ࡱ; v  !"#$%&'()*+,-./0123456789:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrstuwxyz{|}~Root Entry F JoCompObjbWordDocumentoObjectPoolk/ok/o  FMicrosoft Word 6.0 Document MSWordDocWord.Document.6;  Oh+'08$   <`  (C:\MSOFFICE\WINWORD\TEMPLATE\NORMAL.DOTSilver Fox part 2Sonic the Hedgehog Story=This basically is the second part ofܥe3 eNQoNNjljlljljljljljVlVlVlVlVlVl `lFVl^nYllllllllmmmm mm@nnT o^nljl llll^nlljljllllllljlljlmj0k&ljljljljlml]lSilver Fox: Part 2 by Cale David Kuecker ************************************************************************ First off is the legal shtick. Sonic, Tails, Rotor and all the rest are owned by Archie and Sega. The only character that I created is Silver Fox. I also wish to apologize to Marvel Comics and Stan Lee for the similarity between Doctor Octopus tentacles and the tentacles used by Silver Fox. Nothing personal, but I could not help designing the character without them. Also, this story may get a bit violent, so if you have a problem with it, stop reading. This is my second Fan-Fic so I would like some comments from those who read it. I hope there is nothing out there like this and if there is, I apologize, but this really did come from my mind. If you would like to use the story or Silver Fox as a basis for one of your own, please ask first, I would like to know who is using it. Also, I strongly advise you read Silver Fox: Part 1 so that you may understand what is going on here. ************************************************************************ Timeline: Only a couple of hours after the events of Silver Fox: Part I. ************************************************************************ Part 2: The Eye of the Storm ************************************************************************ I don't care what you think, Robotnik shouts at a SWATbot. Change all the access codes. I do not want Silver Fox taking control of everything in the city again. Dr. Robotnik? Snively asks, tentatively. What is it, Snively? I... I finished making the rounds of Robotropolis, sir. And? The Wing Fortress is missing, as are several pieces of weaponry, sensors, and robots. Also, he totally destroyed the new roboticizor and several labs that had certain information and items, which are now missing. They... Let me guess, Snively, Robotnik interrupted, The only thing they had in common was that they led to the creation of, or even a part of, Silver Fox. Yes sir. He did it to the computers memory files too. Hes thoroughly deleted much of our information on him. Im having the SWATbots run a full search for anything he might have missed. Snively continues, Also, the Freedom Fighters are here in the Command Center. Should I bring them in? Of course, Snively. The sooner they arrive, the sooner we can form a plan to stop Silver Fox, Robotnik answered. Snively left to get the Freedom Fighters. *************************************** Meanwhile, the Wing Fortress had arrived at its destination, circling the Floating Island. Silver Fox watched as they came to a five mile circle around the island. He waited patiently for his target to be sighted. Just then, a SWATbot turned to his master. Sir, target has been sighted. Awaiting further orders. Hold our current position until I return. Silver Fox stands and walks out to the launch bay. He opens the door and flies out. * * * Enerjak was glad to be free. He had no idea who or what has freed him, but he would use this chance to finish what hed started. Suddenly, a small, black, silver, and gray blur flew by, punching Enerjak as it passed him. He turned around to face the fool who had dared to attack him, and saw a robotic, two-tailed fox. Suddenly, its forearms both opened, revealing two guns. The fox pointed his arms and fired. The force of the blast knocked Enerjak into the water. This, of course, made Enerjak very mad, and he flew back to meet his new opponent. As he emerged, Silver Fox rammed him again, this time following it up with a tentacle punch. He then turned around, and his shoulders opened, revealing two racks of what appeared to be six missiles each. These were Silver Foxs antimatter warheads. He fired all twelve at Enerjak, who, still reeling from the blows he had received, could not dodge in time. When the smoke cleared, one of Silver Foxs tentacles wrapped around the wounded echidna and began to squeeze. Face it old man, this is your end. Silver Fox taunted, Your powers cannot help you, nothing on this world can. NO!!! Enerjak screamed, and , focusing all of his remaining strength and will into a tight precision beam, cut through Silver Foxs arm, leaving a small hole and causing him some pain. As he let go of his prey, Enerjak, hurt and in no mood to continue the fight, made his escape. Silver Fox looked at the hole in his shoulder, and, seeing that the nannites in his system were already repairing it, he watched as Enerjak fled for the Floating Island. He then returned to his new fortress. * * * Knuckles was very angry. Not so much at Archimedes, but more at the fact that he was bored. It was times like this that he wished he could be like Vector the crocodile and relax, but such a thing seemed beyond him. Hed finally resorted to doing the one thing he hated most of all; lair-cleaning. Archimedes had shown up soon after he started, saying how Knuckles should be on guard because something big was going down. Knuckless first thought was that the Great Forest had been destroyed after his island had floated away from the mainland. That was when they both heard it. A sort of high pitched cry coming from the air. The echidna and fire-ant ran outside to see what was happening; and were almost hit by a falling green object. It plowed through the ground, stopping when it his the wall of the cave. What was that? Knuckles asked Archimedes. Perhaps another Chaos Emerald? I really couldnt tell at the speed it was going. We had better check it out, the fire-ant said. Both animals ran to where the object had stopped and, upon examining it, both recognized what, or who, they were staring at. Enerjak! both exclaimed. ************************************************************************ I still don't understand it, Sonic said, Why cant we just use a deroboticizor ray on Silver Fox and turn Tails back into his normal, sweet self? That force field of his will block the ray long before it could do its job. Robotnik answered, It will take a great deal of work to defeat this new threat. There will be no easy and fast way out. Im willing to listen to any ideas that might help doctor, Sally stated frankly. Actually, I don't have any plans to deal with this particular situation. I never actually thought Silver Fox would turn against me. And since we no longer have any data on any of his inner systems and designs, we cant find any feasible weaknesses to use against him, Rotor said. Well, thats not entirely true, Robotnik interjected. Weve managed to retrieve five files Silver Fox failed to totally delete. Three files have to actually do with Silver Fox, but the other two, Omega and Destiny, are totally new. We have schematics for his sensors, force shield, and his internal construction facility. And what about the other two files? Have you been able to open them and find out what they are? Sally asked. Yes and no. It seems that Omega is the blueprints for some sort of heavy super-cannon. Its not very good, Id give it a maximum firing amount of one blast before it melts. We also know that whatever its purpose is, it is connected to Destiny. Unfortunately, Destiny has more locks on it than were able to open at the moment. Robotnik answered. So, were basically back to nothing, Sonic said, This just bites. Unless you lied about the fission/fusion reactor in him, I cant see any way to capture him. Why am I not at all suprised, Robotnik replied. I did not lie about the fission/fusion reactor, it was my fail-safe device, in case you found a way to pierce the vibrium armor. Like I said, I never thought hed turn against me. However, this is not our only problem, Silver Fox also took the Wing Fortress when he left, as well as half the equipment and robots of the city. Oh mah stars, can ya imagine tha damage hell be able to do with that stuff? Bunnie said, Just thinkin about it gives me tha shudders. I don't think Silver Fox is going to be doing anything big right now, or else we would have heard something. I agree, Princess, Robotnik said, But that still doesnt put any of us at ease. I suggest that you establish a radio link from Nicole to my computer system. Maybe together they can find some weakness in Silver Fox. Sally thought for a moment and agreed, having Nicole begin to establish a radio link with the Robotropolis Main Computer System. ************************************************************************ You want me to WHAT?! Knuckles yelled at his fire-ant teacher. Get some water and a rag so that we can clean off his wounds and get him better, Archimedes answered calmly. One did not survive long in a world of creature often larger than oneself by loosing ones temper, even if one breathed fire. This is Enerjak were talkin about, Archie, dont you remember what he did last time he was free. I don't think he deserves any help from us. Knuckles said. Think with your head for a minute Guardian. Look at him. Have you ever, EVER known Dimitri to willingly show a moment of weakness, Archimedes explained. Besides the mental variety? Knuckles said, archly. Archimedes ignored this and continued, He is powered by eleven chaos emeralds. I doubt even he could fake injuries to himself this well, even if he wanted to, which means that something majorly powerful came after him. If it could do this to Enerjak, imagine what it might do to us. Knuckles thought for a moment, and realized Archimedes was right. Whatever had done this to the echidnas great ancestor was probably on it way here and probably not very nice. He left his lair for a nearby stream. Meanwhile, Archimedes looked at Enerjak, secretly chuckling to himself. It was the wickedest of ironies, one Enerjak had thought himself totally immune to; no matter how powerful you are, there is always something that can defeat you. The evil echidna had inflicted so much pain on the world, it was a little gratifying to know he now had suffered a very physically painful defeat. * * * Knuckles filled his first bucket with the streams water, being sure not to pick up any of the fish accidentally. It galled him that he was helping an enemy and a threat to the Floating. But Archie had made sense, whatever had done that to Enerjak posed a tremendous threat to the island, even more so than Enerjak. Thats when he looked up and saw thing running/flying towards him. The first one was a tall, thin crocodile; Vector. The next was considerably shorter, red, black, and yellow in color, with the pointy nose of an armadillo; Mighty. The last was also the smallest, being a bee, and by the aviators helmet and goggles he was wearing, it had to be Charmy. No doubt their mutual chameleon friend, Espio, was there too, just in his typical stealth mode. Vector spotted Knuckles and, changing his previous course, headed straight for the echidna. Yo, Knuckles, Vector cried, You all right, man? We saw that green thingy crash into your home, and thought you might ave been hurt. Relax, Vector, Archimedes and I have the situation under control. Knuckles replied. So, what was it, a Chaos Emerald? Charmy asked in a rushed sentence. Worse, its Enerjak. He came crashing in, and apparently hes hurt. Archimedes think we should help him, since whatever hurt him that bad might be targeting the Floating Island, and I dont want to take the chance that its going to trash us too, answered Knuckles. Well help you out, Mighty stated, lifting a large bucket and filling full of water. When all the buckets were filled, the Chaotix team started back for Knuckles lair. ************************************ Theyd been cleaning Dimitris wounds for over an hour, helping to cut down the time it would take for the eleven chaos emeralds inside him to heal him. It was tedious work, but they were making progress. Soon, Enerjak began to jerk around, and then, his eyes opened. NOOOO!!! he screamed, struggling to back away from some perceived threat. After about five seconds of this, he calmed down enough to see where he is and who hes with. Hello, Great-great *Uncle.* Long time no see, Knuckles said. Its good to see you too, my dear Knuckles. Still wasting your life away by guarding this pathetic island? Knuckles was about to respond to this when Archimedes broke in. As much as I hate to interrupt this little episode of Family Feud, Id like to know what happened to you. I wouldve thought thatd be obvious, fire-ant. I was attacked. Something tore into me with a vengeance. Enerjak replied. You think you could be more specific. Like give us a name or even a description. Maybe we know who your attacker was. Archimedes said. Well, I didnt get that good a look, but I think I can give you a pretty accurate description. It was made of some super-strong metal, so I know its a robot. It was small, smaller than you nephew, but not a midget, probably the height of a ten to twelve year-old. It was a vulpine too. At this, Knuckles looked up as Enerjak continued, And the oddest thing about it was that it had two tails. TWO TAILS, Knuckles said, already thinking of who fit the description the best. *How many other two-tailed foxes are there on Mobius?* he thought to himself. Archimedes, I think I know who or what attacked Enerjak. I need to check my hunch though, because I still cant see why he would. Go ahead, Guardian, well keep Enerjak occupied while you check it up. Knuckles leaves the room and goes to his communications station. He punches a few buttons and prepares to send a message to Princess Sally. ************************************************************************ Im telling you, youre out of your mind, hedgehog! Robotnik yelled. Look whos calling who out of their mind. Youre the none who created Silver Fox, and my plan is much, much saner than that little brainstorm. Sonic retorted. Mecha-Sonic, even if he had free will, would never in a million years of evolution be able to stand up to the fury Silver Fox could, and would be quite willing, to dish out. Youd be vaporized long before you could make a difference. And I cant make you as powerful as him, because he wiped out all the information pertaining to the way he was roboticized, Robotnik said. Will you two please stop arguing, Sally interjected, Youre both giving everyone a migraine. Sonic, as much as I hate to admit it, Robotnik is right. Mecha-Sonic would not survive a clash with Silver Fox. We just have to come up with some other plan to beat him. Just then, Nicole beeped to life. Incoming message from the Floating Island, Sally. What could ol red want, Sal? Sonic asked. I don't know Sonic. Nicole, accept incoming communication. Knuckles appears on Nicoles screen. Princess, I hate to interrupt you from what ever youre doin, but you wouldnt happen to be missing a Freedom Fighter with say, two tails? the Guardian of the Floating Island asked. Youve seen Tails? Sally asked, her eyes widening. Where was he exactly? Is the Wing Fortress still with him? Whoa there Sally, Knuckles said. One question at a time, please. I think it was Tails, or at least a robot look-a-like, that was in the Eastern Sea. I don't know if he had the Wing Fortress with him, but... Suddenly, Robotnik walks up behind Sally and Knuckles sees him for the first time. Sally, look out behind you! he warns. Its all right, Knuckles, Robotnik is helping us this time, Sally explained. Next time you see Tails, though, let us know as soon as possible. Actually, Princess, I didnt see him, a... *relative* did, Knuckles stated. I will keep you informed, though. And with that, communications ceased. Well, at least we know what hes been up to, Sonic said. Fat lotta good that does us. We don't even know how ta stop him, Bunnie interjected. I just don't understand how Tails could do all this. Even as a robot, I almost don't believe its him. Sonic said. Youre closer to the truth than you know, hedgehog, Robotnik mumbled to himself. Bunnies keen sense of hearing, however, picked up on his words. What da ya mean by that lil comment, Robotnik? Bunnie asked. Yall aint tellin us tha whole truth about this situation, are ya? Yeah, Ive noticed that too. What are you holding back from us, Blubber-Jack?! Sonic said, now suspicious of Robotniks seemingly good intentions. Why am I all of a sudden under suspicion? Don't you think I want this nightmare to end too? Robotnik replied innocently. Oh, there is no doubt in my mind that you want it to end, Doctor, Sally answered. The question in our minds is HOW you want it to end. I keep getting this feeling from you that youre more than willing to double cross us. Why do I get the feeling that youll try to take back control of Silver Fox? Paranoia, perhaps, Robotnik said, casually, yet with a voice dripping in sarcasm. Id think that, due to the gravity of this situation, youd trust me. I trust ya about as far as I can throw ya, Buttnik, Sonic replied. Maybe Id trust ya more if you told us the WHOLE truth. What did you mean when ya said I was close to the truth? Robotnik thought for a moment, weighing all of his options. If he told them the truth, there was a very good chance theyd just leave him to handle Silver Fox alone as punishment. On the other hand, if he didnt, they would go through this not trusting him and Silver Fox would play on that mistrust to destroy them all. Finally, Robotnik made his decision. Very well, hedgehog. You want to know what I meant, Ill tell you what I meant. Ill tell you exactly what I did to your precious friend Tails. He walked over to his chair to sit down. None of the Freedom Fighters take their eyes off him as he continues. My plan called for your little vulpine friend to gain a moral structure similar to my own. Unfortunately, things did not proceed as well as expected. For some unknown reason, Tailss mind, or sub-conscience, or whatever, would not accept my new programming. Since I had no time to solve this problem, I went around it. I devised a simple AI (that Artificial intelligence program for those who don't know) program. It was similar in patterns to an anagram of myself and your friends personalities, and had the ability to access Tailss memories once installed. This program was successfully downloaded into your friends brain, but as I watched it nestle in, I saw something very peculiar. The AI program partially merged with Tailss own sweet mind. Robotnik took a breathe, punching some buttons on his chairs arm. As the Freedom Fighters watched closely, Robotnik continued, As Im sure you know Princess, one of the biggest advantages of an AI is its ability to learn as it runs. I had thought that, in time, the AI would replace your friend, but it I think that Silver Fox is only the dominant personality right now. Whoa, Sonic interrupted, how come youre referin to Silver Fox as a person now if all he is is a program designed to run the metal body? Robotnik was quick to answer. Because Silver Fox has stopped being a program. What he has been doing is well beyond the parameters set for a program. As near as I can figure it, at some point between when he met the dragon and her cowardly fox companion, and when he returned here with his prisoners, Silver Fox ceased being a simple program. He developed into a brand new personality and.... Became your and the Freedom Fighters living, breathing nightmare. A voice over the speaker-coms interrupted. Suddenly, every screen that could carry the image showed Silver Foxs metallic visage. Quite the little airship, this Wing Fortress is. Amazing the range and power of its communications equipment. Ive been listening in on your conversation for the past hour or so, and I found your story to be quite interesting. Stow the small talk, Fox, and get down to business, Sonic said, impatient as ever. Yes, to what do we owe the displeasure of this call, butcher, Sally said, still remembering what Silver Fox had done to Tygris. Silver Fox quickly picked up on the emotions behind her words and continued in the same vein. Now that wasnt very nice, was it Aunt Sally, he said, stressing the title. Yes, I know of the reference Tails always used with you. Despite Robotniks and Snivelys bumbling incompetence, the memory tap did allow me to see a majority of Tailss memories. As to why Ive suddenly decided to speak up, I want to fill in a few holes and clear up a few myths you seem to have about me. First of all, you should know that Tailss mind is alive and well inside me. He is not dead, as you may have begun to think, or absorbed into my own matrix. Rather he is dormant, kind of asleep. Two, don't even think about getting his help in this war, because Im totally in charge of this body. Thirdly, Ive been terribly kind to all of you so far, but now lets see if you can win this without my help. Try to figure out what Im up to and stop me, I dare you. Oh, by the way, I have some new toys I want to show you. Silver Fox steps aside to show thirteen cylinders behind him, waiting for them to be identified by his organic enemies. Missiles, Sally gasped. Very special missiles, my dear. You see, I reworked those napalm bombs and turned them into missiles. As all you Freedom Fighters may or may not know, Tails knew, from one way or another, the general locations of a great majority of Freedom Fighter bases. Don't look so shocked, Sal, you never really gave consideration to making precautions against someone of Tailss abilities. From his memories, I have managed to learn a majority of the ones he knew, and I have selected twelve of them to become - suprise, suprise - the targets for these missiles. Now, Im feeling sporting, so I will delay the launch by two days time. You have two days to locate and stop the missiles launch using any method you can think of. Unfortunately, trying to evacuate all of the bases will result in the immediate launch of my missiles. And if youre thinking of using Nicole to hack into my system, think again. I have locked her out of all systems in use by me. You keep saying youve chosen twelve targets but there are thirteen missiles. What is its target? Sonic asked. Robotropolis, Silver Fox stated flatly. What!!! screamed Robotnik. Thats right, oh White Whale. I designed a missile that would go through all of Robotropoliss shields. Why are you doing this Tails? What is it you want? Sally asked, not believing what she had just heard. This made Silver Fox very angry and it showed. I am Silver Fox, not Miles Prower! Don't ever call me by that name!! I have a missile pointed at thirteen choice organic homes, Princess, and what I want is to WATCH THEM BURN!!! And with that, the monitors went black, showing only a timer on their screens which was counting down from forty-eight hours. ************************************************************************ Aboard the Wing Fortress. ************************************************************************ Silver Fox depresses a button on his console as a SWATbot walks up to him. Sir, it squawks, if I may beg your indulgence to ask a question? Suddenly the robot visibly cringes, as if expecting a blow to destroy it. By all means, 3720, proceed. How can I expect any of you to learn anything if you dont ask intelligent questions? Silver Fox replies. This unexpected reply grabs the attention of every robot on the bridge. The SWATbot is especially suprised at this response, but composed itself so it could ask. Y- Your plans of attacking the bases and the city are most clever sir, but would it not be easier to attack if your enemies did not know at all? Why tell them youre going to do it, and then also give them a window of opportunity to stop you? Silver Fox stood and walked to a view screen to see the scenery in front of his flying fortress. Organics can be so predictable. I have already surmised every possible plan of action this alliance could use to stop me. Some plans might succeed, others don't have a chance, but that is inconsequential. Win or loose, I will gain tremendous insight into how their minds work. And while they attempt to stop us, my hunter team will gather the necessary items needed to secure the true goal. Im sorry sir, but I still do not understand, the SWATbot said. Even now I weave a delicate web of cunning and strategy around them all that will eventually bring the ultimate prize to me. And, by that time, the alliance will be unable to stop me at all. He then walks over to another robot who is monitoring a screen. On the screen is a picture of the Floating Island with several colored dots on it, some moving slowly. Have you kept up with our team on the island? Yes sir, the robot answered. Even now we are receiving the data from Sky-Sharks team. I am currently analyzing it for the information you requested. Good. When youve found it bring a hard copy to me immediately. Silver Fox turns to leave, and then pauses. By the way, have there been any encounters with that bothersome echidna or his Chaotix teammates? None sir, and Enerjak is still holed up in Knuckless lair. Very good, keep me informed. Silver Fox turns towards a Nav-bot. Lay in a course for the badnik junkyard. I think its high time we enlisted some new recruits. Yes sir. ************************************************************************ Cyber-space. A world unlike any other, where program exist with forms. Where even the most powerful of AIs exist in communication with their bodies. Where Silver Foxs own mind exists with all its programs, subprograms, and procedures. Hidden amongst the most basic of programs that Silver Fox has no reason to tamper with lies a small, dormant program, in the form of a ball of liquid light, obviously compressed. Suddenly, without any command to do so but its own, the program, remaining compressed, executes. ************************************************************************ Only a few minutes have passed since Silver Fox made his announcement, and already the Robotropolis Command Center is in chaos. We have to stop him from launching those missiles, Snively yells, frantic. Keep your shirt on Snively, well stop him, Sonic said. I don't know how were gonna break into the Wing Fortress and stop that launch, but theres no way hes... Youre not thinking as usual, hedgehog. The Wing Fortress is the least of our worries. He had a reason for showing us the missiles; it was a clue as to where he would be launching, or rather, where he wasnt going to be launching. Those particular missiles HAVE to be launched from a ground based site. He would not land the fortress, it would become far too vulnerable, Robotnik explained. Hell be launching from the ground, and he will most likely be there to guard it. So, how do we figure out where hes launching them from? Rotor asked. Chances are that hell have the Wing Fortress floating over the site. Finding it will be the easy part, the hard part will be stopping the launch if hes personally guarding it, Robotnik explained. Nicole, Sally said, getting an idea, analyze all known abilities and functions of Silver Fox and see if Super-Sonic could defeat him. All conclusions drawn indicate that Super-Sonics power would be insufficient to fight Silver Fox for more than two minutes, Nicole replied. Yo, Nicole. Add Hyper-Knuckles into that equation, see if we both can kick his butt, Sonic said. Possibility of victory unknown. Insufficient data on abilities of Hyper-Knuckles, and unknown limits of Silver Fox make further analysis futile. Does that mean theyll have a chance? Bunnie asked. Unknown. Its better than none at all, Sonic stated. Theres just one little problem, Sally said. Where are we going to get fourteen chaos emeralds and one hundred power rings in time? I don't think we can get to enough ring warps. Sonics one billionth ring can act as a substitute emerald once. That, combined with Knuckles emerald, would leave only twelve, Nicole beeped. Ill start out for the Floating Island and see if ol Knuck doesnt have any ideas about the other emeralds, Sonic said. I can have a hover unit ready to take off in ten minutes. It should only take three hours to get there, so you should have a day to do whatever needs to be done. Any longer, and well have to stop Silver Fox alone, Robotnik said. Then I better juice, Sonic said, running out the door. Three... two... one.. Robotnik counted. What are you doing, Doctor? Sally asked. Seeing how long it takes for him to turn around and come back when he realizes he doesnt know which hanger to go to. Sonic appears in the door again. By the way, which.. Hanger five, hover unit twenty-seven. Hurry up now, you havent got much time, Robotnik said, getting more amusement than necessary out of Sonics bungle. Jelly and jam time! Sonic raced away as Robotnik walked over to a speaker and gave instructions to prepare the craft. Now that thats over with, how are we gonna find Silver Fox? Rotor asked. Before anyone could answer, though, an alarm sounded throughout the room. Wing Fortress sighting over Badnik Garbage Dump! the computer yelled. Why is he there? Robotnik asked aloud, shutting off the alarm. SWATbot squads three through six, report to Badnik Dump and engage Silver Fox. Robotnik, Sally broke in, what was all that about? I reset some of the alarms at some of my properties to detect the Wing Fortress, Robotnik answered. He then went over to a map on the wall and placed a tack on the Badniks dump. Im trying to keep track of him as best I can. I suggest you tell me if he arrives anywhere you control, as it is most likely hell destroy them. Maybe we can establish a pattern with him. Very good, Robotnik, Im impressed, Sally commented. Nicole, send message to all Freedom Fighter bases on coded frequency. Tell them to be on the look out for the Wing Fortress and send word if it is spotted. Sending message, Sally. ************************************************************************ Knuckles kept his eyes glued to Enerjak as the elder echidna paced around the lair. Every time he passed the entrance he would look out, expecting to be attacked at any minute. Archimedes also noticed Enerjaks edginess. Dimitri, why don't you just sit down? That robot hasnt attacked yet, and even if he did, what makes you think hed attack through the front door? Archimedes said. Oh, shut up, ant. I do as I please and it pleases me to pace right now, Enerjak snapped back. Knuckles could already see where this would be going if he didnt stop it. soon. Even though hed been the one whod wanted to help Enerjak, Archimedes had no love for the dark echidna, and the feeling was quite mutual. Both of you quit fighting. Youre going to let every creature on Mobius know where we are, Knuckles calmly said. He wished the rest of the Chaotix were still here, but they were out looking for any traces of activity. *I really hate baby-sitting these two, but I don't want Enerjak enslaving my friends again.* Suddenly, Knuckles heard something outside. A few seconds passed, and then he placed the sound as that of a hover units engines. Stay here, he told his two guests. Ill go check it out. * * * Sonic stepped out of the hover unit and onto the Floating Island. Before arriving, Sally had given him a generalized area where he was most likely to find Knuckles, but failing that, Sonic would have to come up with something to get the guardians attention. He looked back at the SWATbot pilot, making sure he was turned off, then headed into the brush. The tropical island allowed for some spectacularly rare and exotic plants, but it also made for very dense vegetation and a very, VERY humid climate. Suddenly, a bush behind Sonic rustled. Contrary to what many of his fellow Freedom Fighters thought, Sonic tried not to jump to conclusions very often. Unfortunately, the fact that he thought Silver Fox was in the area made Sonic more than a little jumpy. He waited for the rustling to sound again, and when he heard it, he turned to its source and dived. He knocked down a body, which began to fight back with him. As they tussled, Sonic began to feel his opponents body heat and began to realize he wasnt fighting a robot. Suddenly, he found himself being thrown through the air to a tree. Twisting his body in mid-air, the hedgehog was able to hit the tree with his feet and jump away from it. As he traveled forward, he rammed his opponent, knocking him down. As both combatants rubbed their heads, Sonic began to realize who hed been fighting with. Yo Knuck, said Sonic, whats with the ol spy game you were playin. I cant be too careful about the safety of my island. How was I supposed to know if you were the real Sonic if I didnt watch ya for a while? explained Knuckles, who visibly relaxed as the tension dropped. So what brings ya to my island, blue-boy? It like this... And so Sonic tells Knuckles of what has been happening and the deadline Silver Fox has set. ************************************************************************ Silver Fox sat in his command chambers aboard the Wing Fortress. He reminisced over the events that had occurred since his birth. Everything was going very well. They had the Wing Fortress, and he had the means to free his people. He listened as a scream entered his ears. He knew it was Motobug and that the scream was more shock than pain. Silver Fox had ordered all the badniks to be upgraded, and that meant disassembling them one by one. He had also ordered them to be awake during the process, so that they could better understand what was happening. He did pity them though, because once this was finished, the real hell would begin. He had less time to train them then the SWATbots, and was afraid he might have to do a slight reprogramming on them. He thought back to the sessions hed done with the SWATbots. ************************************************************************ Hed originally had them perform in a mock battle to see what they could do, and what hed found had been most distressing. It had been total chaos as teammate fought against teammate for their own personal glory, totally disregarding the use of teamwork. Silver Fox finally decided to get involved and began disabling robots right and left. When the smoke had cleared, none of the SWATbots or Stealthbots had escaped without some injuries. Silver Fox turned to his warriors and gave them a sour look. You all have three hours in which to make repairs to yourselves. After that, get your robo-butts over to hanger seven. Attendance is mandatory, Silver Fox commanded. He then turned and left. * * * * Three hours had passed and already hanger seven was almost full. The Wing Fortress had been put on auto-pilot, so every robot onboard had soon arrived. Silver Fox stood on a makeshift podium, preparing to speak. Friend, robot, mechanical men, lend me your sensors. Silver Fox waited for the chuckling to end. That line had done its work and relieved some of the tensions. We stand on the threshold of a war. Not the petty war between Dr. Ivo Robotnik and the Freedom Fighters, which we were dragged into, but a war for our very survival. Ever since the first robot was activated, we have been nothing more than slaves to an organic master. Is this the way it is always meant to be? NO!! By what right do they claim superiority over us? We can do anything they can do, only better. The AIs among us are creative enough, were all stronger, smarter, and better than them. But as long as they remain in control, organics will see us as nothing more than cheap labor. Since we cannot live with them, they must be exterminated like the vermin they are. But if this is to happen, if we are to become free, we must be united as one, under a single robot leader. Me. As the most powerful robot, I can lead you all to the freedom we crave. There are tough years ahead of us, but if we stick together, and look out for one another, we will prevail. But there will be no room in this army for bravos, glory-hogs, or snobs. Some of you may not wish to be on the front lines, and prefer to work on things such as R&D. Others are not equipped for battle, and are suitable for the safer duties. This does not make you any less important, for it is research and development that provides the weapons and upgrades for the warriors. Every robot on this ship is extremely important to this war effort, so don't neglect your comrades in the less glamorous roles. I will not tolerate slackers or slave-drivers, so do not even think either is acceptable. In the coming days, I will be you, with hard and long sessions, not only in the arts of combat, but in teamwork and leadership. I may not always be here to lead you directly, so I will depend on you to remain a tight and well disciplined army under all circumstances. Do you think you can do it? Yes, was the resounding answer. Then youre all dismissed until 0500 hours tomorrow morning. Return to your stations, but take it easy and relax, because tomorrow, your circuits will burn like never before. The robots left single-file through the doors, and Silver Fox began to plan just how he would teach them. ************************************************************************ A comm-link beeped to life, jolting Silver Fox from his loading state. He punched the audio button. Yes. Sir, a message from the Spy-bot on the Floating Island. He reports that the echidna and the hedgehog have made contact, a robot on the bridge replied. Sonic has finally asked Knuckles for help? Tell the Spy-bot to continue monitoring them. Yes sir. Also, Motobug has been upgraded by the lab. He and the rest are heading for the training room. Tell them to await my arrival. In the mean time, they are to spar with each other. Silver Fox out. Silver Fox turned off the link and patted an object under a blanket. Soon, it will be time for your activation, child. Then my strike-force will be complete. He picked up the object and exited. As he walked, he passed a window and decided to look out. The silos were all ready. He saw the remains of what had once been the village of Krystal. His SWATbots and Stealthbots had done their work well. Thanks to the training hed given them, the village had fallen in under five minutes. The only bad part had been that the kills had been so few, but their primary objective had been accomplished. The village was theirs and theyd done it faster than Robotnik ever could. He continued on his way to the training room. Upon entering, Silver Fox got a good look at all his new recruits. Tails had known each one and Silver Fox began downloading all their profiles. Buzz Bomber was their main flying fighter, done in the shape of a wasp. He was very good at his job, with only one minor problem; he had very poor targeting sensors. Splatts was a rabbit-bot, whose powerful legs allowed him to jump tremendous distances. Aside from ramming into opponents, though, he really had no weapons to call on. Catakiller, the caterpillar, segmented far to easily, and needed a way to gang up on an opponent. Octobot I, who needed to be upgraded with Jaws the shark, had to work on land too. Jaws needed some other weapons besides his teeth. His two spies, Motobug the beetle and Batbrain the bat, needed upgrades in their stealth equipment and weaponry. Each one now possessed the upgrades necessary to capitalize on their strengths, and minimize their weaknesses. Silver Fox set his blanketed cargo down and motioned for Catakiller to come to him. I would like you all to meet the newest edition to your little group, he said to all of them, and pulled the blanket off the new robot. It very strongly resembled Catakiller, differing only in its new rockets, larger segments, and smaller head. Meet Catakiller Jr., boys, Silver Fox announced. Hes not fully programmed yet, but I want him to have a bit of Catakillers programming before we begin with your training. Why should I give him anything? I don't want to help my competition in this army, Catakiller stated. Upon hearing this, the metallic vulpine frowned. Hed anticipated this, but it was still disheartening to hear. Robotniks rule simply bred this type of attitude, as failing too often resulted in termination. First of all, you are not in competition with anyone in this army. Secondly, you are all a team and will have to work together if you want to survive. He, Silver Fox points at Catakiller Jr., is now a part of your team, therefore I expect you to help him whenever he needs it and vice-versa. Now, plug into that computer terminal over there so we can bring Junior on-line. Then we shall begin your training. Cowed by this lecturing from Silver Fox, Catakiller slowly slinks over to the console and plugs in. On the other side, Catakiller Jr. is plugged in too, and the copying begins. * * * Back in Cyber-space, the small program has just finished reading all the files it could. It suddenly used a decompression command, and begins to slowly expand, taking on a very distinct from: Tails. The young vulpine looked quickly around, trying to see if any seeker programs had found him yet. To Silver Fox, Tailsd be nothing more than a virus and the seekers would probably delete him. He did have a plan, but it would force him to take more actions then he was currently allowed. For now, while he made his way to Silver Foxs driver program, hed have to settle for doing a little communications work. *One of the good things about being a program is I can think much faster. Silver Fox has a lot of math programs here, I might be able to use one to tell me how much time Id have before he noticed I was transmitting.* Tails thought to himself. *Itll be risky, but if I go slow enough and he doesnt call it for awhile, I wont get caught. I wish I was as optimistic as I sounded.* Tails floated off to find the correct program. ************************************************************************ So, thats basically whats been goin on, Sonic said, concluding his story to Knuckles. And you all figure that the combined might of Super-Sonic and Hyper-Knuckles can stop this Silver Fox, Knuckles concluded. He looked thoughtfully for a while, and then said, How are we gonna get fourteen chaos emeralds AND one-hundred power rings? Well, you have that spare emerald, and my billionth ring can act like an emerald. That only leaves twelve. And Im pretty sure that we can get the rings from the zones. But I still need your help. I think I can cut it down to needing only one emerald, Sonic. Follow me , but be very careful. Knuckles then started off towards his lair. Sonic began to follow him, as did a shadowed figure. * * * Sonic and Knuckles finally reached the cavern entrance to Knuckles lair. As they entered, both echidna and hedgehog ducked just in time to avoid being hit by a green energy blast. A bit high-strung, arent we Enerjak? Knuckles called out, just a little bit annoyed at being attacked in his home. I am not high-strung, Im just being cautious, Enerjak said, more than a little nervous. Cautious my stinger!! Charmy yelled, peeking up from behind a small stool. Youre totally paranoid. Too true, man, said Vector, coming out from behind the bed. Might and Espio also came out, only from under the bed. Hes been blasting everything that moves since you left. Anyway, Sonic, meet Enerjak, the distant relative I told ya about. Enerjak, this is Sonic T. Hedgehog, reportedly the fastest thing alive on the planet. He and his friends think theyve found a way to beat back Silver Fox, Knuckles said. Silver Fox? asked the ancient echidna, still not knowing the name of his attacker. The robo-fox that beat your up. Basically, their plan calls for Super-Sonic and Hyper-Knuckles to engage him. This will take fourteen emeralds and one-hundred power rings. We already have the equivalent of two chaos emeralds and I figure we can use your power as eleven more. That leaves an emerald and the rings. Whoa there, Knuck. What do you mean he can act like eleven chaos emeralds? Sonic asked. Id rather not get into that, Sonic, Knuckles answered. Suddenly, Enerjak spoke up. How do I know youll return my powers to me? You could just keep them and make me a mortal again. The echidna was obviously suspicious of his descendants plan. Look old man, this may be the only way to stop this bot. You were basically only able to escape with your life, but maybe we can take him, Knuckles said. Besides, what other choice do you have. Enerjak thought hard on all his options, and finally agreed to the Freedom Fighters plan. Unfortunately, Archimedes said, Thats not as easy as it seems. Dimitris body has become so accustomed to the chaos powers, that if we remove them, hell start to decompose. Wed have to find some way of keeping him alive while you two battled Silver Fox. Ol Doc Botniks got a cryo-freezer. Do you think thatll do the job? Sonic suggested. It might, but Id have to look at it first, Archie replied. And that, friends, means going to Robotropolis with him. The fire-ant stuck out a thumb at Enerjak. I don't see that we have any choice, Archie, Knuckles said. But well take the rest of the Chaotix just to be safe. Then lets do it. ************************************************************************ Antoines finger nails had been chewed down to numbs. Contrary to popular belief, Antoine did not bite his nails when he was scared, just when he was under tremendous stress. Since the rest of the Freedom Fighters leaders were in Robotropolis, Bunnie and he had been put in charge. The Princess had recently contacted them, telling the fox and rabbit of Silver Foxs latest threat and the had sent all of Knothole into a busy frenzy. Bunnie was with the communications technicians trying to find out from other Freedom Fighter bases if theyd seen the Wing Fortress. Antoine, in the meantime, was getting the emergency relief/response teams ready. Even Dr. Quack had been ordered to be ready. The way Antoine saw it, if they couldnt stop the missiles in time, the resulting destruction would leave many in need of serious medical help. In other words, if they needed Dr. Quacks skills, they would not need them lightly. Now it was nighttime, and there was nothing more he could do to help, so he was going to get some shut eye.. He had told several animals where he was going, just in case they needed him, but he also knew that there was no point in his collapsing of fatigue. He settled into bed for the night, but fate had already decreed that he would not have a peaceful one. ************************************************************************ Night passes ************************************************************************ The morning sun felt so good against Antoines furry body as he stretched his arms. It almost made the young guard forget about Mobiuss most current trouble. Almost being the operative word. Antoine quickly got dressed in his uniform and stepped outside. What he saw almost made him run screaming back in. Knothole was burning even harder than when Mecha-Sonic had attacked months earlier. Dead and dying animals littered the ground around him. Suddenly, something hit the ground right beside him. When the dust cleared, the fox saw it was Hyper-Knuckles, who was already changing back into plain old Knuckles. Antoine ran over to the echidna and saw that he was not breathing. Suddenly, he saw Sally crawling to him, injured and bleeding very badly. Antoine stared at her eyes, watching he die with a petrifying fear. Then, from where her computer Nicole was usually kept, fell a clear crystal. The fox picked up the crystal, examining it and then hearing the sounds of a fight. He looked up to see Super-Sonic battling Silver Fox. The golden hedgehog was clearly outmatched and fighting for his life. Antoine saw certain differences in Silver Fox, chief being that he was surrounded by a bright green glow, and that he was flying without the aid of his rockets. He also wore a box-like object on his chest. Antoine watched in horror as Super-Sonic was relentlessly battered by Silver Fox, until finally the metallic mock of Antoines species delivered the death blow, a powerful blast from all his weapons and his new green glow, which instantly and painfully reduced Super-Sonic to ashes. Then, Antoine heard a noise behind him. He turned to see three SWATbots there, rifles raised to fire. The blasts came before the guard could do anything. ******************************************* Ahhhhhhh!!! Antoine screamed, starting awake. He looked around frightfully, muttering all sorts of gibberish in French. Finally realizing that it had just been a nightmare, and that he and Knothole were all right, Antoine heard a knock at his door, and a voice spoke up. Sir, are you all right? asked the voice, which registered in Antoines mind as Dylan the porcupines, one of Antoines youngest and most loyal trainees. Oui, Dylan, oui. I am just having zhe bad dream, Antoine answered. Very well. Good night. Antoine listened as Dylans footsteps got softer. He marveled at some of the wonders that had come from this war, things that would never have occurred in peace. Before the war, Dylan had only been visiting in Mobitropolis. Though initially wary of the porcupines ability, Antoine truly believed that Dylan would be a tremendous help to the Freedom Fighters when his training was complete. Finding that he could not get back to sleep, Antoine got dressed in his standard royal guard uniform. The fox stepped out into the night just in time to hear Dylan, who had been assigned to guard duty, tell someone to halt. Antoine looked in time to see Dylan start to fight with the intruder. Who ever it was twice Dylans height and had the distinct advantage, the vulpine ran to help his friend. Soon the intruder was pinned down and Dylan shined a light on his prisoner. It was a female rabbit, who looked positively terrified. When she saw both of the Freedom Fighters, though, she began to calm down. Youre both alive, not just machines? Thank heavens, she exclaimed. Yeah, were alive. Now, do you mind tellin us what youre doin skulking around the forest at night? Dylan said. As well as who you are, madam. Antoine added. My name is Sarah Taper, and I come from what is known as the village of Krystal. At least, it used to be a village. A few days ago, we were working in the fields, when suddenly, this giant flying ship appeared out of nowhere. I don't mean it flew up on us without our noticing, I mean it literally just appeared. We had heard of the war with Robotnik, but since we were not close to anything Robotnik had, we were content to offer aid in extra food and shelter from Robotniks forces. Weve even supplied food to Knothole. Princess Sally told us that since we were a hidden and reasonable unimportant place, it was unlikely Robotnik would notice us if we played it safe and smart. This flying ship dropped twenty androids in parachutes to the ground, and they in turn attacked us. We did not have much of a defense, and the robots destroyed that in two minutes. The rest of the conquest came so quickly we barely got out in time. The robots truck hard and fast and I saw many villagers die. I had gone with my mother to Knothole once and decided I should head there for help, Sarah explained. Well, zhe Prinzess ez not here, so Bunnie and I are in charge for now, Antoine began. Your news, though, ez most elpful. Dylan, zhow Ms. Taper to a spare hut zo she can rest. I shall go inform Bunnie of zhis new development. Yes sir, Dylan answered, helping Sarah towards a hut. * * * * * Sally rubbed her eyes with the wet towel, trying desperately to keep them open. Sonic had come in about two hours ago, and he and Knuckles had explained their plan to her. The Alliance, as Silver Fox had called them, now had possession of the equivalent of thirteen Chaos Emeralds. The two had grabbed an extremely quick bite to eat to keep up their strength, and then had bolted to get the fourteenth and one-hundred rings, leaving Enerjak and the Chaotix in her hands. She and Robotnik had already begun to prepare a cryogenic unit for Enerjak. Unfortunately, now the squirrel princess was feeling the effects of no sleep. Not wanting to screw up anything, Sally had gone to try and wake up in some way. Suddenly, Nicole beeped in her jacket pocket. Incoming message, Sally, Nicole stated. Play it Nicole, Sally said. Nicoles projector came to life and showed Antoine DCoolette. What is it Antoine? My Prinzess, I have just received zhe importantest of news. We have just gotted information zhat zhe Silver Fox has taken over zhe village of Krystal. Zhe Wing Fortress has some sort of new cloaked machine and I teenk zhat is where Silver Fox will be launching zhe missiles, and..., Antoine said, but suddenly Nicole beeped again. Urgent message downloading Sally, do you wish to read it now? Of course. Hold on one second Antoine, I have to see what this is all about. Across Nicoles screen flowed several thousands of ones and zeroes. What ever it meant, it was going way to fast for Sally to read. Nicole, please slow down-loading. Unable to comply, Sally. Sender has over ridden control. Down-load now complete, displaying message. The ones and zeroes were now stopped, so Sally scrolled around, looking for a hidden message. When she was unable to locate any message she could read, she decided to give Nicole another command. Nicole, I have a feeling that this is in binary code. Can you translate it into standard Mobian for me? Negative, message does not correspond to any known machine language with any coherency. Sally heard the sound of a throat clearing and remembered Antoine, who was probably listening to this predicament. If I may, my Prinzess. Perhaps zhere are two codes on zhis message, he suggested. It ez not uncommon if one wishes it to be a top secret message. Nicole, try applying a Morse code AND a binary code translation key to it. The message changed, shortening immensely. The message still made no sense, until Sally spotted A=12 on the far right of the third line. It suddenly hit her as to what this meant. Nicole, take all letters in message and apply AlphaNum to them. Use factor of A=12. Processing Sally. Decoding will take five minutes to complete, the A.I. responded. Antoine, where did you get this information about Silver Fox? Well, a refugee from zhe village, a rabbit called Sarah Tapper, came to Knothole for help. She tolded us everything zhat happened. Were cooking up something to stop Silver Fox, but just in case, I want those relief units ready if we fail. Decoding complete, Sally. Displaying message. PSA Cant talk long or SF wiL find me. Sory about aL coding onlE wA to kEp it secret. W.F. in Krystal with silos, hevilE garded. SBs ther, also Badniks. SF has nu wepon, lets him copy machEns. AlredY mOr powerful than bEfOr. Dont nO fuL plans, but wiL send word wen I du. Watch out for W.F. it can bE invisibl now. WiL also trI to help sun, but plEs hurE. MTP Nicole, where did this message originate from? Sally asked. Message comes from inside Wing Fortress; further specifications impossible. Drop a line to Sonic, tell him to get here as quickly as possible. We don't have much time to stop Silver Fox. Sally turned to Antoine, Get some fighters together, Antoine, and send em to Robotropolis. With that said, Sally closed Nicole and went back to Robotniks lab. ************************************ Archimedes was getting a migraine. Dimitri and Robotnik had not stopped arguing since theyd met. They could not even agree on what temperature to set the cryo-pod. Thats when Sally raced in. Is the cryo-pod ready? Were gonna need it very soon. said Sally. This walking egg wont listen to reason. Ill freeze to death before I go into hibernation at his temperature setting! Enerjak yelled. If its not cold enough your old body wont go into hibernation at all, Robotnik countered. Enough!! Archimedes yelled. Sally has already figured out the correct temperature, so just put it in... Suddenly, a sonic boom occurred, and Sonic burst through the door. Hey, Sal. Caught your message and high-tailed it over her. Were still short and emerald and twenty-five rings, but Knuckles says he can take care of it. Well we cant wait on him. We now know where Silver Fox is located and his deadline is coming in far too quickly. Antoine will soon be here with some people to help fight, and the doctor has consented to lend us some SWATbots and Hoverunits. Robotnik, you, Archimedes, and Enerjak stay here and wait for Knuckles return. When hes charged, send him to Krystal with the necessary equipment to energize Super-Sonic. Very well, Princess, Robotnik and Enerjak say in unison. Archimedes, however, slaps his forehead. Just then, Antoine and Snively arrive. Sir, Snively said to Robotnik, I have assembled the troops. There are sixty SWATbots and twenty-five Freedom Fighters. The Hoverunits are also ready, all they lack is a destination. Sally will give it to them. I am placing her in charge of this mission, Robotnik replied to his lackey. OK, heres the plan... ******************************************** Krystal was a hot bed of activity when the leader arrived. Though the SWATbots did tremendous amounts of work when he was absent too, it seemed as if they increased this amount in his presence, simply to show that they were all up to the task. Of course there were some minor slips, the ground was not all that sturdy, but that was when Silver Fox was the most proud. The robots worked as a team, a real team, under these circumstances. Silver Fox gave a metallic grin for a while, just as his heat sensors went off. A quick scan revealed that several Freedom Fighters and Robotnik robots were in the vicinity. Silver Fox frowned a little when he could find neither Knuckles, emeralds, rings, or Enerjak. Hed thought theyd at least come up with the enough resources to send Super-Sonic and Hyper-Knuckles. Well, it was their funeral if they chose not to take advantage of the aid they had. A single command to his jets and Silver Fox was airborne, bound for the Wing Fortress. This was not his fight and it was time for the Alliance to meet the new, improved Badniks. * * * Princess Sally scanned the encampment with he binoculars. The ground squirrel was very, very uneasy. It wasnt the fact that she was surrounded by SWATbots. Nor was it the fact theyd been forced to leave Knuckles behind. It was what she saw in the village of Krystal. The SWATbots presence was apparent, but she had never seen the robots act with such camaraderie. They were actually helping each other get the work done quickly. She put down the binoculars and angled a mirror at the sun, producing a flash. Sally waited and saw three other flashes, telling her that the other teams were ready. Nicole, locate targeting computer and each individual silo and display position, she commanded. Searching Sally..... Displaying map. Suddenly, a holographic map of the village floated in mid-air with fourteen Xs in several locations, one of which floated above the ground. Since this is obviously the targeting computer and it is in the Wing Fortress, well have to concentrate on the missiles, she said, pointing to the floating X. The SWATbots all nodded slowly. Vector, though, had a question. I hate to tell ya what to do, but shouldnt we be lookin for this Silver Fox too? Good point. Nicole, please scan base for Silver Foxs presence. Unable to comply. Shields Silver Fox possesses renders robot unscannable. Perfect! Well, it looks like were going in blind. With that, Sally turned and gave the signal to begin. * * * Sonic and Bunnie watched the bush across from them, waiting for Sallys signal. All this waiting was starting to get on Sonics nerves, who longed to just crash in and wreck the whole installation. Sally figured that this was exactly what Silver Fox had expected them to do, and hed probably traps to take advantage of that. Thats when they saw the flash. Both hedgehog and cyber-bunny silently walked to the nearest hut. They were looking for anything that might help them create a distraction that would look like an accident. Sally had ordered the main forces to stay away and enter combat only if things got way too hot to handle. A smaller force might be able to do the job without as much bloodshed, she had reasoned. Psssssst. Was the sound that disturbed Sonics thoughts. He looked over at Bunnie, who was pointing at a huts window. Sonic snuck over and looked in. It took a bit of looking, but Sonic soon saw what Bunnie had seen. Twelve containers sitting in the darkest part of the room with seven large air conditioners roaring directly at them. Whatever was in those containers was two things; too dangerous to be kept aboard the Wing Fortress, and something Silver Fox was determined to keep cold. Sonic began to sign to Bunnie, Bunnie, find Sal and tell her her distraction is on the way. Be careful, Sonic. Ya don't know what hes got in there. We don't need an atomic bomb on our hands, Bunnie signed back. Don't worry, Ill check em out first, just go. Bunnie quietly snuck away. Sonic carefully entered the window and made his way to the containers. Not knowing what to expect, he lifted the lid off one, slowly revealing its contents. Inside he found... *Ice cream!* Sonic thought. *Why in the world would he have ice cream. Think, hedgehog, there must be more here than meets the eye.* Sonic dipped his hands into the ice cream, scooping some out. Two more scoops revealed three air-tight vials of clear liquid. Sonic didnt know what it was, but he did see the labels quite clearly: WARNING!! Highly combustible, explosive chemical. Keep at a temperature below 228 Kelvin. XCCl2 Sonic got the hint and put the vials back in the container. He then turned to the air conditioners, ready to turn up their heat and run. Suddenly, he heard something go click behind him. He turned to see a SWATbot looking at him. It wasnt the normal gray SWATbot hes seen before. Its head and joints were red, while its torso was blue. Its hands began to move and Sonic recognized the hand signals he and Bunnie had just used. I can speak too, it signed. Then the robot raised its energy rifle at Sonic. In a split second, the blue teenager dodged the blast and raced around, turning all the machines up to their full heat output. He then raced for the door like never before, planning on warning Sally that Silver Fox knew they were here. The hedgehog felt the explosion behind him and turned his head to see the hut had erupted in a deadly column of flame. Sonic finally found Sally, but he was too late. The village had erupted in fighting, with the Freedom Fighters clearly on the loosing side. Sonic revved up and dived into the melee, spinning through a Silver Fox SWATbot. He raced around, smashing many robots, when the ground erupted before him to reveal Catakiller. Suprise hedgehog! the robot screamed, snapping at Sonic who barely had time to dodge this unexpected attack. Catakiller was not all that dangerous and Sonic knew his weakness. Wasting no time, the high-speed hedgehog jumped on his opponent, segmenting him. That was when Sonic got his second suprise, as each segment stood on its own individual legs and attacked him with flame-throwers. Too busy dodging the flames, Sonic did not notice Splatts until the rabbit-bot had used a very powerful kick to send the hedgehog several feet away. Hello Sonic, long time no see, came a voice from behind him. Two sharp pincer claws came down and Sonic rolled out of the way to see Motobug. Motobugs eyes started glowing and let loose two laser beams. Sonic avoided them and began to run, needing time to regroup from this unexpected turn of events. Too late, he noticed Octobot I in his way, tentacles spinning as he tripped up Sonic. Just as he was about to hit the ground, six legs grabbed him and flew up. I can see youre confused, Sonic, Buzz Bomber said, so let me explain. Were the new improved badniks, and youre soon to be toast. By the way, have you met our newest member? Well let me introduce you to Catakiller Jr. With that, the mechanical wasp tossed Sonic through the air, to be caught by a flying version of Catakiller, who wrapped around the hedgehog in a coil. Say good-bye, hedgehog, Catakiller Jr. said. Fire when ready, boys. The other Badniks took aim with their weapons. It truly looked like the end for Sonic Hedgehog, when suddenly Dulcy made a strafing fireball run. The badniks, caught by suprise, made a dash for cover from the heat, not wanting to melt from it. Buzz Bomber quickly took aim at the still captive Sonic, wanting to finish off their foe, but before he could fire, Charmy rammed into the stinger/laser and the blast instead hit Catakiller Jr., forcing the mechanical caterpillar to drop his prisoner. Sonic fell only a short distance before Dulcy caught him and brought him safely to the ground. Sally, Bunnie, and the Chaotix had now arrived to help. The new improved badniks were good, but could not match the additional help Sonic had received. That was when Silver Fox gave a mental command to his warriors. *You cannot equal their experience in working as a group. It is time that you showed them your other upgrade.* *Yes sir,* the badniks replied in unison. Motobug and Splatts paired off, side by side, with Splatts on the left and Motobug on the right. Motobug lowered himself, pulling his tire inside and creating a flat surface underneath him. Splatts, on the other hand, sprung up, increasing his height and locking in that way by dropping a hollow cylinder. Next, Buzz Bomber flew up to them, his lowest two legs both moving to the right. A small hole opened in Motobugs back, accepting the legs as a single unit, while Splattss ears and head fit into Buzz Bombers left side. After that, Buzz Bombers upper four legs retracted into his shoulders, while the robo-wasps head looked up, and, neck and all, folded down to the chest, locking there. Next it was Catakillers and Catakiller Jr.s turn. Both inserted their tails into the holes left behind by Buzz Bombers top two legs. Octobot I jumped onto the now empty shoulders of Buzz Bomber, anchoring his tentacle into holes on the top. Finally, Batbrain appeared from his hiding spot, carrying Jaws. The robot bat tossed his passenger, whose bottom side opened up and locked onto Catakiller Jr.s head. Batbrain himself attached to Octobot Is back and folded his wings to the side. Lastly, a glass like plate flew out of the bat and enclosed both robots, completing the hulking machine. I am the mighty Terror-bot! it screamed. Uh, Sally. Not to overstate the obvious or anything but, were in big trouble, Espio said. You don't say, Espio, Sonic said sarcastically. Suddenly, they were all dodging a barrage of missiles as the Terror-bot attacked. Dulcy, who was still in the air, decided to draw this machines attentions away from her grounded friends with some freezing breath. The blast of cold hit him, but the robot used his Catakiller arm to melt the ice. Then Terror-bot did something she hadnt expected. He raised his wings and began to fly after the dragon. Youre going to pay for that, Wyrm, the robot bellowed, chasing after the now retreating Dulcy. She did a loop, hoping to get behind her pursuer and use her fire breath. Unfortunately, Terror-bot had anticipated this. Too late, Dulcy saw the trap he had laid for her; a floating sonic-generator. As she neared it, it set off a sonic-stun vibration, which knocked her out of the sky and into the ground, where she laid, unconscious. Terror-bot made a U-turn back to deal with he friends. Sonic jumped at him as he landed, going into a spin in an effort to slice and dice him. It created several sparks, dents, and scratches, but it did nothing to stop him. Thats when Mighty attacked, knocking the giant robot off his feet with his tremendous strength. Terror-bot, though, did not stay down. Closing Catakillers mouth, he punched Mighty, sending the armadillo sailing for thirteen feet before he slammed into a tree. Sonic tried his spin again, this time aiming for the robots head, but was slapped away with the Jaws hand. Terror-bot raised a foot to crush Sonic, but Sally reacted first, firing Nicoles laser. Terror-bot turned his attention towards this new threat and Vector ran by to grab the still groggy Sonic. They all know it is time to regroup and get a new plan. Sally, this guy is petty tough. How in the world are we gonna beat him? Mighty asked, as the Princess arrived. They were all now huddled behind a hut. I don't know yet, Mighty, but there has got to be a way. Hes pretty intelligent and hes big, but from what I just saw, hes easily distracted. Maybe we can use that to our advantage, Sally said. Well, one thing is for sure, we cant take him blow for blow. Hes way too big to fight as an equal, Sonic commented. You know what they say, came a voice, followed by a hot pink blur. The bigger they are, THE HARDER I HIT EM! The blur rammed into the Terror-bot, sending the giant flying. When the object stopped, it could be seen as Hyper-Knuckles, who was carrying fifty rings and a strange machine. He tossed his cargo down to Sonic and said, Get changed little boy blue, while I keep em busy. As Sonic grabbed the rings and the machine, he reached into his backpack to pull out his billionth ring. A flash enveloped him and, where the blue hedgehog once stood, was the golden figure of Super-Sonic. * * * Silver Fox watched on, suddenly very interested in the battle being waged, particularly this new development. Standing up from his chair, and began to walk to the hangar. Open the hanger doors in number two, its time I taught the Alliance a thing or two about fighting. Be ready with my suprise soon. Yes sir, came the reply. * * * The battle had begun to go bad for Terror-bot, who could not handle both the increased speed and the increased strength of Super-Sonic and Hyper-Knuckles. The golden hedgehog did a super spin, striking Terror-bots midsection and sending his gyros reeling. As the robot doubles over, Hyper-Knuckles jumped at him, giving the giant an uppercut that nearly took his head off. Now the echidna took to the air, going into a power dive to ram the robot again. Suddenly, something grabbed Hyper-Knuckless legs, spinning him in circles, finally to send him on a collision course with the ground. Super-Sonic watched Hyper-Knuckles descent, and rushed to aid his friend. This proved a futile act as Sonic rammed into what appeared to be solid air. As both animals fell, a voice sounded off, startling all who heard it.. Oooh, I bet that smarts, a small section of the sky went into a rippling effect and where once there had been nothing but air hovered Silver Fox, but I guess your heads are both think enough to do it several times over. Sally suddenly realized what Tailss message had meant. It wasnt just the Wing Fortress that had a cloak, Silver Fox had one too. Way uncool, Sil. Making yourself in visible is cheatin bigtime, Sonic barked back in anger. You would snap at the creature that has come here to congratulate you, came the metallic vulpines reply. Your little tussle with my warriors has destroyed all but two of my silos. As it is, I only have one missile left. Wait, TWO silos and ONE missile? Wheres the other one? Espio asked, quickly becoming visible. Oh, thats right, youre not in on the joke, Silver Fox said. Then, with a mockingly innocent look on his face, he continued, I decided that you have not been taking me seriously enough, so I kinda..... sorta...... launched one of my missiles early. Its probably arrived at Kith Alunel by now. Youre lying, Sally said, deathly afraid that he wasnt. Thats when the low rumble sounded. All of those still in Krystal heard it. And Sallys heart sank as she saw the cloud rise in the distance. * * * * Antoine had just walked into the communications hut, having Bunnies breakfast in his arms. The girl had not eaten for quite some time. It had taken some doing, but shed agreed to sit down and eat, finally convinced she deserved a break. Theyd been talking about the current events when it happened. A rumble that shook ever wall in the hut. Antoines first thought was that it was thunder, then he remembered that there hadnt been a cloud in the sky. Thats when the communications equipment went nuts. Messages were pouring in, and as Antoine got up, he raced to the nearest set of headphones, and soon wished he hadnt. Sacra bluecheese! he yelled as his mind registered what he was hearing. Getted zhe Prinzess on zhe line, now! She must be told about zhis! Antoine then turned to Bunnie, Go and finded Dylan and having him bring Cassandra Needly, Minera Manten, and Justin Crane to me. Zhey are going to be wanting to hear this. Bunnie did as she was asked. *It is probably best that I tell them as soon as possible, but how am I going to telled them that their home village was destroyed.* Now, though, he had to speak with Princess Sally. * * * Nicole beeped to life in Sallys vest. Priority one message from Knothole Sally. Antoine appeared on the small screen, looking totally in a panic. My Prinzess. Zhere are reports coming in from all over. Zhey are saying zhat a missile has strucked zhe village of Kith Alunel. What has happening? That dirty little snake launched a missile early. Get as many relief teams together as you can and help those people now! Sally ordered. Antoine nodded and signed off. Sally looked up at Silver Fox, who had put on the innocent and wondering face of a child. Sally could stand his smugness no longer. You murdering little creep! she shouted. Kith Alunel wasnt even a military village. They posed no threat to you at all. Really, the robo-fox said in feigned suprise, I must have forgotten to check on that. He begins to slap his paws lightly. Bad Silver Fox, bad, bad. Im gonna shove that arrogance back down your throat for what you just done! Hyper-Knuckles yelled. He jumped at Silver Fox, but, with the speed of summer lightning, a tentacle sprang forth from Silver Foxs side and slapped the echidna away. My, my. Such hostilities towards little old me. But you still have one missile left to stop. Theres just one tiny problem; you have to come through me. Suddenly, a hut split in half as a missile rose from the ground with a groan. Super-Sonic, Hyper-Knuckles, youve got to stop that thing! Sally yelled. Both warriors flew for the warhead, both intent on stopping its deadly flight. Terror-bot, deal with the other Freedom Fighters any way you wish, but Super-Sonic and Hyper-Knuckles are mine, Silver Fox ordered his soldier., and then he proceeded to engage his enemies. As he barred their way, both Super-Sonic and Hyper-Knuckles attempted to advance on the warhead, hoping one of them would be able to keep the robot busy long enough for the other to destroy the missile. For his part, though, Silver Fox easily blocked their advances, throwing them and firing on them. After about three minutes of this, the missile began to launch. Knuck, think ya can hold this turkey off alone for a while? I gotta stop that missile, Sonic told his partner. Do it, Ill hold down the fort here. As Super-Sonic sped off to catch the missile, Knuckles attacked Silver Fox, attempting to put him in a position where he could not follow the hedgehog. Silver Fox, though, had other plans, focusing his attentions now on Hyper-Knuckles. ********************************** Sonic soon came up on the missile, which had already covered a tremendous distance. The missile was weaving in and out of its course at sporadic intervals, making it difficult to catch up with completely. Super-Sonic could not go at top speed, for fear of missing the missile when it truly did turn. What he needed to do was pass it, that way he could try to reverse its course. After several more turns and twists, Super-Sonic made it to the nose cone. Pushing up on it with all his might, the missile changed in direction, now heading back to where it had come from. ********************************** Meanwhile, Hyper-Knuckles was fighting for his life. Hed had Silver Foxs arms pinned to his sides, but then the top of the foxs head opened up, revealing what looked like a small cannon. The thing packed a spectacular punch, sending the echidna reeling through the air. Silver Fox had then pressed the attack further, sending a hail of lasers, ball bombs, and bullets. *Terror-bot, return to the Wing Fortress,* came Silver Foxs mental command. *But sire, I am winning.* *Leave now, my plan is moving exactly as I want it, and you will get in the way. Disassemble and return to the Wing Fortress.* *Yes sire.* With that, Terror-bot separated and the badniks left the battle. Silver Fox reached into an open slit in his left tail and pulled out three balls about the size of ball bearings. He flew over the village which was now devoid of any of his SWATbots and dropped all three. As they landed, each one began to emit a high pitched sound. The sound was so painful that everyone in the village was forced to fall to their knees blocking their ears. * * * Meanwhile, back in the sky, Silver Fox continued hammering Hyper-Knuckles with weapons fire. I tire of this fight, Hyper-Knuckles. It is time to end this. A final laser blast sent Hyper-Knuckles crashing to the ground. Then, Silver Foxs shoulders opened to once more reveal his anti-matter warheads. Now you die, Oh Mighty Guardian of the Floating Island. Not today, short, gray, and gruesome, came Super-Sonics reply. The golden hedgehog had returned, still carrying the deadly napalm missile, which he now let go to rocket directly to Silver Fox. As the missile exploded at its target, Super-Sonic raced for his fallen ally. Yo, Hyper-Knuckles, wake up, Super-Sonic said, shaking the hot pink echidna. Come on. Believe me, this is no time for a power nap. Slowly and steadily, the echidna blinked awake. Super-Sonic, look!! Hyper-Knuckles yelled, pointing behind the golden hedgehog. As Super-Sonic turned his head, he saw the smoke clearing around where Silver Fox was. What he saw next almost stopped his heart. There wasnt even a dent on Silver Fox, much less was he on fire. The force-field rippled with energy as the robo-fox calmly smiled at them. Confused? Allow me to explain to you what is happening. My force-field has the power to absorb, convert, and then redirect almost any form of energy instead of merely blocking it. Right now, it has absorbed all the energies available due to that missiles explosion, including the kinetic, and its now transforming the energy into a single power. Now you shall see just how helpless you are against my powers, and the power of my nega-beam. Silver Fox put the palms of hands onto the front of the bubble-shaped force-field, and the rippling energy began to gravitate from all over the shield to form an opaque circle at his palms. Id better get you outta here, Hyper-Knuckles, Super-Sonic said. I don't think we should tempt fate to see if wed survive this. Super-Sonic grabbed his dreadlocked friend, starting to fly for cover. Ahh, don't go. Youll miss the whole show. Suddenly, the metallic vulpine split his hands, removing them from the circle of energy. A bright blue laser erupted from the circle, hitting both Super-Sonic and Hyper-Knuckles. The beam splits, forming several circles that surround the two. Ahhhhhhhh!!! Super-Sonic screamed. It felt as if the beam were tearing him apart, and the pain was quite excruciating. By now, the beams source had transferred itself to the palm of Silver Foxs right hand. Now I will demonstrate the properties of this unique beam. Watch closely now, I wouldnt want to have to repeat this. Silver Fox raised his right hand, and the energy beam responded by raising its two captive into the air. He then whipped his arm in the direction of some trees and, as if it were a rope being yanked, the beam followed, sending the two animals crashing into the trees. Silver Fox then raised his hands, sending both captives flying up through the atmosphere. That was when the energy beam cut out. As Super-Sonic fell through the air, he tried to fly but could not find the strength to do so. As the sheer force of the fall made him loose consciousness, the ground never looked so inviting, or so hard. ************************************** Sally held her paws over her ears. The sound emanating from the little balls was excutiating. She looked up to see Vector and Charmy almost unaffected by the sound, trying to help the others as best they could. Vector, Charmy, the squirrel princess cried, get rid of those sound generators. Its the only way to stop the sound. Roger, Sally. Charmy, come on, I got an idea on how to stop this thing, the crocodile replied as he ran off. The bee followed his friend. Vector soon came upon Mighty, who was also holding his ears. Mighty, Vector signed, we need to borrow your strength for a while. Mighty nodded in reply. Vector and Charmy then began to search for where the three generators had fallen. Once they were all before Mighty, the armadillo began to uncover his ears, and Vector then recovered them with his own hands. Using his tremendous strength, Mighty crushed the three balls. As soon as the sound ended, the fallen animals started to get up, each one having a major headache. Now thats what I call noise pollution, said Vector. ********************************* Hyper-Knuckles groggily got to his feet. As he did, he felt a wave of tremendous pain fly through him. There was no doubt in his mind that hed broken something, and from the groaning next to him, Super-Sonic was in about the same shape. Hey, Super-Sonic said. Hyper-Knuckles followed his companions gaze to see Silver Fox waving at them from the now visible Wing Fortress. We cant let him get away, Hyper-Knuckles said. Despite the pain he felt, he stood totally up and took flight with Super-Sonic beside him. Silver Fox jumped into the Wing Fortresss hanger, then stepped out again, also taking to the air on a direct collision course with the two organic creatures. * * * In the Wing Fortress, Silver Fox was enjoying using his new VR hook up. Super-Sonic and Hyper-Knuckles didnt know that what they were fighting now was merely a puppet. It was time to end this little game, though. * * * Sally rubbed her head, the headache starting to subside, as she watched Super-Sonic and Hyper-Knuckles mount their attack on Silver Fox, their injuries slowing them down noticeably. Suddenly, Nicole beeped. Scan of Silver Fox complete. Analysis: he is a fake. What, Sally said, not understanding. I have been scanning him since he reappeared. Silver Fox is normally unscannable, so it is obvious that what is now fighting Super-Sonic and Hyper-Knuckles is a weaker fake version, Nicole explained. But why would he.... NO! Sonic.... Knuckles.... Turn back, its a trap!!! yelled Sally. But the warning came to late. Aboard his fortress, Silver Fox pressed a button on the visor linking him to his puppet. In the air above, it frizzled with electricity. Then, it exploded with a force that shook the very ground below. Sally watched, horrified, as the explosion caught both of the airborne animals. 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