over the radio. "I don't have much time! Robotnik ignored the bombing! He set up a perimeter north of y#$ !" The radio started getting worse. Head w#$ *!" The call was now overwhelmed by interference.

Tails ears drooped as his eyes grew. "Uncle Chuck?" His fur rose as he grabbed the drone staring into the optic. "What happened!"

"Hmm..." The bot thought. "There's a lot of garbage data..." The drones eye flaps started to rotate as if adjusting the signal. More static played through the speaker. "Looks like 98% of all radio space is being jammed..." His voice got quiet. "That must be taking a massive amount of power..."

Tails let go and started to pace. "Somethings wrong! Robotnik should be going after Sonic right now! He just hit a power plant a couple of hours ago!" He looked up to Grady. "Did that even happen?"

The little robot bobbed affirmative. "From the limited access I have, the south east power plant is down. All seven remaining zones are up though."

Tails started panicking. "What changed!" He looked down starting to pull at his hair. "Sonic is Robotnik's priority ONE!" He froze remembering an important detail. He met Alyx's gaze. "That signal you were transmitting! He knows its from Earth! WHY DIDN'T I REALIZE HOW IMPORTANT THAT WAS TO HIM!"

Alyx shifted her stance nervously. "I'm sorry! So what do we do?!" She brought her weapon up looking around for any signs of movement and started jogging forward. "The Combine don't track signals like that back on Earth... We piggyback them on their existing frequencies. They just see it as background radiation!"

Jogging beside her Tails shook his head. "We b-line it out of the city I guess!" Sirens started in the distance and the three of them looked up. "We were already going north, That's the quickest way out!" Tails yelled, the panic evident in his voice.

"This is great!" The drone flew up ahead of them, it's eye still trained on the pair. "Ooh! Ooh! Its just like an action flick!" He spun facing forward. "All we need now is a get away car!"

"SHUT UP! THIS SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!" Tails yelled back.


Robotropolis Command Center

Dr. Robotnik had been coordinating the search for the strange signal for an hour. "Operator! Any new findings on our search?"

"NEGATIVE! However... sector sweep has begun!" The simplistic AI chirped. "6 squads of swatbots have started marching south to intercept. We are covering 40 blocks." The overhead voice synthesized.

Robotnik sighed looking through his morning briefing. "I have a report saying one of my power plants was damaged?" The older man asked. "No doubt the Hedgehog trying to distract me from this..." He looked up at the monitor. "How bad is it?"

"SECTOR 7 power facilities have been totally ANNIHILATED!" Operator cheered. "Starting recovery process as we speak! However... due to surrounding damage, beyond our control, workerbot teams are still having issues getting on scene to put out the fires!"

His chest felt hot as his heart rate rose. Snapping his coffee cup's handle, it crashed to the floor. "Ohhhhhh it just irks me so... SO MUCH! Letting them get away with this..." He breathed. Snapping his metallic fingers, a Robian came by, handing him a new drink and started cleaning the floor. His teeth were creaking as his jaw clenched. "Just remember Julian... keep the damages minimal, don't let them goat you on..." His heart continued to pick up as his blood pressure rose. A small red light on the back of his robotic hand started flashing. "Play the long game, just play the long game. All you have to do is out produce what they can break..." He unclenched his jaw exhaling. "Remember, remember, one power plant out of 8, it will get fixed. Then you can figure out if Earth can be salvaged..." He brought his robotic arm forward, beginning to type a sequence on the forearm's keypad.

"ADMINISTERING BETA-BLOCKERS!" The overhead announcer blasted, interrupting his train of thought.

He glared daggers at the ceiling as the thump of his heart slowed. "I really need to fix that idiot..." He grumbled. The middle aged man sighed as he checked the newly upgraded monitors for signs of the rodents. A board expression crossed his face as he waited. "Operator." He muttered. "Where's my nephew?"

"SUBJECT Colin Kintober. Is in his quarters sleeping." The dumb AI replied. "WARNING! Subject appears to be outside of normal scheduled working hours. Correction protocol engaged! Waking subject to report to duty and filing complaint with their manager!"

Robotnik burst out in deep bellows of laughter as his personal alert monitor showed a new unread message. "Ohhhh that works! Have him report to me on the double!"


Somewhere in northern Robotropolis

A middle aged Mobian stood on top of a building, there were blocks of shops and apartments saturating this district. Above him were sparse overpasses and landing platforms. Pulling a pair of old folding opera glasses, he snapped them open. Looking down the southern street, he saw his target sneaking along side a local boy and his drone. Right on schedule. Lowering the optics he snapped them shut. Turning north he saw a row of much larger stealth drones approaching. Putting the folded glasses away, he bent down to pick up his briefcase. He moved to leave as the stealth drones whizzed overhead. Straightening his tie, a wolfish grin on his face, he moved to walk away, fading into nothing.


Robotropolis Command Center

Colin was walking down the blued steel corridor. Rubbing his eyes he pulled some pills from his pocket, downing them and chasing them with a bottle of water. Feeling the head rush coming, he braced himself against the wall to catch himself from falling. When he was ready he continued. He was almost there.

Robotnik turned at the hiss of the door. He grinned. "Glad to see you could join me." Pointing to the command station next to himself he darkly chuckled. "Sit with me BOY! Let's try and find where this Earth signal originates."

Colin glared, the bags under his eyes evident. His uncle knew, he could see it in the man' s foul smile. He knew how long it would have taken to replace every monitor in this blasted room. "Thank you sir." He strained through clenched teeth. He moved to take his spot next to his uncle, taking a gulp from his coffee.

"Temper temper my dear boy..." The older man sweetly mocked as his nephew just glared at his screen.

"ALERT!" The announcer blasted. "Mobian of race WOLF detected! ERROR! Mobian has seemingly vanished without a trace... This situation is unfortunately outside our basic learning parameters, A human associate is required to continue." Colin held his head tucking his chin as if to fend off a headache.

Robotnik frowned. "Bring up event on the main screen."

The video showed the overhead perspective of one of the stealth spy drones. The video paused to show a wolf Mobian in a business suit standing on top of the buildings. As the frames advanced the Mobian turned to walk away, fading into nothing... Colin squinted. "How is that possible?"

Robotnik was shocked as the silenced deafened the room. He frantically typed commands on the keypad on his armrest. "Operator, new entry condition. Codename teleporter, place all future vids of these disappearing acts in my personal archive!"

"Of corse!" It replied.

Colin looked over to his uncle questioningly. "Sir?"

"There's only one man I know who could teleport like that... and they weren't Mobian." He wavered.

Colin rose an eyebrow, did his uncle just hesitate?

Steeling his voice, Robotnik continued. "Operator! Search around that anomaly! Send the closest two squads! If any Mobians are found, bring them to me alive! Give order to only start firing if it looks like you'll lose them!"

"SCAN- FOUND!" It interrupted itself. "TWO MOBIANS of FOX race and a ROGUE EYESPY have been spotted! Due south of stealth drones!"

The maniacal smile returned to the demented doctors face. "Good! Intercept and bring them up on screen!"

An overhead video of two Mobians and a turquoise painted eye spy came up on the screen. It seemed to be a boy and a girl of the fox variety. The boy was orange and white and the girl was orange and black. Colin squinted at the screen. "let me get a better angle." The footage panned, zooming in on the pair as they failed to sneak down the sidewalk.

"How long until intercept?" The mad doctor barked.

"Any moment sir!" He clipped back. The two Mobians paused under a covered walkway next to a broken down car. Colin froze. "SIR! THE LOGO!" He screeched pointing frantically.

Robotnik's eyes were wide as he paused the feed. rewinding he stopped on her knelt form. Clear as day, there was a Black Mesa research facility logo plastered across the front of the girls hoodie. He stood up sharply. Shaking, he looked about to foam at the mouth. "BRING ME THAT MOBIAN! NEW PRIORITY ONE! BRING ME THAT GIRL!" He screamed.


Northern Robotropolis

The two foxes were slowly sneaking north, towards the outskirts. As the sirens droned, they kept darting from cover to cover, snaking around abandon cars and covered walkways. As they hugged the inside of a walkway, a low hum approached. Grady tilted up, his optic shutters closing as if to squint. "Uh, guys? We may have been spotted..."

Tails panic increased. "Today should have been easy!" He wheezed, his eyes darting to the approaching stealth drones. "He wasn't supposed to sweep this sector!" He grabbed his head as he started shaking. "I could have accounted for this but I didn't!" His breathing was getting harder. "I DON'T WANT TO BE ROBOTICIZED!" He broke down, grabbing Alyx's wrist he made to bolt, dragging her along.

A drone centered in front of the trio, cutting off their path. "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT SHIRT GIRL?! HOW DID YOU GET ARTIFACTS FROM EARTH!?" The large steel pod screamed.

Tails darted his head franticly, freezing in fear as he saw a squad of swatbot mark IIIs with stun batons marching towards them. "WE NEED TO LEAVE!" He screamed. "LIKE NOW!" He pulled at Alyx's wrist, only for her to rip it away annoyed. Raising her firearm she pointed it square at the offending drone. Her face was ticked, her mouth a line. Tails dove behind them covering his head. "ARE YOU CRAZY? WHATS WRONG WITH YOU! THAT'S GOING TO RICOCHET!" He Shrieked.

"Are you Dr. Julian Kintober? of Black Mesa?" The girl demanded.

There was a pause. "How did you learn that? How did you know that title! WHERE DID YOU GET THAT SHIRT!" The drone's speaker crunching from the blown out gain.

Her mouth started moving without her even realizing. "PREPARE FOR UNFORESEEN CONSEQUENCES!" She pulsed her finger on the weapons trigger, spewing microscopic flecs of dark matter from the machine pistol.

Tails peered up expecting to see the rounds reflect, only to witness the burst ripping through the drones internal power cell. It flat-lined, crashing to the ground, exploding in the process. Alyx jumped back covering her eyes from the shrapnel. The boy stared at her, wide eyed in shock.

She raised her head from her elbow, taking small blinks and looked at her gun. "Well it's not nearly as loud so that's a plus... Why was the explosion so large!"

He pushed himself up from the ground. Spinning around he sprang forward, his poncho flapping over his shoulder. Darting to her back, he gently pushed her forward as his panic returned. "Less talky MORE WALKY!" She stumbled forward into a sprint. Running besides her she gave him a glare. He returned an indignant look. "Hey I'm sorry I'm being pushy! But you don't seem to understand! There's a fate arguably worse then death if we're caught!" He breathed, looking forward to avoid her eyes.

Tail's eyes were darting, looking for ways out when she rose her weapon. She started pulsing rounds into approaching swatbots. As they dropped to the ground, the hot antimatter container ejected from the gun. "Seven." She mumbled. The magazine arm was already prepping another mag. She pulled a spare, feeding the little conveyor a replacement.

"HALT MOBIAN!" A nearby bot yelled. It swung, missing tails head by hairs as he twisted out of the way. "SUBMIT FOR ARREST AND WE WILL NOT HAVE TO USE EXCESSIVE FORCE!"

Tails caught up as they came to an intersection where a car pileup had occurred. both stopped, looking down the different streets. His heart dropped as he saw Robots and drones swarming from all sides. He grasped her hand gently this time as his eyes started tearing.

Grady slowly panned, appearing in their vision from the side. "So this is how it ends, huh?" He looked out to the army approaching. "I thought it would have been with more... I don't know, fire and explosions? This movie sucks." He said, ruining the moment.

Tails face turned red, he picked up a brick and hucked it at the drone, it easily dodged. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY, GRADY!" He screamed, on the verge of a breakdown.

Alyx pulled her hand from Tails's grasp. "It's not over yet!" She roared as the squad entered the square. Bracing herself against a car, she started testing shots on their torsos and heads. One of the robots hit in the stomach, blew like a ruptured pop can. She smiled as she started targeting their power cells. "Six" She reloaded. Continuing to mow down bots she heard a zap and a bolt of light fly over her head. Turning, she dropped down, her back flush against the car. She could see Tails crouching between two of the cars crying, his head in his hands. Grady was snuggled up next to him, like a puppy trying to comfort it's master.

The Laser bolts flew over their heads, embedding into the cars. She raised her gun, firing into more approaching drones and swatbots. "MILES, USE THOSE GRENADES!" She shouted. He was shaking uncontrollably. She grit her teeth. Combat sucked, but he was going to get them both killed if he didn't help! She picked up a small stone and chucked it at him, giving him a start. He stared at her confused. "USE THE GRENADES!" She begged.

He desperately nodded, pulling his bag forward. He started digging as she was defending them. Grabbing a grenade, he pulled the pin and spun, starting to stand. "NO!" She screamed, reaching for him. A laser bolt clipped his ear, burning a hole through it. Time seemed to slow as he screamed, dropping the live grenade. As he bent forward, two more shots landed in his back, causing him to crumple. Terrified at the situation, she reflexively targeted the bomb with her outstretched hand. Yanking her wrist back, the gloves activated, pulling the bomb towards her. Catching it, she rolled, tossing it in the air. It exploded, throwing hot magnesium sparks and her ears were ringing again. She fell to the ground in a panic as she stared at miles. He was laying curled on the ground, Grady frantically nudging him. All she could hear was the ringing again.

Rolling on her back, she saw the drones starting to collect above them. Reflexively she grabbed for her pistol and fired. The ringing intensified as she dropped drone after drone. Each shot was like another grenade blast. The adrenaline was carrying her through or she was getting used to the intense sensations. Realizing her mistake, she switched back to the pulse gun. "FOUR!" She screamed, keeping her mental count. She was now crouched between the cars, waiting for opportunities to pop power cells. As she continued fighting, she backed up to a corner. A swatbot climbed over raising it's stun stick to strike her head.

Raising her arms to shield herself, there was a blue blur and the robot in front of her was pierced through the chest with a sword like weapon. Lightning quick, the blue figure spun, the sword resting over his shoulder. He snapped it forward, bringing it down like a hammer, flinging the robot in the process. It spun through the air, plowing into a cluster of them, exploding on impact. He had deep blue fur with spiky quills. He was wearing an old red and white leather jacket with jeans.

A Rabbit in a cowboy hat launched over the car, riding a stealth drone by holding onto its bottom stabilizers. Three of her four limbs were metal, her left flesh arm visibly struggling to hold her weight. She was wearing an old school leather vest over top a dark green sweater. She had cargo shorts over her metal legs. She crushed the right stabilizer causing the drone to swerve. Letting go, she gracefully rolled, sticking her landing. Springing forward, she darted to Tails. There was a shocked look on her face as she moved to check the boy's vitals.

The blue Mobian looked at Miles in concern before noticing the vixen, he pulled her roughly to her feet. He started talking to her, but all she could hear was ringing. She winced with an awkward grin. "I'M HAVING A HARD TIME HEARING YOU RIGHT NOW, I'M SORRY!" She accidentally screamed in his face. He returned her wince grimacing. Nodding sharply he grabbed her and spun her around to look at the rabbit. She was pulling Tails onto her back in a fireman carry. The blue Mobian mouthed "GO!" pointing to the rabbit who was running forward.

The rabbit noticed Alyx run up and gestured for her to follow as she re-situated the fox on her back. Behind them more swatbots started appearing and the blue blur got to work. Alyx stared wide eyed as he deflected laser beams using a robot's torso panne as an improvised shield. Turning forwards, she readied her gun, just in case. As she followed, the ringing in her ears finally started to die down. They ran up the cleared out street to the next intersection and a truck pulled up. A brown coyote with blond hair poked his head out the driver side. The Rabbit smiled at the driver. "Hey shug! Package secure for Knothole!" Alyx could start to make out what they were saying.

A head poked up from the back of the truckbed, a yellow wolf with her hair up in a ponytail. Her muzzle was a dark tan and she had white around her almond eyes. She seemed to shriek at the sight of Miles but for some reason Alyx couldn't hear her. The girls eyes hardened as she pulled a crossbow from the truckbed. Alyx turned around to see one of the larger drones get speared through the optic with a metal bolt. The Rabbit slowed down, bringing Tails to the back. Alyx saw the yellow girl fire another bolt. Turning she saw more swatbots leaving the battle with the blue Mobian to chase them down.

Alyx raised her weapon only for a hand to push it back down. Turning, she saw the tan rabbit next to her. "Get in the truck hun! We need to leave ASAP!" Alyx made out as the rabbit pointed to the back of the vehicle.

Nodding, the vixen ran up to the truckbed. Climbing up the side, she ducked under the roll cage. Grady was hovering over Miles who had been laid out on a bed roll. The Yellow wolf pushed the drone aside as she started cutting his clothes away with surgical scissors. Alyx approached as the wolf cut the ties of his poncho, ripping it off. There was a big red spot on his back. Quickly, the wolf grabbed the neck and slid the scissors down, pulling the back apart. There were two holes in his upper back, seeping blood.

The truck rocked as the rabbit climbed in on the passenger side, slamming the door. Knocking on it with her flesh hand through the open window, the truck peeled out. Alyx grabbed the side for stability. Stumbling forward on her knees, she made her way to Miles. Her stomach turned, he looked like he was dead or in shock.

The yellow wolf was putting pressure on Tails wound with one hand and prepping cleaning supplies with the other. She glanced up, noticing Alyx. "Who are you?" She rasped.

Alyx sat, pulling her bag forward. "Give me a moment!" The wolf stared at her for a second, then shook her head, returning to her task. "Found one!" The wolf looked back up seeing Alyx pull a syringe full of glowing fluid.

The yellow wolfs narrow eyes got big. "What is-" Alyx jabbed Tails in the upper thigh to the older girl's horror.

Lunging at Alyx, the yellow wolf pulled her off Tails, tossing the spent cartridge in the process, it bounced out of the swerving truck. Pulling a knife from a sheath on her leg, she held it to Alyx's neck, shoving the girl against the floor. The wolf was kneeling on her chest, restricting her breath. "What was that!" She hissed, rage consuming her face.

Alyx hands jumped up, trying to pull the knife away and push the wolf off. "WOH WOH WOH! IT'S JUST MEDICINE!" She gasped. The wolf looked skeptical. "LOOK AT HIS BACK! PLEASE GET OFF!" The wolf's almond eyes darted down to the foxes back. She saw the skin closing where the lazgun wounds had been. Blood still stained the area and there wasn't any fur where he had been shot.

"Whisper! Whats going on!?" The blue Mobian from earlier climbed in, his body language tense. His eyes darted to the vixen pinned on the ground struggling against the knife.

The wolf got off Alyx, sheathing her knife. "I misread the situation. I apologize." Her voice was so quiet. Alyx rolled over, coughing. She grasped for her neck, it stung. Pulling her hand away, she could smell the distinct copper scent and winced. Alyx looked back to Whisper as she rolled Tails on his front, pulling up a medbag. Grabbing a bottle of smelling salts, she unscrewed it, holding it to his muzzle.

The young foxes eyes split open as he shot up. "What happened! Alyx!"

"Right here!" She gave a little wave as she strained to smile.

He pushed up as he noticed the red tinted fur on the white of her neck. "What happened to your neck!" She looked so haggered.

Alyx's eyes darted to Whisper, who was looking extremely uncomfortable. "Its fine!" She coughed. "I'm fine! Just a misunderstanding!"

"Hey!" The blue Mobian interrupted, waving his hand to get their attention. "Whisper, I want you on drone detail."

The wolf nodded, grabbing her metal crossbow and attaching a clip on her belt to the trucks roll cage for stability. Steadying her stance, she brought up the weapon, starting to scan behind them for perusing drones.

The wolf quickly nodded grabbing her crossbow and attaching her belt clip to the roll cage. steadying herself she started to scan behind them for pursuing drones.

The blue Mobian looked back at Alyx. "Are you going to be ok?"

"Yea..." She smiled, sitting her back against the cabin.

"Sonic!" Tails tried pushing himself up.

Sonic managed to push him back down on the mat. "Easy buddy! You were just shot!" He said, a terrified look on his face. "Are you really ok?"

Alyx let the boys conversation drone into the background as she felt herself coming off the adrenaline high.

The truck took a hard turn and she grabbed the side to keep from sliding. Looking up she saw four of the large stealth drones from earlier following them. Grady had Three stabilizing flaps in a triangle pattern, these were twice the size and had four arms in an X shape. They were the same round shape and made of blued steel.

*SNAP*

A bolt struck the closest drones optic, causing it to fall from the sky. It crashing into a lamp post.

The other drones moved erratically to avoid whisper's bolts. Alyx saw the girl using a lever on the bottom of her crossbow to cock it. She loaded another metal bolt. Taking a good look at her, she did indeed have yellow fur and a dark tan muzzle. That Sonic one was blue too, that wasn't a trick of the light. The wolfs almond shaped eyes were similar to hers. She was wearing an open plaid jacket over a olive green hunting vest. Her legs sported cargo shorts just like the rabbit's. She snapped another bolt in place, leveling the crossbow where the drone was going to be.

*SNAP*

Another drone tumbled from the air, skidding on the ground and bouncing into a parked car.

The buildings were getting thinner and thinner as the truck sped through the abandoned streets. Seeing the wolf had the drones taken care of, she carefully stood with her pulse weapon, moving to look forward.

Holding onto the roll cage to keep from falling, she stood over the trucks cab. This area's buildings were fewer and shorter. The sky seemed to open up, she could see blue background with white clouds in the distance. The gray gravel was now starting to show the green of plants mixed in, the air seemed to be less bitter too.

There was a low hum, she turned, looking for the source. Flanking their side, a massive hovercraft barreled towards them. The hum had grown to a massive roaring vibration. The driver slammed on the breaks throwing her off balance and Whisper missed her shot. She heard a clunk and the wheels started screeching as the truck started backing up.

Alyx squinted examining the ship that was obviously chasing them down. It seemed to be made out of the same tinted metal the swatbots were made of. There were big frosted pads on the bottom vibrating violently. Maybe that was how it kept afloat? she slid to the side as the truck swung back and started west. The ship banked, turning to follow. She could see whisper trying to line up shots with the remaining drones.

Sonic was staring down the approaching bomber. He looked back to the two foxes giving a two finger salute."Another challenge anyone? No takers? Alright!" He looked over the edge of the vehicle, eyes darting, he saw a partially collapsed building. He grinned back at them. "Lets see how well that thing does against bricks at sonic speed!" Vaulting over the rail, she watched him almost teleport to the trash heap. Pulling a brick from the wreckage, he began to spin so fast he looked like a blur. The brick launched, sailing through the air, only to smash into one of the craft's hoverpads. The damaged pad jammed, causing the ship to start sliding. The pilot over corrected, causing the ship to pull up, showing its underbelly.

The truck kept swerving, trying to get around trash and debris in the road. Alyx crouched down holding the cage for support. Setting the gun down, she started banging on the cabin window.

Tails looked at her, his hackles raised from the situation. "What are you doing?!" He shouted over the surrounding reverberation.

The rabbit turned, sliding the window open. "We have this under control! you don't need to worry bout nothing shug-"

Alyx cut her off. "I need you guys to either keep the truck steady or just stop for 30 seconds! I don't have that much ammo!" She yelled.

The coyote turned, glaring at her. "Let's see how you do better if you drive next time hmm?" He snapped, flooring it. The car lunged forward. "How about learn to aim and I'll be saving our skins!" He screamed in a thick accent.

The Rabbit pushed his shoulder with her metal hand. "Antoine don't you go being rude on her."

"Fine! Then let me out!" Alyx yelled, her frustration building.

The coyote slammed on the break, throwing her off balance again. "Fine then miss! Be my guest!" His hand pointed out the open window. "Get off my wheels!"

Tails watched in horror as Alyx vaulted from the truck. "WAIT!" He yelled. As he moved to follow Whisper blocked him.

The rabbit reached around awkwardly, smacking the coyote's arm with her flesh hand. "What have I told you about that temper of yours!" She pointed at his face. "This is the last place we need to be fightin amongst ourselves!"

Antoine turned in his seat a big frown on his face. "Bunnie darling! You know how much this is stressing me out! You know this hitting of me does not help! My job is to!-What is she doing?" He interrupted his own rant.

The Vixen was sprinting the 50 yards towards Sonic. The Hedgehog was dodging around, avoiding laser bolts while chucking debris at the bomber. It was now swerving as it approached overhead.

Bunnie jolted getting out of the car. "Is she INSAINE!" The rabbit snapped.

Tails expression withered as he just looked away. "I've recently questioned that too..." He groaned.

Bunnie's head snapped to the young fox. "Honey! You're awake!" She rushed over. "I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought!" She looked relieved.

The coyote scoffed. "Is she being stupid? What idiot fires lasers under ahhh..." The four Mobians mouths gaped.

The gun was tearing into the ships underside. She was fanning the stream of shots across all of the hover pads and the ship was losing altitude fast. The front face of the ship detached and absconded high up in the air. The girl started running back to avoid being squished. Sonic came up behind her, lifting her bridal style and carried her back to the truck.

They all watched as the bomber crashed, exploding on contact. The towering inferno spewed shrapnel and fire all over the neighborhood. Grady rose up a few feet. "Well then... That was neat..."

Whisper just stared at the towering flames wide eyed.

Tails deafly nodded. "Uh huh..."

Sonic appeared, dropping Alyx off next to the truck. She tumbled forward, dizzy. "What the heck!" She flopped onto the ground. "That's way too fast!" She looked up, bewildered, climbing off the ground. "How do you even do that!?"

Sonic laughed, a hand on his hip. "That would be a good question for Uncle Chuck. I'm afraid I don't understand it too well myself."

Alyx climbed back in the truck. "I need to find a new weapon, I'm like... basically out of ammo for this thing... I doubt I'll be able to get more." She breathed, storing the gun in her bag. She took a seat next to Miles, panting, then smiled. "We made it!" She shot both fists up in the air.

*SNAP*

They all watched as another stealth drone tumbled from the sky, bouncing off the hood of the truck. Antoine shrieked. "My Car!"

Whisper brushed a lock of hair from her eyes. "It's probably best if we leave." The yellow wolf rasped.

Sonic nodded, closing his eyes. "You all heard our lovely sniper wolf!" He said, tapping his foot. "Wrap it up people!" He said, swirling a finger in the air. "Time to go home, good work team!"


Nearby...

The scruffy wolf watched the truck in the distance, starting to back up. Slowly, it turned back towards the outskirts, driving away. He glanced over to the metal wreckage still engulfed with flames. "Well done! Miss Vance... Well done... "

A doorway slid open behind him as he turned, stepping into darkness. The wolf continued walking as the emptiness faded into a cold colored nebula. There were floating rocks and crystals all around him as he walked on thin air. He came to an island with a monolithic structure. Black metal and stone spired out of the ground. The monolith in front of him stood out in this alien landscape. Taking a deep breath he waited.

Another door opened behind him as he turned to see his counterpart step through. "Thaaat didn't take looong." The wolf said, meeting the gaze of the other man. Tilting his head up, he met the other man's gaze.

The human smiled, clasping his hands together. "I said I would be in contacccct periodically." He walked up to the wolf. "Did she deliver the message?"

"I made sure of it." The wolf nodded. "She just exited the city, she will be in knothole soon." the two stepped onto a platform connected to the obsidian structure. "Is there a reason we are meeting at this particular prison?" The Mobian asked.

"Apparently Dr. Kintober imprissssoned King Acorn here." The human said.

The wolf scowled. "I see." The platform they were standing on started to rise, approaching the top of the monolith. "You plan on extracting him from the void?" The wolf shook his head. "What deal did you work out with the others for this to be aloud? We can only nudge... from time to time, and we just brought Ms. Vance from Earth." He tilted his head questioning. "How are we bypassing the restrictions?"

"We are abiding by the restrictions." The human replied, sighing. "King Nigel will have to make his own way out of the void." They arrived at the top of the plateau. "unfortunately, I have found only one path where the king makes it home alive. We will not be letting the king out ourselves." They looked up at the hundreds of floating crystals above them.

The Wolf got a questioning look. "We intend to free another mad scientist?"

The Human moved to a stone console in the center of the monolith. "His full path is occluded but there is a chance he could counter Julian." He held his hand over the central gemstone and looked up. The overhead floating crystals started to drift down until they cluttered the top of the structure.

The Wolf walked between the suspended gems, observing each Mobian creature stuck in time. "You know if you let him out, he could make things much worsssse."

The Human continued to pull the crystals around them. They organized, bringing the two they were looking for, forward. "Worse is a matter of perspective. Either way, he will bring the king home safely... and he won't kill the royal family. The king must return to Mobius, this is the only way." He frowned. "What he does after... That is no concern... They can survive if Knothole is destroyed."

"You think he will help the son of the man who crushhhed his ambitions?" The wolf questioned.

The human continued manipulating the console. "It would be easier to see... if he hadn't gotten mixed up with that man from Aperture... Either way, king Nigel and him were once like brothers. Family, even found family is immmmportant to these entities."

There were two crystal prisons before them. Each crystal held a Mobian with fire and defiance in their eyes. The first had a brown chipmunk in his early fifties, dressed in regal attire. He was fit for his age, a vibrablade saber on each hip.

The second crystal held a white colored platypus, with gray accents and beak. He wore small orange spectacles designed for laser safety and a stylish burgundy lab-coat. He looked enraged as he clutched the metal stump of his missing left arm. He looked to be in his mid thirties. The wolf smiled. "It will be interesting for sure. Will this be the end of Knothole or will he challenge Julian?" The menacing grin widened. "Or could it be both?"

The man hovered his hand over another crystal, the platypus's encasing starting to glow. "Either way, Their race will survive and the survival of knothole has nothing to do with the greater survival of the Humans or Mobians." He folded his hands behind his back. "We need the king to stabilize their world when the dust settles though..."

The human made one more change on the console, a crack starting to form on the platypus's prison. The two parted ways, each entering their own portal as the gem cracked bit by bit.

Mobius - Great forest - Knothole

Sally yawned as she stepped out of her bedroom. The morning breeze came through the window of her comfy cabin, she smiled. Sonic should be back soon, she thought. She walked over to her communications terminal and saw the alert indicator blinking.

Sighing, she began tapping the space bar to wake up the machine. "Nicole, could you make sure Xander gets up and ready?" She squinted at her watch. "Its almost 9. His father should be home today."

A small monochrome hologram of a Mobian lynx dressed in plain clothes flickered into being, sitting on the edge of her desk. It was being projected by a purple painted eyespy drone, waking up on the shelf above her computer. "Good morning Princess Sally. Of course! Is there anything else I can do for you?"

The red headed chipmunk nodded. "I think we should reschedule Xander's lessons for today, that way we can enjoy the full harvest festival tomorrow as a family."

The holographic lynx nodded. "I can do that princess. Have a wonderful morning!" Sally gave a thankful nod to the drone zooming off. "Thanks Nicole!" She yelled over her shoulder. She sat down at the computer and started logging in. As she did she immediately got a call. Positioning the external mic she answered. "This is commander Acorn." She greeted.

The robotic visage of Sir Charles hedgehog came up. "Morning Princess." He greeted.

She leaned back, a smirk on her face as she crossed her arms in front of her. "Good morning Uncle Chuck." She crossed her legs, starting to bob her foot. "How are things going in Robotropolis? Anything I should know about?"

He looked sheepish. "Actually there is... Now before I start, it looks like everyone is safe and sound. Tails met up with Sonic and they all look to have made it out of the city in one piece."

Sally's heart thumped in her chest. She heard Chucks words but that didn't seem to alleviate the cold feeling creeping at her core. Her smile wavered becoming fake. "That's good to hear everyone's safe... what happened?"

Chuck looked like he was on pins and needles. The roboticized Mobian's fidgeting reminded her of his organic origins. "Robotnik ignored Sonic and the rest of Alpha squad's reactor bombing... He sent that force after Tails and our new party of interest..."

Her stomach did a flip as she pushed off the instinct to freak out. "What?" Small tremors started. "Miles... Miles is safe." She mumbled, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "What happened?"

Chuck straightened up. "I tried sending him a message but Robotnik started blasting all but his most monitored radio channels with interference! From what I could tell on intercepted footage, they ran right into a trap." The older Mobian shook his head. "Miles was shot, if Sonic and Bunnie hadn't gotten there in time..."

She felt cold. She had to remember he was fine, but her boy had been shot... steeling herself she thought for a moment. "Have you been able to contact them?"

Chuck shook his head. "Not yet. the radio is still unusable. If it weren't for this hard line to knothole I wouldn't even be able to report this to you." He sighed. "All I can do is watch the intercepted feed from Robotniks stealth drones." He smiled. "Whisper's shots are getting better." He leaned back in his own chair. "Looks like they are b-lining it to knothole though."

She hesitated. "How do you know Tails is fine?"

"He is up and moving in the back of Ant's truck." He replied. "I'll admit, I don't have the whole picture, but the rest of them don't seem worried so it must not be that bad."

Sally bristled then relaxed. "Ok, so Tails is up. He can have them dropped off at the old Starline complex." She sighed. "They can still blindfold her and take her in the back way."

Chuck nodded. "Another thing, there are reports of another fire squad heading to the Great Forest."

Sally frowned. "He's that mad?!" She leaned forward. "It's been ages since he tried to burn down the Great Forest!"

chuck sighed rubbing his temples. "I don't know. Be glad it won't work. the instant those flamethrowers start, a warp zone will spill water until its out."

She thought. "Have you ever found anything more on how this place is protected so much?"

He shook his head. "Not officially, there's so much redacted information in the little records I have." He started itching behind one of his ears. "When I was a boy it wasn't like this. I mean it was, there were still warp zones all over the place. Easy to get lost or bisected... I'm just glad your father knew a way passed the outer perimeter and the few underground tunnels. Whatever's protecting this place seems less randomly violent and more distinctively protective now..."

"As long as it works..." Sally sighed, her heart rate slowly returning to normal.

"I have some other news." The robotic Mobian perked up. "Not being able to sleep, sometimes has its perks, I found more info on our new realmwalker!" He started typing. "I'm sending you an article."

A flood of text appeared on her chat log. Squinting at the small print she scrolled through. "This is about the kidnapping of an orphan, year 3221." She looked into the camera. "That's three years before the coup."

He nodded. "A family of foxes, new parents, were out for a morning drive. They are t-boned by a distracted driver, killing the father instantly and the mother bleeds out on the way to the emergency room." He scrolled his screen. "The baby miraculously survives, only to be kidnapped later that day from the hospital." He replaced his video feed with a still showing a wolf in a suit holding a baby in a hospital hall. "Real creepy part is he was only caught on the internal CCTV. No one saw him leave the building!" He posted another picture of the man half transparent. "This picture was reported in a tabloid, Real conspiracy theory stuff. It claims that she was abducted by another realmwalker!" His video returned to the feed.

Sally got a bewildered look on her face. "You're serious?"

The old roboticized Mobian got excited. "And that's not even the best part my dear!" He started typing away. "I've also intercepted a strange recording from one of Robotnik's stealth drones, check this out." His video swapped with another feed. "As he was tracking Miles, they recorded this guy on the rooftops. Just observing Miles and the girl!" The video advanced, showing the same wolf putting some sort of optic away and turning to walk, he faded into thin air. "SEE THAT DISAPPEARING ACT?!"

Sally watched, as sure enough. "He faded into thin air..." She breathed.

Chucks feed shot back. "Isn't this so exciting?!" There was a manic grin on his face as he grabbed the camera. "How is that possible! Its like he's manufacturing his own warp zones at will! No visible equipment! It's like he's just thinking about it and it happens!"

She smiled nervously. "Uncle chuck. I know your the old minister of science but calm down!"

If a robot could fluster he surely did right now. "Right! Sorry about that... Anyways, THAT MUST BE THE GUY!" He pointed to a monitor behind him. "She may be a realmwalker, but not by choice! If he can teleport by will, there's no telling if shapeshifting is off the table! For the most part, it sounds like her story lines up!" The Robian got close to the camera again. "She must be the one taken as a kit! For whatever reason that realmwalker brought her back!"

"Earth?" Sally asked. "Is that Robotnik's home?"

Chuck Nodded. "We have access to some of his old archive from where he's from. For a refugee, he sure had an absurd amount of data."

Sally Paused, thinking. "So... Why was she taken? and why is she back? What does it all mean?" Sally pondered aloud.

"I have no idea what so ever!" The old Robian cheered, throwing up his hands. "Isn't it exciting!"

She laughed facepalming. "So it sounds like she's legit." She peered through her fingers at the camera. It's a start."

"Could be." Charles replied. "I wasn't that good at politics or reading social ques, that was supposed to be your fathers shtick."

She leaned into her palm, her elbow on the desk. "You were his minister of science, his advisor. From what I understood you two were like brothers."

He nodded. "He was a dear friend, that's why you and sonic grew up together. But I only provided him with the facts and helped him understand whatever he asked. It wasn't my place to sway him, one way or the other."

She scooched forward, getting comfy in her seat. "For one of his advisers, I'm curious... How did you get so close?"

He smiled. "Apparently it's an old tradition." He replied. "The previous minister apparently had an accident before his public debut..." He crossed his arms leaning back in his own seat. "Your grandfather held a sort of science fair, and I was the winner..." He sighed. "He made it a point for your father and I to know each other outside of court life, to be friends... It's almost a legend in the court that a strong minister of science can bring a golden age." His head lulled back his red optics distant. "My brother came with me..."

She smiled. "Maybe Miles will be Xander's Minister someday." Her smile dropped as her hand slid from her cheek to her forehead, an exasperated look on her face. "If he finally stops trying to be cannon fodder..."

The older Robian smiled. "The way I hear it, Xander might want to be the minister of science himself."

her expression melted back into a smile. "He may not have the natural knack for it like Miles, but Xander has his fathers stubborn work ethic." Her eyes closed as she thought of her youngest son. "He may just learn it out of brute force." She laughed, sitting up straight, stretching. "He's on track for leadership though, Nicole has been digging up the holotape courses I had to go through when I was young for that kind of stuff." She leaned back in her chair trying to rub a kink out of her neck. "I hope Tails sees reason soon, It would do so much more damage if I just banned him from going out. He'd hate me for that... It's bad enough he insists on salvage runs." Her arm dropped to her side as she let out a deep sigh. "We need more logistics. We can take out a few targets a month with proper planning but Robotnik doesn't seem to slow down at all." She held her temples as she could feel the unpleasant thoughts start to pester her. "We can talk more about this officially during the council meeting."

"Hey, considering what all happened today, you may have an easier time convincing him. Tails got his first taste of frontline action and being priority one. All that on his first real day!" Chuck started tapping a digit against his chin. "As one of your advisers, and a fellow parrent... Don't smother him when he gets back... Do what you can to make sure he is alright, then talk about this stuff later."

She nodded. "I think you might have been part of the conversation, I cant remember... but he is at least going to spend a little time with the electronics warfare team. Maybe he'll enjoy it."

Chuck nodded. "Knowing that boy, he will. He may not realize it though."

The hallway door opened and a small chipmunk face poked through. "Mom? do I really have to do lessons? Today's supposed to be a break..."

Sally looked back to the monitor and chuck nodded waving goodbye. Getting up she made her way to her son as he opened the hallway door. "Daddy's going to be home and we were going to have a gathering tomorrow, Tail's should be there too!" She knelt down to his level. "I know these holotapes aren't fun, but there's really important information in them. We're almost done with this unit anyways, then Uncle Antoine can start teaching you fencing! Would you like to have today off and study tomorrow or have tomorrow off and be there for the whole gathering?"

The young chipmunk poked his chin thinking. He met his mothers eyes. "Can I have both days off?"

She chuckled. "That's another possibility..." getting up she placed a finger on her bottom lip in thought. "Ok exercise time. If I give you both days off, what concessions will you give me? My little negotiator." She said ruffling his hair.

He waved her hand off fixing his bangs. "Uhh..." The gears in his head turning. His face lit up and he looked up at her. "A hug?" He said, spreading his arms as he gave her the biggest puppydog eyes he could.

She crossed her arms leaning against the doorway. "Pff! According to the bylaws of Mom's rights, I get hugs whenever I want. Try again."

He deflated, his arms dropping to his side. "Come on..." His eyes darted around the room looking for ideas, they landed on the kitchen sink and his ears perked. "How about the dishes for a few nights?" He smiled at his Mom.

Her eyes were half lidded and she smirked. "Two weeks."

He frowned. "Four days."

"Fourteen days." She retorted.

His expression scrunched. "Wait, that's the same thing!" His arms pumped at his side. "Five days!"

"Ten days." She smiled.

He grumbled. "A week! And I don't have to eat at the kids table tomorrow!"

"Done! Making demands are we now?" She chuckled. "Remember, the best trades are ones where both parties gain something." She knelt down bringing him in for a hug. "I love you my son..."


City 17 - Eastern Europe

Eli opened the hidden door to Isaac's lab as the Vortigaunt led him through. "Thanks Garry, for all your help." The old African American nodded, limping into the room.

"Think nothing of it! Eli Vance..." The red eyed alien replied in it's gruff voice. He turned, seeming to bow as he moved out of the older man's way.

"Eli you're here!" An old balding man in a dirty white lab coat stepped into sight. He was holding a head crab, It was clutching to his chest like a baby carrier.

Eli winced. "Aww man, Izzy... I thought you got rid of that thing..."

The balding man looked startled, straightening his glasses he hefted the pet. "Why does everyone keep thinking that!?" He turned the headcrab around, showing the parasites underside. "There's nothing to worry about! She's been de-beaked! I did it myself!" He set the animal on the ground and it waddled over to its bed in the corner. The thing looked like a cooked turkey, laying on the dog bed. "Lamar is docile, just like a neutered pooch-"

"Man... sometimes I wonder whats wrong with you, but as long as its safe..." He shuttered, looking at the parasite. "I don't care!" Sighing he moved to set his belongings on a nearby desk. Opening the briefcase, he pulled out the missing teleporter documents.

"Certainly!" Isaac pushed his glasses up his nose. "To be honest it's like having a blind puppy."

The Vortigaunt turned to Isaac, his arms spreading wide. "Ahh, you must be the Isaac Kleiner!" The alien approached.

The older man nervously straitened his glasses. "And you must be Garry! Are you sure you don't want me to attempt removing those tubes and wires the Combine implanted?"

"Maybe another time... It is gooood to meet you!" The gravelly voice gave a hearty chuckle. The Vortigaunt walked over, picking Isaac up in a bear hug, the alien's third central arm patting the man's shoulder. "It is great to be working with the legendary Isaac Kleiner! I love you!"

"What?" Kleiner wheezed.

Eli hobbled over, separating the two. "He's cutoff from his hive mind, He's got his own personality now. Been picking things up like a parrot."

The alien let the man go and brought a hand up to scratch the grievous scar on his head. "It... is lonely after the Combine drilled... But, I get to try being my own man!" He seemed to smile as his eye twitched.

Isaac brushed himself off. "fascinating, I should update our information dossier on the species!" His hands balled into fists in front of him in excitement. "Have there been others with your condition before?"

Eli interrupted the two, handing Isaac the teleporter documents. "Here, take a look at this."

"Ah! these were the documents you fou-" His eyes shot wide. "GREAT SCOTT! YOU REALLY DID FIND-"

"I told you I had them." He nodded to his friend.

The man rushed to his chalk boards flipping them over. He began erasing the chicken scratch text. "With this we can resurrect the teleporter! And with what we know now, we can avoid any more unseemly side effects! Think of how many people we could evacuate from the city!"

"There's a catch..." Eli blurted.

The Vortigaunt clutched his hands, his eye squinting. His head tilting back, neck straining, as if he was trying to remember... "We know the one who gave you the papers... We do not know his purpose... But! What we know seems to infer he serves his own purpose... Or that of his masters..." Silence filled the room as the Vortigaunt backed, shaking its head.

Eli sighed. "I was given a new crystal... Back at Black Mesa... right before the resonance cascade! It has to have been him!" He looked hard at Isaac. "That man saved me and my daughter! Now I think he is collecting on that debt." He shook his head, staring at the floor. I'm still not sure I remember it all right, It's still such a blur..." He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw his friend giving a somber smile.

"With this there is hope for the future, if there's anything..." It dawned on him. "You have a new Xen crystal?" He got excited. "If its of pure enough quality, we could have a working prototype in weeks! I was worried I'd have to pry those lesser samples I gave to Rustle out of his grubby mitts! We will need his help with the construction though..."

"This may not be a Xen crystal..." He replied. "It didn't have the coloring of any Xen crystal I know..." It may be from the place where she's at! We should be able to use it to find that dimension though!" His face got a hard expression. "She has to be alive." His voice wavered. "I can feel it!"

Isaac walked over to his friend. "Come on now, We have a glorious chance here! With these equations I have a less dangerous starting point! Get Russel over here, tell him to bring the samples I gave him anyways! We will need his electrical expertise too!" He smiled, walking over to the blackboards again. "With my Theoretical physics, your programming and Russel's overall ingenuity, we should have our teleporter resurrected in no time!"

Garry raised his three arms. "I want to help! The cause of finding the Alyx Vance is a worthy one!" He walked over to Eli putting a brown leathery hand on his shoulder. "I can lift things!"

"That's the spirit!" Isaac nodded to the Vortigaunt. "How about you go send that message to Russel and take a rest in the lounge." He said to Eli as he started writing on the board. "I recommend taking advantage of the peace before Barney gets back from the quarantine zone..."

Eli nodded, rubbing his face. He started to limp to the side room. "You still have him looking for office supplies?"

"Ohh fiddlesticks no!" Isaac waved him off. "He looks for dead Civel Protection and Overwatch soldiers to loot. He has me write down things I'm looking for, if he finds them and has room, he brings them to me. He should be back this evening." The balding man tapped his chin thinking and waved him away again. "Anyways make your self at home, just please don't bother Lamar." He looked at the Vortigaunt, reaching a gangling hand for the cowering headcrab. "You too! Please! He isn't food!"

The Vortigaunt slowly nodded, drawing his hand back.


Chapter 5 end


Authors notes: THIS IS WAY LONGER THEN I MEANT BUT I DONT WANT TO SPLIT IT 9K BEFORE EDIT 11.5 AFTER! I think I've gotten a handle on pacing! Let me know if I'm going too fast or slow though! Onto stories notes! I have started reading the new IDW Sonic comic if that wasn't obvious from last chapter's name drop and plan on using some. HINT HINT. OC characters are trying to be used appropriately and not in a cringy way. Other fan content inspiration is drawn from is knotholeteam on deviantart, I think it looks like its going to be a webcomic and it looks really good. For half life there are great source film maker shorts on youtube youtube. If you want to see the the world Alyx is from look up "a tape from city 17" the same creator also has some other short films that really depict the Combine and Resistance well, two of them being "Anti-Citizen" and "Protectors"

Authors notes continued: heres some info that might be better just dumped although if I can naturally work it in then I want to try. In the half-life universe Earth got invaded by another dimension, humans are kept alive right now as they are still under "Evaluation" for joining the Combine's Universal Union. Both worlds have different kinds of dystopias. Mobius you get found inside the city they try and kill/roboticize you. Earth you get found outside your city they try and kill/enslave you. Comparing the two... Mobius sounds like a nicer place to live... I also thought about how Mobian's as a race would work in this story. What makes sense to me would be there's a 50/50 chance the kid would be the mothers or fathers race but they wouldn't mix. They could get traits from both parents like eye color, hair color, face shape, height, tail size, etc. for any half life fans reading this, Mobians are bipedal animal like beings that are a few heads shorter then humans, like 3.5 to 5.5 feet instead of I want to say humans average 4 to 6 feet. There are exceptions for some of the Mobian races though for height. Modern Mobian buildings are same size as human buildings for simplicity. If it serves the purpose of the story then great but if it really gets in the way that doesn't help the author or the reader. It doesn't serve the story for the main character to appear not knowing the language, they have similar languages because they are alternate dimensions where both lines intersect when the dimensions first start crossing. I remember hearing on an alien planet don't come up with another word for a spoon if it serves no purpose. Use cheesy word conventions with caution!

Authors notes 4 UPDATE: fixed a continuity error in chapter 5. while going through my timeline. in my original timeline i wrote sally's grandfather chose chuck, in this i accidentally wrote her father did. fixed. whoops. I'm making up a lot of detail here because SatAM was only 26 episodes and some of that info I'm dropping. I'm trying to stay away from Archie too. Only races or names like Kinntober as Robotnik needed to have 2 names in the story and two names exist that people know the character by. its more difficult then i thought to remember timeline stuff. As of writing this, I have 62 events spanning 1917 to 2019 and that's just the past!


Other info


Light timeline – full timeline later as full has spoilers

Black mesa incident (no cannon date other then 2000s) Earth 2001 | Mobius 3221
Robotniks Coup: Earth 2004 | Mobius 3224
Current year in timeline: Earth-2019 | Mobius 3239


heres a list of characters (who have spoken) youngest to oldest (so far)

Xander Acorn ( fan character son of Sonic and Sally ) - 9 almost 10
Miles "Tails" Prower – Mobian – 17 almost 18
Alyx Vance – Mobian – 19
Whisper – Mobian – 25
Sally Acorn – Mobian – 28
Maurice "Sonic" the Hedgehog – Mobian – 29
Bunnie – Mobian – 30
Antoine – Mobian – 31
Colin Kintober – Human – 37
Eli Vance – Human – 51
Julian Kintober – Human – 54
Isaac Kleiner – 62
Sir Charles hedgehog ( Uncle Chuck ) – Mobian – 64
Gary the brain damaged Vortigaunt (from xen, fleeing the Combine and age not relevant but I'm throwing this number out there 243 )
Grady – AI, age not relevant
Operator – Dumb AI (changed so much might as well be OC), in general not relevant but serves a purpose.


Traveler out!