Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or any and all affiliated characters. They are owned by Sega (Though it might be Nintendo now) and Archie Comics, all objects and items related to Sonic the Hedgehog, are their property, and claim no responsibility for the content of this fan-made story. The plot of this story alone, and any characters introduced by the author that have not made an appearance in either the comic series or video game series are owned by the author and should not be duplicated by others without the written permission of the author.


Sorry for how long it took to update, things get hecktic when the holiday's role around, but hopefully I'll get some free time soon to work on the new chapters.

A Visitor From Afar

Ch. 19

Mission: Really, close to near Impossible


Robotropolis, even the street lights of this wretched city reflect the dull and run-down state plainly visible. And because of the streets cast eerily frightening shadows in every direction. But if the Swat-bots any brains whatsoever, they surely would have noticed a shadow duck back into an alleyway. The Swat-bots continued on without a second's glance, following their pre-programmed patrol route. One silhouetted figure bolts across the street, sticking to the shadows cast by the dim, street lamp, quickly followed by another, wider-built silhouette, then another. The three figures double check around the corner of the alley to make sure they had not been spotted. Content they haven't, they move on; proceeding stealthily down the narrow alleyway.

Suddenly there is a loud crash behind the group, the lead two figures spin around and in unison shout in hushed voices: "ANTOINE!"

Lying indignantly on top of an overturned trash can, lay the coyote; a banana peel sitting atop his toupee'. "Heh, heh, sorry mes amies." He apologized, as Bunnie walked over to him and helped to his feet.

"I swear Sugar 'Twan, ya'll gotta be more careful." Bunnie advised. "Unless ya'll wanna get turned inta a bot."

"Oui, Oui, I shall try to be less how you say: clumpy, Madame Bunnie." Antoine blabbered out, trying calm his frazzled nerves.

"We're almost there, c'mon." Rotor urged, continuing on. Antoine ran after him with Bunnie watching the rear. Soon the trio reached the entrance of an old brick building. Rotor reached for the door knob and tried to turn it, but to no avail. 'Ergh, locked." Rotor grunted in annoyance.

"Leave it me Sugar." Bunnie interjected, gently directing Rotor aside with her real hand. She outstretched her mechanical hand and clamped her hand tightly around the knob, then using what would appear like no effort at all, pulled the whole door right off its hinges.

"Remind me not to catch you on your bad side." Rotor joked as Bunnie placed the door against the wall.

Bunnie returned a warm smile and beckoned the boys inside. "After ya'll."

"Ladies first, mademoiselle." Antoine insisted.

"Well, aren't you the sweetest thang." Bunnie cooed as she obligingly entered first. Rotor simply rolled his eyes and smiled as Antoine went inside, looking much more confident all of a sudden.

"So far, so good. Let's just hope Sonic and Sally are doing this well." Rotor mentioned as he crossed the room they had entered. "Now, we just need to find the roof access and wait for Sally's signal."


Meanwhile, in another part of Robotropolis….

Sonic raced through the open street with Sally in hand, suddenly a hover unit rounded a corner up ahead. Instantly Sonic stopped dead in his tracks and dove for the nearest cover. The hover unit passed overhead, oblivious to the hiding animals.

"That's another close call Sonic, take it easy." Sally warned the blue hedgehog lying beside her.

"Relax Sal, you're in good hands." Sonic scoffed dismissing his recklessness.

"Well, just remember we still have mission to complete here Sonic, so let's not get Robotnik's attention until we want it." She cautioned taking a peek over their hiding spot. "There!" Sally exclaimed, pointing to a small metal box sitting on the outer wall of the building across the street. Checking first to insure the coast is clear; Sally jumps out from cover and makes a dash for the box.

Just as she reaches the box, Sonic suddenly materializes next to it, resting his elbow on it in disinterest. "This?" He exclaims in surprise. "What do you want with this hunk 'o junk?"

"Weren't you paying any attention at the meeting, Sonic?" Sally asked in dismay as she shooed Sonic away from the box so she could pry it open.

"Just the good parts." Sonic answered chidingly.

"This… erg… box contains the security alarms for this facility." Sally grunted as she forced the box open.

"I get it, we're going to disable the alarms right?" Sonic snapped his finger's as he caught on.

"Nope, there are fails safes that will sound the alarms if we try to disable them." Sally stated, finally managing to pop the box open.

"We're not? How come? Isn't this the factory we're hitting tonight?" Sonic asked, scratching his head.

"Nope."

"Then what are we doing here?" Sonic asked, becoming irritated from not getting a straight answer out of Sally.

"Getting Robotnik's attention." She answered simply as she pulled out Nicole.

"I thought you just said you didn't want Robotnik's attention." Sonic said in exasperation.

"Yes, but when we want it." Sally replied, rather enjoying leading Sonic on like this.

"And just how are we going to do that?" Sonic asked, becoming more and more lost.

"By tripping the alarms." Sally replied as if it were nothing.

"Say wha… ?" Sonic mumbled in bafflement.

"These alarms are tied to Robotnik's main computers, so with Nicole's help, I can create several phantom break-in's. And while the Swat-bots are off on a wild goose chase, we'll make our move." Sally replied with a smug grin. "Okay Nicole, you're on, and remember: be as sloppy as possible, but don't leave any traces."

"Understood Princess." Nicole chimed, switching her monitor to display a map of Robotropolis. "These locations will be activated on your command, Princess." Nicole reported as several blips appeared, indicating which locations would be affected.

"Alright, Sonic, I'm done here. Let's go." Sally stated, unplugging Nicole from the system and closing the security box.

"Okay, but, can you explain all that for me one more time." Sonic replied, as Sally hopped into his arms.

Sally giggled and shook her head. "Alright, just for you." Sonic grinned back and took off down the street.


Meanwhile back in the Great Forest….

The darkness of the still night is only broken by the sounds of footsteps as two figures make their way through the thick underbrush. Tails was having no trouble walking now, thanks to the Ancient Walkers assistance. Unlike Slasher, who still walked with a limp, though it seemed he'd managed to loosen up the stiff muscles enough to walk a little easier.

Even though Tails knows he must focus on the mission ahead, some of the things the Ancient Walkers had mentioned still nagged at the back of his mind. It would take time to reach Robotropolis at the pace they were currently moving at; so Tails thought, maybe this would be a good time to ask, if only to pass the time. But Slasher broke the silence first.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Slasher asked as he bushed an overhanging branch aside.

Tails took a few sniffs of the air and nods his head in reply. "Yeah, I can still smell Antoine's cologne. They went this way." He added, pointing further ahead.

"You must have a very good nose, I can't smell a thing."

"Comes with the fox suit." Tails joked.

"Heh heh, guess it would." Slasher replied, feeling much better with the mood lightened some what.

Tails thought maybe this would be a good time to ask about what the Ancient Walkers mentioned. But no, asking directly might silence him. He decided to try lead the conversation there. "Hey, Slash'." Tails asked, using Sonic's nickname. "After the fight with the 'Badniks we inspected the wreckage and noticed that Orbinaut's armour looked melted, did you use your fire breath on him?" he asked, trying to make conversation with something not so sensitive a subject.

"(Sigh) I hate to admit it, but yes; to my shame…" he admitted begrudgingly.

"To your… what do you mean? If your fire breathe can do that much damage, why didn't you use it on the 'Badniks when we were first attacked?" Tails tilted his head in puzzlement, he hadn't expected that response.

"You don't understand…" Slasher shook his head in frustration. "To us Guardians, it's dishonourably to use your fire breathe as a weapon."

"But Dulcy…?"

"Dulcy and I might look the same, but our differences are worlds apart." Slasher explained. Tails stared blankly at Slasher as they walked together. Slasher saw he needed to find another way to explain this. "Remember that story I told you before, about my kind's origin's and the violent dragons?" Tails nodded his head. "My kind felt that the use of such natural gifts by the original dragons to be barbaric and uncivilized. And so, we wanted to disassociate ourselves from our more barbaric roots."

"Barbaric?"

"Have you ever seen someone burned to death? Have you ever heard the agonizing, screams of someone ablaze; knowing that even if we do manage to put the flames out in time; they'll forever live with constant pain and dreadful scars? It's a gruesome, gruesome way to die… We Guardians don't wish that on any living soul… not even our worst enemies." Slasher stated with conviction.

Tails felt a chill run down his spin at the images Slasher portrayed with his words. "I guess I never thought about it like that before…" Tails admitted, shaking the thoughts from his head. "But you know, robots don't really have a soul, they don't even feel pain. Their just machines, it's not like you're killing a real person." Tails added trying to show Slasher another perspective on things.

"It's the principal of the matter. And personally I don't want to face the dishonour of going against nearly eight thousand years of custom and tradition." Slasher replied, his voice rising a little.

Tails couldn't help but notice something familiar with that reasoning, but he decided it best to drop it for now. Tails stopped and took another quick sniff of the air. "Phew… yep, we're going the right way, not only is Antoine's scent getting stronger, but I can also smell Robotropolis. Once we reach the city I can get us to Robotnik's headquarters, I'm sure that's where he's keeping your crystal."

"Alright, lead on…" Slasher urged, trusting in Tails' experience.


Robotnik's headquarters….

The doors to Robotnik's lab swoosh open, revealing a very greasy, very tired Snively entering the room. His clothes are spotted in several places by globs of oil and grease, but through the grime one could see a self-satisfied smile under his pointed nose. "Sir, the main generators are back online and operating at full capacity, sir." He reported happily.

"Excellent Snively, prepare the high powered scanners and ready that crystal for a full scan, I want to know every minuscule detail of that crystal in every possible way, including energy levels." Robotnik bellowed, not even bothering to look away from the work that lay before him.

"Right away, Sir, I'll have the crystal moved to the scanning room immediately, Sir." Snively saluted. "Do you wish to observe the examination, Sir?" he added as an after-thought, just as he started to turn to leave.

"Yes, I think it would be good to leave my latest project for a while…" Robotnik conceded with a disappointed sigh. "Besides, I wish to make sure you don't screw up." He added, giving Snively a cold stare that would make a ghost faint.

Snively instantly regretted making the offer. "(Gulp) Y-Y-Yes, s-s-sir." He shuddered under the icy stare. Robotnik walked past the trembling lackey and passed through the automatic doors. Snively quickly followed, before the doors began to close.

"Computer, lock down lab 0-1-4. Voice-lock to my voice only; command code: Zepher" Robotnik ordered. Instantly the muffled sounds of very heavy locking mechanisms could be heard closing and locking tightly. "No sense leaving the lab accessible to those I don't wish to view my latest weapon." Robotnik explained to Snively with a cruel chuckle.

"Just what is it you're working on Dr. Robotnik?" Snively asked, following behind the evil dictator.

"Ah, ah, ah, Snively. Not yet, you won't get to see my new creation until, after it's ready." Robotnik warned, waving his finger over his shoulder so Snively could easily see it.

"So does this new project have anything to do with why you wanted the Badnik's memory cores?" Snively asked, hoping he might get a straight answer this time.

"Yes, know thy enemies, I believe the phrase goes." Robotnik chuckled.

A short walk later and Robotnik and Snively entered the large observation and scanning room. On one side of the room sat a large cylindrical shaped scanning device. A clear glass cylinder rested between the large metal components with a dozen or more intricate instruments above and below the glass portion.

Robotnik and Snively moved behind the control console and quickly flashed their fingers across the buttons, bringing the large, complex machine to life. As they did so a Salvage-bot entered, carrying the ruby crystal in tow. The gravity fields activated inside the chamber and the Salvage-bot nimbly placed the crystal inside the chamber, as the glass tube hissed down around the machines.

"Beginning scan now, Sir." Snively reported. "Excellent, soon all this gems secrets will be mine…" Robotnik thought as the eerie lights activated within the chamber, the faceted gem casting glittering lights across the room.

End Ch. 19


Uh oh, what's going to happen now, will Robotnik learn the extents of the crystals' powers, will the mission go off without a hitch, Tails and Slasher get there in time to help, will Sonic ever get his head around Sally's plan, is the author going to shut up... (Slap) okay back to normal sit tight the actions just heating up.