The following short story is based on characters created and/or copyrighted by SEGA! Enterprises, DiC Productions, Archie Comic Publishers, Fleetway Comic Publishers, and the Taki Corporation. All other characters were crated and copyrighted by Roland Lowery. The author gives permission to distribute this work freely as long as it remains intact and unaltered, and the transfer of monetary units is not involved. Questions, comments, suggestions, complaints? Send them to me . I enjoy hearing from people who can spell. Chaotic Multiverse Tale #3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote for the day: "Oh, my, . . . " -James T. Kirk's last words, ST: Generations ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAOS! - Origins by Roland Lowery "MY WORD, Snively . . . " breathed Julian. "Where ARE we?" "I . . . I don't know, sir," Snively whispered back. "It definitly isn't Pluto, though. Not unless it's Halloween!" Julian and Snively were hiding in a clump of bushes, looking out at a very, very strange sight. At least a thousand humanoids were out on a large field, apparantly moving through military drills. All of them were approximatly four feet tall, except one big bruiser who must have stood better than six feet and two inches. The bruiser appeared to be leading the drills. The most diconcerting feature about the humanoids, though, was that every one of them had animal features. Julian was able to pick out dogs, cats, horses, pigs, even a duck-billed platypus or two. Their bodies were covered with fur, feathers, or whatever else an animal of their type had. Some had tails, some didn't. Whiskers, beaks, snouts, and claws abounded. "Maybe we got off course and landed on another planet," suggested Snively. "Who knows how long we've been drifting?" Since crawling from their wrecked cryo-stasis beds a few hours ago, Julian and Snively had been trying to jury-rig their ship's energy supply to the computer in hopes of coaxing the travel log out of it. All of their attempts ended in faliure, however, so they had started walking in hopes of finding civilization. This was definitly not what they had been expecting. "We have to communicate with them," said Julian. "WHAT? But . . . sir!" "But nothing, Snively! We HAVE to, unless you would rather die out here in the wilderness!" Snively sighed. "Lead the way, doctor." They emerged from the bushes and walked out onto the field. Very few of the animal humanoids took any notice of them, but those that did gawked with open mouthed stares. "That one looks like the leader," said Julian. He pointed out the six foot humanoid. They walked up to him and Julian tapped him on the shoulder. "Ah . . . HELLO!" yelled Julian when the behemoth turned around. He, like many people, was working under the common misassumption that if you speak loud and slow enough, anyone can understand any language. "MY . . . NAME . . . IS . . . JULIAN. WHAT . . . IS . . . YOURS?" "My name is Kodos, bub. And ya don't have ta yell at me like an idiot, I c'n hear ya just fine." Both Julian and Snively jumped when the deep, rumbling voice hit their eardrums. "You can speak English!" blurted Julian. "Nope," said Kodos, "and I never heard of it, neither. I ain't to big on geography. I'm speakin' Mobian, same as you." Julian started to protest, but shook his head and tried a different tactic. "Do you think that I and my assisstant might be able to find shelter hereabouts?" "Prob'ly not. We're right in the middle of a war, and we didn't exactly plan on having to accomodate aliens, zone-creatures, or whatever you two are. Ya might be able to bunk wi't one of m'soldiers." Kodos waved a meaty hand at his troops. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more important things ta do." Kodos walked off, leaving behind two very confused humans. They did indeed find soldiers to "bunk" with, after a long drawn out afternoon. It took quite a while to find two soldiers as nonchalant about humans as Kodos, and who were accomodating enough to share their tents. The next morning, the army packed up and started to march. Julian, though still very sleepy from the early wake up, marched alongside Kodos and pumped the large man for information. He found out that he was on the planet Mobius, and that none of the people there had heard of Earth. He learned about the Great War, actually a civil war between the Greater Mobian Continent - where they were at that point - and the Lesser Mobian Continent in the other hemisphere, and the religion of the "Ancient Walkers", a religion that Kodos didn't believe in personally. During the informal "interogation", Kodos looked down at Julian and suddenly said, "What do you do?" Julian was confused. "What do you mean?" "I mean, 'what do you do?' Where do YOU come from?" "Oh." Julian told Kodos about Earth, his thesis on robtics and the trouble it caused him with the Bio-Purists, his alliance with Dr. Robert Post, the attack by the Luan-Tech Terrorists, and his subsequent journey to Mobius. "Robots, huh?" said Kodos. "I could use some'a those. We've been takin' too many casualties lately in this damned war." Julian had a sudden, wicked thought. "My dear Kodos, how would you like to make a deal?" Julian's plan was simple. He would use his knowledge of robotics to create metallic soldiers for use in the Great War, and Kodos would teach him everything he knew about warfare. Kodos thought it would be a good deal. He saw in Julian Roboninski a sharp analytical mind, a trait in all good army officers, and also saw in him a kindred spirit. He felt the need to mold the human into another version of himself. And so, Kodos took Julian's offer to King Acorn. "You're quite right," said the King. "There have been far too many deaths due to this damnable war. And at the way things are going at present, I fear that the tide has turned against us. I have already had the city and the castle evacutated of all non-essential personnel and families who cannot leave for various reasons. "This Julian may hold the key to our victory." "That is my belief, sire," said Kodos. "And all he asks for in return is to learn the art of warfare from you?" "That's right." King Acorn tugged on his mustache, a habit that he had when he was thinking about something. He turned to Kodos and said, "Very well. If you are willing to teach him, then tell him to meet with Sir Charles Hedgehog in his laboratory." "Yes, sire. I'll take him there myself." "Good. You are dismissed." Kodos stood up straight, saluted, and left the throne room. The King amazed Kodos sometimes. Even though Acorn was tall for a Mobian, especially of the squirrel race, Kodos was tall for just about any Mobian. The Warlord was a lion, a race that generally grew to be about five to six feet, and he was larger than most lions. Still, the King was able to make his presence felt over Kodos', something that irritated the Warlord almost to no end. "This way, Julian," he said when he found the human in the courtyard of Acorn Castle. "The King has given his okay. I'm s'posed ta take you to Chuck Hedgehog's lab. C'mon." Once they were in the lab, Kodos left, mumbling something about needing to train some new recruits. "Hello," said a blue hedgehog with a bushy white moustache and eyebrows. "My name's Charles, but you can call me 'Chuck.' Everyone else does." Chuck's straight-forwardness and looks reminded Julian of his old partner, Robert "Bob" Post. He shook Chuck's hand and said, "Julian Roboninski. I guess we'll be working together." "Yes, the wire just came down from the King. Said you wanted to do some robotics work." "Yes. I would like to make a robot that will help the kingdom in the war." "Well, you came to the right place! Right this way, . . ." Chuck's laboratory was humungous, and every bit of it was crammed with equipment and assisstants working on this and that. The main piece of equipment seemed to be a large glass tube with large gizmos at both ends. When Julian asked about it, Chuck's face lit up. "That is my pride and joy," he said. "I'm calling it a 'cyber-vitalizer' for now. I'm still working the kinks out, but it's going to be used to replace an injured body part with a metallic counterpart using the body's own metals as well as a dose of metal shavings stored in the machine. I'm still working on finding out how the metal will be reformed without causing too much pain to the recipitant. It might be ready for a test run in a few weeks. Would you like to see it when it's ready?" "Oh, yes. It sounds . . . very interesting." Julian nodded. In the back of his head, more ideas were forming. Julian spent nights learning from Warlord Kodos, and days working with Chuck. He was able to bring in his new war knowledge to program the "brains" of his and Chuck's robots. Snively did most of the actual programming, with input coming from Julian and his warfare lessons. The new 'bots were called SWATbots: Special Weaponry Aligned Trooper robots. Their programming enabled them to pick up an unfamiliar weapon and learn how to use it within minutes, be it a laser or projectile firearm. The only problem the SWATbots had was with hand to hand combat. Because they had to be mass produced to replace Mobian troops, they had very weak structures and could be snapped apart with minimal pressure. Fortunately, they didn't need to fight hand to hand. The SWATbots were adept enough at shooting battles to be effective. Soon, the tide of the war turned back in favor of the Acorn Kingdom. After the mass production of the SWATbots began, Chuck left to continue his work on the cyber-vitalizer, and Julian began to learn under Warlord Kodos full time. Snively continued to watch over the SWATbots to troubleshoot their software when they broke down in the field. "This had better be good, Ixis," Kodos growled. "I was in the middle of a training session with Julian when I got'cher message." "Oh, it's good alright," said the Minister of Science. "Very good, indeed." He waddled over to a row of controls on the wall of his lab and pushed a button. "You may want to start squinting." A panel slowly slid open in the wall before Kodos. It revealed a multicolored swirl of light that was almost unbearable after standing in the dark laboratory for even a short while. "Yeah, so?" said Kodos. "Looks like just another zone portal ta me. Me and m'troops run into 'em all the time out'n the field." Zones were pocket realities that occured naturally on Mobius, seemingly from the large amount of magic power that encircled their world. Portals to these realities appeared all over the planet, sometimes completely without warning. While some were known to have stayed open for centuries, the majority of them would come and go as they pleased. Ixis cackled. "Yes, I know. We've been able to develop artificial ones, too, but they're only temporary - more fleeting than even their flighty natural cousins. They may last a day or two at the most, but THIS - THIS is a pinnacle of technology! A PERMANENT artificial zone!" Kodos raised an eyebrow. "Alright. I'm mildly impressed. What's it for?" Ixis pulled his chimpanzee body from its hunched position to his full height, almost as tall as Kodos. "First, I'm going to have to ask you some questions." "Okay, shoot." "How strong is your loyalty to the King?" "Boy, you get straight to th'point, don't ya, Ix?" Kodos grunted. "Huh. I never really thought about it, so I'm either a mindless fanatic or just plain don't care. But that's politics. Personally, I can hardly stand the man." "That's what I thought," said Ixis as he nodded and hunched over again. "Now, what would you say if I told you we could elevate ourselves to the King's level?" "Cut the bull, Ix. Are you proposin' we KILL the King?" The Minister of Science chuckled. The Warlord wasn't as stupid as he looked. "I'm not proposing ANYthing, Kodos. I'm just asking harmless questions. But if that's the way you wish to take it," he waved his hand in the air, "go ahead." "Your 'questions' aren't all that harmless, monkey. You know that I could run you in for leanings toward treason?" " . . . . . Yes." Kodos stepped forward with a grimace on his face. He grabbed Ixis' shoulders and - - broke out into a huge, snarling grin. "You might not be such a waste of skin after all, Ix." When Julian walked down the hallways of Acorn Castle, his prescence was definitely felt by those around him. Of all the Mobian races, few were very tall. Most of them were, at most, four feet in height. Julian, at 5' 6", seemed like a giant to them. Also, there was the fact that palace life had spoiled him. He had been slightly overweight even before leaving Earth, but now he oozed with fat. His trundling figure could be spotted by a Mobian miles away. Today, Julian was walking away from his latest session with Kodos. The Warlord had seemed rather distracted today, and had been that way ever since his talk with Ixis the inventor yesterday. Julian, curious as to why, was heading for the Minister of Science's lab. On the way, he bumped into Snively. "Hello, Snively." "Hello, doctor." "If you're not too busy, would you mind walking with me? I'm going over to Ixis' lab." "Of course, sir. I've wanted a look at his computers for quite some time now, anyway. Maybe now I'll get my chance." They walked down the hallway, side by side. "How's life been treating you here?" asked Julian. "Oh, none the worse for wear, sir. The problems with the SWATbots have been running me a little ragged. But, it's nothing I can't handle." "Good." Julian noticed that Snively's hair, so thick and lustrous before, was thinning. He felt little sympathy, though, considering his own bald plate. "I see you had some cybernetic work done," commented Snively. Julian's hand went up to his ears. "Yes, I had my ears and eyes replaced with audio and visual transcievers so I can be in contant communication with the SWATbot troops." "So you know about the problems we've been having." "Yes. I- oh, here we are." He raised a gloved fist and knocked on the door standing before them. A thin voice beckoned them in. Julian and snively stepped in and closed the door behind them. Ixis stood in the middle of his dark lab. "Why, hello, Julian," he said. "Welcome to my humble laboratory. What brings you and your friend down here?" "I was wondering," said Julian, "what you and Warlord Kodos talked about yesterday." Ixis smiled. "I COULD tell you," he said, "but first, I have to ask you a few questions, . . ." "What's this about, Ix?" asked Kodos. He was standing in the lab, impatiently tapping his heavy foot. "Oh, nothing, really," said Ixis. "Just something I want you to do, and someone I want you to meet." Kodos' eyes narrowed. He had expected some kind of trap from Ixis, but didn't think it would come THIS early in the game. The two of them had allied themselves only a few short days ago. He decided to play along for the moment, however. "What and who?" he asked. "First, I want you to stand right there." He directed Kodos to a spot two feet from the inner wall. "And now, I want you to meet my new partner." From the shadows stepped a huge, mustached form that Kodos recognized immedietly. "No, . . . " "YES!" exclaimed Julian. "You were SUCH a good teacher, Kodos. But someone else, an old friend of mine back on Earth, taught me a much more valuable lesson than anything I learned under your tutelage, and that was to NEVER underestimate the power of a sneak attack! It WAS you, however, who taught me to learn from my mistakes. It's relly too bad," he continued as he pressed a button on the lab's main control panel, "that YOU won't learn from this one!" The doorway to the "Zone of Silence", as Ixis called his permanant zone, opened up. Kodos, standing right in front of it, was rooted to the sopt, unable to get away. He started cursing, and continued to do so until he was sucked into the zone portal. His last words before the door closed were, "I'LL GET YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I- " Julian straightened his uniform. "Well, that was fun," he said. "Yes, it was," said Ixis happily. "Now-" "And this is going to be even better," Julian interrupted. Ixis looked quizically at him, then gaped in horror as four SWATbots walked in. "You didn't think that these ears were just for decoration, did you?" laughed Julian. He pressed a button. The Zone of Silence opened, then closed again. Ixis felt the disorentation he had only read about in zone transferance before. When reality stopped twirling around him, he screamed in terror when he saw Kodos' menacing, growling face looming over him. The last thing the chimpanzee felt was the bones in his neck grating their broken ends together. "Due to the sudden disappearance of both Warlord Ferris Kodos and Minister of Science Ixis Agonisto, we have called a special meeting of the Royal Court to appoint their replacements." The court reporter finished his short speech sat down as King Acorn stood up. "Doctor Julian Ivan Roboninski and Sir Charles Gregory Hedgehog, please step forward," he said. The human and Mobian stood and looked up at the King. "Sir Charles, because you were to become Minister of Science after Ixis' retirement anyway, I appoint you temporary holder of that office. Doctor Julian, because you were learning at a rapid rate under Kodos' teachings, and were able to show the fruits of your knowledge in the programming of the SWATbots, I appoint you temporary holder of the office of Warlord. "I expect both of you to uphold these offices in the highest possible regard until permanant replacements are found, or until you yourselves are named the permanant replacements. "Do you accept all of these terms?" "Yes, Your Majesty," they said in unison. "Thank you. Now, is there any other business today? No? Then I call this meeting of the Royal Court adjourned. Good day, ladies and gentlemen." As everyone else filed out, Julian caught Chuck's attention. "Yes, Julian?" "I hear," said the human, "that your cyber-vitalizer is near completion. Is it ready for its test run yet? I'm quite eager to see it." "Oh, not quite yet, Julian. Maybe in a day or two it will be, but-" Just then, a harried messenger ran up to them and whispered frantically in Chuck's ear. Chuck nodded a few times, and Julian watched as the hedgehog's face fell. The messenger left, leaving behind a sad looking Mobian. "E-excuse me, Julian, but I have some . . . personal business to attend to," he said. "I understand, Chuck. We'll talk to you when you're feeling better." "Thank you." Julian smiled evilly behind Chuck's back as the hedgehog left. His plans were coming to a head. He knew exactly how far ahead Chuck was on his cyber-vitalizer, even knew that it was no longer called that anymore, and had personally seen to it that Chuck's "personal business" had happened. Bill Hedgehog was in no condition to be doing what he was doing, which was standing in a glass tube in the middle of the night, waiting for his brother Chuck to perform an experimental process on him. Bill was a soldier for the Acorn Kingdom army, and had been one of the last batch to be called back in for replacement by SWATbots. Unfortunatly for Bill, the call back had been too late. He had been involved in a bombing incident that injured him fatally. He had a slashed up eye, a broken leg, a broken arm, a plethora of cuts and bruises, and massive internal bleeding. Chuck had decided to use his new process, called "roboticization" now, to try and save his brother. He had carried the broken and bleeding Bill to his laboratory from the hospital in the middle of the night. Chuck activated the roboticizer. There was a thin whine as the energies that reformed the metal used in the process filled the glass tube. The energies used Bill's natural metals, like iron and aluminum salts in his blood, combined with metal shavings that flooded into the chamber, to reform his injured body parts into stronger, healthier robotic ones. Steam filled the chamber, then it emptied out as Chuck activated the tube's sliding mechanism. When the steam cleared, Chuck gasped in shock. "For the love of Mobius, NO!" His brother was, instead of having prosthetic robotic parts, a complete robot. He ran back down to his insturments and scanned Bill. Another gasp escaped Chuck's throat. "The roboticization process has worked all too well!" he said to himself. "Now my brother is just a - a MINDLESS MACHINE!" Chuck felt a surge of anger pour into him. His hands opened and closed in convulsive movements. In a pure red haze, he reached over to one of the tables in the lab and picked up a wrench. The next thing he knew, the control console for the roboticizer was nothing but scrap, pounded into junk. Chuck dropped the wrench and stormed out of the lab. Bill stared straight ahead, unable to do anything, even think for himself. He continued to stare as a fat figure stepped into his line of vision. The fat figure was dressed in the clothes of a Warlord. Slowly, the figure started to laugh. At first, it was merely a chuckle, but it soon degenerated into hysterical, evil, foreboding cackling. The war was over. The long, drawn out ordeal had finally ended, with the Acorn Kingdom the victor, all thanks to the SWATbots. The day after the victory, Julian met with King Acorn to talk about dismantling the army, both SWATbot and Mobian. He tried to convince the King that it was no longer needed since the entire planet of Mobius was once again under his benevolent rule. At first, the King seemed resistant to the idea, but he finally decided to take the matter to the Royal Court for their descision. It was during this talk that Julian "learned" about Chuck's resignation as temporary Minister of Science, and everything else, as well. The poor man, who had been knighted and looked to be the next permanant Minister, had quit and become, of all things, a chili dog cook. Julian had to use all of his acting skills to keep from laughing out loud. All of the families, King Acorn had said, were back in Mobotropolis and the castle. Chuck's nephew, who was treated like his son, had been allowed to stay at the castle with the friends he had made while living there with his uncle. Acorn smilingly warned Julian to watch out for blue streaks in the hall. This confused Julian until he actually met Sonic T. Hedgehog a few days later. Julian almost fell over as something ran by his feet. He couldn't tell what it was, because it moved far too fast for him to see. He was able to catch himself just before toppling over. To his complete amazement, a small, blue hedgehog appeared in front of him in a blur of speed. "Sorry, sir," said the hedgehog. Then he blasted off in a burst of wind. "Mymymy," said Julian to himself. "That could be a problem." With dark thoughts on his mind, he continued on his search for the king. Sonic T. Hedgehog was fast. He had been since birth, and he reveled in it. His Uncle Chuck had tried to explain it to him once - something about an ultra- kinetsomething aura that went all around his body - but all he cared about was that he could do it. "TA-DA!" he yelled when he stopped in front of Sally Acorn, his best friend. "Ta-da, what?" asked Sally haughtily. "Whadda ya mean, 'ta-da, what'?" demanded Sonic. "'I'm the fastest thing alive, ta-da!'" "Oh, no you're not!" Sally protested. "It took you a whole twenty seconds to run through the entire castle!" "Sez who?" "I say!" "YOU say?" "Yeah! I DO!" Sonic and Sally were startled by hands laying themselves on their shoulders. They jumped and looked up to see Sally's father, King Acorn, standing over them. "What seems to be the problem, children?" he asked. "Nothing important, Daddy!" said Sally. "Nossir! We were just having fun!" said Sonic. King Acorn smiled and stood up straight. He smiled and said, "I see!" "I hate to interrupt, King Acorn," said a voice, "but I've matters of urgent importance to discuss." The King turned towards the voice. "Ah, Warlord Julian," he said. "I've been looking for you!" He waved his hand at Sonic and Sally. "Run along, children. We'll settle this later." Sonic and Sally nodded and ran off. Sonic yelled, "Come on, Sal! Last one to the treehouse is a rotten chili dog!" Julian watched them go, concentrating on the hedgehog that had tried to mow him down not but a few minutes ago. The King had called him "Sonic" before. He'd have to remember that name. "We've a reception tonight, Julian." Julian's concentration was brought back to the King. "A reception, sire?" "Yes. I'm announcing your new appointment as the Minister of Science, in light of Sir Charles' resigning. I've also approved your plans for dismantling the military. You can begin implementation at once, your last act as Warlord." "Of course, sire." "One more thing," the King continued. "It's important that the transition proceed immediately! I'm confident you're more than up to the task, Julian." "Better than you know, sire." "Very good. I'll see you tonight, then." As soon as King Acorn was gone, Snively stepped up behind Julian. "Alert the troops to be ready for my signal, Snively." "Just say the word, sir." That night, Julian prepared for the reception. He looked at his new suit laying on the bed. It was mostly red, with two beige lines - meeting in a circle - running down the middle of the chest and across the waist. It had metal shoulder guards, a high colloar, and a yellow cape. After donning it, he located Snively. "The word," he said, "is given, Snively. Commence attack -- " -- NOW!" Sonic and Sally were in bed when they heard the bombing. He was outside her bedroom door by the time she was coming out. "Sal!" he exclaimed. "It's like the war is starting up again! But I've never seen soldiers like these!" "Like what, Sonic?" "C'mon!" He grabbed her wrist and ran with her to a balcony overlooking the castle courtyard. A squad of robots were swarming in, apprehending every Mobian they could find. "They're SWATbots," said Sally, breathlessly. "Dad told me about them! They're supposed to be on OUR side, though!" Just then, Julayla, Sally's teacher and mentor, ran up to the two children. She, too, had just woken up, so was dressed in a robe. "What do they want, Julayla?" asked Sally, tears in her eyes. "I'm at a loss to explain this," said Julayla in her soft voice. "I think it better we return to the palace and find Rosie, my dear!" They moved off to find the children's nanny. "I'm sure that King Acorn is quite aware of the situation." "JULIAN!" roared King Acorn furiously. "WHAT is going ON here?" He and the Royal Court were watching as Julian and a squad of SWATbots marched into the ballroom through the hole blown in the wall. The 'bots quickly and effeciently took the Court members prisoner. "You Majesty, members of the Royal Court, . . . I'VE now assumed command. Henceforth, Mobotropolis is ROBOTROPOLIS, the capital of MY kingdom! My army of SWATbots have struck simultaneously at various points throughout the kingdom, virtually halting any chance of resistance!" Four SWATbots surrounded King Acorn. "That COULD change, however," said Julian, "if the subjects were to rally around the King and Crown!" "Give it up, Julian! You can't succeed!" The King's voice caught Julayla's ear. "This way," she whispered to Antoine, the latest child she had found. She had been unable to find his father, Xavier, anywhere, though. The two of them emerged onto a balcony that hung over the royal courtroom just in time to watch Julian as he started yelling. "THE NAME IS NO LONGER JULIAN!" he screamed. "From this day forward, I am ROBOTNIK!" He twirled around and pointed at the King. "As for you, 'King' Acorn," he said, "I hereby banish you to the Zone of Silence . . . FOREVER!" "Oh, my," said Julayla under her breath. She had heard a little about that zone, and knew that it was nowhere for anyone to be. She grabbed the wide-eyed Antoine and ran through the hallways until she finally reached the broom closet where the other children were hiding. "Change of plans, children," she said. "Come with me." She led them in search of General Xavier DeCoolette, the only person, other than the King, who knew the location of the secret village of Knothole. Xavier, in the meantime, was busy. Just before the war had ended, he had convinced the King that a Rebel Underground should be kept up, just in case the Acorn Kingdom was attacked again. After getting permission, he built Knothole Village in the Great Forest in a location known only by him and the King. The knowledge of the village's existence itself was closely held between King Acorn, Xavier, Julayla, Rosie, and the Royal Court. Julayla and Rosie had been told because, in the state of an emergency, they were to find all the children they could, find Xavier or the King and ask them for the location, then take the children there. When the SWATbots attacked, Xavier started his search for the King, Julayla, or Rosie. What he found instead was a troop of 'bots. He had put up a good fight, but they still took him prisoner. "Let me go, you buckeets of bolts!" he yelled as he thrashed. He knew approximately where they were goin by the direction they were headed, but he couldn't figure out why they were carrying him to the laboratories. They took him into Sir Charles Hedgehog's lab, then stood him up on a platform. Julayla and a small group of children burst in at that moment. Not wasting a moment, Xavier started yelling out gibberish. "Savage cyclids!" he yelled. "Mockingbirds in the wooden water! Atomic green long-range toasters!" The SWATbots didn't understand a word he was saying, and ignored it, but Julayla recognized the code as the directions to Knothole. Just then, laser fire came from the hallway. The only one who didn't look in that direction was Antoine, who watched helplessly as his father threw his general's uniform to him, seconds before the glass tube slid down and Xavier DeCoolette was roboticized. Charlie Lynx was the Head Computer Technician, a position equatable to Warlord or Minister of Science, and proud of his job. His main pride and joy was the NCL-20986 MAT system, informally named "Nicole." Nicole was a massive supercomputer that ran the entire automated network in the castle and stored information from all over the world, including the ultra-confidential Royal Archives. One of her more prominent features, however, was her ability to squeeze down into a palm-sized minicomputer housing without giving up her computing power, hard drive space, or speed. This was what Charlie was busy doing now. Since it seemed that the castle's downfall was imminent, he had the job of making sure Nicole didn't fall into enemy hands. "C'mon, c'mon, baby, c'mon," he mumbled. Finally, a green light blinked on, prompting Charlie to pull the palmtop Nicole from the now burnt-out main housing. "Nicole?" "Working, Charlie," Nicole's pleasant female voice said. "Good," he said, then turned and ran. He was running down the halls of the castle when five SWATbots turned a corner behind him and started firing. Up ahead, he saw Julayla and a group of children at a doorway. "Julie!" he yelled. "Catch!" He threw Nicole to her just before SWATbot lasers tore through his body. Charlie Lynx, Head Computer Technician, knew nothing more. The bottom of Sonic's mind seemed to drop out. The death of Charlie Lynx was too much for his young mind to handle without lashing out. Full instinct took over as he leaped, snarling, at the SWATbots. Before Julayla was able to shout, the 'bots were only so much scrap metal. Sonic returned to the group just as Xavier's roboticization was completed. He trashed the 'bots in there too. Julayla, too shocked to do anything else, guided the children out towards the secret tunnels to Knothole. She looked apprehensively at Sonic when he returned to the group, and wondered just how strong of a warrior he would become as he aged under this new war. As they left, they just missed a squad of SWATbots entering the lab to clear it for the entrance of Robotnik, King Acorn, and the Royal Court. "If you would just listen to me, there wouldn't be any of this!" yelled King Acorn. "Have you no honor, Julian? No sense of responsibility or loyalty?" They were standing in Chuck's lab now, for reasons King Acorn couldn't fathom. The Royal Court had been taken somewhere earlier, and he wondered if this could be it. It still made no sense, though . . . "Oh, but I do, King Acorn!" He said. "I have a responsibility to restore order from chaos!" He motioned to Snively, who was waiting at a curtain, to pull the drapes aside. Behind them stood the Royal Court members standing in line in front of a glass tube on a platform. "And with the aid of my greatest discovery, I have the means to carry out my plans!" The glass tube slid upward and a SWATbot prodded Sir Harold Bobcat onto the platform. "Behold my roboticizer," said Robotnik as he signaled its activation. A few seconds later, a Harold Bobcat shaped robot stepped off of the platform. "Isn't it wonderful?" Robotnik asked. "Able to transform any living creature into a programmed metal automaton, free to obey MY orders only!" Two more Court members were put through. They lined up behind the Harold-bot. "Look at them! Lining up in assembly line fashion - emerging as the ultimate product of my new world order!" King Acorn was flabbergasted. "This is monstorous!" Robotnik twirled around. "That depends on your point of view! In MY version, YOU are the enemy, and must be eliminated for the good of all!" He walked out of the lab, and the SWATbots dragged the King behind him. "No matter how long it takes," the King yelled, "Somehow I well stop you, Julian!" "Courageous words, sir," said Robotnik over his shoulder, "but where YOU'RE going, that won't be possible! Ah, here we are!" They had arrived at Ixis' lab, which hadn't been too far from Chuck's. "Open the portal!" Robotnik commanded as soon as they were inside. The doors slid open, revealing the multicolor vortez. "May I present," he continued, "the Zone of Silence! Impressive, isn't it?" He chuckled. "Be sure to give Ixis, its inventor, and Kodos, your former Warlord, my regards! A safe journey, my once and former King!" The SWATbots threw the King in. His last words before disappearing were, "I'll get you, Julian!" Robotnik merely laughed. "Long live the King!" King Acorn stood up and shook his head. "Wh-where am I?" He found himself on a chunk of floating rock, amidst a plethora of similar rocks. The "sky" appeared to be multi-colored space, like a brightly lit night sky filled with polluting gases. "Nowhere you wanna be," said a voice behind him. He turned to see- "Warlord Kodos!" "Yes, indeed, sire," Kodos answered as he tightened his grip on the huge axe he held, "and as you can see, I'm in one MEAN mood!" Kodos raised the axe and bore down on the King. Acorn barely dodged out of the way as Kodos split the rock he had previously been standing on in half. "You're quite a swinger!" exclaimed the King. "Why don't we-" >>WHO DARES DISTURB FEIST IN HIS DEN?<< The two looked up to where the voice had come from. There floated a gigantic black and white bear-like creature. Its eyes glowed bright yellow, and it definitely did not appear happy. "I think," whispered Kodos, "we ought to table our disagreement for now, sire." King Acorn nodded, then turned to the enormous Feist. "Now, see here-" >>SILENCE!<< boomed Feist. >>YOU WILL SPEAK ONLY WHEN SPOKEN TO!<< Kodos suddenly sprang forward and yelled, "And YOU would do well to respect that which could hurt you!" Acorn yelled Kodos' name, but it was too late. Feist evaporated the Warlord with a blast from his five foot wide eyes. >>NOW,<< said Feist, >>TO GET RID OF THAT *OTHER* GNAT!<< King Acorn tensed and closed his eyes, preparing for the blast that would strike him down. After a few seconds of nothing, he looked up to a stranger sight than Feist himself. Out of Feist's left eye, an arm was protruding. Feist did not appear to be in pain, but had a comical looking expression of suprise on his face, instead. He rose a hand up to his face, but just before it got there, two feet smashed out of the roof of his mouth and tore the gargantuan's lower jaw off. Feist's expression - what was left of it - changed from one of suprise back to one of anger. His hand continued its journey. Another arm came out of Feist's right eye and grabbed his hand, pulling it into the brain case. Acorn stood disbelievingly. "What in hell just-" Feist's head exploded. King Acorn turned his head. When he looked back, a gray humanoid robot covered with blades, projectile weapons, and lasers was floating there. "**Designate: Feist Adrexalephanpathon neutralized. Objective 9C realized.**" The robot looked down at the King. "**Designate: James Milton Acorn, surrender and you shall not be harmed.**" "What-What assurance do I have that you won't KILL me instead of hurting me?" The robot cocked its head to the side, then said, "**There is none.**" "That's what I thought." King Acorn started jumping from rock to rock, trying to get away. TARGET: DESIGNATE: JAMES MILTON ACORN ESCAPING. CONNECTING: MAIN COLLECTIVE|CONNECTED. ORDERS: ELIMINATE DESIGNATE: J.M.A. TARGETING [RANGE: ?X2 M|(X,Y,Z),(X,Y,Z)] UNABLE TO MAKE CLEAR SHOT|DESIGNATE: J.M.A. SKILLED IN EVASIVE MANEUVERS. COMPENSATION: TAKE BEST SHOT. TARGETING [?] FIRING. TARGET STRUCK|NON-LETHAL|GLANCING HEAD SHOT. DESIGNATE: J.M.A. UNCONSCIOUS. INITIATING BRAIN WAVE SCAN. SCAN COMPLETE|BRAIN WAVES MATCH AMNESIA CASES. ORDERS: IGNORE DESIGNATE: J.M.A.|NO LONGER POSES A THREAT. OBJECTIVE A10 REALIZED. ATTEMPTING EXIT OF AREA DESIGNATE: ZONE OF SILENCE TO AREA DESIGNATE: MOBIUS. ------------------------------------------------------------- ERROR|ERROR|ERROR. UNABLE TO OPEN ZONE PORAL AT IMMEDIATE TIME. ORDERS: KEEP TRYING. ESTIMATED TIME TO BREAK THROUGH: 10 STANDARD MOBIAN YEARS. Ten years later, the Chaotic Collective, destructive killer "robots", resurfaced in Robotnik's command tower. THE ORIGIN Roland Lowery