"Dark Moon Rising" A work of Sonic the Hedgehog "Fan-faction" by Ian Patterson A few technicalities... I've read enough fanfic to know what title 17 (the copyright law) does and does not allow; you can't change the text in any way or charge anyone money to read this without my expressed written permission. All situations and characters from the Sonic the Hedgehog Saturday morning cartoon series, as aired on ABC, are copyright SEGA, DiC, and/or Archie Comics, and are used (or at least referred to here) without permission, except the characters created by yours truly, which are copyrighted by me. ***Rated PG-13 for some profanity and violence*** DARK MOON RISING The city of Robo-Tropolis looked as it always had. Dark, gloomy, and full of atomosphere-destroying pollution. Fortunately, the Freedom Fighters were too busy dodging plasma blasts from several SWATbots that were chasing them to notice. Sonic, Sally, and Bunnie had been trying to get into Robotnik's newly developed nuclear power plant. Unfortunately, the security there was more than they had anticipated. They hadn't even gotten near the plant before an entire squadron of SWATbots had found them. Sonic was having a time losing all of them. "Look out!!", yelled Sally, hanging on his shoulder. A plasma blast exploded right in front of him, knocking him and the two girls back. Sonic lifted his head up, and gathered himself. The girls looked up, and saw several hover-pods heading in their direction. "Sonic", said Sally, "We have to get out of here." "No can do, Sal", said Sonic, shaking his head, "We'll never lose 'em so we can go back to Knothole. You two wait until I draw them off, then jam back home." "Be careful, Sugar-Hog", said Bunnie. "Aren't I always?", said Sonic, grinning. He shot off, and all of the hover-pods obeyed Priority One and followed him. Sally and Bunnie didn't wait around to see if any of them were still looking for them, and ran off to the Great Forest. After a few moments of running around the many scrap heaps, Sonic finally lost all of the SWATbots. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He jumped when he heard a laser blast. "Yahh!!", he yelped, ducking for cover. He looked, and strangely enough, there were no bots in sight. Yet, he was still hearing laser blasts. "What in the world?", he said, climbing to the top of one of the scrap heaps. He looked over, and saw a character in a blue cloak, fighting three SWATbots. Sonic was about to go down and help whoever that was, but he stopped short when he saw what the figure did. In a flash, the figure grabbed one of the SWATbots' arms, and ripped it clean off the torso. It then batted the bot with the arm, knocking its head off. The lifeless hulk fell to the ground, sparking and sizzling. Sonic just watched. This could be the source of all the mutilated bot parts they'd been finding. The figure then punched the second SWATbot in the chest, ramming their fist right through it. It pulled back, and tore half the SWATbot's circutry with it. "Jeez", said Sonic, not believing the ferocity of this new warrior. The second SWATbot fell to the ground, and the figure stomped its head, crushing it. Unfortunately, the figure didn't see the third SWATbot pull out its plasma rifle, and fire it. When the blast hit the figure, it let out a female scream, and fell to the ground. "Oh no!", said Sonic, turning on the speed. He sped down to where the girl and the SWATbot were. The bot looked over at him. "Hedgehog, Priority One!!", it said, firing two shots at Sonic. "Slice and dice time!", said Sonic, going into his buzz-saw attack. He sawed right into the SWATbot, cutting it in half. The SWATbot crashed to the ground, and short circuited. Sonic kicked some dirt onto the hulk. "Takes care of that", he said. He ran over to the girl, who was laying flat on her face. He rolled her over, and his jaw dropped when he saw her face. She was a female wolf, but the left side of her face was completely roboticized! It was the same with her right arm from the elbow down and her right leg. That must have been how she was strong enough to rip the SWATbots apart like they were tin foil. He put his ear on her chest. She was still breathing, good. He lifted her up, and ran back to Knothole. "Sonic!", said Sally, when she saw him walk into Rotor's hut with the unconscious girl, "What happened?" "I found her in Robo-Tropolis", he said, laying her down on Rotor's hammock, "Don't mind, do ya, Rote?" "No, go ahead", said Rotor. Sonic laid her down, and pulled her hood off. Everyone in the room gasped when they saw what she looked like under it. "She's half roboticized", said Sally, "Just like Bunnie." "What?", said Bunnie, walking up to the girl. Bunnie touched the metallic part of the girl's arm, and then touched hers. "Ah thought ah was the only one like this", she said, "Where did she come from?" "I found her shredding SWATbots, and she took a plasma blast in the back", said Sonic. "I'm surprised it didn't kill her", said Sally, "Roll her onto her side." Rotor and Sonic rolled the girl onto her side, and Sally gasped when she saw her back. Her entire back was black metal with wires and lights running all over it. There was a big burn mark where the blast had hit her. "This doesn't make sense", said Sally, "She's just roboticized all over the place. It's nothing like Bunnie." Without warning, the girl's left eye glew red and her right eye opened. She saw everyone gathered around her, picking at her metallic parts. "Look out!", yelled Antoine, "She ezz awakings!!" The girl jumped out of the hammock, and dropped into a fighting stance. "Calm down", said Sally, "We aren't going to hurt you." The girl didn't relax. Instead, a huge blade came out of the back of her robotic hand and she grabbed Tails. She put the blade to his neck. Everyone stood silent. "Let me go now!", said the girl, "Or I'll cut his throat like warm butter!" "You aren't a prisoner here", said Sally, trying not to panic, "You're free to leave if you wish." The girl's normal eye squinted into a slit, and her other eye glew bright red. She then tightened her grip on Tails. "I haven't lived this long by taking foolish chances!", she sneered, "I'm going to walk out of here with this little freak. If any of you even look at me the wrong way, he's dead!" "Oh, ah don't think so, Sugah", said a voice from behind the girl. The girl looked, and the next thing she saw was Bunnie's fist flying right at her face. The hit connected, and the girl flew across the room, and through the wall. Bunnie followed. Outside, the girl rose to her feet, and wiped the dirt off of her. She glared back at Bunnie, who was walking towards her. Bunnie saw the girl examining her arm and legs. "Hmph", said the girl, "Apparently I'm not the only cyborg on Mobius." "It appears that way", said Bunnie, "Don't it." The girl retracted her blade, and dropped back into her fighting stance. Bunnie cracked her knuckles on her good hand, knowing what was to come next. "So", said Bunnie, "What's your name?" "Moon", said the girl, "And yours?" "Bunnie Rabbot", she said, "You ready?" "Oh yeah", said Moon, grinning. Bunnie was the first to attack, lunging at Moon with her fist. Moon reacted by ducking under it and sweeping Bunnie's feet out from under her. Bunnie fell onto her back, but kicked her feet and jumped back up without missing a beat. She got back to her feet just in time to see Moon coming at her with a drop kick. "Wuh oh", she said, jumping back. Moon's foot slammed down on the dirt, making a hole at least six inches deep. She looked up, and caught Bunnie's arm right in her neck as Bunnie clothes-lined her. She fell flat on her back. Moon barely had time to roll away as Bunnie's foot slammed down right where her face had been half a second ago. "Nice", said Moon, jumping to her feet, "You're the first to ever topple me." "You ready to call it quits before we kill each other?", asked Bunnie. Moon relaxed, as did Bunnie. Everyone was out there, watching them. Bunnie looked back at Sally. She saw Sally's jaw drop, and her finger point towards Moon. Bunnie looked, and caught Moon's elbow right in her face. "Ahhhh!", grunted Bunnie, falling on her back. "Rule one", said Moon, putting her robotic foot on Bunnie's neck, "Never lower your eyes to an enemy! Now, prepare to die!!" Bunnie felt Moon's foot push down harder. She couldn't breathe. She began struggling, but to no avail. Moon had her in a position she couldn't escape from. All of sudden, a blast flew inches past Moon's head. The wolf looked, and saw Sally standing a few yards away from her with plasma pistol. "Let her up!", yelled Sally, "NOW!!!" Moon didn't move. Sally fired again. This time, the blast singed the top of Moon's head. Moon lifted her foot off of Bunnie's neck. Bunnie immediately sat up, gasping for air. Moon stepped back. Sally ran up to Bunnie. "Are you alright?", she said, checking Bunnie's pulse. "Whew!", said Bunnie, still breathing hard, "That ol' girl packs quite a wallop!" Sally looked up at Moon, who was grinning maliciously. "Alright", she said, standing up, "Can we all act civilized now?" "I suppose", said Moon, "I want my cloak, now." "Tails", said Sally, "Bring her the cloak." Tails ran back into the hut, and returned with the blue cloak. He tossed it to Moon, making sure to keep his distance. She caught it, and quickly donned it. She noticed that everyone there was staring at her. She pulled the hood over the left side of her face, and pulled her right arm under it. "Who are you?", asked Sally, "And where did you come from?" "As I said before", she said, "My name is Moon. I lived for almost my entire life in the Great Unknown. Only recently did I return here." "Why were you in the Great Unknown?", asked Sally, "It's a waste-land." "I had nowhere else to go after the coup", said Moon, "I was all alone, and I just wanted to get away from Robotnik!" "You mean you've been out there alone for the past ten years?", asked Sally. "Yes", said Moon, "I only recently returned here. I expected there to be an full-scale war against Robotnik, but instead I see nothing but cowards hiding in their villages and pretending he's not there." "We aren't like that, Moon", said Sonic, "We're Freedom Fighters. We live to see Robuttnik crushed." "Hmmm", said Moon, "Perhaps I have finally found true Freedom Fighters. Is that why you were in Robo-Tropolis?" "Yeah", said Sonic, "We were trying to shut down the new nuclear power plant he's just put together. Unfortunately, the SWATbutts got the better of us and we had to bail. I was trying to lose them when I found you." Moon looked around, and still saw most of the residents of Knothole staring at her. He looked over at Sally. "Could we please go somewhere a little more, private?", she asked. "Of course", said Sally. The four of them returned to Rotor's workshop. There, they listened to Moon's tale of how she became what she was. "I was eight years old when the coup happened", she said, "My parents, my sister, and I were living in a small farm on the outskirts of Mobo-Tropolis. We never had much, but we never really needed anything either. My twin sister, North Star, and I were very happy and I really wish it could've stayed that way. My entire life was shattered when the Destroyer invaded Mobo-Tropolis and the SWATbots captured all of the citizens. They came to our house and took all of us to the robotization chamber. My parents were struggling and resisting so much that Robotnik had them executed in front of a whole bunch of other prisoners to make an example of them. Then, he put my sister into the machine. She was turned from a happy child into a mindless robot. In one day's time, I had lost my entire family. He then ordered me to be thrown in. The machine began transforming my flesh to steel. Then, the weirdest thing happened." "What was that?", asked Sally. "Somehow", continued Moon, "My sister must've retained some of her free-will, because she jumped forward and smashed the controls to the roboticizer. The beam started hitting me in a random pattern. That's why I'm roboticized here and there instead of from the feet up. North Star managed to pull me free and then she got shot in the back by a SWATbot. I managed to escape in the confusion. I stole a transport vehicle and escaped to the Great Unknown, where I stayed until about two weeks ago. I decided to see if Robotnik had been defeated yet, and came out of my seclusion. I found a small village on the edge of the Great Unknown. The people there looked at me like I was a freak. They claimed to be Freedom Fighters as well, but they were only concerned with staying out of Robotnik's sight. After I left there, I went to Robo-Tropolis, and began destroying as many SWATbots as I could. I just tore them to pieces." "We'd found a few of them in scrap piles when we were digging for parts", said Rotor, "I wondered what was strong enough to tear one to pieces like that. All Bunnie does is disable them." "I saw the nuclear plant and decided to cause some trouble there, but three SWATbots ambushed me and that is when Sonic found me." "Interesting story", said Sally, "Moon, we have a common enemy here. We have to go back and put that power plant out of commission. I would appreciate it if you came with us." "You want her to help?", said Sonic, "We don't even know her, Sal." Sally shot Sonic a dirty look, and then turned back to Moon. "Well?", she asked, "We need all the muscle we can get." "Anything to hurt Robotnik", said Moon, "Count me in." Sonic sat back in his chair, not happy at all. He got up, and grabbed Sally's arm. "Can we talk?", he asked, "Outside?" Sally got up, and followed Sonic outside the hut. Once he was sure they were out of ear-shot, he looked at Sally. "What are you thinking?", he asked. "About what?", said Sally. "You know what I'm talking about", he said, "Moon. We don't even know her, Sal. This could be a trap. You saw what she did to Bunnie. She could've killed her." "But she didn't", said Sally, "If she was sent by Robotnik, then she would've killed us all right now and there would be an army of SWATbots marching on Knothole as we speak. Granted, she's a little cold, but what can you expect? She lived in the Great Unknown by herself for ten years. She's also been partially roboticized." "So was Bunnie", Sonic shot back, "And she's nowhere near as brutal as Moon appears to be." "Think about it, Sonic", said Sally, "Moon didn't have anyone to help her get through the trauma of being roboticized like Bunnie did. You remember how Bunnie was when she came back from Robo-Tropolis that day." "Yeah", said Sonic, "She tried to kill herself half a dozen times before she eventually calmed down." "All Moon had to help her get through what happened to her was hatred", said Sally, "Her hatred towards Robotnik must've kept her alive. That's not a healthy thing, mind you, but she could still be helpful to us in shutting down that nuclear power plant." "Well", said Sonic, "You're the boss. I still don't trust her, though." "So what are you going to do?", asked Sally. "I'm going to take a trip over to that village she told us about and see if her story is straight." "But that would take all day for you to get to, Sonic", said Sally, "We have to shut down the plant tomorrow. You won't make it back in time." "Then go without me", said Sonic, "I'll be there as soon as I get back. Until then, keep your eyes on Moon. Promise?" "Yeah", she said, "I promise. Meet us at the usual spot at mid-morning. Then, we'll get going." "Check, Sal", said Sonic, revving up, "See you then." "Be careful, Sonic", said Sally. "Aren't I always?", he asked, then took off with a sonic boom. Moon watched them both from inside the hut. She didn't know what they had said, but she didn't like it one bit. When Sally came back in, she looked over at her. "Where was Sonic going?", asked Moon. "Oh", said Sally, "He said he had something he needed to take care of. He's going to meet us at the power plant tomorrow." "Oh", said Moon, not believing one word Sally had just said. "Now", said Sally, "Let's get to work. We have a mission to plan and a power plant to put out of commission." Moon sat down with the rest of them. She believed she knew where Sonic was going, and she regretted ever saying anything about it. Several hours later, Sonic left the Great Forest, and saw a pillar of smoke, rising up in the sky. He didn't like the looks of it. "Oh man", he said, "I knew I had a bad feeling about this." He sped towards it, and saw that the village Moon had told them about was completely demolished. There were fires and bodies everywhere. "Holy moly", he said, "This isn't possible." "But it is", said voice behind him. He quickly turned around, and saw a few animals coming out of the remains of a hut. The mole who had spoken walked up to him, with a blaster drawn. Sonic lifted his hands in the air. "Hey", said Sonic, "I'm not looking for any trouble." "That's what we believed about the one who did this", said the mole, "Who are you and what are you doing here?" "My name's Sonic", he said, "I just came here looking for some answers." "Answers to what?", asked the mole. "We found a girl and she said that she visited this village", he said, "I didn't trust her, so I came here to see if her story was true." "Was this girl a partially roboticized wolf?", asked the mole, "With a blue cloak?" "Yeah", said Sonic, "That's her." "Yes", said the mole, "She did come here. She said that we were not true Freedom Fighters because we did not spend every waking moment battling Robotnik. When we ordered her to leave, she slaughtered almost everyone in the village, saying that if we weren't part of the solution, then we were part of the problem. The few of us that are left were lucky to have escaped with our lives. That girl is a psychopath, Sonic. Where is she now?" "In my village", said Sonic, "Our leader invited her to go with them on a mission tomorrow." "Your friends are all in grave danger", said the mole, "Moon will die before she retreats. If your friends try, she will kill them. You have to save them. Don't let her do this to anyone else." "Better believe I won't", said Sonic, taking a power ring out of his backpack. He held the ring over his head, it surrounded him with energy, and he shot off with a super sonic boom. The mole just looked at him speed away. "I just hope he makes it", he said. The next morning, Sally, Moon, Bunnie, and Rotor were waiting for Sonic. He was late. "We can't afford to wait for the hedgehog any longer", said Moon, "We must go now!" "Alright", said Sally, "Rotor, you and Moon head in the way I showed you. Once inside, disable all of the computers. Without them, the plant is useless." "Gotcha", said Rotor. With that, he and Moon jumped into the air duct just above them. Then, they disappeared from sight. Sonic shot towards Robo-Tropolis. He saw the power plant ahead of him. If he was lucky, Sally would still be waiting for him. He poured on the speed, and a trail of fire followed him. Inside the control room, Moon had dispatched with the SWATbots with the same brutallity she had used before. Rotor began to tack at the computer console, but he stopped after a moment. "Crap!", he said. "What's wrong?", asked Moon. "It's got a quadruple block on the system", he said, "I can't get in without a password." "Can't you bypass it?", asked Moon. "That could take hours", he said. "Which is something we don't have", said Moon, shoving him out of the way. She held up her robotic hand, and pulled a wire from it. She plugged it into a port on the console, and images quickly began to flow by on the screen. "What are you doing?", asked Rotor. "I'm directly linking up with Robotnik's mainframe", she said, "I can find the password real quick like this." Within a few seconds, Moon gained access to the system. She closed her eye, and began accessing several other things. Rotor watched, and saw that she was over-loading the nulcear core containment system! "Moon!", said Rotor, "What are you doing?" "I'm going to destroy this place", she said, "If we had done what Sally suggested, then the possibility exists that Robotnik could rebuild it." "But you're going to cause a core breach", said Rotor, "That's going to irradiate all of Robo-Tropolis and half the Great Forest!" "So?", said Moon. "We'll die!!!", yelled Rotor. "But so will Robotnik", said Moon, "If you are a true Freedom Fighter like you said, you would gladly give your life to destroy him." "My life, yes!", said Rotor, "Not the thousands of people you're going to kill when this thing blows!" "Sacrifices must be made!", said Moon. "I'm not going to let you do this, Moon!", said Rotor, rushing Moon. Moon simply back-handed Rotor, and he slammed against the wall, and fell to the floor, out cold. Moon grinned, and went back to what she had been doing. Outside, Sally was watching the time. Moon and Rotor had only been in there about ten minutes. Robotnik wasn't scheduled to arrive for about another hour. So all in all, they were doing pretty good. All of a sudden, the silence was interrupted by a sonic boom, and a flash of wind that nearly knocked the two girls off their feet. Sonic skidded to a halt. "Sonic!", said Sally, "Where have you been? We had to send Rotor and Moon in without you!" "Sal", said Sonic, "I went to that village that Moon said she visited before coming here." "And?", asked Sally. "The ones that were still alive said that Moon slaughtered the entire village", he said, "Sally, she's nuts!" "Oh no", said Sally. What had she done? She'd sent Rotor into a nuclear power plant with a psychopathic killer! She quickly pulled out her communicator. "Rotor!", she said, "Come in!" There was no answer. Sally began to panic. She looked at Sonic. "Let's go", she said. Sonic gave her a boost, and she jumped into the air duct. Bunnie said she'd stay behind to keep a look out, and then Sonic jumped in after Sally. They crawled as fast as they could through the maze of air ducts. "Sonic", said Sally, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you." "Don't worry about it now, Sal", said Sonic. Sally reached the air vent, and crawled out of it. She looked around, and saw Rotor lying on the floor. "Oh no!", she said, running over to him. She felt his pulse, and was relieved that he was still alive. He opened his eyes, and looked at her. "Sally", he said lightly, "Moon, she's overloading the computer and it's going to cause a core breach." "What!", she said, jumping to her feet and running over to the computer console. She looked, and saw that the core was already at the danger point. She began to tack at the buttons, but to no avail. She pounded on the console. "Shit!", she yelled. "What's the matter?", said Sonic, running up beside her. "She's locked the system with a fracture incription code", she said, "This is going to take some time to break." "Well", said Sonic, "While you're doing that, I'm going after Moon." "Watch it, Sonic", said Sally, "Moon has robotic strength. Bunnie's got the bruises to prove it." "Don't worry about me, Sal", said Sonic, "Just do your stuff, and do it fast." Sally pulled Nicole off of her boot, and plugged her into the same jack that Moon had used. "Go to it, Nicole", said Sally. "WORKING, SALLY", said Nicole. Sonic crawled back through the air duct, and jumped out. He stopped short when he saw Bunnie lying on the ground. She had a huge bruise on the side of her head. Sonic saw her chest moving, so he knew that she was still alive. "Now I'm mad", said Sonic, revving up, and following Moon's footprints. Inside the plant, Sally was beginning to sweat. There was only about five minutes until the nuclear core breached, letting out the massive amounts of radiation it held within. Nicole was working as fast as her processors would go. "MOON!!!", yelled Sonic. Moon turned around, and looked at Sonic, who was balling his fists. She grinned, and put her hands on her hips. "I'm not letting you get away", said Sonic. "Would you hurt a fellow Freedom Fighter, Sonic?", she asked. "Mobius doesn't need Freedom Fighters like you", said Sonic. "Are you ready to die today, Sonic?", asked Moon, "You know that you can't stand up to me. Your little bitch friend couldn't, so I don't see how you have a prayer." "Don't worry about me, Moon", said Sonic, "I can hold my own. Let's party." Moon balled her robotic hand into a fist, and the blade came out of it. She lunged at Sonic. He used his speed to move to the side, but Moon was prepared for that and kicked his feet out from under him. "Of!", he grunted, falling onto his back. He rolled out of the way just as Moon slammed the blade into the spot his head occupied just a fraction of a second previous. He rolled back to his feet, and used his speed to ram into her, knocking her over. The two rolled around for a few moments, then Moon head-butted Sonic. The metal part of her face slammed into Sonic's forehead and he went limp for a second. Moon wrapped her hands around Sonic's neck and back choking him. "You weak pathetic fool!!", yelled Moon. "It's not weak to value life!", choked Sonic. "Ha!", laughed Moon, not loosening her grip, "I value no life but my own!" "There's just one problem with that", gagged Sonic. "And that is?", laughed Moon. Bunnie grabbed Moon around her neck, pulled her off of Sonic, and slammed her head first into the ground. Sonic got to his feet, rubbing his neck. "You make more friends my way", he said. Moon slowly got up, and balled both of her hands into fists. "I should've killed you", she said to Bunnie, "Now I'm going to correct that mistake." Back in the plant, Sally had exactly one minute until a core breach. Nicole had bypassed most of Moon's incription code. She stopped when she got to one part. "What's the matter, Nicole?", asked Sally, sweating heavily. "A PASSWORD MUST BE ENTERED TO UNLOCK THE COMPUTER, SALLY", she said. "A PASSWORD???!!", yelled Sally, "How am I supposed to guess her password in one minute?" "FROM WHAT I CAN GATHER FROM THE REST OF THE CODE", said Nicole, "IT HAS SOMETHING TO DO WITH A STAR." "Star?", said Sally, "What star?" "UNKNOWN, SALLY", chimed Nicole. "Shut up, Nicole", said Sally, "Let me think." Outside, Moon extended her blade, and pointed it right at Bunnie and Sonic. "Say your prayers, Freedom Fighters!", she said. "Ah don't think so", said Bunnie, "Your rampage ends here, Moon!" "Hahaha", laughed Moon, "You couldn't stand up to me before, Rabbot. How do you expect to now?" Bunnie raised her robotic arm up and aimed it at Moon. "By fighting the way you do", she said, "Dirty." A plasma blaster rose up from her arm. Moon's jaw dropped. "Know a prayer?", said Bunnie, "Say it!" "AHHHHHH!!!", yelled Moon, running at Bunnie. "Too late", said Bunnie. She fired, and hit Moon right in the chest. She flew back from the blast, and landed on her face. The wind blew her cloak over her. Bunnie was still standing there with her blaster pointing at Moon. She prepared to fire again. "What are you doing, Bunnie?", said Sonic. "Making sure she never hurts anyone else again", said Bunnie. Sonic put his hand on Bunnie's arm, and gently pushed it down. "You beat her, Bunnie", said Sonic, "Don't become her." Tears filled Bunnie's eyes. All of a sudden, Sally's voice shouted over the communicator. She was frantic. "HEY!!!!", she yelled, "We have exactly thirty seconds until the core breaches!!! I need Moon's password!!! Nicole said it has something to do with a star!!" "Her sister's name!!", said Bunnie, "It was North Star!!" "North Star", said Sally, typing the words into the computer. The computer paused for a second, then the red screen turned green. "ACCESS GRANTED, SALLY", said Nicole, "WAY TO GO." Sally quickly relieved the pressure Moon had placed on the core. When she did, the danger level returned to normal. She stood there for a second, looking at the computer screen, then fell onto the floor. Rotor managed to get to his feet, and ran over to her. "Are you okay, Sally?", he said. "Gimmie a few minutes, Rotor", she said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. He got up, and took the communicator. "Sally stopped the core breach, guys!", he said, "We're in the clear!" Sonic and Bunnie slapped each other five. Rotor completed his original mission of disabling the computer system. When he did, he helped Sally to her feet, and they left the plant. They met up with Sonic and Bunnie. They were still standing by Moon. "Uncover her, Sonic", said Sally, "I want to face her." Sonic pulled the cloak back, and they all gasped. Moon had vanished!! "Where'd she go?", said Sonic. "She's gone", said Sally. "Great!", said Sonic, "Where do you think she went?" "Back to the Great Unknown, hopefully", said Sally, "She can't hurt anybody out there." "Can ah make a suggestion?", said Bunnie, folding her arms. "We're all ears, Bunnie", said Sonic. "Can we go home, please?", she said. "Yeah", said Sonic, "Let's get out of here." They all grabbed onto his shoulders, and he sped back to Knothole. >From a nearby scrap-pile, Moon watched them leave. After they were out of sight, she walked back over, and took her cloak. "This isn't over by far, Freedom Fighters", she said. THE END