Chapter 1: 𝐄𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑
Chapter Text
ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʏᴇᴀʀ 3225, ᴡᴀʀʟᴏʀᴅ ᴊᴜʟɪᴀɴ ᴋɪɴᴛᴏʙᴏʀ, ɴᴏᴡ ʀᴇᴄʜʀɪꜱᴛᴇɴᴇᴅ ɪᴠᴏ ʀᴏʙᴏᴛɴɪᴋ, ʟᴀᴜɴᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴀɴ ᴀʟʟ-ᴏᴜᴛ ᴄᴏᴜᴘ ᴅ'ᴇᴛᴀᴛ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴋɪɴɢᴅᴏᴍ ᴏꜰ ᴀᴄᴏʀɴ, ᴛᴀᴋɪɴɢ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ᴅᴀʏꜱ. ʜᴇ ᴇxɪʟᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜᴇɴ ʀᴜʟɪɴɢ ᴍᴏɴᴀʀᴄʜ, ᴍᴀxɪᴍɪʟʟɪᴀɴ ᴀᴄᴏʀɴ, ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍʏꜱᴛᴇʀɪᴏᴜꜱ ᴢᴏɴᴇ ᴏꜰ ꜱɪʟᴇɴᴄᴇ, ᴡʜᴇʀᴇ ʜᴇ ʜᴀꜱɴ'ᴛ ʙᴇᴇɴ ʜᴇᴀʀᴅ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ꜱɪɴᴄᴇ. ᴄɪᴛɪᴢᴇɴꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄɪᴛʏ ᴏꜰ ᴍᴏʙᴏᴛʀᴏᴘᴏʟɪꜱ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴛʀᴀɴꜱꜰᴏʀᴍᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴍɪɴᴅʟᴇꜱꜱ ᴍᴀᴄʜɪɴᴇꜱ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴀɴᴅꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʀᴜᴇʟ ᴅɪᴄᴛᴀᴛᴏʀ, ꜰᴏʀᴄᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇʀᴠᴇ ʜɪꜱ ᴡʜɪᴍꜱ, ᴅᴇᴠᴏɪᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ꜰʀᴇᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ.
10 ʏᴇᴀʀꜱ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ, ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜱᴛᴀɴᴅꜱ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀʏ ᴏꜰ ʀᴏʙᴏᴛɴɪᴋ ɪꜱ ᴀ ʀᴀɢ-ᴛᴀɢ ɢʀᴏᴜᴘ ᴏꜰ ꜰʀᴇᴇᴅᴏᴍ ꜰɪɢʜᴛᴇʀꜱ, ʟᴇᴀᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴜɴɴɪɴɢ ᴅᴀᴜɢʜᴛᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏꜱᴛ ᴋɪɴɢ, ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇꜱꜱ ꜱᴀʟʟʏ ᴀᴄᴏʀɴ, ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴏɴɪᴄ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇᴅɢᴇʜᴏɢ, ᴛʜᴇ ꜰᴀꜱᴛᴇꜱᴛ ᴍᴏʙɪᴀɴ ᴀʟɪᴠᴇ. ꜱʜɪᴇʟᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇᴍꜱᴇʟᴠᴇꜱ ɪɴ ᴋɴᴏᴛʜᴏʟᴇ ᴠɪʟʟᴀɢᴇ, ʜɪᴅᴅᴇɴ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇɴꜱᴇ ᴠᴇɢᴇᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛ ꜰᴏʀᴇꜱᴛ, ᴛʜᴇʏ ꜰᴀᴄᴇ ᴀ ᴅᴀɪʟʏ ʙᴀᴛᴛʟᴇ, ᴛʀʏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴇɴᴅ ʀᴏʙᴏᴛɴɪᴋ'ꜱ ʀᴇɪɢɴ ᴏꜰ ᴛᴇʀʀᴏʀ, ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇɪɴꜱᴛᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇꜱꜱ ᴀꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪɢʜᴛꜰᴜʟ ʀᴜʟᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇᴀʟᴍ.
AFTERNOON, MOBOTROPOLIS, PLANET MOBIUS. 3225.
BEGINNING OF THE GREAT WAR.
A blue streak speeds by, too fast for the naked eye. Roaring through The Great Forrest at blistering speeds, Sonic the Hedgehog made his way to the city of Mobotropolis, a modern Utopia devoid of war and conflict. For him, it was his favorite time of the day - time to head back and see his uncle, Charles 'Chuck' Hedgehog at his Chili Dog stand. Charles had, for the most part, been the primary caretaker of the young blue hedgehog ever since the father of Sonic, his brother Jules Hedgehog, disappeared along with his wife Bernadette. The two had vanished seemingly out of thin air after talking about fixing the great injuries he had sustained from the war with the Overlanders. At least, that's what the young hedgehog had been told.
Uncle Chuck could hear his nephew before he could see him. He popped his head out of the front of the stand and saw the young hedgehog in the distance, growing larger by the second as he came into focus.
"Here he comes, Mutski!" He commented to his pet dog. "Another land speed record!"
A gust of wind blew past, ruffling the umbrellas situated near the stand. Barely a moment later, the young Sonic screeched to a halt as he appeared in front of his uncle, his backpack now devoid of the chili dogs he had been delivering throughout the city.
"I'm back, Uncle Chuck, and I had time for a run 'round The Great Forest! How'd I do this time?!" the young hedgehog exclaimed gleefully.
"In record time, Sonny Boy! How are those new sneakers I made for you holding up?"
Due to the supersonic speed he had been blessed with since birth, the aptly named young hedgehog was one of the only children in the city who could wear out an average pair of shoes in a day.
"They were great, Uncle Chuck! They didn't wear out one bit! I could go even faster than last time, and I didn't even get blisters on my feet!" Sonic bounced around, barely able to contain or control his excitement and energy.
"That's great to hear, Sonny! Now we won't have to spend half of our profits on your footwear."
Sonic dashed over to pat Mustki on the head. "How about my ol' Uncle Chuck, Muttskimeister? Not only does he make the best chili dogs on Mobius, but's he the greatest inventor that's ever lived too!
"Aw, shucks Sonny, I don't know about that. Oh, that reminds me. I've got to meet someone from the royal family later today, something that will take unfortunately take quite a while. I couldn’t find anyone supervise you, so you're coming with me," he said as he began to close up the chili dog stand.
The young hedgehog groaned in despair. "Do I have to, Uncle Chuck? I've seen the courtyard of that place, there's barely any room to run around..."
"While I do trust you, Sonny, I can't just leave you on your own... wait, how did you get a look inside the palace, I've never taken you there…"
Uncle Chuck folded his arms over his chest, waiting for an answer from his nephew. Sonic avoided eye contact with his uncle, and tried his best to whistle innocently.
"Never mind. Don't worry, you won’t be on your own while the adults talk boring grown-up stuff. The king's daughter's, Sally I think, is around your age. I'm sure she can keep you company!"
"Hanging out with a girl? Bleh!" The cheeky young hedgehog stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry.
"Sonic, you've got to be a bit more respectful than that! This is the royal family, after all! If hear that you’ve been behaving like that, there’ll be no running around The Great Forest for you for the rest of the year!”
The young hedgehog sighed again. "Fine... Sorry Uncle Chuck, I suppose I'll be nice to her. Why've you gotta meet the king anyhow?"
A strange look appeared on Uncle Chuck's face at his nephew's question. A look that both seemed to be of someone reminiscing about the past, but deeply regretting it as well. Sonic couldn't tell that, though.
"Well, Sonny Boy, there's a reason your ol' Uncle Chuck's an inventor. I used to be the Minister of Science for the royal family, but I... had to give that up when I took you in."
Painful memories washed their way through his mind, but he quickly quelled them. If everything went to plan today, the person responsible for that would be found out, he could regain his position once more, and more importantly, he could get back to work, and maybe actually save him.
"Want me to tell you more about it while we walk there?"
"Yeah, Uncle Chuck! You must have invented all sorts of gizmos back then! What was the coolest gadget you ever made?"
Charles hoisted his nephew up onto his shoulders as he locked the door to the stand.
"My coolest invention, eh Sonny? Let me tell you all about it. Several years ago, before you were born..."
Sonic had never before known a boredom quite like this. It was safe to say that he was entirely bored out of his long-quilled little head. The princess hadn't been any fun to talk to; she was way too formal for him in almost every regard, from the rigid questions she asked him to even the way she walked - he almost couldn't believe that she had refused to run around with him.
"So where do you come from, Sonic Hedgehog?"
The hedgehog paced around the royal youth, almost wearing out the grass beneath him. "From the same place as you, Mobotropolis. And, for the love of Mobius, Sal, please just call me Sonic. People only call me Sonic Hedgehog when they're gettin' me into trouble."
The princess seemed appalled by the manners, or lack thereof, that he possessed. "Sonic Hedgehog, you will refer to me as 'your royal highness,' or 'Princess Sally' if, Mobius forbid, we actually become friends. That is a royal ord-"
"Royal order, yeah, I get it," Sonic interrupted. He stretched his arms out and, with a yawn, lay down the grass beneath him. "Man, Uncle Chuck's taking forever, what could be so interesting that you have to spend more time talking about it than actually doin' it?"
"Such impudence..." The princess mumbled as she sat down next to him, absent-mindedly picking at the blades of grass beneath her. "Why are you here anyway?"
"My Uncle Chuck's an inventor, see, and from what he told me, your dad wanted to see him for some reason. He couldn't just leave me. Since you're related to the guy who made us come here, it's your fault we have to hang out together."
"My fault?!?" The princess exclaimed, pointing dramatically at herself. "You've got some nerve for someone so... ugh!" She let out a huff and folded her arms over her chest.
"You're very annoying. You know that, Sonic Hedgehog?"
"Just means I'm doin' my job well, Sal."
The skies had been completely devoid of clouds for most of the day, but for some reason, dark storm clouds gathered on the horizon. They flashed with the blinding light of lightning, rumbled the increscent chant of thunder. One of these claps of thunder caused the two youngsters to jolt, the fur and spines on their skin momentarily standing on end.
"Interesting weather we're having... wasn't set to start raining for weeks..." Sally commented.
"You can say that again, Sal."
The princess would have gritted her teeth, if it weren’t for the fact that, without warning, the two of them, found themselves, nay, the courtyard, nay, an entire block of the city was engulfed in shadow. Sonic squinted his eyes to try and make out what was blocking the sun.
"Who turned out the lights?"
To him, it looked like a massive airship, as dark and imposing as the clouds it came out of. Before either of them could comment on the peculiarity further, Uncle Chuck came running into the courtyard, a look of utmost dread plastered on his face. Even though picking up on other people's emotions was never his strong point, Sonic could tell that this was no good. He scooped up the two of them and carried them into the palace, navigating his way through corridor after corridor in the, to Sonic, unfamiliar labyrinth of marble.
"Uncle Chuck... where are you taking us?" the young hedgehog asked tentatively.
"Gotta get you two outta here... can't let you be found here..." Charles mumbled under his breath as he manoeuvred his way deeper into the palace. Eventually, he stopped at an ancient, rusty iron door, sealed by countless bolts and mechanical contraptions. He took in a deep breath and blew the dust off of the numpad.
"C'mon, what was it again... two... three... zero... six... nine... one!"
With a shuddering creak, the door began to open, the hinges groaning after what looked to be decades of disuse. Charles could barely get the door open enough to squeeze either of the two youngsters in.
"These are a set of tunnels that will lead you out of here... Sonic, when you get out of there, carry Sally to The Great Forest. Whatever you two do, don't look back, don't come back... it's not safe in Mobotropolis any more..."
He kneeled down in front of the pair, his face forlorn. He handed something to the both of them; a PDA to Sally, and a paper scroll to Sonic.
"Sally... I think your father would want you to have this. Her name is Nicole, and she will guide you through these times. Sonic... this will lead you to what may be out only hope. Don't unravel it until you two reach The Great Forest..."
Sally thanked Charles, and shimmied herself through the door.
Sonic looked back at his uncle, eyes hoping that he would somehow join them in their escape.
"Uncle Chuck... c'mon, we'll get out of here together, right?"
"Sure, Sonny Boy... I'll be right behind you, just go on now, you... we haven't got much time..."
The young hedgehog squeezed himself through the metal door, but as he looked back at his uncle, he didn't see him even making an attempt to escape with the two of them. His Uncle's face looked said more than words could ever."
"I'm sorry, Sonny Boy... I failed Jules, I failed Bernadette, I failed Mobius… I've failed you. Go, now, you don't have much time..."
"Uncle Chuck... C'mon, please!"
"Sonic! We've got to get going!" Sally's voice echoed from further in the tunnels.
"I'll find you, Sonic... somewhere, someday, I will... I'm sorry..."
Uncle Chuck pushed on the metal door, sealing himself off from his nephew. Sonic called after him and pounded on the door with all his might, but it didn't budge an inch. For the first time since his father disappeared, tears escaped the ducts of his eyes. He fell to his knees on the cold stone floor, and quietly sobbed to himself. He felt a hand gently graze his shoulder, as the princess reappeared behind him.
"I'm so sorry, Sonic... but we've got to get going, we can't stay here..."
With a sniffle, the young hedgehog got up and brushed Sally's hand off of his shoulder. "Don't, your highness... please, just don't..."
When the two youngsters emerged from a utility hole cover, the Mobotropolis they found themselves in was not the same one they had left behind but a few hours ago. The skies had been completely blackened out, and there was the foul, unfamiliar smell of smog in the air. But, more noticeably, the normal hustle and bustle of life had been replaced by... nothing. An eerie silence permeated the city, only interrupted by the howling of wind through the streets.
"Where... is everyone?" the princess haphazardly asked.
"I don't know, Sal..."
"𝙸 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚠𝚘," said a female robotic voice. Sally's eyes widened as she tried to figure out where it was coming from, but she relaxed when she realized it was the PDA that Sir Charles had given her. “Stay quiet, Nicole!” She seethed. “We can’t get caught.”
The silence was interrupted by a cascade of uniform footsteps. The youngsters ducked into an alleyway, not wanting to be caught up in... whatever was going on. From their vantage point, they saw dozens, if not hundreds of tall, imposing, humanoid, robotic figures marched past. The pair of the collectively held their breaths in fear. The 'army,' if it could even be called that, marched on by, oblivious to them.
"What... are those things? I've never seen anything like them... Sal, what's going on?
"I wish I knew, Sonic." Sally took the PDA out and opened it. "Nicole, can you tell us what those things are?"
"𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢, 𝚂𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚍𝚘 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚎."
"Come on, let's get out of here..."
The two made their way through the now desolate streets of the city, ducking into alleyways and back-streets every time they heard something out of the ordinary. They were at the gates of the city when the young hedgehog's eyes began to widen in fear.
"Wait… Miles! Oh, for the love of, please be there... your highness, I gotta go find. I'll be right back, I promise."
Sally shared the same look of fear that her fellow youngster had. "Sonic, I know you want to do this, but we really don't have time... We've got to get to The Great Forrest, that's what your uncle told us to do..."
"Don't worry, Sal... I'll be back before you know it!"
Sonic sped off into the distance without warning, his previous fears of getting caught seemingly dropped at the importance of who he needed to find. The city that he had lived in his entire life seemed so unfamiliar to him like this. Still, he let his memory guide him.
'Left, right, right here... don't take the left... for the love of Mobius, please still be here..."
It didn't even take him a minute to reach his destination, the Prower household. He had rushed Rosemary, the mother of the two-tailed fox cub, to the hospital not even a week prior when she unexpectantly went into labor. All he could do now was hope that he was still here.
He made it to the Prower household, noticing that it looked to be as abandoned as the rest of the city. He burst through the doors, sending wooden splinters tumbling to the ground in front of him. The piercing sound of a crying infant, a noise that would normally cause so much distress, gave him some semblance of comfort in this bizarre situation. He ran over to the crib and gently picked up the cub, rocking him back and forth to try and calm him down. As soon as the fox was settled, Sonic bolted back out the house, ducking and weaving through the streets to avoid drawing the attention of those... machines. When he arrived at the city walls, Sally initially had a look of annoyance in her face due to the fact that he had bolted off, but when she saw the cub that Sonic was carrying, and the true speed at which he was carrying him, that look faded.
“You saved your friend… and you did it so quickly! How do you run so fast?” She asked in astonishment.
“I dunno, Sal. I’ve just always been able to run like this, and I couldn’t leave my little buddy behind. This is Miles, but we call him Tails, because of his two… well, you see.”
The princess saw that Sonic was right. The fox cub did indeed have two separate tails, something that she could barely believe despite seeing it with her own eyes. There was no time to stand around in disbelief, they had to get to The Great Forest.
Sonic handed the cub to Sally, and picked her up. “Be careful with him Sal, he was pretty much born last week,” he said as he began to run, slowly picking up speed as the ran into the depths of The Great Forest.
Even from The Great Forest, Sonic and Sally couldn’t see the sunlight beyond the smog-ridden clouds. Despite this, they could tell that had to have been somewhere near the middle of the night – the sun had set hours ago, and all sense of heat and warmth had dissipated with it. The two of them sat near a rudimentary campfire, the small glow being the only thing that provided either of them heat.
“Sonic… have you opened that scroll Charles gave you yet?”
“No, not yet… and he’s not Charles, he’s Uncle Chuck.”
Sonic gently unravelled the scroll, being careful not to tear it. He found that, on the back of it, was a message addressed to him from his uncle. The messy handwriting indicating that he seemingly scrawled it in a hurry. He began to read it aloud to Sally.
Sonic,
I don’t have much time, but I feel as if I need to tell you this. You are blessed with an incredible gift, and you can use it to do incredible things. Keep being the wonderful hedgehog you are, and we might have a chance.
What has happened today has been in the making for many years, and I of all people should have seen it coming long ago. I regret not doing more to have prevented this when I was able to make a meaningful difference, but I can’t change the past now. Things after today may never be the same, and it will be a long time before we regain any sense of normalcy.
In the event that something of this magnitude happened, an old colleague of mine and I prepared something to give freedom a fighting chance. On the other side of this scroll is a map that will lead to a lake, and you must keep its location secret. Every so often, this lake will produce an object known as a ‘Power-Ring;’ a golden band of pure energy. These Powers Rings will grant their user a short boost in the physical abilities and speed… I don’t think I need to elaborate on how this will help you in the fight for freedom.
As soon as you get to this lake, stay by it with Sally. A group of people, other survivors from the city, will find you. Show them this scroll, and they’ll know who you are. They’ll take you into the village of Knothole, where you’ll need to stay for a while.
It may be a while before we get to see each other again, Sonny… Protect Princess Sally with your life.
Hasta la Vistah, Mistah.
Your uncle, Chuck.
Sonic rolled the scroll back up and wrapped his arms around himself. “Why does Uncle Chuck know all this? What does he need me to do?”
Sally turned to face her fellow youth, being careful not to wake the sleeping fox cub beside them. “It looks like your uncle was involved in this… Well, you heard what Sir Charles said. We need to head to that lake,” she said as she got up. “It’s the best chance we have of…”
“Of what?”
“Surviving this mess. C’mon Sonic, we need to get going.”
It was dark, which made it difficult to follow the directions on the hastily drawn map. While he had ran around carefree through The Great Forest almost every day of his life, it felt completely unfamiliar to Sonic. Maybe it was the lack of light, maybe it was the fact that he couldn’t run at full speed without leaving Sally and Tails behind. The journey to the centre of the forest, which would have normally taken the hedgehog only a few minutes, lasted for hours. Before he started to bemoan the slow trip, he stumbled on an exposed tree root and fell face-first into the shore of the lake. He shook off the water, and glanced in awe at what lay before him. In most regards, the lake looked like any other, but at the very bottom of it there seemed to be a faint, otherworldly golden glow. Without a doubt in his mind, this was the lake that his uncle had referred to.
“Hey Sal! I found it, the lake’s over here!” he exclaimed.
Sally sat down on the shore of the lake, sitting Tails down on her lap, and resting her head on her fists. “That’s great, Sonic… I’ll just… wait here… while you get the Power Ring thing…”
But there was no power ring, just that faint glow from the bed of the lake. For the life of him, Sonic couldn’t swim, so he paced around the lake shore, waiting for something, either the appearance of a ring or the arrival of the other survivors Uncle Chuck’s message had mentioned. The wording of the scroll made him question what happened in Mobotropolis today. The last time any adult had talked about ‘survivors’ was when he was barely a hoglet. He had the distinct memory of many a Mobian returning to the city, a majority of them with debilitating injuries, including his own father. It was shortly after he returned from… wherever he was that he disappeared once more. Were the survivors that Uncle Chuck mentioned the same ones?
His train of thought was interrupted as the lake began to seemingly bubble and froth, like a pot of boiling water. When Sonic turned to face the lake, he saw a piece of the faint glow from the bottom rising up to the top, gently drifting to the shore. He rushed over to see it, and there it was in all of its glory. A Power Ring. He could feel the sheer energy of the object emanating inside of him, almost calling him to pick up it. When grabbed it and held it in his hand, he felt a surge of energy, unlike anything he felt before. Uncle Chuck had said the rings would make him faster, so he began to run. And run he did, around the lake, through the forest. Never before had he felt so fast, so free, so alive.
As he ran, his thoughts turned once more to the day, to his uncle, whose smiling face remained an unshakeable memory in his mind. He began to run around in circles, digging up the ground beneath his feet, shovelling earth every second with nothing but his pure speed. He began to tear up as he had before, confused at why his uncle hadn’t come with him. It might have been a squeeze, but he could have made it through the tunnels, through the city, through the forest. So why did he stay behind? ‘Why, Uncle Chuck, Why?’
Almost as quickly as it started, it finished. The ring vanished from his hand into nothingness, and the unlimited stamina that he had felt for a fleeting moment vanished. The trench that he had dug from running rings around the forest was deep enough to go up to his head, and he scrambled his way back. Despite the endless energy having dissipated, he still felt vitalized. He sprinted back to the lake to check on Sally and Tails, to make sure that they were still alright. He saw them, but they weren’t the only ones there. Tall figures, engulfed by shadow, surrounded the two of them. Fearing that they could be in danger, the young hedgehog charged in blindly, yelling out. “Leave them alone!”
When he approached them, he saw that they weren’t the robots that he had seen patrolling the city earlier. They were Mobians, living creatures like him, all dressed in the same attire that his father, Jules Hedgehog, when he last saw him many years ago.
“It’s okay, Sonic, they’re not going to hurt us…” Sally said in an attempt to calm him.
The tallest of them, a white tiger, highly decorated with military medals, turned around to face Sonic.
“And who might you be, young hedgehog?”
Sonic didn’t have the chance to explain himself, as Sally answered for him before he could respond. “He’s… he helped me and Tails out of Mobotropolis, Colonel. He’s the nephew of Sir Charles, right Sonic? Show him the scroll, the scroll your Uncle Chuck gave you.”
Sonic reluctantly handed the scroll to the old tiger, who began to read it as he scratched the tufts of fur on his chin. “Hmm… you ran very quickly there, Sonic I take it? Were you using one of those Power Rings your uncle mentioned?”
“Well, kinda?” The young hedgehog responded, unsure of how to explain what had just happened.
“I’m sure it’s a simple enough question, Sonic. Were you using one of the Power Rings?” the Colonel inquired.
“Well, I did use it for a little bit, and I ran around the forest with it, but it just… disappeared after a while. When it went away, I came back here, and saw all you people standing around… I thought that you were those robots we saw in Mobotropolis.”
The white tiger softly chuckled, and placed a reassuring hand on Sonic’s shoulder. So that’s why you came charging in, then. That was you running without a Power Ring?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Most intriguing…” he turned to face his fellow men. “Gentlemen, it may take time, but I believe we have a fighting chance in this. We suggest you join us. We’ll be travelling to Knothole, a village that we’ve set up for other survivors from our evacuation.”
“Why are you wearing the same clothes my dad did when I last saw him… did you know him?” asked the young hedgehog.
The Colonel kneeled down in front of Sonic.
“Your uncle is Sir Charles, which would make your father… why yes, I did, Sonic. Your father, and your mother too, were brave soldiers, we are honored to have served with them in the Great War. I’ll tell you more about it when we reach Knothole.”
The tiger got up, and the group of former military Mobians began to make way for Knothole village. To say that it was a village was really an overstatement – it more like a camp. It had been set up hastily only a few hours ago, with makeshift tents scattered sporadically around. Sonic didn’t immediately recognise anyone around the village. What he did notice though, was how many kids were scattered around, seemingly none older than him. He saw a coyote, sitting down next to a walrus with his head in his hands.
“What eez going on, Rotor? Why won’t zhey tell me what haz happened to moi father?”
Sally did recognise someone, though, as she rushed across the camp to hug two older female figures.
“Rosie! Julaya!”
It was difficult to make out in the dim moonlight, but Sonic could’ve sword that he had seen the two around the palace earlier in the day. They returned the hug from the young royal highness, seemingly overwhelmed with relief knowing that she was safe and here. They went off and walked to the other side of the camp. Sonic turned to face the white tiger.
“Uh… Colonel?”
The tiger shook his head. “Please, just call me Tig. I’m afraid that such titles have little bearing anymore.”
“Tig? Why are we doing this?”
Tig stroked the fur on his cheek once more, pondering how to answer the question in a way that the young hedgehog would understand.
“Well, young hedgehog, if there is one thing that rings true to my heart, it’s that doing nothing while evil exists is the worst crime of all. And, I’m afraid that in our world, evil does exist, and it has shown its face today. We must… Fight for our Freedom…”
Chapter 2: Ten Years of Tyranny
Chapter by SonOfEternia
Notes:
𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙄𝙎 𝘼𝙉 𝘼𝘿𝘼𝙋𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙊𝙇𝙇𝙊𝙒𝙄𝙉𝙂:
𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗖, 𝗜𝗦𝗦𝗨𝗘 #𝟮 (𝗦𝗘𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥 𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟯)
𝙎𝘼𝙏𝘼𝙈 𝙎𝙊𝙉𝙄𝘾 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙃𝙀𝘿𝙂𝙀𝙃𝙊𝙂 𝙊𝙋𝙀𝙉𝙄𝙉𝙂 + 𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙈𝙀 (𝙎𝙀𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙈𝘽𝙀𝙍 𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟯)(Timeskip of 10 years from last chapter, characters are now as old as they canonically are at the start of the comic run).
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
‘Fight for our Freedom…’
It had been over ten years since Sonic had heard those words, but he still remembered them as clearly as day. And freedom still had to be fought for.
Over the years, things had slowly been revealed to them. What had happened that day was worse than any of them could have imagined.
The takeover of Mobotropolis, which had now been renamed to Robotropolis, had been orchestrated by one Julian Kintobor, the former Warlord of the Kingdom of Acorn now known as Ivo Robotnik. In an act of betrayal, the Warlord had initiated a coup d’état, taking over the city in only a day. Worse still, he had used the roboticizer, an invention of his Uncle Chuck that was supposed to cure the sick and extend lifespans, to turn the population of the city that didn’t escape into mindless machines, loyal only to him.
Many things had happened in the ten years since the coup; a majority of the world known to them had been taken over by the dictator, with only a few pockets of resistance scattered throughout. Robotnik had never been satisfied with anything but total domination. Armed with the roboticized Mobians, and his seemingly infinite army of SWAT-bots, he had taken to crushing these rebels, one group at a time. The original group of freedom fighters, lead by Colonel Tig, had been among the many casualties of his campaign – years ago, they had disappeared without a trace during one of their raids on Robotropolis, seemingly being betrayed by one of their own. Inspired by their selfless sacrifice, and being the only ones capable of resisting Robotnik’s reign of tyranny, Sonic and the rest of his friends from Knothole Village had taken up the mantle of leading the rebellion as the Freedom Fighters.
And yet, so little had actually changed for the better in those ten years. Robotnik was still as in power as he was the day he took over, if not more so due to the countless resistance groups his forces has crushed. Barely any ground has been recovered, and it seemed like for every factory, every base, every facility of the dictator that they destroyed, another three took their place. But still, they kept on fighting It stood to reason, then, that the Freedom Fighters from Knothole were the only source of hope that Mobius had.
“Sonic,” a voice said from the headset on his ears. “Have you planted all the explosives yet?”
“You bet, Sal. I’m ready to juice ‘n’ jam!”
As the only member of the royal family that remained alive, Princess Sally Acorn had taken the role of leading the Freedom Fighters in their battle against Robotnik’s oppressive regime.
“From his headset, Sonic heard a metallic clang, followed by a faint beeping sound. Good. I’ll be at the main room in thirty seconds.”
“And myself in twenty.”
Despite her royal status and importance as the leader of the Freedom Fighters, Sally had, aside from Sonic, been on more missions to Robotropolis than anyone else. In fact, the two of them had been on missions together more than they had with the rest of the team.
Sonic zipped into the main room of the facility they were planning to blow up, a coal fire station that had been built close to The Great Forest by the many roboticized Mobians and SWAT-Bots controlled by Robotnik. In spite of the almost infinite clean energy that had powered the city in the past, and hypothetically still could, the mad dictator had resorted to burning fossil fuels. It seemed to almost be a symbolic gesture of control and dominance over the natural environment. However, this presented a valuable weakness, something that the Freedom Fighters would try to exploit as much as they could. With this one gone, he’d be left without a reliable and constant source of power for at least a week, giving them precious time to make advances into his territory, and maybe even getting them ever closer to taking out the mad tyrant himself.
There was the sound of metallic footsteps from the floor above, but Sonic saw that it was just sally running along the rusty metal grating above. She hooked a rope around the countless pipes that made up the ceiling of the facility, kicked off a piece of railing, and slid down to meet her fellow Freedom Fighter.
“Took you long enough,” he teased.
“Not everyone was blessed with the ability to break the sound barrier while running, Sonic Maurice Hedgehog.”
Sonic rolled his eyes at the mention of his full name, which the chipmunk often used when scolding him. “Let’s blow this popsicle stand!”
“In a minute, Sonic,” she said as she pulled out the PDA, containing the sentient AI known as Nicole. “Nicole, prime the charges for five minutes.”
“𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚂𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝙰 𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚍𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍.”
“C’mon, places like these give me the creeps. Let’s get out of here!”
Sonic was about to pull out something from his backpack, but he stopped when he heard the sudden unmistakable sound of hundreds of mechanical footsteps, walking in an unnatural level of synchronicity. Before either of them could fully react to the situation, they were surrounded by SWAT-bots – heavily repurposed and modified versions of the ‘peace bots’ the former Warlord had created after The Great War, reprogramming them to only follow his orders.
“HALT!” said the SWAT-bot closest to the two, the mechanical voice cold and unfeeling. It raised its wrist and pointed the blaster at them
“HEDGEHOG SPOTTED, IDENTIFIED AS FREEDOM FIGHTER ‘SONIC.’ HEDGEHOG PRIORITY ONE. HEDGEHOG PRIORITY ONE. RAISING ALARM.”
Due to his speed and chaotic nature, Sonic was undeniably one of the most significant threats that Robotnik faced. Therefore, if he was spotted, every robot in Robotropolis, both SWAT-Bot and roboticized Mobian, would converge on his area immediately.
Sonic reached into his backpack once more and pulled out what he had been reaching for – a Power Ring, an object of almost infinite energy. “Hey, Nicole, set the timer thingy to ten seconds.”
Sally knew that the hedgehog was more than capable of getting out of a sticky situation. She just had to trust that he had actually given the obviously rudimentary plan more than a moment’s thought.
Throughout the power station, a synchronised beeping could be heard from the dozens of charges they had placed throughout the power station. Sonic picked up the princess and, using the extra speed that the Power Ring granted him, bolted right through the SWAT-bots, dodging every laser shot they fired. Some of the SWAT-bots began to follow him, but none could make it out of the building before the charges went off. A cascade of polluted water from the turbine room flooded the building, electrocuting every SWAT-bot in it.
As the Freedom Fighters sped through the streets of Mobotropolis, they saw the dim lights in the many factories throughout the city begin to fizzle out. The searchlights that had been trying to follow the blue blur vanished, leaving the entire block completely devoid of light. The lack of electricity sent Robotropolis into a complete city-wide blackout. Sonic could almost swear that he could hear Robotnik’s screams of frustration from where he was.
“Yeah! Freedom Fighters one, Robuttnik zero!” Sonic exclaimed as he ran through the once-familiar streets.
Sally, expecting some kind of juvenile remark from the hedgehog, just rolled her eyes as the pair of them headed back to Knothole Village in The Great Forest.
Neither of them made it to Knothole; on the border of Robotropolis and The Great Forest stood almost the entire population of the refugee village, cheering and clapping for them. There were so many there, so many voices coming from all directions, that it became difficult to figure out who was saying what.
“You guys did it!”
“Robotnik’s gonna be without power for weeks!”
“Think of how much we can do without him watching our every move…”
“I could ‘ave done eet better moiself, eef ai am being ‘onest.”
“Oh really, Ant? I’d like to see you try.”
“Someday, ai will. Just you wait and observe.”
“Can it, you two!”
Sonic heard a puttering sound as, down from the treetops above, flew his little buddy, Miles ‘Tails’ Prower. A few years ago, the fox had found out that he could use his two tails to propel himself through the air, and he had flown about the village as one of their best lookouts and scouts since.
“That was way past cool, Sonic! Can I join you guys on the next one?”
Sonic ruffled the hair of the two-tailed fox. “Soon enough, little dude.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
“Aw Yeah!” The fox began to fly around in circles, as the audience began to crowd around the princess and the hedgehog.
“Speech! Speech! Speech!” They chanted in unison.
Being the better speaker out of the two, Sally obliged to the audience’s requests, and stood up on a fallen log. “While the last couple of months may be slow, tonight marks our biggest win in years! With Robotropolis without power, Robotnik has been left in a vulnerable position. Now, I know that many of you have been fighting for most of your lives at this point, all of us have, but we must take advantage of this opportunity that we’ve been given!”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, princess.”
The sudden presence of his voice led to a gasp of shock in the crowd. Everyone began looking around, trying to find where it was coming from.
“Over there! It’s a SWAT-bot!”
“Everybody run!”
The crowd began to separate as the refugees of Knothole ran off in hysteria. Sonic, not wanting Robotnik to have the pleasure of causing yet more fear and torment in his friends, charged at the SWAT-bot. He curled up into a ball and hit the robot before it had the chance to retaliate, destroying it in a single hit. He turned around to the crowd and, upon seeing their now-uplifted mood, began to bow to them.
“Thank you, thank you… All in a day’s work, thank you…”
While Sonic had destroyed the SWAT-bot, the speaker of the robot was completely intact. It seemed as if Robotnik was manually overriding it to give a message to the Freedom Fighters himself.
“Did you really think I was foolish enough to only have one source of power for the entire city? You had me fooled there, princess. For a moment, I almost thought that you were made leader of your pathetic little team because of your competence, instead of being your daddy’s little daughter…”
On cue, the lights in Robotropolis light themselves up once more as power was restored to the city. Searchlights began to scan the no-man’s land between the border of Robotropolis and The Great Forest. It appeared that Sonic and Sally’s efforts had been in vain.
“I’m going to be blunt with you, ‘Freedom Fighters.’ Your predecessors were much more competent than you are, and you know what happened to them. It’s almost fun, you know, letting you think you’ve won, only to show you how truly hopeless you are.”
Another voice, this one nasally, came out of the speaker, unmistakably belonging to Snively Robotnik, the dictator’s nephew. “Yes sire, it’s always fun to pull the rug out from them.”
There was a pause in Robotnik's frightening monologue, the tension so thick it could have been cut with a knife.
“Snively… did I tell you to speak?”
“No sire, but I…”
“Then don’t!”
Sonic walked up to the debris of the SWAT-bot, and picked up the speaker. “Listen up, Robuttnik! Not matter how many setbacks we face, we will come back stronger. That’s how we fight! Freedom will be fought for! You hear me?”
The crowd began to chant after Sonic. “Freedom will be fought for! Freedom will be fought for!”
The hedgehog slammed the speaker to the ground and crushed it, and turned around to give his own speech. “Today not have been the victory we wanted it to be, but it’s a victory still! The ol’ bot-brain’s only got so many factories, so many facilities he can rely on. We’ll take ‘em out one by one!”
The audience began to cheer louder than they had in years. Sonic almost got caught up in the intensity of the moment, but he noticed that Sally had slinked away. Knowing what she usually did after their missions turned out to be setbacks, he dashed off to The Lake of Rings, where they had been found by the Original Freedom Fighters a decade before.
As he expected, he saw Sally crouched by the lake, dipping a stick into the water, poking at the shallow bed on the shore. He sat down beside her, and for a moment, didn’t say anything.
“Somethin’ on your mind, Sal?”
“Yeah…”
“Wanna talk about it?”
The chipmunk picked up the stick and hurled it into the lake, watching it sink as it was engulfed by the faint glow of the Ring Forge on the lakebed that provided them with their invaluable supply of Power Rings. “It’s just… it all seemed so much simpler, before…”
“How so?”
Sally ran her finger through her auburn hair, pulling it back with a vacant expression on her face. “You remember how things were when we were younger, right?”
Sonic cast his mind back to a couple of years ago – it was almost difficult to remember, as all of his memories of fighting Robotnik over the years had slowly begun to merge with one another. But there was a distinct period in time that he knew that Sally was referring to – after the Original Freedom Fighters disappeared in 3228, they had taken up the role of Freedom Fighters as children.
“Yeah, I remember. Back then, Knothole used to be a hole in the ground!”
“It’s hard to imagine that we’ve been doing this for almost ten years now.”
“So… what did you want to talk about then, Sal?”
She seemed unsure of how to explain it, knowing what she felt and wanted to say but not how to put it into words. “Everything back then seemed so simple… we fought against Robotnik, we had fun, and then we’d run back here like it was nothing. It almost seemed like, if we just had one good day, we could actually beat him!”
Sonic knew how she felt. In the past, things had been simpler for them, although he didn’t know if that was actually the case, or if they were still naïve and shielded from the full extent of the situation back then. Though, he had to admit, some of Robotnik’s schemes from back then had almost been a bit more… comical, in nature. “You remember that time he tried to cover the forest with those mechanical plants?”
“Yeah, I remember. Saved by the rain, and not for the last time.”
“Antione was scared out of his wits when we had to cut him out!”
“Sonic!”
“Sorry, Sal. But yeah, you’re right. Things were different back then. Is that what you wanted to get off your chest?”
“Not quite. I think I’ve figured out why things have gotten more… serious, over the past couple of years.”
Sonic shuffled closer and turned around to face the princess. “I’m listenin’, Sal.”
“Well, Robotnik said it himself. One of the reasons that he doesn’t just… carpet bomb The Great Forest to force us out is because that isn’t a ‘win’ for him. He wants to beat us on his own terms, on ‘his’ ground. And… that’s why things were different back then. It’s almost like he was… preparing us. Getting us used to the idea of fighting him. ‘Winning’ against a bunch of kids isn’t as satisfying as ‘winning’ against people who’re old enough to actually know what’s going on. It’s almost like he made us players in his sick, twisted game.
Sonic placed his arm on her shoulder. “Sal… I think you’re right. This whole war is Robotnik’s game, but we’re gonna beat him at it. We’ve got something that he’ll never have. Each other.”
The princess found herself blushing, trying to hide it by turning away from the hedgehog. “Thanks, Sonic. I think I needed that. You should head back to Knothole, the others will be waiting for you.”
“Glad I could help, Sal.” The blue blur gave a wink as he dashed off back to the refugee village.
She didn’t follow him back. Instead, Sally pulled out the PDA containing Nicole, the hyperintelligent artificial intelligence that Sir Charles had given her on the day of Robotnik’s coup.
“Nicole… run all files related to Maximillian Acorn.”
“𝙰𝚝 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚂𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢.”
From the hologram projector on the screen of the PDA came a flurry of files, recovered scrolls, and old photographs, floating around. Sally grabbed one in particular – everything they had in relation to The Zone of Silence. Robotnik had banished Maximillian, the former King Acorn, and Sally’s father, to The Zone immediately after his capture. Deep down, she held the hope that he was still there after all these years.
Data that they had recovered from Robotnik’s logs over the years indicated that the dictator had himself travelled to The Zone shortly after his takeover, seemingly to quench his never-ending desire for conquest. The fact that he was still around indicated that it was possible to for people to return from The Zone.
The reason that they hadn’t launched any expeditions to try and retrieve The King was simple – they had no idea how to access The Zone of Silence. Seemingly knowing that they’d make undo his banishment if they ever learned how to enter and exit The Zone, Robotnik had purged every file relating to the opening of The Zone.
Recently, Sally had begun to sift through everything they had in relation to The Zone of Silence, not just to figure out how to save her father, but to remind herself that it was all real, that the world they knew when they were younger was more than just a distant memory.
“𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚗𝚘𝚝, 𝚂𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝚂𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝙸 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍?” said the almost-sentient PDA.
Sally sighed and closed Nicole. “No, it’s fine. I should be heading back anyway.”
The moon shone through the dense foliage of The Great Forest once more, gently illuminating the ground below. Another day had passed on Mobius, another day where Robotnik ruled.
Maybe the answers to this mess would come tomorrow.
“Bringing in the rings, bringing in the rings…” Sonic the hedgehog sang to himself as he sat waiting on the shore of The Lake of Rings. As the only member of The Freedom Fighters who actually used the power rings, the responsibility to collect them had been bestowed upon him.
The Freedom Fighters’ resident engineer, Rotor Walrus, had recently figured out the pattern at which the Power Rings emerged from the lake. It seemed like his calculations had been off today, as the Power Ring was supposed to have come out half an hour ago.
Just when the hedgehog was about to leave, the lake started to boil and bubble over, indicating that a ring was about to emerge. This time, however, it all seemed a bit more intense, as the water on the surface evaporated into vapour. From the bottom of the lake emerged not one ring, but a clump of eight of them clumped together.
“Woah… looks like the Ring Forge got jammed. Wonder what happens when I try and use these…” he said to himself as he approached the cluster.
As the hedgehog reached for the clump of rings, he found himself falling upwards. With a thud, he came crashing… down? In a totally unfamiliar environment, with nonsensical geometry scattered all over.
“Ugh… whoo-ha! Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten those berries… Which way is up?”
“Interesting–“
“-Question!”
Two voices responded to the hedgehog’s rhetorical question. When he stopped feeling dizzy, he saw where they came from. Two Overlanders, or at least that’s what they looked like, stood before him. Although they weren’t really standing before him so much as in front of him. One of them was somehow standing on what appeared to be the roof, and the other on the wall.”
“Huh? Wha? Hey! What… who on Mobius are you two?”
The one on the roof responded first. “The name’s Verti Cal, call me Cal!”
“And I’m Horizont Al, call me Al!” replied the one on the wall.
Sonic struggled to wrap his head around the abstract nature of… wherever he was. “Wait a second! If you’re Horizontal and you’re Vertical, then that means that I should be... Falling!”
“In-“
“-Deed!” said the physics-defying inhabitants of the geometrically absurd zone.
“I don’t think this is what they meant when they said I shouldn’t be droppin’ out!” quipped Sonic.
“You didn’t drop out – you dropped in!”
Once more, Sonic fell to what appeared to now be the ground. He had barely been in this bizarre location for a handful of minutes, but he was already starting to tire of the gravity-altering antics. Some part of him started to suspect that Robotnik was behind this – the juvenile absurdity of the whole ordeal reminded him of the antics The Freedom Fighters had gotten into in their past encounters with him.
“I don’t know who you two are, or what’s goin’ on in this place, but I know you’re workin’ for Robuttnik! ‘Fess up or I’m levellin’ this place!”
“Ro-who-nik?”
“Never heard of him!”
Sonic tried to charge up for his signature attack, the Spin Dash. He curled up into a ball, and started to build momentum, which was immediately sapped from him as the gravity of the environment around him began to shift again.
“Oh no you don’t! Not this time!”
Sonic grabbed onto the wall, which quickly enough became the floor beneath him.
“You guys really don’t know who Robotnik is?”
“Ix-“
“-Nay!”
The hedgehog rolled his eyes at their unified replies, but began to think of the implications of this.
“This place really hasn’t been touched by him… ol’ metal-mouth’s never mentioned anything like this! This must be an unknown zone, but how did I… The rings!”
The cluster of Power Rings that Sonic grabbed must have been what lead him to this zone. The Power Rings seemed to have at least some magical properties, so f they could bring him to a place like this, then there was every chance that they could be harnessed to access other zones, including The Zone of Silence.
“Rings? You mean magic rings, right?” said Al.
Cal nodded in agreement. “Those things are dangerous! If that’s what brought you here, you best get back!”
Before the blue blur had a chance to react, he was falling once more. But instead of landing on a strange piece of floating abstract geometry, he found himself on the grassy floor of The Great Forest, collapsed in front of Antoine D’Coolette, the resident Royal Guard of The Freedom Fighters.
“Mon Dieu! Sonic, where ‘ave you been? I ‘ave been looking all over zhe Great Forest for you… what eez up?”
Sonic groaned as he got onto his feet. “Don’t talk to me about up, Ant… I’ve had my fill of that for today.”
“Uhh… Sonic, you fell from zhe sky! Where on Mobius were you?” asked the coyote, still dumbfounded at the sudden appearance of the hedgehog in front of him.
“I don’t entirely know, Ant… but if it means what I think it does, it’ll be good news for Sally, maybe for all of us. C’mon, we gotta get back to Knothole, Rotor will want to hear about this!”
Sonic burst off into the distance, spraying dust all over the Coyote’s uniform, which he promptly dusted off.
“I’ll never understand what she sees in zhat ‘edgehog.”
Without warning, Sonic burst into Rotor’s laboratory in the centre of Knothole Village. The hedgehog didn’t even give the walrus a chance to speak before he started.
“Rotor! Power Rings! You got any spares?”
The walrus put down his soldering iron and lifted his goggles. “Woah, slow down there Sonic! I’m pretty sure I sent you out to go collect another ring… did you use it up on the way?”
“Yes, and no. I don’t have a lotta time to explain, I gotta test this out, right now.”
Sonic picked up Rotor’s soldering iron and pulled out some of the spare Power Rings the walrus kept to study.
“How many was it again… eight, right,” he said as he laid the Power Rings out on the table. Lighting up the soldering iron, he began to fuse the rings together.
“Sonic, what in the name of Mobius are you doing?!” exclaimed the walrus.
“Relax, Rotor, I know what I’m doing… I think…”
It took the hedgehog several minutes to weld all of the Power Rings together. When he was finished, he lifted them up to show Rotor.
“I think the Ring Forge at the lake got jammed somehow, because what came out looked a lot like this. Let’s see if I’m right!”
When Sonic tried to use the cluster of rings, he braced himself for the fall upwards he would inevitably experience when returning to the nonsensical geometrical environment. But he didn’t fall, up, down or in any direction. Instead, he felt the regular burst of infinite speed and endurance he felt every time he used a regular Power Ring. It seemed like this little experiment had been fruitless. Sonic looked at the cluster of rings he was holding, and threw them to the ground.
“It didn’t work… why didn’t it work?”
“Why didn’t what work, Sonic?”
The hedgehog paced around the room as he explained to Rotor what had happened – how the rings had come out fused together and how he had been transported to another zone.
“My research into them has shown that the Power Rings possess some magical properties, but I never thought they could have that kind of power!”
“What I don’t get is why it didn’t work this time… I put the rings together, but they just did what they normally did.”
“Looks like it’s something to do with the Ring Forge. I’ll get it out of the lake soon to have a closer look at it, but in the meantime, keep an eye on it. Next time rings come out fused, don’t do anything until we get here. You’re pretty lucky that you didn’t get transported to… there…”
The fused Power Rings on the floor vanished as the energy from them dissipated. “Yeah, I got it Rotor. Catch ya later.”
When Sonic left the research lab, he sped off to a secluded spot in The Great Forest. Even though he was the fastest thing alive, something that was shown in his tendency to rush into things headlong before he fully understood them, sometimes he just needed to slow things down for a moment, to get away from the hustle and bustle of fighting a revolution.
The wind swept up the leaf litter around him, or at least he thought it was the wind. He didn’t expect to see anyone else there, as he wasn’t heading towards anywhere in particular. But a putting sound behind him told him that he had been followed by a certain two-tailed fox.
“Sonic! Where’ve you been? I’ve been looking for you all day!”
Tails flew down from the treetops above and landed in front of the hedgehog.
“I wish I knew, little buddy, and you’re not the only one who’s been looking.”
Unlike most of the other Freedom Fighters, Miles ‘Tails’ Prower didn’t have any memories of what life had been like before Robotnik took over. Since he had been rescued by Sonic on the day of the takeover, he had been raised in the village. The two had grown close over the years, and shared a brotherly bond. There were some things Sonic could tell tails that he couldn’t tell anyone else.
“I heard from Rotor that you tried to do something with the Power Rings, although I didn’t stay long enough for him to tell me what you were doing. When am I gonna get to use one?”
Sonic sat down on a rock and rested his chin on his fist, uncharacteristically deep in thought. “Soon enough, Tails. And what I was trying to do… I dunno, to be honest. I thought that if I could just… figure things out, maybe I could fix things… get us one step closer to where we were before all this. It’s probably better that you two try to wrap your heads around this stuff anyway.”
The young fox sat perplexed at his big buddy’s problem. “Well, you found one way that doesn’t work… but that’s still a step closer to figuring it out. You know how many prototypes Rotor and I had to go through before we perfected his blaster, The Big Bad Mamma Jamma?”
Sonic scratched his chin. “I dunno, thirty-somethin’? You guys almost spent half a year workin’ on that thing.”
“Your guess is as good as mine,” said Tails as he shrugged. “We stopped counting after the fiftieth. But the point is, Sonic, these things take time. You’re not gonna get to the final copy of anything on your first try.”
The hedgehog jokingly shook his head. “Man, who taught my little buddy to be wise beyond his years. I know that Tails, it’s just… I know she’s been trying to hide it, but Sal’s been looking into everything to do with her father’s disappearance a lot more lately. She doesn’t show it, but I can tell that it’s starting to get to her. I thought that if I could figure out how to go there and back, then maybe we could get him back, and she wouldn’t have to… worry ‘bout it as much anymore.”
Sonic, having known Sally for over two-thirds of his life, knew that she was more than capable of leading The Freedom Fighters. But ten years of fighting against Robotnik had been taking its toll on everyone, and getting King Max back from his banishment to The Zone of Silence might be enough to relight the spark in everyone enough for one final push.
Tails started pulling on Sonic’s arm. “C’mon Sonic! We’re not gonna figure this out just standing here!”
He knew that Tails was right. Freedom was something that had to be fought for, every step of the way.
Notes:
So, I know I said in my previous end-of-chapter note that the chapters were gonna come out every two days, I know. But writing at that level for any sustained period of time is really difficult man! I'll try to get these out as quickly as I can, without infringing on the quality.
The next chapter will introduce us to a certain 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘦-𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 character we've all grown to love over the years. Watch this space!
-Dec
Chapter 3: Enter The Rabbot
Chapter by SonOfEternia
Notes:
Yeah, I know it's been a while since the last one.
Exams are finally over (woo hoo), and my Archie Sonic infatuation is back in full force. I'll try to crank them out as much as I can, thank you for your patience!𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙄𝙎 𝘼𝙉 𝘼𝘿𝘼𝙋𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙁𝙊𝙇𝙇𝙊𝙒𝙄𝙉𝙂:
𝘼𝙍𝘾𝙃𝙄𝙀 𝙎𝙊𝙉𝙄𝘾, 𝙄𝙎𝙎𝙐𝙀 #2 (𝙊𝘾𝙏𝙊𝘽𝙀𝙍 1993)
Chapter Text
“Look out, comin’ in hot!” Shouted Sonic the Hedgehog as he barged his way into the planning room in Knothole Village. Sally had told the rest of the Freedom Fighters to meet there at noon for an ‘urgent discussion,’ but he had been thinking about other pressing matters. It had slipped his mind until he saw the midday sun in the sky.
Sally turned around from the board, which had been plastered with countless arial photographs of The Great Forest all showing the same thing – the Robotnik was slowly advancing from all sides onto their turf. “If it isn’t Sonic the Hedgehog? I thought I told you to be here half an hour ago.”
The hedgehog flashed a cocky grin and shrugged his shoulders. “Well, I’m here now, aren’t I? I am but your humble and obedient servant.”
“Humble? Never. Obedient? Never, ever.” Said Sally as she rubbed her forehead in mild annoyance. “At least you’re here, I guess. Just sit down, you’ll want to pay attention to this.”
Sonic pulled out a chair and sat on it backwards so he could rest his arms on the top rail, and impatiently tapped his foot while he waited for Sally to continue.
“Thanks to arial surveillance conducted by Tails and Rotor, we’ve been able to gauge where Robotnik’s been making inroads. From what we know, he’s been focusing his efforts on trying to destroy the southern sector of the forest. A lot of people still live freely over there, and it’s our duty as Freedom Fighters to protect them from him.”
“So Robuttnik’s tryin’ to take over The Great Forest for the gazillionth time, big deal. We’ll kick him out like we’ve done every other time!”
Rotor grimaced at the hedgehog. “Sonic, our reports also indicate that Robotnik’s been testing out a new roboticizer, and this one’s portable. If any of us get captured now, then our chance of escaping without… is much, much slimmer than it was before. He doesn’t have to drag us all the way back to Robotropolis to… to…”
Even though they had been fighting against it for the best part of a decade, there was still a noticeable tension in the air any time roboticization was mentioned. Everyone in Knothole had lost someone they knew, loved and cared for to the process.
The hedgehog immediately bolted up and started heading for the door. “Then what are we standin’ around here for? C’mon, let me destroy the thing before he gets a chance to use it!”
“Hold it, Sonic!” Sally interrupted. “The fact that this thing exists has made any mission against Robotnik infinitely more dangerous. You’re not doing this alone. Antoine, go with Sonic to find out what’s actually happening, and the both of you should only intervene if absolutely necessary.”
The fact that the two had been paired together elicited protestation from both of them.
“But princess, I cannot do anything with zhis hedgehog, he eez far too reckless, he’ll get in trouble, or worse.”
“C’mon, ‘Twan, stop being such a big drip. But seriously, Sal, if you could reconsider…”
Unimpressed, the leader of the Freedom Fighters stared at them both, which was enough to shut them up.
“I know you two have had your… disagreements, in the past, but you seriously need to put your squabbles behind you. We are a team, and we won’t win this war by fighting amongst ourselves. You were right though, Sonic, there isn’t much time.”
Sonic groaned as he walked over to the coyote. “You’ll wanna hang on for this.”
“Hang on? You’re not saying…”
“C’mon, Ant, you heard Sal. We don’t have much time. Let’s juice!” he said as the two of them sped off into this distance.
“Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie! Look where you are going, watch out for that… Shriek!”
“Antoine, quit covering my eyes!”
He wasn’t the one who had just ran halfway across The Great Forest in a matter of minutes, but Antoine D’Coolette looked like he’d just finished a marathon.
“I… am never… ever… going to agree to that again… Sonic…” he groaned. “Ugh, my head feels like eet eez spinning in circles…”
“Twan, quit complaining. You didn’t have to carry a cowering coyote through the woods.”
“You almost ran us into every single tree on our way here, why do you think I was scared out of my wits? And not everyone eez used to running at the speed of sound, you know.”
“Oh, so it’s my fault then, when you were blocking my view half the time! It must be so easy to shift the blame for literally everything to the person that you hate me?”
“Hate? Hate you? You are an arrogant, immature fool, Sonic, I will give you that. You get on my nerves more than you could ever realise, and I will never for zhe life of me understand what zhe princess sees in you… but I don’t hate you. Why would you think zhat?”
Sonic began counting off his grievances on his fingers. “Ant, in the ten years we’ve been going through all this, you’ve hardly every talked to me, every time I try to suggest something you undermine it, and don’t even get me started on your ego. I’ll admit, I have been a bit of a jerk to you, and you are older, so maybe you do know more about all this war stuff than I do, but… it’s ridiculous, ‘Twan.”
“I will admit too, I am a bit jealous. In spite of you being arrogant, immature and a fool, you have done great things, and I respect you for zhat. I may have also been a bit jealous of your… relationship with zhe princess… She only has eyes for you, and I won’t blame either of you for zhat one bit. Maybe I’ve been a bit harsh towards you as well in general.”
Sonic blankly stared ahead. “She had what now?”
“Arrogant, immature, foolish, and dense, may I add.” The coyote rolled his eyes and sighed. “And she eez right. We are fighting a war, and we need to be doing eet together. I apologise for my behaviour in zhe past, and I doubt zhat things between us will change overnight… but let us start being fellow Freedom Fighters, no?”
The coyote stuck out his hand and, for the first time he could remember, Sonic the Hedgehog willingly shook it. “Likewise, Ant. But, that’s enough of the emotional stuff for one day, ya big drip.”
“I’ll never understand what she sees in you,” he muttered under his breath.
“Huh?
“Oh, nothing.”
“Sure… right, where’s that doo-dad Sal was talking about?”
Antoine took out a pair of binoculars from Sonic’s backpack and surveyed the land before them. “Those photographs Rotor took were around here, so it can’t be too far…”
Sonic looked around, and stared up at the sun, the light dappled and filtered through the dense vegetation of the forest. Even from here, he could tell that the sun was in the wrong position. They were supposed to be facing east, overlooking the trail of destruction that the mad dictator’s infernal machines had left in their wake, but they were facing west. Sonic looked across the land and spotted a small lake not too far – when he checked the photographs, there was nothing of the sort there.
“Ant… when you were covering my eyes, and I asked if we needed to take a left turn, did you say no, did you say that because you knew where we were going, or because you were screaming your lungs out…?”
The coyote nervously chuckled before realising the implications. They had taken a wrong turn, and would need to get to their real destination with lightning speed, which could mean only one thing.
“No, we are not doing that again! Call it egotism, but I’m actually quite attached to my head, and would prefer if it stayed on my shoulders…”
“Ant… hold on…”
“Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!”
“Zhat eez zhe last time… I agree to zhis, ever! After zhis mission is finished, I am walking back to Knothole of my own accord!”
“Quiet, Ant, get down!”
Sonic pushed Antoine into a bush, and dived in behind him. The familiar metallic clunking of a legion of SWAT-Bots could be heard nearby. Hidden by the branches of the hedge, Sonic could just about make out what was happening. The sight was something that he had seen countless times before, but it never got any easier for him – the SWAT-Bots had rounded up another group of Mobians. Usually, they would tie them up or otherwise restrain them in some capacity, and force them to march to Robotropolis, awaiting their inevitable doom. It was obvious that the doctor took great pleasure in the suffering it caused, for he didn’t want to just ‘beat’ anyone who opposed him – he wanted to wholly crush their spirit.
But they didn’t need to force them to march this time – before them stood a machine around the size of a boulder, the portable roboticizer Rotor had mentioned. They now had the means to roboticize them anytime, anywhere. A pit formed in the hedgehog’s stomach, as everyone he could see had already been transformed, and were being led back to the city. They were most likely going to repair the coal-fire station Sonic and Sally had destroyed on their last mission.
“Mon Dieu… we’re too late…”
“Not totally, look Ant – I think I can see someone.”
Antoine took out the binoculars again. He couldn’t see it clearly, but Sonic was right – there was still someone who hadn’t been robotocized. When the scene in front of him came into focus, he pulled them down and rubbed his head. “Sonic… zhis is all my fault…”
“Stay quiet, Ant,” quipped the hedgehog. “We’ll talk about this later. We don’t have much time, we’ve got to do something, and fast!”
Antoine adjusted the binoculars to try and see who was left, Upon seeing the only remaining Mobian from the group in front of them still made of flesh and blood, Antoine visibly froze in shock. “No, no no no no no, it cannot be, no… she told me that she and… were headed to…”
Sonic turned his head to face the Coyote – instead of seeing the usual look of comical cowardice that plastered itself across his mug had been replaced with one of genuine terror. He was hyperventilating and fidgeting with the hilt of his sword.
“Ant… what’s going on, c’mon, we have to do this quickly!”
Antoine stared at the ground in front of him, wide-eyed. “Sonic… I know her.”
It took a moment for the words to actually register in the mind of the hedgehog. By the time they did, he could see that Antoine had taken out his blade.
“Woah, ‘Twan, hey, there’s a whole legion of SWAT-Bots out there… we both go out on the count of three, I’ll distract ‘em, you help her out. Ready?”
He could just about see the coyote nodding his head slightly.
“Alright… One, Tw-“
Without warning, Antoine charged at the armada of SWAT-Bots in front of him, swinging madly.
“GET AWAY FROM HER!”
“ANTOINE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” screamed Sonic as he popped out from the bush. As he did, all but one of the SWAT-Bots that had been locked onto Antoine turned to him, and began to aim their blasters in his general direction.
“HEDGEHOG PRIORITY ONE, DRAW FIRE.”
“Uh oh.”
He sped off as they began to fire at him from all directions, barely being able to avoid getting hit. They followed him deeper into The Great Forest – due to Robotnik’s programming, they wouldn’t stop chasing him until he was either captured or they lost sight. Preferring the second outcome over the first, he began to run around them in circles, kicking up a tornado of dust tall enough to reach the treetops above.
“PRIMARY VISION OBSCURED, SWITCHING TO THERMAL VISION, CAPTURE HEDGEHOG PRIORITY ONE.”
Before any of them had a chance to react, the hedgehog burst out of the dust cloud. The SWAT-Bots were all in a line, so with one spin dash he was able to destroy all of them, sending metal debris and insulated wiring flying.
“You really need to stop makin’ this so easy for me, I’m almost getting bored!”
“Ngh! Agggh!”
Sonic heard a loud grunt in the distance, and remembered that Antoine had attempted to take on the other remaining SWAT-Bot himself. Fearing that the coyote had been captured, he rushed back to where he had been before. To his surprise, all he saw were the remnants of the unfeeling machine scattered across forest floor. Antoine leaned against a nearby tree, clutching at his shoulder and breathing heavily.
“You alright, ‘Twan?” asked the hedgehog as he tried to support the coyote’s arm on his shoulder.
“Ngh!” he grunted again. “Don’t do zhat, I think I have dislocated it, give me a moment…”
He clutched his shoulder and rammed it into the trunk of the tree. The cry of pain was excruciating, but it seemed to do the trick.
“Zhat was… something zhat my father taught me, before zhe war.”
Sonic stood there dumbfounded. The Antoine D’Coolette he knew wouldn’t have been able to take on any or Robotnik’s creations on the best of days. But he had taken out a SWAT-Bot today, by himself. “I didn’t know you all that in you, Ant,” he commented.
The coyote smiled a weak grin. “Neither did I… wait a minute, she was here a minute ago, where did she… no, no no…” he said as he rushed over to the roboticizer. “Sonic, help me get zhis contraption open!”
Antoine hacked at the metal exterior of the machine with his sword and Sonic spin-dashed into it, breaking it open. Just as they feared, the rabbit had been put into it while they weren’t looking, but the machine stopped when the last SWAT-Bot had been destroyed, leaving the process had only been half completed. As they lifted her out and laid her on the grass bellow, they could see that the process had affected both her legs and her left arm, turning them from flesh into cold metal. For a moment, the two of them stood there, unsure of what to do, what to say. Sonic reached down and placed his fingers under her neck, trying to find any signs of life.
“She’s still got a pulse, just. I think we should… we need to take her back to Knothole…”
Antoine didn’t reply to him, instead staring at the rabbit below him, muttering something under his breath in his native tongue.
“Je suis désolé, Bunnie… Je suis désolé… Je t'ai laissé tomber, Bunnie, je suis désolé”
“’Twan… I don’t know how much time she’s got, we need to get going.”
The words barely registered with Antoine. Thoughts raced through his mind, thoughts that he wished he wasn’t having. Even if the roboticization had only happened partially, could he still use her to find Knothole? And how could he ever tell her that he was the one to blame for this? That this was his fault?”
“Ant…”
He picked her up in his arms, and finally turned to face the hedgehog. “No, you are right Sonic… we need to get going.”
It was weird for Sonic to be moving along at a walking pace, but he had to – the rabbit, who he presumed was called ‘Bunnie,’ was most likely in too unstable a condition to withstand the forces of super-sonic speed, and he couldn’t leave Antoine by himself at this time of day. The sun was starting to set in the horizon, and the stars had come out of their slumber to twinkle their way across the sky.
Stars. It had been a long time since he actually looked up at them. Whether it was from the constant hectic rush of constantly fighting a war or from the fact that the sky had been too polluted to clearly see for years, he couldn’t quite remember.
As they slowly trudged their way back to Knothole, there was something unsaid between the two of them. Right before he had charged in head-first, Antoine had said something about knowing her. One part of the hedgehog wanted to delve into it and find out, another recognized that it had to be handled delicately considering the circumstances. Even he knew that handling things with care had never been one of his specialities. But still…
“So how do you two know each other?” he questioned.
“Hmm?” was the response Antoine gave, being pulled out of the spiralling train of thought chugging through his mind.
“You said you knew her, but I haven’t seen her before… I take it you knew each other before all this?”
Upon remembering simpler times, before they had to worry about their survival and freedom every day, the coyote sighed. “Well yes, and no at zhe same time. Her Uncle, Beauregard I think his name was, he was good friends with moi father… so she and I saw each other on occasion. On the night that… Robotnik took over, I was cornered by zhose… machines while I tried to flee into zhe forest… She pushed a boulder down onto zhem, saving me… I owe her my life, you know…”
Sonic could clearly see how conflicted this was making Antoine feel. Bringing up memories of that day was never a pleasant experience for anyone. It was almost enough to make him regret asking.
“I never really got zhe chance to thank her for zhat at the time… I ran off, like zhe coward I was. Several years later though, she… visited me, on zhe outskirts of Knothole. She told me zhat her and her Uncle were going to escape to somewhere far from here, far from his influence…” he said as he looked down at her body in his arms. “Some place in zhe desert called Sandblast. I think she wanted me to come, if I am being truthful.”
“And you didn’t?” interrupted the hedgehog.
“No, although some part of me now maybe wishes zhat I did. And, until today, zhat was zhe last time we saw each other.”
“And why’s that, Ant?”
“Well… maybe if I went with her, she wouldn’t have gotten caught… and maybe zhe rest of zhe Freedom Fighters wouldn’t have to contend with me. I know you’d all be better off without me… Even if I didn’t, if I hadn’t come with you today, you might have saved her…”
Sonic stopped walking and stood there, dumbfounded. Where was the ego, the pride, the bravado that Antoine usually wore? This wasn’t him, this wasn’t like him… had he only portrayed himself like that to mask the feelings, the raw emotions of inferiority and worthlessness that were starting to slip
“DON’T TRY AND ARGUE WITH ME, SONIC, I KNOW ZHAT ZHIS EEZ MY FAULT! IF I HADN’T BEEN SUCH A COWARD, WE COULD HAVE SAVED HER, WE COULD HAVE SAVED ALL OF THEM!”
Hot tears streamed down the Coyote’s face – tears from a lifetime of wanting to be better, wanting to be more, to do more, but ultimately always falling short. He knew what people said about him, and he knew that they were right.
“We could have… if weren’t such a coward…”
“Can it, Ant,” said Sonic as he slapped him on the back. “You’re not a coward, a coward wouldn’t have come out here in the first place, a coward would have run off. You stayed here and stood your ground, you fought with all you had… can’t really ask for much more than that, ‘Twan.”
Antoine laid Bunnie back on the ground, and sat down beside her. “How do you do eet, Sonic?”
“Do what?”
“Everything you do… how do you do eet without being afraid, afraid zhat you might mess up, zhat you might hurt everyone and eet will be all your fault.
The hedgehog scratched the spines on his back, and sat down next to the coyote. “Well, to tell the truth, Ant, I don’t… Every time I head out into Robotropolis, especially when Sally comes with me, I’m scared out of my wits… I know that one slip-up could lead to disaster, but that’s why I do what I do. It’s normal to be scared for the people you care about, good even, especially in… our situation.”
“Thank you, Sonic… I did not know zhat you had zhat kind of wisdom in you.”
“Don’t mention it, ‘Twan. No seriously, don’t – I have a reputation as the mondo-coolest hedgehog around to keep up. So if I hear that anyone else has found out-”
Sonic’s witty quips were interrupted by the stirring of the unconscious Bunnie Rabbot. Her face contorted itself in quiet winces of pain. It made the two Freedom Fighters uneasy to see her hurting like this, but some part of them felt relieved that she was still showing signs of life.
“C’mon, ‘Twan… we should get going…”
Antoine picked up her limp body once more, and they pressed on without a word.
It was well after midnight by the time they returned to Knothole. The village was almost entirely dark, with only a few candles being lit along the streets. Still, people were out and about, doing everything from routine maintenance to night patrol. Even with the darkness of night obscuring their view, the Freedom Fighters were able to make their way back to the planning room, where Sally Acorn was left dosing in a chair.
CREEEEEAK
Despite their attempts to enter the room discreetly, the former royal stirred awake when the door creaked closed. The look of annoyance across her face was immediately replaced with one of confusion, followed by concern.
“Do you two have any idea how… oh sweet Mobius…”
She got up from her chair and kneeled down beside Bunnie, her glance constantly shifting from the rabbit to her fellow freedom fighters.
“Sonic… Antoine… what… what happened…”
Not wanting the coyote to take the blame, Sonic changed the subject. “Never mind what happened, what matters is that Robuttnik’s gizmo’s been wiped out by ‘Twan and yours truly, and that this rabbit needs mondo help, stat.”
“How would we even… can we even fix that? This hasn’t happened before…”
Sonic opened the door once more. “Regardless of the whole… Rab-bot situation here, the gal needs help… she’s alive, but she’ll need some kind of medical stuff done… you do know someone who can help us out here, right Sal?”
Sally got up once more, and gestured for the coyote to follow. “Let’s just hope he’s still available at this time of night.
It wasn’t unusual to see Sally and Sonic walking together around the village – it could have happened any other week, and no one would have batted an eye. But the rabbit Antoine was carrying behind them garnered hushed chatter from anyone who saw. The group made their way to a relatively secluded building on the outskirts of town. Sally chapped the door with the back of her fist, and awkwardly waited, knowing that she most likely just woke all of its inhabitants up. After a minute, the door opened, revealing a mildly agitated duck in a nightgown, rubbing the bridge of his forehead.
“For the last time Greg, stop waking me up, I’m not going to give you any more vi- Oh! Princess Sally, what can I do for you at this hour?”
The chipmunk gave a tired smile in return. “Horatio, please, just call me Sally… Anyway I… we… have a ‘special case’ which needs seen to,” she said as she moved herself aside.
As the doctor’s eyes lay upon the half-metal rabbit, he was shocked. He quickly regained his composure, and dusted a flurry of feather off of his nightgown. Remaining silent, he gestured for them to follow him to the makeshift hospital across the street.
The interior of the building was a mess of assorted pieces of medical equipment; all attained from various raids on what was left of the medical centres in Robotropolis over the years. Dr Quack instructed Antoine to lay Bunnie out on the operating table.
He pulled his stethoscope and placed it on her chest. Her heartbeat was slightly elevated, but otherwise stable. He took out a flashlight and peeled back her eyelids, checking to see if they were following it properly.
“Isn’t that something you usually check for after… concussions, something like that?” asked Sonic.
“Usually, yes…” he said without looking up. “But I have no idea what I’m even supposed to be looking for here… and given the rudimentary equipment I don’t know how much we can actually do for her.”
“But… she eez going to be alright, right?” Antoine questioned.
“Well, considering that she’s still alive and stable, yes. The process was most likely quite a shock to her system, so it might be a while before she wakes up.”
A thought crossed the princess’s mind – a thought that she had been trying to put aside. The process had only been partial, but could it still be enough for Robotnik to track her?
Seemingly reading her mind, the doctor answered her unspoken question. “And before you ask, no, the tracking signals for those that have been roboticized come from the chest cavity. It looks like it’s only affected the extremities of her limbs, so she’ll won’t pose a threat to the security of Knothole. You have my word, but as a precaution, I’d like to borrow that little machine of yours, Nicole is what I think you call it?”
Sally fiddled with a strap on her boot where she kept the PDA containing her digital companion, and handed Nicole to Dr Quack. As the doctor opened up the PDA, she asked Nicole to scan for outgoing signals of any kind.
“𝙰𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏, 𝙸 𝚍𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚗𝚘 𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚘, 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖,” the PDA responded. “𝙸𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙷𝚘𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 - 𝚁𝚘𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚗𝚒𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝙺𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚅𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚐𝚎.”
Dr Quack folded the PDA up and handed it back to Sally. “Thank you, Horatio… sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night, I know things have been hectic around here lately,” stated the chipmunk.
“No, I get it… if I were aware of the situation myself, I would have helped regardless. I will say though, there’s not much more I can do for her myself. Her vitals are stable; she just needs rest… and someone to be there for her when she wakes up. I don’t know how much she’ll actually remember… regardless of her memory, though, I can imagine that it will be quite the shock. I’ll see myself out, take care.”
Antoine dragged a chair out from another room, and sat down next to Bunnie. He stared vacantly out of the window.
“I take it you’re staying behind, Antoine?”
The coyote didn’t say anything. He closed his eyes, and folded his arms across his chest, trying to stay calm and ward off any bad thoughts.
Sonic placed a hand on Sally’s shoulder, and led her to the other side of the room.
“He and her knew each other before Robotnik… They have history,” he whispered. “And he blames himself for what happened to her. No amount of reassurance on my side was able to convince him otherwise.”
“Geez, no wonder he hasn’t been acting like his usual self,” she mumbled. “Hope he doesn’t hold it against himself.”
Sonic simply nodded in agreement. He and Sally said something as they left, but their words fell upon deaf ears. All he could think about was what happened, how if he had even a modicum of courage it would have gone differently.
“Ugh… Ma head… where am I?”
When Antoine D’Coolette woke up, the sun was just starting to rise in the horizon, leaving long trails of dappled light across the walls. Beside him, Bunnie Rabbot had finally woken. He stood up and rushed to stand beside her, holding her right arm, the one remaining limb that hadn’t been turned to metal.
“Bunnie? Are you alright?” he asked.
The rabbit squinted her eyes, struggling to adjust to the light levels in the room. Even though she couldn’t see clearly, she was able to distinguish the owner of the other voice – a heavy and rich accent that she hadn’t heard for almost half a decade… until yesterday.
“Antoine? Who… what happened, where’s everyone…”
As she started to sit up, something dawned on her. She couldn’t feel anything, in her left arm or either of her legs. As her eyes focused and room in front of her came into view, she assumed that it was just an effect of whatever medical stuff they must have pumped into her after…
“You are in Knothole, Bunnie. Eet has been a long time since we saw each other,” Antoine said as he tried to steady her. “Carefully, now.”
“Last time ah checked, Knothole was just that – a hole in the ground. Ma goodness, how things have… changed…”
And then she saw it. At first she didn’t believe it, it must have been some kind of trick of the light, or maybe her head still wasn’t completely right. But as she grabbed one arm with another, she recognized that what stood in front of her was reality, and that reality was as cold and as unfeeling as the metal that now covered, nay, was a majority of her limbs. She didn’t know whether to scream or cry, so she did neither – she froze on the spot, unable to do or say anything. The events of yesterday came flooding back to her, but above all else was the memory of the pain she had felt when she was put inside that machine. Pain like every individual fibre of her being was being dissected and replaced by something foreign.
And then she turned to face Antoine. The coyote looked remorseful, almost grief-stricken.
“I am so sorry, Bunnie… zhis is all my fault… I am zhe reason we couldn’t get to you in time…”
Bunnie held up her one hand still of flesh and blood to Antoine’s cheek. She remembered the hopeless feeling of pure dread she’d felt, right up until the moment the coyote and his blue friend tore through the machine. Even though she was like this now, he had ultimately saved her from being fully changed into something she didn’t even understand.”
“Ant… Don’t beat ya’self up over this… Ah may be like this, but without you it would have been a lot worse… I would have been… fully…”
This wasn’t the reaction that the coyote had been anticipating. He tried to continue his self-blaming, but Bunnie, knowing that it would only lead him into in a spiral of despair, interrupted him and pulled him out.
“Ah won’t be hearing anything of the contrary from you, Ant… I’m still alive, ah still got my head, and you’re the reason for that,” she affirmed. “This whole thing is… sudden, ah will admit, but c’mon! I haven’t seen ya for the best part of five years, what have y’all down here been up to?”
Antoine knew that she was trying to draw conversation away from her current predicament, but her words were enough to make him question whether it was selfish to do anything but blame himself.
“Regrettably, Bunnie, not as much as we hoped. We did manage to move Knothole overground, but zhat was mostly out of necessity… Robotnik’s pollution began to seep further down into zhe soil, and it would have been dangerous to stay there. Zhe resistance itself has reached a stalemate, but things may be changing soon, I hope. What of you, why did you leave… what was zhe name of that place you said you were going to… Sand Boom?”
“Sand Blast,” the rabbit corrected. The past five years, all awash in a blur, began to flash through her head. “And things have kinda been the same there, ah won’t lie. The guy headin’ the whole place up, Jack, became absolutely obsessed with fightin’ off the influence of that Robotnik guy… and that included lockin’ up anyone he thought could be a traitor. Unfortunately, due to ma Uncle Beauregard being adept with mechanics and technology and what-not, Jack grew suspicious… we had to leave, otherwise he woulda brought us in. We got… separated, a while back… ah was headin’ here, knowin’ that you’d probably still be around.”
She sat up on the table fully, letting her two mechanical legs dangle over the side. She still had a vague sense of where they were in space, but all the physical sensations, from the slight pressure they would have experienced from sitting to the temperature of the room were gone. She grabbed onto Antoine’s shoulder, and landed on their floor with a THUD.
“Well, Ant, where do we go from here?”
“I have some people I’d like to introduce you to, people who’ll take care of you. Welcome to Knothole Village, Bunnie.”
LazuriteLuxCaelum on Chapter 2 Sat 10 May 2025 12:38PM UTC
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