Lost Memories, Reborn Evil
Sholay
Yay! Yay, yay, yay! More than 50 reviews! I'm so happy (claps)!
That being said however, I have a NOTICE for all of you: From January to April I will be gone to France—yes, France—to study in French. Now, during this time I will do my best to update, but I am not sure how much access I will have to the internet. Sorry guys! I really can't make any promises for the updating scheme over the next four months…
Summary of story thus far: Sonic is traveling with his brother and sister—Manic and Sonia—when he suddenly has a dream about an alternate past. This past includes all his adventures with the freedom fighters up until the incident on the ARK when they were swept into a black hole; only to be thrown back in time to a universe where everything, everyone, is different. Now it's a race to see who can find the chaos emeralds first. Last chapter, Rouge unexpectedly appears to aid a trapped Manic and Sonia. Meanwhile, Sonic and Bartleby, trying to escape capture, jump down a garbage disposal.
Reviewer responses are at the end of the chapter.
Enjoy!
O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O
Chapter 12: "Collision Course"
O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O
At the sound of the bat's name, Sonia saw Manic physically jerk, the word hitting him like a slap in the face.
"No way!" The green Hedgehog gasped, then squinted upward. The cell they were trapped in was dark: the only exit a miniature square cut into the ceiling—covered with heavy iron grating. Their would-be saviour was shinning a blinding light through the grating, making it difficult to pick out her features. Nonetheless, Manic appeared to be trying. "Rouge! Rouge! Is that really you?! It's me, Manic!" He cried excitedly, waving his gloved hands above his head.
Sonia raised an eyebrow at her brother's words. Did he know this mobian?
"Manic?" The female voice held a tone of surprise and disbelief. "The skinny little brat from Toora's Den?" The beam of light shifted to rest fully on Manic's head. He squinted, shielding his eyes with one hand, but grinned widely. "Well I'll be!" There came a sound of a sharp breath being drawn in quickly between teeth. "It is you; I'd recognize that rat's nest anywhere! What're you doing in a place like this? I thought your old man taught you better than that. And who's your little friend, hmmm?" The light flickered over to Sonia as the bat's voice lowered meaningfully.
Realizing what Rouge was implying, Sonia and Manic exchanged twin looks of horror.
"NO!" The both cried at the same time.
Sonia shook her head vigorously. "Nonononono, it's not like that; we're—"
"Rouge, just get us outta here first!" Manic interrupted, trying to be reasonable and ignore his mortification. "Then we can do the introductions."
"Yes…" Rouge clucked her tongue thoughtfully. "You are in a bit of a pickle, aren't you, hun? Well, sit tight; I'll see what I can do." The beam of the flashlight receded as she moved away from the grating.
"Can you break it?" Sonia called out.
There was a short pause; then Rogue's voice answered distantly, "No… The bars are too strong. I'm looking for a release switch or something."
Silence fell after that as Sonia and Manic waited.
"So…" Sonia asked eventually, eyeing Manic. "Who's she?"
"Oh, Rouge?" Manic clarified, cocking his head. The feeble light glinted off his teeth as his lips pulled into a crooked grin. "Rouge is… Actually, she's an old mentor of mine." Sonia's eyebrows rose once more and Manic nodded. "Really!" He insisted. "Do you remember when I told you about my old man's friend, Toora?"
Sonia thought back. That stormy night they'd passed in their trailer seemed so long ago: so much stuff had happened since then. But Sonia remembered and she nodded. "Yeah, I do."
"Well, Toora had his own little group of…uh…well…" Manic trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
Sonia's mouth twitched and she sent him a wry look. "Thieves." She finished.
"Yep," Manic didn't even bother to dispute it. "Rouge was one of them. Her specialty was stealing jewels: any type, any size. If it glittered, she wanted it. Man she loved those things; I swear she treated them like they were her children." Manic chuckled. "She was also really good at pulling off distractions and buying us time."
"Huh…" Sonia thought that last point was an odd one to make. "Why was she so good at distractions?" She wanted to know.
"Ahhhh…" Manic faltered and Sonia didn't even need to see her brother's face to know he was blushing furiously. She could practically feel the heat coming off his face as he coughed, clearing his throat. "Uhmm… wuh-well… You'll…er… see, she—"
Unexpectedly, a loud cry of shock interrupted the twins' conversation.
"Rouge?!" Manic called out, alarmed.
And the siblings watched, stunned, as the ceiling literally tilted. Turning on an angle, light streamed into the prison from above as the ceiling slanted suddenly, violently. Manic and Sonia got a brief view of the room above when they spotted a small figure scrambling for a handhold on the rapidly sloping surface.
Rogue clawed at the ground which had inexplicably began to shift under her weight. Too soon, the surface tilted; she couldn't stabilize herself. Her feet fell out from underneath her, she hit the perfectly polished floor hard and slid downward fast. Immediately, her hand snapped out behind herself, claws scratching madly at the floor—reaching for any handhold. But the floor was too slippery and all her nails did was create a painful screeching as she plummeted downward.
Cursing herself all the way down, Rouge tumbled into the dark prison cell where Sonia and Manic were standing, watching helplessly. Managing to at least gain control of her descent, she flipped herself over in mid-air, landing in a low crouch that saved her more dignity than slamming face-first into the floor.
As soon as Rouge's feet touched the ground the ceiling stopped slanting. There came a deep, grinding sound of shifting gears and the ceiling swung back up—surprisingly fast—slamming shut then locking with a crisp, mocking click.
Silence reigned for a long moment.
"Oookay…" Manic intoned. It was almost pitch black and no one saw the green hedgehog scratch the back of his head. "…That didn't work out very well…"
"No kidding, squirt." Rouge intoned dryly from somewhere to Manic's left.
"But," Sonia's voice floated over. "What—"
Just then there came the sound of a switch being flicked and the low hum of a generator starting up.
With a crackling buzz, fluorescent lights turned on, abruptly flooding the room in bright white light.
Sonia and Manic cried out in surprise at the unexpected onslaught and shielded their eyes. Rouge cringed but didn't appear as affected by the sudden brightness. Quickly blinking away the blind spots in his eyes, Manic wasted no time in scanning the room for his old friend.
"Rouge!" He grinned, seeing her properly for the first time in years.
"Manic!" Rogue's full lips curled upward to reveal long, pointed canines. In a second she had stepped forward, sweeping the shorter hedgehog into a tight hug. "Wow, you've grown. And it is so good to see you again; I've missed you!"
"I-I…A..uhhh…" Words escaped Manic as his cheeks discovered a new shade of red. He was clutched tightly to Rogue and felt rather… more… pressed up against him than he was used to.
Sonia eyed the pair curiously. So this was Rogue? The pink hedgehog 'Hmm'ed disapprovingly in her head.
The female bat was clearly a few years older than herself and Manic. With glossy white fur, large sea-green eyes and sleek purple wings, she was actually quite pretty. What Sonia didn't like was how the bat's skin tight outfit seemed to hug her every curve, and how the top—shaped in a distinctly heart shaped pattern—curved downward, revealing… a lot.
Well,—Sonia raised an eyebrow, her eyes moving over Rouge's long lashes and down to her pointed heels—at least now she knew why Rogue was so good at distractions.
As her gaze fell on her little brother, she smirked at the way Manic's face was practically glowing red as he was held by the female bat. Just as she was about to step in and save her brother though, Rouge pulled back and held Manic at arm's length.
"But look at you! Still as scrawny as ever!" Rogue slapped Manic's arm teasingly.
"Hey!" He cried, glaring playfully at her. Some of the heat died down from his face as the conversation took more of his attention. And if Rouge noticed the blush on Manic's cheeks she didn't show it.
'Probably used to it.' Sonia thought critically. Honestly, she tried not to judge Manic's old friends, but she couldn't help it if she had certain… reservations.
"Now, I hope you've been keeping up your training…" Rouge appeared to be lecturing Manic as she put a hand on her hip and wagged a finger at him. "You better not have been neglecting your studying while I was gone!"
"Ahh, no, 'course not!" Manic looked a little sheepish. Sonia knew it was because he hadn't exactly had much time to 'practice' while he was traveling with her and Sonic; and he was scrambling to hide that fact. "I still remember everything you taught me about jewels…Like how fake diamonds have double refractions and real ones don't…" His answer appeared to appease Rouge.
"That's good, kid." She ruffled his hair idly, making him jump back with an indignant squawk as he brought his hands up to fix the spikes. "Now tell me," Her eyes slid over to Sonia, regarding the girl as heavily painted eyelids fell half-way. She gave the hedgehog a crafty look. "Who's the lady?" Rogue took a couple of long strides toward Sonia, then circled around the pink hedgehog.
Taken aback at how intensely Rogue was looking at her, Sonia just gasped and swung around to look the bat in the face. Irritation bubbled within her as she saw Rouge's mischievous grin.
Sonia huffed, "Now, excuse me but—"
"So! How are you enjoying my accommodations? I arranged them just for you."
As one, Sonia, Manic and Rouge spun around to gaze at the far wall of their prison. There, on a screen projected into the wall, was Robotnik's grinning visage leering down at the trio.
"Robotnik!" Rouge hissed venomously.
"Ah, Rouge, my dear. I should have known they were talking about you when they said we had a rat infestation." Robotnik's beady eyes focused on Rogue as he sneered. Manic and Sonia looked at the bat, surprised that Robotnik knew who she was. Rogue ignored the twins as she glared darkly at the man on the screen.
"I know it's here; where did you hide it?" She demanded.
"Ah yes, you always had sticky fingers, I guess some things will never change." Robotnik picked at his fingernails. "But then again, I don't remember you being this easy to catch. You're getting rusty, dear."
Rouge bristled.
"At any rate, I know what you were looking for. And I'm insulted; you really thought I'd make it so easy!" Robotnik laughed, clutching at his gut and rearing back in fearsome mirth.
"You! I knew you had it!" Rouge raged, baring her teeth at the monitor. "One was missing—that was the one Shadow had—but I knew there was something wrong. There was another. A fake! I knew it! You took it; the white chaos emerald! Where is it?!"
Manic glanced at Rouge wryly when she said this. He should have known; she was here searching for some jewel.
Robotnik's laughter faded, his whiskers twitching, "Now, I'd love to sit here and discuss your failure, but I'm afraid I have some more pressing matters to attend to. So you just sit tight and wait like a good girl, ok? I'll come dispose of you when I have time."
Realizing Robotnik was going to turn off the screen without addressing her or Manic, Sonic stepped forward. "Hey! HEY!" She called. "What about us!? You can't just leave us here!"
"Hm…?" Robotnik looked at Sonia in mild surprise, as though he'd forgotten she was even there. "Oh yes. You and your brother can just wait there too. In fact, the only reason I'm keeping you around is because I'm sure your older brother will show up to rescue you. Heroic fool that he is. You remember, don't you, Rouge?" And Robotnik gave the bat one last, knowing smirk before the projection cut off and the wall was once again a blank expanse of space.
"Huh…? What did Robotnik mean by that?" Sonia frowned to herself.
"'Buttnik's acting even weirder than usual…" Manic answered. Then he turned to Rogue. "How do you know him, Rouge?"
But Rouge didn't seem to hear the question. Her hand was near her mouth, her expression that of someone reaching a shocking epiphany. "You… Robotnik said…" Rogue's eyes lit up and focused on Manic with such intensity that he stepped back. "You… she…" Rogue's eyes went to Sonia. "She's your sister?"
"Yeah… This is Sonia." Manic said uncertainly, gesturing toward his sister uncertainly.
"Sonia?" Rouge repeated; and her eyes widened, shifting to Sonia.
The pink hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, So?" She asked.
"Then… then… No way!" Rogue gaped. "You're THAT Manic?!"
"Huh?" Manic was confused.
"Prince Manic?" Rogue clarified, still looking stunned.
"…Er… Yeah," Manic grinned, embarrassedly. "Go figure, huh?"
But that didn't seem to be the point Rouge was building up to. "So then… the brother Robotnik was talking about… It's Sonic?"
"Yeah…" Sonia's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Usually people knew the names of the princes and princess of Mobius, but the way Rouge said Sonic's name was like she knew him personally. "You know Sonic?"
"KNOW him?! Ha! Hahahaa…" Without warning, Rouge doubled over laughing and Sonia looked at her as though she'd lost her mind. Even Manic looked concerned. "Oh my goodness…" Rouge wiped her eyes. "Sonic… Prince Sonic! Heir apparent! I still can't get over that…"
"Well… yeah…" Sonia admitted. "It was a little hard for us to swallow too…"
"But if you knew! His just… The last thing he ever thought of himself as was… But… ah…" Rouge waved her hand. "I'm getting ahead of myself here." She calmed, but still had an uncontrollable twitching at the corner of lips as they tried to pull back up into a grin.
"How do you know Sonic?" This time it was Manic who asked the question.
"Oh… I was on a job. Our goals happened to coincide and he helped me out of a fix." Rouge's answer was carefully ambiguous, that secretive smile remaining intact on her face.
"Sonic helped you steal something?" Manic asked incredulously, Sonia's expression mirrored Manic's tone.
"Oh no, no," Rouge waved the comment away. "Of course not. He's too golden for that." She chuckled, as though she'd just made some private joke. "No, we were doing a little… recon mission at one of Robotnik's ops. Fun times…" Rouge's eyes seemed to go misty for a second and Sonia couldn't help but wonder exactly what sort of mission this bat had gone on with her older twin.
"Anyway." Rouge shook herself back into the present. "Now's not the time to be thinking about that, I guess. We gotta find a way outta here; I've got my own business to take of after all." Rogue grinned in a way that made her pointed canines gleam ferally.
"What business is that?" Manic asked.
"Uh, I'm afraid that's classified, kid." Rouge patted Manic on the head, much to his chagrin. "But at any rate, I'm getting bored of this place." She flexed her hand. "What say we mess things up a little?"
Sonia and Manic grinned.
O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O
After many long hours of traveling, Knuckles and Tails had finally arrived at Robotropolis.
Tails stopped his motorcycle behind some overgrown, dehydrated bushes—safely out of sight from the towering gates of the city—and swung his leg over the front of the bike, hopping off sprightly with energy to spare.
After a few moments of silence, Tails raised his eyebrows at his only passenger.
"Not. A. Word." Knuckles bit out between clenched teeth. He was still straddling the bike and seemed in no rush to budge.
Tail, realizing his friend's problem, had to stuff a fist in his mouth to stifle his laughter. "Stuck?" He managed to ask innocently in between giggles.
Knuckles' glower could have melted stone.
Once Knuckles had successfully detached himself from the seat, and had regained his ability to walk without a limp, they sat down to discuss their plans.
"Ok… So basically, we gotta get in there, rescue Sonic, and get out." Tails was seated against a large boulder. Figuring that a bright red motorcycle would probably draw attention, they'd walked the bike over to a thicker area of bush and trees before laying it on its side and shoving leaves over it. Tails had been reluctant to leave his beloved bike in such an undignified manner but Knuckles had been adamant. His argument—that Tails was not going to endanger their lives, and Sonic's, because he wanted to get prissy over a piece of metal—was a convincing one. Now they were sitting under a thick canopy of sagging trees, munching on what little they'd found stashed in Tail's bags.
"Remember," Knuckles added, gesturing with a half eaten apple. "His brother and sister supposedly travel with him. He wouldn't leave them behind so, chances are, if he's in there they probably are too."
"Great…" Tails groaned, raking a hand through the white tuft of hair on his head. "And we don't even know for sure if Sonic is even IN there… I mean, c'mon, Sonic's not one to stay caught, no matter what Eggman has up his sleeve… So we could be trying to rescue him when he's already escaped. Worse, we could be blindly walking into a trap…"
"Let's not think about that." Knuckles said firmly. "We're going to do this regardless, so there's no point in second guessing ourselves. If things start to go south we can figure it out from there."
"There're too many variables anyway." Tails sighed. "Chances are, Sonic's being held in the palace. But do you know how HUGE that place is? Seriously, the living quarters alone cover over ten floors. And after Eggman took over he converted them all to dungeons…"
Knuckles looked at Tails sideways. "How do you even know that?"
Tails shrugged, the shadow of a smug grin on his face. "I know things." He said simply, to a dubious 'Uh huh' from Knuckles. "Hey, you've got your interests; mine just happen to be more 'this century'."
Knuckles raised an eyebrow.
"So I did a little research! It's not my fault Eggman's got such awful security." Tails reached into the pocket of his biker jacket and pulled out a small device. He poked the screen a few times and then a holographic image appeared above it, rotating slowly. "See, with my iCAN I'm able to access practically any tech center connected to the web and I—"
"You hacked into Robotropolis?!" Knuckles coughed on a piece of apple.
"Not completely." Tails frowned at the hologram in dissatisfaction: tongue caught between his teeth. "I couldn't get past this one series of code… I can tell you though that our best bet would be to get into the castle. Then, if I can find a computer connected to the central control system, I can find out if anyone matching Sonic—or the others'—descriptions have been imprisoned in the city."
"Nice…" Knuckles said appreciatively. "So we got a plan."
"I guess." Tails said half-heartedly. "Not a very full-proof one though."
"Better than no plan, which is what we were working with before." Knuckles stood up, tossing his apple core into the foliage and gazed down at Tails with conviction in his eyes. "Look, it's better to make a decision and stick with it rather than moping about indecisively, right?"
Tails relented, grinned and stood. "You're right."
"Of course I am," Knuckles said arrogantly and Tails gave a short laugh, punching the echidna lightly in the arm.
"Ok, let's go."
After a few minutes of walking, duo found themselves standing before the tall, intimidating walls of Robotropolis. Like a high security prison, the metal monstrosity loomed over them, looking virtually impenetrable.
Knuckles took one look at the walls, slipped his digging claws onto his hands, and thrust his fist into the metal. There was a sharp 'pang' and the gleaming metal dented, but when Knuckles jiggled his hand the claw held tightly in the wall. He smirked.
"See you at the top?" He threw a look over his shoulder at Tails.
The kitsune flapped his tails and in a few seconds he was floating above the ground; he threw a cocky grin at Knuckles before rapidly speeding up. He swept past Knuckles, nearly giving the echidna a mouthful of fur as he smacked him in the face with his tails
"Race ya!"
O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O
"Ew… Augh! My Gods, I think I just stepped on someone's dinner. Sonic, I can't handle much more of this; if we don't find the exit soon—"
"Shh!" Sonic snapped, putting a finger to his lips. "I think I see a way out."
"Oh, jolly good!" Bartleby brightened considerably. "Now we can get out of this putrid depository. Do you think they have any good dry cleaners in Robotropolis? Maybe we can even find a nice place to stay; I'm positively famished—"
"Quiet, Bartleby! Or do you want to bring all of Eggman's army down on us?" Sonic's tone was harsh enough to make the mink stumble into silence, and the hedgehog sighed with relief. After they'd taken the plunge into the garbage disposal, Bartleby had been talking non-stop. Maybe it was his way of coping with being on the run while traveling through darkness, dirt and grim but Sonic had no pity left for the pompous mink. Whatever patience he'd had had evaporated within the first ten seconds of the mobian's inane babble.
The garbage chute had lead to a sort of underground cave area. The place was dimly lit by sparse naked bulbs dangling on exposed wires that sparked spasmodically. From the darkness, a creepy 'plip plip' of dripping water echoed around them.
Everything from warped pieces of metal to old socks could be found in the heaps of garbage that lined the walls of the cave. There was a narrow path cutting between the heaps of trash—for which Sonic was eternally grateful. The mink behind him was already balking at having to walk near the trash—his steps were so reluctant and ginger that Sonic had to force himself not to turn and drag Bartleby behind him by the ear—Sonic didn't want to think about how Bartleby would've reacted to walking through the filth.
Eventually though, Sonic saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Not literally, but the light off one of the bulbs had illuminated the metal rungs of a ladder heading upward. Repressing the urge to leap for joy, Sonic hurried over to the ladder—leaving Bartleby to pick his way over alone—and swung himself upward with practiced ease.
At the top of the ladder, Sonic widened his stance, balancing precariously on the rungs as he pressed both his palms flat to the heavy, iron manhole cover. Pushing upward with all his strength, Sonic raised the disk a few inches and rolled to the side. A thin crescent of light shone through the space he'd created and Sonic peered out from underneath.
'Oh this is not good.'
The manhole exited to directly in the middle of one of the largest, most open streets in Robotropolis. As if this wasn't bad enough, Sonic had been gazing out of the tiny opening for barely twenty seconds and already three squads of robots had passed so closely he thought they'd step on his nose.
So many robots could only mean they were on alert, looking for something.
'Escaped prisoners, perhaps?'
'Or Priority One: Blue Hedgehog?'
Feeling the seriousness of the situation come down on him like a heavy weight, Sonic replaced the manhole cover and then descended the ladder.
"Wha—" Bartleby hadn't even finished the word before Sonic was talking.
"We can't go out that way. We try and we're caught. End of story. We have to keep following the tunnel and hope it leads to an exit that's more secluded." Sonic said briskly. Oddly enough, Bartleby seemed to understand and he nodded. Surprised by this unusually mature reaction, but not willing to discuss it, Sonic just turned around and kept walking.
"Hey Sonic?" Bartleby was talking again and Sonic had to take a long deep breath.
"Yes?" The word came out strained.
"Who's Eggman?"
Sonic raised an eyebrow. He hadn't been expecting that question. 'Where did Bartleby hear—Oh…' Sonic remembered. 'Right. I said it.' "Eggman is Robotnik." He said shortly.
"Why?" He could almost see the baffled look on the minks face.
'Why…' For some reason that question sounded silly; as though everyone should know why Robotnik was called 'Eggman'. But in this world the man was not known for being an evil genius with an egg fetish. That was the old world. In this world Robotnik was… just a tyrant. An insane tyrant who wanted to rule the world and roboticize every living creature, but that was it.
The Robotnik of this world never showed any genius, any innovative schemes. He just… handed off his wishes to Sleet and Dingo who bumbled their way through, trying to catch him and his siblings in the most ridiculous ways.
Sonic was somewhat amazed: that such a stupid man had been able to bend an entire world to his will.
But then again… Sonic remembered his own past self from this world.
Perhaps it wasn't really all that much of a stretch of the imagination.
With that depressing thought, Sonic realized then that he hadn't answered Bartleby's question. "It… it's something that always ticks him off. It's a running joke between…" Between whom? Himself, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge… the other freedom fighters? That wasn't something he could say to the mink so he kept his mouth closed. Luckily, Bartleby seemed appeased and didn't pry any more.
As they travelled deeper into the pit the dank, oppressive atmosphere caused Bartleby to eventually lapse into a depressed, solemn silence. Sonic would have been worried over this uncharacteristic behaviour, but the utter quiet was too much of a relief on his ears.
Then the path ended.
Bartleby gasped and Sonic gazed down in a sort of resigned acknowledgment.
These sorts of things just failed to surprise him anymore.
Where the path ended, a steep slope began. Twisting and curling downward alarmingly, the slide was greased by ropes of gleaming oil that ran off from the piles of trash around them. Sonic strained to follow the path of the slide, but it disappeared invisibly into the thick darkness. There was no way to tell where it led.
Bartleby was backing away.
"Oh no! There is no way you're getting me to go down there! Give me back to the robots for all I care; I am not making another blind drop into God only knows what filth and obscenity!"
Sonic glanced sideways at the mink, who looked like he was being walked to his execution. Bartleby was honestly panicking at having to jump down the slide and, if only in respect for the honesty of that emotion, Sonic felt a little pity.
But that didn't stop him from grabbing the mink by the wrist and throwing them both downward.
"AIIIEEEEE!!!!!" Bartleby's ear-splitting shriek reverberated around them as they once again plunged into the unknown.
Sonic swept his cloak tightly around his body as he descended. The instant he hit the slide, he dropped Bartleby's hand, trusting the mink to follow on his own.
With ease born from years of experience, Sonic snapped his ankles together, and tucked his arms tightly to his sides. He had no trouble navigating the tight corners and swerves of the slide, even in the suffocating darkness. Behind him, he could hear Bartleby flailing against the metal sidings of the slide. As long as the piercing shriek continued though, Sonic assumed the mink was doing fine.
Finally, after what seemed like an endless drop filled with innumerable twisted and turns, Sonic's eyes picked out a green glow in the distance. The light was eerie: a radioactive green, and it only brightened as Sonic drew closer.
Leaning his head back, Sonic let himself speed up. The slide ended abruptly and Sonic shot out like bullet from a gun. He had less than a split second to assess the room—two robots standing guard, a glowing lake of green fluid, an iron gate, some crates—before a decision had to be made. Curling into a ball, Sonic flew toward the crates. Inches away from the boxes Sonic pulled out of the ball and threw himself unceremoniously onto the ground behind them.
He hit the dirt roughly: bouncing and rolling over himself. But the floor was soft—made of years of accumulated dirt and dust—and Sonic's fall was muffled, the robots were none the wiser to his presence.
Then Bartleby's shriek reached his ears.
Biting back a nasty comment, Sonic's eyes narrowed as he saw the two robots come to life. Whirring of inner motors picked up and sinister red lights turned on behind their sightless eyes.
Sonic unclasped his cloak.
Bartleby was expelled from the slide in an uncoordinated tangle of limbs and he fell in an ungainly heap on the ground. Groaning and griping all the way, Bartleby painfully pulled himself to his feet. He took his time trying to brush off his now completely ruined frills.
"I say, Sonic! That was utterly rude of you, forcing me to fall down that thing! I hope you know that I'll be speaking to Sonia about your uncouth behaviour." Bartleby paused, as though expecting an answer. When none was forthcoming, he frowned. "Sonic! Are you listening to me? I said—" And Bartleby's words trailed off into nothing as he caught sight of the large metal feet—feet that most certainly did not belong to Sonic—in front of him.
Gulping audibly and dragging his eyes upward, Bartleby followed the feet up to their owner.
"Er… Hello there." Bartleby squeaked feebly as he stared up at the robot looming over him. "You know, this is really all a big misunderstanding! I'm actually a good, law abiding citizen; I've never—" Batleby chocked and gave a strangled 'eep' as the robot raised the laser attached to its arm to Bartleby's eye. He yelped as the laser sparked and hummed to life and jumped away, showing his back to the robot and covering his head with his arms.
"I'm too young to die!"
And Bartleby screamed as a loud explosion nearly threw him off his feet.
One second passed, then another, and Bartleby looked at his hands in confusion. He was alive? But how?
Curiosity—of which Bartleby had no idea he'd possessed—drove him to sneak a glance over his shoulder to see what was going on.
What he saw stole the breath from his lungs.
Sonic was standing over a heap of charred, twisted metal that hissed violently with blue sparks. The mink caught sight of a ruined piece of metal—something that looked like it had once been an arm—and with a jolt, he realized he was looking at all that was left of the robot that had been standing over him.
Sonic had his teeth bared in a feral smirk and the radioactive green from the lake reflected off his eyes turning them an unearthly shade of fluorescent lime. Bartleby was frightened by the fearsome look in those eyes. Now, more than ever, he was certain Sonic had never had green eyes before that day. Certainly not eyes like that.
Just then, the glint of metal drew Bartleby's attention away from Sonic and, with shock, he saw a second robot raise its arm, readying a laser that was aimed right at Sonic's back.
Bartleby's mouth opened and he was about to shout a warning cry but Sonic was moving before the breath had even passed his teeth.
Every laser shot from the robot's arm had Bartleby cringing backward. He watched with one eye closed—trapped by morbid fascination—as Sonic missed each shot by hairs. Bartleby knew Sonic was fast, but this was unreal. The blue hedgehog passed between the deadly lasers as though they weren't even there. Bartleby blinked; and when he looked again, Sonic had crossed half the room and was closing in on the robot.
With a short yell, Sonic leapt into the air, curled himself into a ball, and threw himself at the robot.
There were sparks, the painful sound of metal being sheared, a loud explosion and then the robot joined its dead partner on the ground.
Bartleby's mouth was still hanging open.
"Sonic… You…" He was beyond words.
"No time!" Sonic had already crossed the room, and was clasping his long cloak back around his neck. "They set off an alarm or something, the gate is closing. We have to hurry!"
Bartleby finally took the time to look around himself properly. He saw that the body of glowing water was actually more of a reservoir than a lake. There was a gate that, when closed, acted as a dam. It was this very gate that was currently grinding closed... incidentally, it was also the only visible exit from the room.
For once, Bartleby didn't argue as he was once again grabbed by Sonic.
The duo plunged into the glowing water and sunk down to the bottom. Using his speed, Sonic just barely carried them past the gate before it slammed shut behind them. Passing the gate, was an underwater tunnel which they followed, becoming more and more desperate for air with every second that passed.
When the tunnel finally opened up into bright sunlight and welcome air, they wasted no time in thrashing their way to the surface, which they broke with thankful gasps and collapsed on the banks of the polluted river.
"We're… outside." Bartleby panted, looking around with mingled surprise and disbelief. He could barely gather the energy to move. "How on earth…?"
"All that waste and sewage had to get drained from the city somehow." Sonic's voice was calm as he pulled himself out of the river and wrung out his cloak. He didn't even look fazed.
Bartleby, realizing then what he'd just travelled through, was hit with a burst of adrenaline and pulled himself out of the river in record time. "Ew! Disgusting! I'm never going to be able to rinse this smell from my hair! Robotnik should be ashamed of himself; it's his fault my clothes are completely ruined!"
Sonic blinked, then shook his head and chuckled.
O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O
End Chapter
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Okies! That's all for now! Hm… I really did want to have Shadow in this chapter… ah well, he'll be in the next one for sure ^.^
Sunny Lighter: Hiya! Thanks for reviewin'! I hope you liked the chapter!
VampireCabbit: Hehe, yeaaah, I'm TRYING to update more often but…(sheepish grin), eh well, I hope you enjoyed anyways XD Oh yeah! And you made a good point about Robotnik's relative 'evilness' (is that a word?... oh wow, it actually IS! o_O'). Basically, yeah, you're right that he was usually more evil in the comics and TV shows… but I always considered him to be a wimp in Sonic Underground… that and it is just SO much more fun making him eviler (where's the fun in making him nicer, right? XDD). And good luck with your new Fanfic! Have you posted it yet? I never watched Sonic X so I don't know who Chris is (… and I think I'm glad I don't, is he like a human sidekick who's always boosting Sonic up and being really helpful even in physically impossible situations??...Gurgh, hate those T_T)
Claamchowder: Yay! Glad you liked! I hope ya enjoyed this update too!
Pokelad: Haha! Aww, Bartleby's not THAT bad… after all, he was quiet for, what, a full five minutes in this chapter? XD
GHOST PHANTOM: Yeah… I know… it took me a while to update (rubs back of neck). But I have an excuse! I had exams in December and then… and then… Ok fine, so I got three new video games and was completely out of commission during the hols—but it's not my fault!! Video games EAT YOU ALIVE I TELL YOU!!... Ok… SO gonna stop talking now XDD
Leader S: Heya! Yay! I'm glad you like this story and thanks so much for your nice comments ^.^ I really hope I finish this story too. The funny thing is… I actually KNOW where I want it to go… transferring the ideas from my head to my computer is the problem XD
Frieghtrain: Hey! What did you think about the Rouge part? Didn't see THAT coming didja? ;p Now the question is: will Knuckles and Tails meet up with Sonia, Manic and Rogue? THAT would definitely be an interesting reunion XD And I'm glad you liked the Sleet and Dingo part… they won't be major characters, but I don't want anyone to think I've forgotten about them, hehe.
XxSpiritWolfxX: Awesome! So, Rouge, Manic and Sonia got to meet up, whatja think? :3
little ghostie: Hi! Thankies for reviewing! I'm really glad you like the story; I know the update took awhile (sorries! :3). But I was distracted by… uh… video games (shifty eyes)… yeahhhh (ducks potential flying objects). I hope you enjoyed the update though!
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AND! For everyone who missed the NOTICE at the top of the chapter: I will be gone to France from Jan 11 to April 11. This means that updates will probably slow down AND I will not be answering reviews during this time. I'm sorry, but there's no other alternative; I just won't have the time or internet access to answer reviews... I can tell you all though that even if I don't respond, I'll still be reading and enjoying all your comments!
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Adio!