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 created and copyrighted by Roland Lowery. The author gives full permission to distribute this work freely as long as it remains intact and unaltered, and the transfer of monetary units is not involved. Comments, questions, suggestions, complaints? Send them to me at . I enjoy hearing from people who can spell. Chaotic Multiverse Tale #13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quote for the day: "This is the first day of my last days, Built it up, now take it apart, climbed up real high, now fall down real far, No need for me to stay, Last thing left, I just threw it away, Put my faith in God and my trust in you, Now there's nothing more f@$%ed up I can do, . . . -Trent Reznor (/\/ | \/\), Wish (Halo 5) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAOS! - Present Problems by Roland Lowery DR. IVO Robotnik lifted his cup to his lips, sipped some of the tea within, then let out a gratified, "Aaaaaaaaah . . . " He loved days like this. Normally, he had some project or another running, giving him heartburn, indegestion, and ulcers. But today was one of those intermediate days with no pressing problems, no natural disasters, and no Freedom Fighters deigning to attack him. On these days, Robotnik liked to sit back in his command chair, drink hot tea, and relax. He had even - of all things - given Snively the day off. The computer was able to handle the few minor details that popped up. The only sound in the control room, as a matter of fact, was the computer. It gave off light beeps every once in a while, a soothing sound to the normally evil doctor. He was bringing the tea cup back up when the floor shook, almost making him drop his drink. When it stopped, he opened a commlink. "Snively," he said into the communicator, "what was that?" "I'm not sure, sir," said Snively. "Just give me a second." Snively had been using his day off, like all of his free time, programming his new computer system, MATRIX. He sighed, wondering if he would ever find the time to finish it, then switched his comport over to the main system. "Computer," he said, "what was the source of the disturbance a few minutes ago?" "GxlrgwrglixblidfSector H-5, Room 520." Snively frowned. "Computer, do you have a glitch?" "Nnnnnnegative." "Then what's wrong?" "Attempting to purge . . . zglitzbaring . . . unauthorized u-u-user." Snively reopened his commlink with Robotnik. "Doctor," he said, "it appears that there are intruders in Sector H-5, Room 520, and they are trying to-" He was cut off by the sound of breaking glass. "Sir?" he called out, worried. "Sir, are you alright?" "Snively, do you remember what's in that room?" Robotnik asked in a shaky voice. Snively frowned again. "No, sir, I don't think I-" He trailed off as realization hit him. "Oh, my." "I WANT SWATBOTS AND COMBOTS DOWN THERE ON THE DOUBLE!" Robotnik yelled. Sonic T. Hedgehog and Dr. Ivo Robotnik had very little in common and, at times, appeared to be complete opposites. Case in point. Robotnik drank tea to relax. Sonic, on the other hand, couldn't seem to get enough coffee to keep a buzz going. It was a lovely Sunday afternoon in Knothole Village, and Sonic was on his way to the mess hall to tank up on his favorite breakfast beverage. He was zooming through the village with less constraint that usual, due to the fact that very few Freedom Fighters were still inside Knothole, making the risk of collision smaller than normal. Almost everyone was off in the forest or in their huts enjoying the short lull in activity. The ground heaved and threw Sonic into the air. He fell back down with a curse, then stood up and looked around. "I KNEW we couldn't have a normal day around here," he mumbled to himself. He was about to run off to the war room when Tails flew up to him. "What was that?" asked the fox. "I dunno," Sonic answered. "I was about to head to the war room to find out. C'mon." Five months ago, Sonic and the Freedom Fighters had fought a cyborg menace known as the "Screamers". The killer 'borgs had torn down all of the huts that weren't protected, but had a special preference for military targets, tearing down everything inside as well. Only the computer and weapons huts had escaped that fate because of the Freedom Fighters who had fled into them for protection. The war room, however, had to be rebuilt from scratch. It had taken a long time to do, but they had just finished rebuilding it two days ago. "-cieving transmission." Sonic and Tails walked in just in time to hear the computer kick on. The holographic imager in the center of the conference table lit up, displaying Robotnik's R symbol. "Oh, great," said Sonic. "I wonder what ol' tubby wants." The R disappeared to be replaced by the evil doctor himself. "Sonic T. Hedgehog and Freedom Fighters," said Robotnik's image. "This is a warning and a plea for for assistance. An unknown force from the Zone of Silence has comprimised my main control tower. They have overwhelmed my main forces and have captured the bottom seven floors of my control tower, and are beginning to spread throughout Robotropolis. "I have reason to believe that these things are planning to attack you as well. I propose that we call a temporary truce to dispose of the menace. They are evil of the worst order. Getting captured by them is worse than death, even worse than roboticization or mechanization. For your help, I will gladly release all roboticized Mobians within the Robotropolis city limits, all de-roboticized. "If we are to subdue this force, we must hit them and hit them NOW, so I must ask for IMMEDIATE assistance. "Robotnik out." "End of Transmission," said the computer as it powered down. "D'ya think he's tellin' the truth?" asked Tails. "No," said Sonic. "Not all of it. But it's obvious that SOMEthing's got him all shook up. How many times has he asked us for help before?" Just then, Sally burst in. "Hey, Sal," said Sonic over his shoulder, "you're missin' the party." The Robotropolis Sprawl spread before the speeding hedgehog and flying fox. Sally had sent them ahead to check on Robotnik's message and, so far, they had found nothing. Literally. The entire city seemed to be dead. There were no SWATbots, ComBots, roboticized Mobians, or air patrols. All of the factories were silent, and all of the lights were off. Even the control tower in the distance looked lifeless. "Should we check in with the spy network?" asked Tails, mentioning the group of Mobians that lived inside Robotropolis and worked with Sonic's Uncle Chuck to get them information straight from the source. Sonic didn't answer for a moment, but finally said, "Yah. Let's go." Half a minute later, they were standing outside the spy network HQ. Sonic knocked lightly, but didn't get an answer. He looked at Tails and jerked his thumb upward. Tails nodded and silently flew up to a second story window in the burnt-out building. He looked in, but didn't see anything or anyone. He turned to look at Sonic and shook his head, then landed beside the hedgehog. For some reason, the atmosphere generated the feeling that they were being listened to or watched, so Sonic lapsed into silent hand code when he said, "Something's wrong." "What now?" Tails signed back. "The tower. Go scout it, then report back. I'll stay here. Hurry." Tails nodded and flew off. He returned a few minutes later empty handed. The tower, like everything else in Robotropolis, was empty, devoid of any life - biological, mechanical, or otherwise. "It's too quiet," signed Tails as they slipped through back alleys. "I don't like it." "I know what you mean," Sonic signed back. "It's like Robotnik's 'unknown force' took him and troops out completely, without leaving a trace." "But, how? They didn't have all that long." "I wish I knew, big guy. I wish I knew." "Do you feel it?" Archimedes Fire Ant was stunned. The waves of energy pouring over him held him entranced, and he was unable to answer Knuckles' question. "I thought so," the echidna said. "I do too. What is it?" Knuckles T. Echidna had called for Archimedes to meet him at the Floating Island's "western" edge. The fire ant had appeared in his ususal puff of smoke, then just stood there, overwhelmed by the same energies that Knux had found a few hours ago. "It's-it's-" mumbled Archimedes. "Yah, yah, it's what?" asked Knuckles impatiently. Archimeds frowned. "Get the Chaotix together. We're going to need help." Knuckles frowned too. "You're not even gonna tell me what it is?" "No. M'boy, there are some things in this world even *I* am not sure about. We need to check this out first before we make any snap decisions based on speculation." Knuckles, far from happy with the ant's vauge answer, glided off grubmling. "And may the Ancient Walkers help us if I'm right," said Archimedes under his breath, "and that the Collective is here." Sonic and Tails stood in the control room of Robotnik's tower. "Man, I wish Sally was here," Sonic signed. "When we get back to Knothole, I'm going to get her to teach me more about computers. How do you turn this thing on?" Tails shrugged. In a flash of speed, Sonic started pushing buttons at random until a screen lit up. It displayed the startup sequence, blinked, then displayed an R:\> prompt. Uh-oh, thought Sonic. Now what? He tried various commands to bring up a map of the tower, but none worked. It just kept spitting out "Bad Command Or File Name" at him. Tails tapped him on the shoulder and jerked a thumb at himself. Sonic stood up out of the console's chair and bowed graciously as Tails took his place. Half a minute later, Tails had a map of the tower displayed on a holo-imager. Sonic, slack-jawed, was barely able to sign out, "How did you do that?" "Aunt Sally taught me," Tails signed smugly. "Alright, wiseguy, show me where Robotnik's Zone of Silence portal is." One of the rooms on the map lit up before Sonic had even finished signing his challenge. Ixis' laboratory hadn't changed much since ten years ago, save for the massive proton cannon firing positively charged atoms into the Zone of Silence. Whadda ya figure that's for?" asked Sonic. "I dunno," said Tails. They had abandoned hand signals because the zone portal was emitting a dull roar, making it hard to hear each other, and making it virtually impossible for anyone outside the room to hear them. "Mebbe we should shut it off," yelled Tails. "It was probably put there by whoever attacked 'Buttnik!" "Mebbe," said Sonic, "mebbe not. Look!" Sonic pointed at the cannon. On the side was Robotnik's R symbol. "So, whadda we do?" They stood in thought, which was interrupted by a dull thump coming from the zone portal. "You heard that?" "I heard that." "Let's go," suggested Sonic. ERROR|ERROR|ERROR ITEM DESIGNATE: PROTON CANNON HAS BEEN RE-ENGAGED. OPTIONS: GIVE UP|BLAST THROUGH|FIND ALTERNATE ROUTE. OPTION 2 SELECTED. "Waitaminute," said Sonic. He grabbed Tails' shoulder. "When I turned the computer on, do you think it might've turned that thing on too?" He pointed at the cannon again. Tails shrugged. "Mebbe." Another thump came from the portal, louder this time. "And mebbe," Sonic continued, "Robuttnik's attackers took him into the zone. Which means-" Another thump. "-that that, is them!" finished Tails. "Shit!" cursed Sonic. He grabbed Tails and ran. "We're too late," breathed Archimedes. He, Knuckles, and the Chaotix were standing on the "western" side of the island. From their vantage point, they could see the bright white beam of light blazing out of the ground miles away, where the Robotropolis command tower used to be. The explosion was felt around the globe. Half of Robotropolis was leveled. Shockwaves hit the Great Forest and Knothole Village, knocking down trees, huts, and Freedom Fighters. The Floating Island was buffeted by a wall of wind and sound. Pieces of the Arctic Ice Cap broke off in ton sized chunks. On the other side of Mobius, the Downunda Freedom Fighters were hit by a sudden backlash of psionic and magical energy. No one in Downunda had the stregnth to look up and see the Ancient Walkers take flight. The first thought that formed in Princess Sally Alicia Acorn's mind when she came to was, What was THAT? She picked herself up out of the rubble and looked around. She was standing in the middle of what used to be the computer hut. From there, she could see that only a few buildings were left standing. There were very few Freedom Fighters to be seen; most of them were still off in the forest - - or rather, what was left of the forest. Many of the surrounding trees were either pushed over or completely gone. Those still standing were mostly stripped of leaves and bark. Without taking her eyes off of the massive smoking destruction, Sally groped for her mini-computer, Nicole. She was relieved to see that Nicole had only sustained minor damage. "N-Nicole?" "Working, Sally," said the computer. "Casuality count, Knothole Village." "Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . done. Five dead, ten injured, fourty-seven missing." "Extend scan, Great Forest, two mile radius." "Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . done. Nine dead, twenty-four injured, three missing." Sally heard a thin moan escape from her lips. "Is everyone all right?" "I . . . think so." "Why's it so dark?" "Ow!" "Get your elbow outta-" "That ain't my elbow, dude!" "Alright, alright, everyone just SHUT UP!" yelled Knuckles. "We need to find a way outta here. Any ideas?" "Yah," said Mighty Mighty Armadillo, "and I'm gonna shove it-" "Ah, ah, ah," interrupted Charmy Albert Bee. "Temper, temper, Mighty!" "Why don't you and Mighty just dig us out, Knux?" asked Espio Carlos Chameleon. "All of this around us feels like dirt." "Because, Espio," answered Knuckles, "we don't know where we are, exactly. If me or Mighty started digging, we might bring the roof down, burying us all!" "Archy could telport us," suggested Charmy. "No can do," said the fire ant. "I don't know where I'd be teleporting us TO because I can reference from where we're teleporting FROM." "Well, how about some light, anyway?" asked Mighty. "Only if you want to be flash fried by my breath," said Archimedes. "Aw, man!" Vector Tangent Gator complained. "Like I really need all this! We're gonna die of starvation and my CD player's batteries are runnin' low! The Master of Smooth Moves can't live like-" The alligator's grumblings were cut short by dirt falling from the ceiling. "What the-?" A shaft of light poured in through a hole overhead. A voice told them to come out, which they did, one by one. As soon as they were all freed from the hole, they looked at their rescuer. He was a young male Mobian deer, standing slightly taller than Vector. He looked like he was well used to a rough life and had the scuffed up travelling clothes to prove it. A mop of brown hair sat on top of his head, framed by two small antlers. "Where are we?" asked Knuckles, looking around at the surrounding trees. "No, no, no," said the deer. "The question is, WHY are you here? I don't get too many visitors this deep in the forest, especially none that fall from the sky." He pointed upwards. Through the canopy up above, Knuckles and the Chaotix saw the bottom of the Floating Island. "By the Walkers," mumbled Archimedes. He jumped up to his normal perch on Knuckles' shoulder. "How do you suppose we survived the fall?" he wondered aloud. "Magic," said the deer cryptically. He picked up a backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and started to walk off. "W-wait!" cried Knuckles. "Who are you? What's your name?" The deer stopped. "Name?" he said. "I don't have one. I used to have one, a long time ago, but not anymore. But, if you have to call me anything . . . call me Jim." "Well, this is just luverly," grumbled Geoffry St. John. "Is everyone alright?" His rebel squad checked themselves, then their gear, then called out affirmatives. "Good," said St. John. "Fleming, you're in charge until I come back. Continue with our original mission. I'm going to go check out that . . . disturbance." "Yes, sir," said Fleming. St. John nodded and stepped off into the forest. Nack T. Weasel, bounty hunter extraordinaire, awoke upside-down. At first, he wondered what his captors, the Knothole Freedom Fighters had slipped into the jail food, but then he noticed the large hole in the wall of his cell. Since his capture, Nack had fallen into a rather steady routine. Monday was spent practicing his gun drawing - with fake guns, of course. On Tuesday, he did calesthenics and aerobics in his cell for most of the day. Wendsday and Thursday, he was allowed to exercise outside for the daylight hours under heavy guard. Friday was reserved for magazine reading - he had already read all of the mags that could be found in Knothole about twenty times each, but he continued to read them over and over again - and Saturday and Sunday were reserved for sleeping. He had been in the middle of his Sunday afternoon nap when he had woken upside-down. He thought maybe that the Screamer cyborgs had come back, but realized that they would've mowed him down in his sleep. He probably wouldn't have woken up due to the noise because the deep Saturday and Sunday sleep was part of his pre-jail schedule too. He would sleep deeply on these two days only, and he was able to stay wide awake for the rest of the week on only one hour of light sleep a day. More likely than not, an earthquake had hit and taken the wall down. Nack probably would have - and seemingly had - slept through that as well. That was not important, however. What WAS important was that the wall was down. Nack slipped off of his cot and looked through the cell bars. No guard was standing there, so he walked through the hole in the wall, around the building, and into the main room of the jail. While retrieving his gun belt, Nack found the guard crushed underneath a piece of the ceiling that had collapsed. "Y'know," said the weasel to himself, "I wonder why they even bother with a guard. They don't seem to last all that long." "An' we jus' got this thing fixed, too," said Bunnie. She, Antoine, Rotor, and Sally were sitting in the war room, staring out through the hole in the hut's southern wall. "What do we do now, mah Preences?" asked Antoine. "We have to go to Robotropolis and assess the damage." Sally's voice was cracking. She was standing at the head of the conference table, pretending to study Nicole's cracked screen. "Why don't we just wait for Sonic to-" "SONIC IS *DEAD*, ROTOR!" Sally screamed as she slammed her fist down. "NOTHING could have survived that blast! Sonic and Tails are GONE!" "Look, Sally girl," Bunnie said softly, "Sonic and Tails have gotten outta wors scrapes'n this. Jus' give 'em a li'l-" "You have your assignment," Sally said coldly, then walked out of the hut. Ten years ago, when they first came to Knothole Village, there had only been Sally, Sonic, Rotor, Bunnie, and their caretakers/teachers, Julayla and Rosie. Julayla had continued teaching the young Princess the martial arts, and the importance of meditation. To help her into her "trance", Sally often sat underneath the main bridge over the stream that flowed through the village. There were three bridges in all in Knothole, and all three passed over the stream. One was on the north side of the village, and one on the south. The main bridge, however, passed through the middle where the bank incline was the steepest. A person sitting under the bridge couldn't be seen from higher up, so Sally went there for the privacy. Also, the babbling of the streamwater helped her to relax. Sally hadn't meditated since five years ago, when Rosie and Julayla both died, the former from old age, and the latter from a SWATbot laser. But she meditated now. The stream still babbled, but for different reasons this time. It was forced to flow through the wreckage of the main bridge. As Sally concentrated, the sounds of scurrying Freedom Fighters above faded away. Her vision clouded as the babbling of the stream sloughed off as well. She had to believe Sonic and Tails were dead. It was her job, as Princess of the Acorn Kingdom and leader of the Freedom Fighter movement, to assume the worst until otherwise notified. If they had survived the blast, they would've radioed in if possible, or reported back to Knothole physically. And even if they couldn't do either, they might as well be dead. If Robotnik's unknown force was as strong as his transmission hinted at - and if the explosion was any indication, they were - then Sonic and Tails wouldn't stand a chance alone and injured. And yet, Sally had to admit, both of them had beaten overwhelming odds before, alone and together, with help and without. Sally, like the others, believed deep down that Sonic and Tails were still alive, but she was hampered by the need to maintain a professional distance when all odds pointed to the fact that they were not. "Well, well, well," mumbled Nack to himself. "What's this?" Since his "escape" from the jail, Nack had been following a nearby stream in the hopes that it would lead him out of the forest. He had travelled most of the time under the water to keep roaming Freedom Fighters from spotting him, so he had no idea where he was. Now, though, he was getting a pretty good idea. Princess Sally Acorn was sitting on the steep bank just a few yards ahead. She was apparantly lost in thought. She stared straight ahead at the ruins of a bridge. Nack knew when to play an advantage, and now was on of those times. He pulled out his gas gun - waterproofed, naturally - and crept stealthily as possible along the incline until he was directly behind her. He pointed his gun at the back of her head and cleared his throat to get her attention. Sally didn't turn around, stand up, or even so much as twitch. "Hey," said Nack as he poked her in the head with the barrel of his gun. "Hey, wake up! I ain't got all day." In a flurry of arms and legs, Sally finally reacted. Before Nack could counter, he found himself flying through the air. He landed among the broken logs of the bridge. "Shit!" he yelled when he saw how close he had come to being skewered by a piece of the wreckage. He looked up in time to roll out of the way of Sally's next attack. Nack, being a bounty hunter, had been in his share of brawls with uncooperative bounties. He quickly holstered his gun, realizing its uselessness in close combat, then assumed a street fighter's stance. Sally came in with another flurry of attacks. Nack was amazed at the speed with which she moved, as well as the silence of her attack. She neither grunted or breath hard, and her arms and legs made barely a sound as they cut through the air. Nack was amazed, but not defeated. He proved to be just as fast as Sally, and almost equally skilled, but he was still hard pressed. Whoever had taught the Princess how to fight had taught her well. The fight was hampered by the broken spears of wood jutting up from the wreckage. Nack and Sally both had to dodge carefully. Unfortunatly for Sally, Nack was just as devious as he was skilled at fighting. He tricked her into thinking she had pressed him into a crouching position. He fended off most of her blows with one hand as he pulled a flash ball from his jacket pocket and threw it at her. The flash ball exploded in silent white light as soon as it hit Sally's chest. Blinded and stunned, she was still almost able to defend herself from Nack's renewed volley of attacks. Almost. "C'mon, man," said Vector, "this ain't cool!" Jim ignored him and kept on walking. He didn't even blink when Charmy flew up in front of him. "Vector's right!" the bee said. "You gotta help us!" "I've done my part," said Jim evenly, "and now I suggest you leave." "We can't, Jim, that's the problem," said Knuckles. "We're lost and need to know where we are!" "Under the Floating Island." "We KNOW that!" Knuckles cried impatiently. "Then you're not lost." "Not exactly the friendly sort, are you?" asked Espio. "I don't play well with others." For the fourth time since they'd met him, the Chaotix watched as Jim held out his hand. An apple fell into it from a branch overhead. "How DO you do that?" mused Archimedes. Jim bit into the apple, then said, "Magic." "Yes, so you said before. Would you like to see some of MY magic?" "No." "Too bad." Archimedes disappeared from Knuckles' shoulder in a puff of smoke. He had planned to show up on Jim's nose and poke him in his green eye to make him pay attention, but instead he ended up floating a foot in front of the deer, bouyed by a pinkish-purple light. Jim had stopped walking. Anger clouded his face. "Well, 'magician', how's THAT for a trick?" he asked testily. "You'd better start thinking twice before screwing around with something or someone you don't know about or understand." Archimedes fell to the ground. Jim stepped over him and continued walking. None of the Chaotix followed him this time. "H-how'd he do that?" asked the startled fire ant. Knuckles leaned over and scooped him up. "How do ya think, Archy?" he said. "Magic." St. John stepped out of the smoldering forest and into a disaster area. When the Screamers had attacked, St. John had been there to see the destruction they had wreaked firsthand. That, however, had in no way prepared him for this. Knothole Village looked like a battlefield. The few huts left standing had walls or roofs missing. Those that hadn't survived were either scattered across the ground or missing completely. St. John could see the patches cleared of any evidence that anything, let alone walls or furniture, had been on them. At least two of the standing huts were on fire. Smoke permeated the air. Freedom Fighters were running back and forth through the haze, attending injured people or the fires. As he walked along, St. John also noticed that some of the standing huts had burn marks on their eastern sides. He remembered that Robotropolis was east of the village. He felt suspicions grow. He felt fortunate that his camp had been located deeper into the Great Forest when the blast came, or they would've ended up in the same situation as the village. He was walking along the stream when he heard the hushed sounds of a near-silent fight. He was just about to look over the edge of the bank when a flash of light hit his eyes, stunning him. He fell on his butt and rubbed his eyes. When his sight came back a few seconds later, he found himself looking up into the barrel of Nack's gas gun. "Hey," said Nack, "it just keeps getting better and better! Stand up." St. John, seeing no other alternative, complied. Nack, Princess over his shoulder and rebel leader in front of him, proceeded down the stream. Somehow, an outer ring of buildings in Robotropolis had survived the explosion with minimal damage. It was like the shock wave had jumped over it. It was this was the part of the city that Bunnie, Rotor, and Antoine were checking out first. They had split up to cover more ground, but hadn't found much that was worth reporting until- "Hoo-whee!" exclaimed Bunnie. She turned on her communicator and said, "Y'all come look at this!" They found her in front of a warehouse doorway. The door was missing, seemingly ripped off of its hinges. Inside, they found row after row of SWATbots. "Would'ja look at that," breathed Rotor. He pulled a scanner from his utility strap and stepped inside. Bunnie and Antoine filed in behind him, then moved off among the aisles. "Zey are not een ze good condiseons," said Antoine. "Zis one ees messeng 'is left arm!" Rotor looked up from his scanner to the 'bot standing before him. "This one doesn't have its power core," he said. "I'd guess that this is a warehouse for defective 'bots." "Then why line 'em up?" asked Bunnie. "Why not jus' chunk 'em?" "Spare parts. Even Robotnik recyc-" His scanner beeped. "Waitaminute. This 'bot is still servicable." "What?" "There's nothing wrong with it. It seems someone just shut it off and stuck it in here." Bunnie and Antoine walked over to look at it. "Mebbe we should turn it on," suggested Bunnie. Antoine looked at her like she'd grown another arm. "So eet can shoot us? Je ne crois pas! Why would vous want to be turneng eet on?" "Ah c'n hold it down while y'all question it." "I could just-" Rotor was interrupted by the movement of the 'bot. "**This unit will not be comprimised,**" it said. "**Designates: Bunnie Elizabeth Rabbot, Rotor Boome Walrus, and Antoine Guy DeCoolette - collective Designate: Freedom Fighters - surrender and you will not be harmed.**" After the initial shock, Bunnie said, "Shugah, ah think you bettah check yoah brain in fer a tune up. Yoah outnumbered AND outgunned!" Her cybernetic left hand retracted into her forearm to be replaced with the barrel of a laser gun. Rotor unholstered a small laser blaster while Antoine pulled his sword from its scabbard. "**Incorrect,**" said the SWATbot. To the Freedom Fighters' complete suprise, the SWATbot's body began to grow. REFORMING INTO CHAOTIC COLLECTIVE FORM. WAIT|WAIT|WAIT. TRANSFORMATION COMPLETE. VOCAL: "Collective Designate: Freedom Fighters, you now have five seconds to surrender. This unit does not wish to harm you." MULTIPLE TARGETS MOBILE|SAVE COMMAND TO FILE: "SCATTER - DISPERSAL OF GROUP TO MORE STRATEGIC LOCALES" AS OBSERVED FROM STATEMENT BY DESIGNATE: ROTOR BOOME WALRUS. COMPENSATING FOR "SCATTER" TACTIC. VOCAL: "Attempt to escape is futile. Surrender now." "Yah, right," said Rotor. He fired a shot at the gray 'bot's head, but it merely glanced off. Bunnie had edged around and was among the SWATbots behind the weapon covered 'bot. She fired a volley of laser fire, but it had no more effect than Rotor's pistol. "Forget lasers!" yelled the walrus. "They don't work!" Antoine ran up and slahed at the thing's knees in an unsuccessful attempt to slice at the wires in between the leg plates. Bunnie met with little more luck. She Bunnie Hopped up to the head and started trying to pull it off. "Bunnie! Look out!" Rotor yelled. The 'bot had raised its arm and was groping around behind its back for the rabbit, and Rotor's warning came only a moment too late. The gray 'bot held her, upside-down and screaming, in front of it. DESIGNATE: BUNNIE ELIZABETH RABBOT CAPTURED|ORDERS: INJEST. TRANSFER|TRANSFER|TRANSFER. OFFLINE ---------------------------------------------------- @!#?>.'-$*(^)! ONLIN@?# --------------------------------------------------- ERROR|ERROR|ERROR. UNABLE TO ASSIMILATE DESIGNATE: BER|REASONS AS FOLLOWS: REASON 1: CYBERNETIC PARTS - ONE (1) ARM, TWO (2) LEGS, AND METAL BONE LACING - INTERFERING WITH TRANSFER|SOLUTION: KEEP TRYING|ESTIMATED TIME OF COMPLETION: UNKNOWN. REASON 2: NECK ORNEMENTATION - ONE (1) ACORN CONTAINING 1 MILLILITER OF FRESHWATER, ENGRAVED WITH A PICTURE OF A HOUSE, AND COVERED WITH AN UNKNOWN SUBSTANCE - INTERFERING WITH TRANSFER|SOLUTION: UNKNOWN. REASON 3: UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF PSIONIC INTERFERANCE|SOLUTION: UNKNOWN. OVERALL SOLUTION: UNKN- INCOMING TRANSMISSION|TOP PRIORITY|STANDBY. Rotor was perplexed. The huge 'bot had seemingly "melted" a part of itself over Bunnie's entire body, went into a seizure of some kind, then stood up ramrod straight. Nothing Rotor or Antoine did affected it in any visible way. Rotor's scanner couldn't pick up anything from it. "So, what are we to be doeng now?" asked Antoine. "I don't know, Antoine." He looked up at the encased Bunnie Rabbot. "I just don't know." Knuckles, Mighty, Vector, Espio, Charmy, and Archimedes were walking through the brush, trying to find their way out of the forest. They had given up on Jim quite a while ago, and were now looking for A) a way out of the forest, B) a high enough mount for Knuckles and Charmy to take off from and carry everyone else to the Floating Island, or C) a landmark of some kind to tell them where they were, exactly. The lush, green forest ended abruptly to be replaced by charred, dead wood and burnt land. "Uh-oh," said Espio, "what's this?" "I can't walk on that!" said Vector. "My shoes'll take a beatin'! This ain't cool, dudes." "Maybe not, Vector," said Archimedes, "but it might just help us." He jumped off of Knuckles' shoulder and bounded up to one of the burnt trees. He broke off a chunk of bark and crumbled it in between his finger and thumb. "Fresh," he said. "Almost an hour old . . . meaning we're in the Great Forest." "How d'ya figure?" "Think about it. What happened just an hour ago?" "Robotropolis blew u- oh." "But, wait," said Mighty. "Jim back there said that he doesn't get that many visitors this far into the forest. Robotropolis is a good mile and a half away from the Great Forest's edge, isn't it? If we really are that far in, how did this much destruction happen?" "I got an idea," said Charmy. He flew off saying, "I'll be right back!" He came back a minute later. He told the rest of the Chaotix about a chunk of scrap metal a few humdred yards away, just over a nearby hill and lying in a crater. "Parts of it are still glowing red," he said, "and by the skid marks I'd say it was flung quite a ways before it finally stopped. It must've set fire to all of this." "So we know where we are," said Arcimedes, "and why this part of the forest is destroyed, but . . . can anyone explain why the destruction ends in an exact line right there?" Indeed, where the fire ant was pointing, the trees and grass ended in a straight line where the charred ground started. "Magic," said Knuckles. "My guess is that Jim is more powerful that we originally guessed. We should go back and-" "Don't bother," said Jim as he stepped from the forest. "I'm already here." "I'm gonna kill yer for this, mate." "Yah, yah, just keep walkin'." Nack's trek down the stream finally brought them out of the forest. The trees and grass were burned in spots and the stream bed was almost dry. "Looks like the expolsion evaporated most of the water," mused Nack. "Too bad I missed it. Of course, ya can't see much in a jai-" Sally, still over Nack's shoulder, began to move. "Oops! Our little Princess is waking up! Get some water for her, Geof." "My name," said St. John, "is 'Geoffry'. You can call me that or 'St. John'." He stooped down and scooped up some of the water from the streambed and walked over to where Nack set Sally down. "Only Sonic calls me 'Geof', and it drives me crazy." Nack kept his gun trained on St. John. "Well, Geof, we're stuck together for a while, and while I have this gun, I'M in charge. I call you what I like, capice? Good. Now, give Miss Acorn a drink, IF you would be so kind." With his free right hand, he leaned the Princess' head back and opened her mouth. St. John strained the dirt in the water out between his fingers, then poured the water into Sally's mouth. She sputtered, then swallowed. Her eyes fluttered open. "Wh-what happened?" she said weakly. "A flash ball," said Nack. "There's the obvious flash of light in the eyes, but there's also a small concussive blast, half a foot radius. That's why I let you beat me down. It got me out of range. As for what's happening right now, I have you and your little rebel friend here held hostage. If you're thinking of escaping, don't bother. I outnumber you three to two," he hefted his guns, "and all three of us are faster than you." TRANSMISSION COMPLETED. INITIATING NEW ORDERS|TRANSMITTING COORDINATES. TRANSFER|TRANSFER|TRANSFER. OFFLINE ---------------------------------------------------- #>@|<,;+*$!<*>? ON*LIN,E --------------------------------------------------- PARTIAL ?INJES!TION|COMPLET>E PHY-PHY-PHYSICAL CON^TROL. VVOOCCAALL: "Greetings, Mobians. I am the Chaotic- -Collective,*>" said the new 'bot. "<*I suggest you give up. NOW.*>" The 'bot that had latched itself to Bunnie had taken a form similar to the helpless rabbit, throwing Antoine and Rotor off. They stood slack-jawed. "<*If you do NOT comply with my wishes,*>" the robot continued, "<*you, your world, and your universe shall be forfiet. As it is, we claim rights to Robotropolis as conquerors. Anyone object?*>" The two Mobians were still too shocked to say anything." "<*Good. The Chaotic Collective doesn't really want this paltry city anyway, but it IS a nescessity, and we WILL be wanting it later. For now though, if the population of Mobius complies with us and gives us what we want, we'll let you have it and the rest of the planet until we come back for them later.*>" Rotor worked his jaw until he was able to speak. "And . . . and what is it that you want?" The Bunniebot laughed. "<*Why, quite simply, all we want . . . is your Chaos Emeralds.*>" Ten seconds later, Sonic, a hedgehog; Bunnie, a cyborg; Sally, a Princess; and Knuckles, the guardian of the No-Longer-Floating Island stepped out of a temporal rift, followed by four Chaotic Collective robots, a super-powered deer named Jim, and a batch of confused Chaotix. TO BE CONTINUED Roland Lowery