Sonic Haven

Season 1 - Episode 3

"Fall From Grace"

Things had gone from bad to terrible to… whatever came after terrible. It was only a couple of weeks ago that things seemed to be looking up for Sonic's uncle Charles, or Chuck as he called him. Julian, his lab partner, had gone off into the woods and come back with a Chaos Emerald. It was supposed to be the more stable power source that they were looking for. And while the discovery of the Emerald had led to the invention of a new power source, Chaos Drives, it hadn't led to the success that they were hoping for in terms of the robotic suit.

Shortly after the failures began to pile up again, Chuck had mentioned Julian becoming increasingly aggressive, even more so than he already was. It was to the point now that he was heavily considering dropping out of the project for his own safety. The only reason he didn't do so now was because he feared the reaction that Julian would give. Instead, he was trying to just wait it out and hope that they were close to finishing the device. Once it was done Julian should go back to normal as the stress in his life would be gone.

"Hey Sonic." Tails shouted from his right. "Are you still in there?"

Sonic came back to earth and shook his head, his six quills on his head swaying back and forth with the motion as he blinked his green eyes and looked at his best friend. "Yeah, I'm alright Tails." He playfully elbowed his yellow furred buddy. "You're not worried about me are 'ya?"

"Well, you tell me. Should I be?" He asked.

Sonic dropped his head and heaved a heavy sigh. "Well, not about me." He looked at Tails out of the corner of his eye as he continued. "It's Chuck. He's been talking about his lab partner Julian Nikolas like he belongs in a mental ward."

"Why not leave?" Tails wondered out loud.

"It's complicated." Sonic forced the worries out of his mind and tried to keep his usually upbeat attitude intact. "Don't worry, I'm sure it'll all be alright."

Tails gave him a smirk. "Alright, if you say so." He pointed at him. "I'll see you later?"

"We do work together don't we?" Sonic said in reference to their job at the local hardware store. "I'll be there."

"Alright. I'll see you then." Tails waved at Sonic as he accelerated away from him, eventually just becoming a blue blur off in the distance.

Sonic ran out of Mobitropolis and down the highway that led back to his home in Knothole City. Though runs like this often cleared his mind, this one didn't. He still couldn't get over how things were going for his uncle. All things considered, he was pretty sure being a mad scientist (or working with one) was not a good thing. That's where Julian seemed to be headed now. The question was whether he would recognize what he was becoming and turn around before it was too late, or if he would keep charging ahead and become the monster everyone was fearing.

Whatever the case, there was nothing Sonic could do about it. So, as he came back to his house and opened the door, he made an effort to put it out of his mind. After all, why worry about things you can't control?

Julian roared in anger as yet another failure threw smoke in his face. "Gah! This is becoming unbearable!" He smashed his fist down on the desk in front of him and heard the wood creak under the stress. "Failure after failure after failure!"

Charles held out his hands in a calming gesture. "Don't worry Julian, we'll get it fixed."

"Fixed?" Julian used a question, but it was in such a mocking manner that Charles didn't dare respond lest he snap at him again. After a moment of silence, Julian fixed his gaze on the smoldering prototype. "There is no fix for this Charles. Even a Chaos Drive cannot provide enough power to the system to keep it from failing. The only thing we could do to keep it from spontaneously combusting is…" His voice trailed off.

"Is what?" Charles asked, unable to hide the notes of hope in his voice. What was it? A solution possibly? A brand new component that they hadn't known they'd needed?

"We could get rid of the interface, or just disable it." His tone was low and slightly unnerving.

"Then how would the inhabitants control the suit?" Charles asked.

"They wouldn't" Julian explained. "We can simply use the health management system that we already implemented to keep them in a comatose state. From there it's a simple matter of relaying instructions to the suit from an outside source such as a radio signal or something similar. Then, as long as the suits were properly supplied with nutrients and fluids, the individuals wearing the suits would be fully protected and still be able to contribute to the workplace; wherever that may be."

Charles was confused. "I must have missed something." He processed the information a little longer before asking: "Are you saying that we imprison the people who would wear such a suit just so that they can be used as workers? That they would be ants for any project that they were given?"

"You make it sound worse than it actually is Charles." Julian soothed. "They would be incredibly safe and well cared for. And those who would need the suit only temporarily could heal inside while still being useful to others."

Charles put a hand to his head. "I don't believe this." He felt a little light headed and started to sway back and forth on his feet.

"I'll run some tests on our new idea." Julian walked away and started to assemble another one of the devices. "It should only take a couple of minutes to test."

Charles felt something inside of him snap. He stiffened and spun around so that he could point at his partner. "Julian I'm calling the Police. What you're talking about is beyond inhumane and must not see the light of day!" He then turned to walk out. He stopped in his tracks and cringed at the primal scream of anger that came from behind him.

"You'll what!" Julian yelled in a tone that was drenched with venom. "I've got a better idea! How about I test the new device on you!" He grabbed the mess of parts and started walking toward Charles. "I'll show you just how easy it will be to turn everyone into a better, higher functioning society."

"No you won't." Charles shook his head. "I won't let you."

"Let me?" He was nearly foaming at the mouth now. "Just wait till I get my hands on you and I'll… Gah!" He screamed; his blood pressure had gotten so high that the blood vessels in his eyes burst, leaving them an eerie reddish black.

While Julian collected himself, Charles escaped. There wasn't much he could do now except collect his things and make his way to his home in the mountains and finish what he started. So that's what he did.

By the time Charles had returned with the police, Julian was long gone. Nothing was left in the lab except for a few scattered papers and the supplies of extra parts that they kept in back. But Charles knew where he was going, so they turned around and headed after the mad scientist.

Although the officers around him seemed to be composed, Charles was a wreck. He couldn't imagine things being any worse than they were now and only hoped that they could somehow bring Julian to see reason. There was a good person in there somewhere, he was sure, they just needed to find him again.

Upon reaching Julian's home, a log cabin with two windows in front and a brown wooden door that sat squarely in the middle. The police chief, a yellow furred squirrel with a graying mustache and dull green eyes, walked up to the door and slammed it with his fist three times, then bellowed: "Julian Nikolas, this is the Police. Unlock the door and come out with your hands up." … There was no answer.

The chief motioned to the officers behind him and they used a weighted black metal cylinder to break through the locked door and enter the cabin as splinters of wood rained down on the dark red carpet. Just as they came in they spotted him on his way out, using the back door. "There he is!" One of the officers yelled. The whole group of blue-clad Policemen gave chase down the hill and into the forest.

Julian was running through the woods like a rabid animal, crashing through branches and stumbling over bushes as he tried to escape. He scurried over a fallen log and attempted to climb a tree so as to let them pass underneath, barely making it up into the leaves before the officers came into view. They all climbed over the same log that he had a moment ago and passed him without noticing where he'd hidden.

He heaved a sigh in relief, thinking that it was over. Then the branch beneath him cracked and gave way, dropping him through its leaves and depositing him at its base. The officers turned around and stared at him as he rolled himself onto his back and groaned in both annoyance and pain. They swarmed him, read him his rights, then cuffed him and took him away. He would see a trial and then no doubt be imprisoned as they simply wouldn't understand what he was trying to accomplish. Thankfully, he already had an idea of what he was going to do.