Davey finds something in his jacket. "Waitaminute. What's this? Hey!! It's that Chaos Emerald from Haunted Fantasies--I still have it!! Why did I have it with me all this time?" He hands it to King Acorn. "We can use this on the ROCC, son. Look, here comes some Power Rings--scoop them up, we'll need them!" "Will do." David whips out his Power Rifle and uses it like a lance to snag up the rings . . . FoxFire Studios Present: Blood and Metal: Restart Installment Three By David Gonterman [dgonterman@aol.com] http://users.aol.com/dgonterman Sonic the Hedgehog by Sega of America Blood and Metal by David Gonterman ______________________________________ The original five {David with Acorn, Sonia, Antoine, and Bear} were joined with MechTail in his recently recovered KARR-- honestly, that's how he spells it--looking very stern. -Damn, he's still mad at me for what I did in the battle.- David thought. -All the more need to get this ROCC back to Knothole, and the sooner, the better.- "There it is son--The First Headquarters of Doctor Robotnik! Up there in the mountaintop. . ." The scientific observatory in question loomed in front of them, complete with a telescope positioned to look out more for hedgehogs then for stars, and at one side . . . "Geez Loueez, *that* is one *ugly* sculpture!! Who made that trash?!" He reached for the Rifle and with a "WHO MADE THIS TRASH?!" began to plink away at the figure of 'Egg Man's' obese head. The others joined in, managing to remove that head before reaching inside. _____________________________________ Everything was covered in a foot of dust, which was promptly blown out the windows they opened and spilled free into the woods below. Bear managed to wipe a control panel clear between hacking. "most of these toys are long since dead, not to mention out-of-date. . ." "AN APPLE II?!" Davey couldn't believe his eyes at one old- fashioned desktop. "My father *stooped* to get an Apple II?!? No *wonder* he became evil!!" "What's so wrong with these Apple IIs?" "Here, Your Majesty," David reached behind him and flipped it on. "I'll show you." It only took three key presses for the screen to go blank and the order of fusing wires to smoke out of the motherboard. "*That's* why!! The only thing Apples are good for is sauce and pie filling." They search all over the building. They found some more obsolete equipment, which they promptly discarded, with the exception of an Amiga 500 which Davey stashed in his bike ("Kicker will go gaga over this baby . . .") An unplugged refrigerator filled with hard-boiled eggs. ("Do *not* go in there!! The smell will bring your death!!") Plenty of busted robot parts and electronic equipment, but no ROCC. But then Davey did the first thing he *should* be doing: He consulted Julian, his pocket computer that his Father gave him before becoming Robotnik. "A blue button will move the telescope away from the center. Underneath will be a trap door. the ROCC is stashed below." It was done as Julian said. The trap door had to be pulled on by Davey, Sonia, MechTail and Bear before it popped free and opened. A ladder led down into darkness. "Great. I hate it when it gets dark." Davey climbed down first, his eyes lighting up like headlights as he went into the cellar. As Bear followed with a lantern, Davey found the cellar was cold, but dry. No dust is apparent, and everything appeared to be sturdy and in proper order. David found the ROCC first. A large round dome in the center, with a motor-type casing in one side and a control panel in the other. "I wonder if it still works?" Julian had the answer. "At one side of the control panel, you'll find something that looks like a copular phone jack. Insert me in it and it will start up; I am the key to the ROCC." He found the right slot and plugged Julian in. A screen lit up on the control panel: ROCC ONLINE # Rings: 0 # Emeralds: 0 Time: 0:00 {And climbing} Ks of Chaotic Energy: 0 Max Chaotic Energy: 0 {A bar showing percentage of maximum capability held} By the time Davey was done reading this, the chamber of the ROCC sparkled into life; the doughnut-shaped groove for the rings rotating. "It works!!" "Great!! I'll get King Acorn and the guys to help us pull this out." We went up the ladder. "But I don't know how; this trap door's too small--HEY!!" The trap door suddenly closed shut. Something is heard falling on top of it. Davey ran back up the ladder and pounded on the door. "What's going on back there?!" He could only hear MechTail's voice: "I'm sorry my friend, but if the same thing that happened to your father happens to you, I'm going to make sure that you don't come out alive." "Oh, very funny, Mech . . . Hey Mech? . . . Paul?!! PAAAAAULLL!!!" He could hear three people gang up on the squirrel, and King Acorn's voice. "Don't panic, son. We'll get you outta there . . . once we teach this squirrel here a lesson on how to treat his common critter. Just find out how that ROCC works." Acorn turns away. David returns to the ROCC, with the emerald and a dozen rings in his arms. "Well, I've gotta stash these *somewhere,*" David said as he opened up the chamber, and lowered in the emerald. To his surprise, the emerald floated in mid air. As he set the rings in place, he began to feel strange, not tired, but not angry, either. In fact, he felt his anger begin to leave him, not all at once, mind you, but a little bit at a time. He didn't feel his teeth grit themselves together anymore. His forehead began to relax and float above his eyes, instead of lying low, just hanging above the eyeballs. David thought he was feeling stripped of an ever present emotion like being undressed like a baby. He pulled himself out of the chamber, breathing deeply, trying to regain his bearings, but he instead felt immensely dizzy. Maybe it's the lack of fresh air in here, he thought, or the temp . . . ra . . . turrreeeee. . . ___________________________________ David felt the gut wrenching vertigo of the Void again, but this time, he's in the mind of a young boy, say, seven years in age. 'It's the same boy I met over at Suni and da Fox IV,' he thought as the Void spat him into . . . Surprisingly, it's the same mountain-top laboratory, over a decade in the past. All those obsolete electronics looks fresh and new now, and nearby the still familial ROCC stands an elderly professor. "EUREKA!! I've *done* it!!" The boy speaks. "What? What did you do?" "I have created a Retro-Orbital Chaos Compressor. I'll call it the ROCC for short." "What does it so, smash trash?" "No, No!! It attracts all the evil forces on this planet, and *locks* it inside these emeralds. Once I destroy the emeralds, I will erase all evil from Mobius *forever*! But first I have to--" The professor turned around at this point. He couldn't believe his eyes. "Gadzooks!! D-David? Is that you??" At first the boy didn't recognize the professor but when he picked him up and nuzzled him with a "woozziiee wozziee wooozzie," the child eyes lit up. "DADDY!! DADDY, IT'S ME!!" "DAVID!!" Julian Kintobor of old thought he would never let go of the boy. "You've made it here!! I knew you would!! I knew we'd be together again!! I *knew* it!!" ____________________________________ Julian showed his son throughout his new home in the lab, and introduced him to his other new assistant, a brown hedgehog by the name of Sonic ('Sonic?' The Adult David was in shock. 'I always thought he was blue?!') He was on some special treadmill to train on his running. Julian thought that he wouldn't go as fast as the 27-year-old David saw Sonic go, until Julian read the meter. . "Amazing!! 355 miles per hour!! And it's *still* climbing!!" "HA!" The hedgehog boasted as he found a higher gear, "I'll show you *speed*!" "Careful Sonic!! I don't know how much this treadmill can take!!" The meter managed to reach 685 mph before it exploded. When the dust settled, Sonic found himself to be changed into the more familiar-- "Hey--I'M *BLUE*!!" Julian coughs. "It must be the Cobalt Effect! A result of sound waves hitting you when you smashed the sound barrier! Gadzooks!! You even burned up your shoes!!" Julian called a fellow scientist, Sonic's Uncle Chuck, to whip up the red frictionless sneakers he'll be wearing to the present--the Adult David's present, that is. David joined the hedgehog on his way to his home in Mobotropolis to fetch the sneaks by riding on what will be called the Egg-o-matic. "Because," the 7-year-old David explained, "I can't run as fast as you." Never mind that the 27-year old David showed the child how to use the flying bowl. On the way back, both Davids witnessed one of the most tender moments in Mobian history; the first meeting of Sonic and Tails, for who decided to land on top of the blue hedgehog from up a tree . . . "Whoa!" Sonic scraps himself up. "Where did *you* come from, big guy?" "Up there!" The two tailed baby fox points up at bird's nest and angry birds in tree. "What were you doing up there? You're not a bird!" "No, but I can fly. See?" The fox showed his famous move for the first time; he spins his tails and starts to lift like a helicopter into the air. Both Davies want to learn how to do that, but first they need two tails themselves. Sonic was as impressed as the Davies "Wow! How'd you do that?" The kit fox lands. "I dunno. I just do." "Well, you still don't belong with a family of birds." "Will *you* be my family?" He points not only to the hedgehog, but to the approaching human cub who wonders if the fox kit would like to be petted. As expected, he is still gaga for foxes. "Why, sure, big guy! My name's Sonic. And this guy's David Kintobor" "Wow! You two got *cool* names! I don't like mine. Promise you wont tell? It's *Miles*...I hate it." "Miles? Ick!" Sonic pretends to barf. "That's not a good name! Hey, you've got two tails!!" "Doesn't everyone?" David resisted to label Sonic a detail-monger at this point. "How about I call you... Tails!" "Wow! I like that! Tails!" Tails takes of and circles around the hedgehog and the now-mounting-back-on-the-Egg-o-Matic human in joy. "What a great day! New name, new family... This is gonna be fun! I'm Tails . . ." _________________________________ One fateful day. . . Julian asked for his usual snack; a hard-boiled egg and a bottle of soda pop. Sonic delivered with his usual quickness. "What are you doing, Julian?" Sonic asked. Julian set the soda near the keyboard. He sighs. " . . . until I ind a grey emerald which neutralizes evil, I can only--and must--find a way to stabilize the emeralds in the ROCC. Now then, what can I . . ." Julian's arm moves to the keyboard--in a collision course with the soda bottle!! In the recesses of the 7-year-old David's mind, the 27-year-old there yelled in his ear: "Stop him, kid!! He's about to spill that stuff on the ROCC!!" "DAD, DON'T!!" But, alas, doesn't either David hates it when, in dreams, your body suddenly shifts into neutral? Not even Sonic could save the soda this time. _____________________________________ The ROCC exploded, a black, chaotic pit enveloped what was once the Retro-Orbiting Chaos Converter and his father, only Doctor Robotnik remained. David backed away, terrified as death. Robotnik offered his hand. "Come, my son. Join me. Together we can rule this technological paridice I will create, by my side; a Prince to a King. It is your destiny, my son." The 'You Have Been Watching *TOO* Much Star Wars' flag in Davey's brain clicked on, and the fire in his soul flared up again, as it should. But never wanting to sound like Luke Skywalker at times like this; he still feels that this scene is way to corny, way to cliche, that he decided on this passage: "I appreciate your kind offer, Lardass, but I was planning on ripping you and your technological paridice to sub-atomic particles, restoring Mobius to her former glory and setting myself up as prime ruler and guardian myself. How'd you like *them* apples--" "Yes, Father. I will be honored to be your Prince." His voice, but not his mouth!! A streak of white shot down David's back. Fear flashed in his eyes. Robotnik held his arms in welcome. "Come to me my child." From David's exact position--another David Kintobor, a human, rose up and walked right up to Robotnik's side. He was dressed up exactly like Robotnik--cape and all, and with the flaming hair, red glowing eyes, and glistening teeth--'Jesus H. Christ Almighty!!' This David Robotnik looked exactly like the one that almost dragged him down at Haunted Fantasies!! "Oh, my son. I never thought my metallic heart could ever feel warmth again, until now. I always knew, even after becoming the evil tyrant I am today, that we'll be together someday." Those words, 'We'll be together someday,' stung as it echoed through Davey's brain. No. NO!! "Let's go, David Robotnik. There's is much you have to learn in so little time. There is still a lot of planet we have yet to conquer." "I look forward to it, Father," David Robotnik turned his head around and stared right into David Kintobor. "It shall be my pleasure." N N OOO ! NN N O O ! N N N O O ! N NN O O N N OOO ! _________________________________________ They found him saying that over and over as they got through the rubble. David lied there with the back to the ROCC, his eyes closed tight. "DAVID!! *DAVID!!* Wake up!! Wake up, son!!" "GET AWAY FROM ME YOU BLOATED SACK OF--" With that David threw King Acorn out of the lab building, thinking he was Robotnik. Antoine ran out after him. "Knew he shouldn't be allowed to get out alive," MechTail muses, which promptly gets him belted by Sonia. Bear was doing his best to hold a thrashing David. "LET ME GO, DAMN YOU!! LET ME GO!! ARRRRRGHHHH!!! EVIL DARKNESS!! TRYING TO SWALLOW ME WHOLE!! NOOOOO!!!" Sonia went to David after finishing up on MechTail and cupped her lover's hysterical face in her hands. His eyes were wide open, but he wasn't seeing from them. "Wake up, David. It's me, Sonia! You're having a bad dream, you must wake up." With that, David's limbs suddenly stopped, his eyes, still opened wide, were staring right at Sonia. She used her cyber-pathic link they share, and in moments, David was back in reality, squeezing tight to Sonia and crying in her hair. . . __________________________________ It's taking me too long to go between installments, even if it *is* during Finals in college, So this time, I'm only giving you an eight-pager. In the next installment, I'll be getting some help with Edward Becerra, who knows more about Native American culture than I do, because David will be delving deeper in Old Man Coyote's world to help chase away the demons in his head. He'll also find out about that grey emerald. It'll go along Edward's newest story arc, 'Just Cause.' But first, some credits on this installment here: First, the people who made that Robotnik origin in Fleetwood Comics, and exported it to America, where I found it in a Disney Adventures digest. And Second, to Hysteria, where I got the Sonic meets Tails scene from an Earthworm Jim FanFict. Thank you for letting me leech on your ideas :-) In other stories, I'll be filling in the pieces on my next SMAK installment, including the hinted at shocker twist near the end. In case you didn't get the hint, FoxFire will be finding out that one of the Sailor Scouts is his long-lost kid sister. . . Rangers of NIMH is going strong with it's third chapter, and *another* shocker will occur involving Gadget!! (It's ain't the volts, folks; it's the *amps* that get ya! :-) Also, my anthology one-shot, Firestorm: Ground Zero, is half way through. I'll be finishing them up by May, Final Exams not barring. See ya next time. FoxFire Studios