Unbroken Spirit Sonic fan fiction by Jennifer Joeyen-Waldorf Based on characters copyrighted by Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics, and DiC Productions. Feel free to reproduce this work as long as it isn't for profit. Author can be contacted at ninja@public.bta.net.cn (c) 1997 Jennifer Joeyen-Waldorf "Sonic, wait a--" "Sorry, Sal. Gotta juice!" In a torrent of rushing air and a blur of color, the hedgehog was gone. "Oh, I hate it when he does that," sighed Princess Sally, getting up after being bowled over by his departure. "Don't ya'll worry your pretty head over him, Sally-girl. That sugarhog can handle himself," a voice said in her ear. "I know, Bunny. It's not him I'm worried about. He's bound to ruin the mission, rushing out there like that without a clue of what the plan is. How can we hope to be stronger than Robotnik if we don't work together?" With that, Sally stormed off to find Rotor. Meanwhile, Sonic was already well into the Great Forest. "That Sal really needs to chill. This hedgehog knows how to deal with ol' Robobutt." Spurring himself on by insulting his greatest foe, Sonic nearly failed to notice the Swat-bots that were in a clearing as he sped by. Nearly. "Woah! What're you up to now, Robuttnik?" He was back by the clearing in the blink of an eye. In a glimpse he took in the scene: two Swat-bots were trying to capture a foreign girl with black and white fur. "SURRENDER, INTRUDER. DO NOT RESIST" The girl, clearly not sure what was going on, stated calmly (or tried to), "I didn't intend to intrude. Please tell me which way to go and I will leave." Without hesitation, one of the Swat-bots picked her up and started to carry her away. By now, Sonic had seen enough. "Freeze, you rusty bolt-headed scrap-heap rejects!" The machine dropped the girl, saying "HEDGEHOG. PRIORITY ONE. SURRENDER." "Now, is that any way to make friends?" said the cocky hedgehog. With that, he ran off, allowing the robots to stay right on his tail. Making an abrupt left turn, he ran along the edge of a ravine as the Swat-bots plummeted and broke to pieces at the foot of the cliff. "Left without even saying good-bye," chuckled Sonic. Making his way back to the clearing, he wondered what Sally would have to say about his delay. "Oh, man!" he exclaimed upon reaching the clearing. The Swat-bots' prisoner had hit her head on a rock when she was dropped, and was now unconscious. "Back to Knothole, I guess." Even on his mission, he could not leave an injured person unattended. Picking her up, he returned to Knothole as quickly as he had come. "Yo, Sal, open up!" Sonic yelled, kicking the door to Sally's cottage. "Lemme in!" "All right, Sonic! Why are you back already, anyw--" Sally was cut short as she opened the door and saw who Sonic had brought. "Swat-bots were after her," he explained curtly. "She's hurt." "So take her to the medical facility. What are you waiting for?" "Just alerting the media. Could you get everyone down there so we can find out what's going on?" "We'll be there. Just try not to--" Once again, she was nearly flung off her feet as Sonic raced off. "Never mind." "Oh, Sal, did you have to bring Antoine?" remarked Sonic the Hedgehog, back in the medical room, where everyone was gathered around the patient. Unfortunately, the heat of summer and close quarters were conditions that did not produce a peaceable situation. In other words, people were irritable. "You did say everybody." "Oui, and how could you be thinking of not having moi at a most important meeting to be discussing--how you say--something of importanessity?" "Good point. How could I?" "Sonic, you are not helping anything. I am trying to do something here. Nicole, access the patient's homeland." "Accessing, Sally. This girl is from an eastern province. No further information, Sally." "Great." "Sacre bleu! You are to Knothole bringing about a person we know nothing! Have you been possibly losing you tiddly-winks?" "Marbles, Antoine. Marbles!" Sonic said emphatically. "What about zem?" "Never mind that, ya'll, she's wakin' up!" interjected Bunny. This was true. As she opened her eyes, the mysterious girl started at the sight of her surrounding captors. "Yo, it's cool. We wanna help," said Sonic hopefully. "Yeah, we'll make you feel better," added Tails. The girl smiled at the young fox. She found it hard not to trust that one of the youngest freedom fighters was telling the truth. "You're safe here." Sally was glad the patients alarm had died down. "What is your name?" "Hey, Sal, let a numero uno hedgehog do the talking. So what's your name?" "Sonic!" "What?" "Butt out." "Hey, I'm the one who--" "My name," interrupted the stranger, "is Mei Li the Great Panda." Her speech was perfect, but there was something vaguely unfamiliar about it anyway. "Say what?" Sonic's manners were, as Sally said, "in need of fine tuning." Sally waved him to be quiet. After making introductions all around and updating Mei Li on where she was, Sally had withdrawn from the conversation. Sonic noticed her in the corner, trying to get some information out of Nicole. "Hey, Sal. What's up?" asked Sonic quietly. "Nicole doesn't have any information about Mei Li or her people," replied Sally, sighing heavily. "So what? We know that when Robuttnik invaded, her people were wiped out just like ours, and we know that Mei Li's mother died and now she's alone. What else is there to know?" "Think, Sonic. Remember that thing you do to avoid trouble? I guess you wouldn't." She paused, but Sonic kept his peace. "It just doesn't make sense. Robotnik had no use to take Mei Li alive. Why didn't he order the Swat-bots to kill her?" "He wanted to roboticize her, I suppose." "It doesn't add up. Robotnik only roboticizes people to hurt and control their friends . Mei Li was alone. What would he want with her?" "So what are you suggesting? You think old chrome-dome knows something we don't know?" A loud voice overpowered their whispering. "Why all this private talkin' over here? Ya'll're missin' out. What's goin' on, anyway?" "Shh. Bunny, I think we need to talk." Bunny knew now that something was up. "I think that--" "See, what it is is that Sal thinks ol' Robuttnik's got something up his sleeve." Sally inhaled deeply and turned away, crossing her arms, but did not interrupt Sonic. "...so she was just sayin' Mei Li might know about something Robuttnik wants," Sonic was saying. "Ya'll're bein' silly. Why doncha just ask her?" By now, Bunny's unrestrained voice had caused other conversation in the room to cease anyway. Sally was the first to recover the situation. "Mei Li, we suspect that Robotnik was after you in particular for a reason. Do you have any idea what that could be?" "I'm afraid not," said Mei Li politely. "If only there was some way to--" "Sally?" Up until now, Rotor had said very little. "I think we can find out what's going on. If we plant this chip into the hard drive of Robotnik's main computer, we can copy files off of his data base. But it means that you will need to be in the main control room for at least ten minutes." "I thought you said we couldn't get at Robotnik's files." "That was just when we were after the plans for the roboticizer. He keeps a those under tight security. This should be no problem." "That's great! Let's plan it right now!" "What's to plan?" said Sonic, who wanted to get this over with. "I'll just stroll in there and keep Robuttnik busy while you copy the files. What's so hard about that?" "Sonic, it's not so simp--" "I mean, I just sneak in and yell, 'Hey, Rubuttnik,' he chases me around, I smash up his robots, and we're outa there." "But if you would just--" "So we'll leave first thing in the morning. I think Sally and Bunny should come with me." "Sonic, listen to me! We need some sort of plan." "You know, it's hard to get things done when you're always so stubborn." Sally just gaped at him. "Okay, that does it. Out!" She pushed him in the direction of the door. "Hey, what're you--" "Out!" "Just a--" "Out!" With that she pushed Sonic out the door and closed it behind him. She turned around to face a roomful of people staring at her, except for Mei Li, who was feigning indifference. "All right, here's the plan...." As Sonic lay on his back in the dirt, he felt the warmth of the ground before the coolness of evening began to set in, and said, "What just happened here?" He got up and, brushing himself off, addressed the door: "Someday, Sal, I hope to understand you." Then he walked--walked, not ran--back to his cabin. He finally had something to think about. "But Sal," Sonic was saying the next morning, "just because you're mad at me is no reason to take that kind of risk." "I have nothing to say to you. We made a plan and we're sticking to it." "But something could happen to you. You expect me to just sit at home and wonder what it is?" "That would be a nice change of pace." "Yo, Sal, you're the one that keeps saying we need to think things through." "Since when do you listen to what I say?" As Bunny entered the hut she had shared with Mei Li that night, she found the newcomer sitting on the floor below the window, crying quietly. "Oh mah stars and garters! What's wrong, sugah?" "It's the fighting," sniffed Mei Li reluctantly as Bunny put her real arm around her. "I hate fighting." "Oh, that don't mean nothin'. They'll be over it in a day, you'll see." "This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't come...." "Don't be silly. Ya'll didn't do nothin' wrong! C'mon, Ah'll getcha some breakfast." As they hiked through the Great Forest on their mission, Sally thought Bunny was being uncharacteristically quiet. "Bunny?" "Yup?" "What do you think about Mei Li?" she asked, guessing at the problem. "She's a real nice gal," said Bunny. Sally waited. "She's kinda quiet, though." "Yes, well, I expect--" "And she's awful sensitive." "She's been through--" "So polite too. I cain't bear to thinka her seein' that sugarhog eatin'." "Does it bother you?" asked Sally. There was a pause. "Guess I'm worried 'bout if she'll fit in here. She ain't got nowhere else to go--Ah mean, if she doesn't." "I'm sure she will, Bunny. She's been through a lot, you know. She grew up in a family of two people in an isolated environment, and she's traveled quite a distance alone. It makes sense that she would be used to quiet. Seems to me if she's been through all that, she should be able to handle any situation. She'll adjust." "Glad to hear it, Sally-girl." Just then a streak of blue materialized into a rather anxious hedgehog in front of them. "Now what?" asked Sally. "I can't stand it. I can't stop worrying." "Sonic," said Sally patiently, "we've only been gone fifteen minutes." "Really?" "Go home, Sonic." But now there was the sound of someone else approaching. "Tails, dear, what are you doing out here?" said Sally. "It's Mei (pant) Li. (pant) She's missing." "Are you sure, big guy?" Now it was Sonic who spoke. "She went walking and said she would be back in half an hour. That was three hours ago. She wouldn't go back on her word." "That's bad. Come on, Bunny. We need to hurry." "I'm coming too." "Sonic--" "You'll need some help. Please?" There was something in that one word that made her change her mind. Maybe it was because she had only heard him use it twice before. "All right. We shouldn't be fighting anyway. We can work out our differences later, but now we have a problem to solve." "I'm coming too!" This time it was Tails. "Oh boy." "C'mon, Sal. We can work out our differences later, but now we have a problem to solve," mimicked Sonic. Sally tried to suppress a smile. "Let's go." "All right!" cried Tails. Mei Li could see as much with her eyes closed as with them open. She tried to get up but was weighed down with cumbersome chains and shackles on each limb. Trying to review what had happened, she realized how foolish it had been to leave Knothole. But she had only wanted some time to herself. She was not entirely used all these people. But that didn't matter now. All that mattered was the dark and the chains and the damp. Then a door was opening. Squinting in the light, Mei Li could make out a very large shape in the doorway, surrounded by an aura of bright light from the hallway. "I trust you are enjoying your stay, child." Mei Li did not speak. "Perhaps you are wondering why you are here? Don't worry, I don't intend to have you roboticized...if you cooperate." He still received no response. "You don't speak now, but if you value your life or your freedom, you will tell me where I can find the stone of Lao Shan." "I will not help you." "Oh, but you will. I can make you regret your behavior." "No, I cannot regret doing what is right." "You heard what he said," whispered Sonic in the air shaft where the band of freedom fighters were watching the scene. "Let's get Mei Li and juice on outa here." "No, Sonic." "But we know what Blubber-bottom's after. Right from the horse's mouth-- or in this case, the horse's--" "Shush!" Sally hissed. By now Robotnik had left, but his threats echoed in the walls of the cell. "Time for the direct approach," said Sonic, jumping to the floor of the cell into the darkness. Sally bit her lip as a siren went off in the room, and three Swat-bots on sentry-duty barged in along with a flood of light from the open door. "HEDGEHOG: PRIORITY ONE. SURRENDER." "Come'n get me, tinheads!" Sonic raced out the door with the Swat-bots in pursuit. "Mei Li? Are you all right?" asked Sally as she jumped to the floor from the air duct. "I'll have you out of there right away." With that she deftly picked the lock of Mei Li's binding shackles with a new tool Rotor had designed. She was pleased to find that it worked nearly twice as quickly as her older method. Bunny pulled them both back up to the air vent with her strong mechanical arm just as Sonic returned from his escapade. "How'd it go?" asked Sally as Bunny pulled up the grinning hedgehog. "True blue method never fails, Sal. Those Swat-bots had a close encounter with a steel wall." "I hope you're right for once, Sonic. "This is the new plan, everyone." "Lay it on me, Sal." "Right. Well, it's risky, but Robotnik will definitely be out of the control room for ten minutes. We need some decoys." They were now sitting in an unused water pipe over the control room. With Nicole's intricate holographic maps of passageways in Robotropolis, Sally could take them virtually anywhere. She displayed one of these now. "Bunny, you'll go to Sector 7G and Tails, you'll go to Level 2, and you'll both need to be captured. Bunny, you can pretend to be hacking into the security system, and Tails, plant this bomb in the Worker's Room, where they make Swat-bots. It's a prototype Rotor made that didn't work, but it looks real. Once Robotnik catches one or both of you, he won't suspect that you are only distracting him from the real mission. I can copy the files, and Sonic, you can liberate them at your leisure." "I've got a better idea." With that, Sonic jumped and landed softly behind Robotnik, who was sitting in the room below. "Guess who, Robuttnik." "It's him! Get that hedgehog!" "Guess again, chrome dome!" Sonic plowed through a few Swat-bots and then let the others tail him, running them into walls and over edges. "Snively! Order some more Swat-bots to the control room!" "Yes, Sir. Right away, Sir. Whatever you say, Sir," replied Robotnik's discontented assistant over the monitor. Sonic knew that now was the time to lead Robotnik and his robots on a wild goose chase for ten minutes, so he headed for the door. But he had not anticipated how quickly Robotnik's orders would be carried out, and he ran headfirst into a Swat-bot coming around the corner of the doorway. The impact knocked him flat, but not for long. He felt himself hoisted by one ankle. "At last! I have waited a long time for this chance." Robotnik was grinning and rubbing his hands together--one living and one metal. "But wait. Search the area, you useless scraps of metal! Find his friends. They mustn't escape." "C'mon, Sal, get them outa there," Sonic thought. "What now, Sally-girl?" whispered Bunny. "Time for Plan B." "Good. What's Plan B?" "I was hoping you had one." "I know what Plan B is," Tails, who was watching the room below them, piped up. "We fight." "Tails, you're thinking like Sonic. That's too risky." "We need to. Our cover's blown!" Sure enough, Swat-bots were moving a tall ladder towards the opening in the pipe where the Freedom Fighters were huddled. Tails kicked the ladder over with three robots on it and flew from the pipe. The other two jumped to the ground. Unfortunately, Robotnik's backup had already arrived, and it wasn't long before they had all been rounded up. Sonic kept up his insults, but his provocation was of little use now. "I will enjoy roboticizing the three of you. But not you, hedgehog. No, I have something special planned for you." "WE AWAIT YOUR ORDERS, ROBOTNIK," one of the Swat-bots said. "Of course. Take those three--" But he never finished his sentence. Mei Li had been watching this whole scene from a safer distance. She was not a part of Sally's plan to copy the files she needed, but was expected to wait while the job was done. It was she who, taking up a spare metal pipe, ended Robotnik's sentence by jumping to the floor and cracking him over the head with it. "All right!" This was Tails again. "I didn't know you could fight," Sally said gratefully. "Neither did I," said the introverted Mei Li, dropping the pipe. Sonic now went into his Robotnik impression: "Release those prisoners at once, you stupid piles of bolts! I ought to melt you idiots down for scrap metal!" "AT ONCE, ROBOTNIK." The Swat-bots released the four freedom fighters. The majority landed on their feet, but Sonic, who had been upside down at the time, didn't have their luck. "Uh, my poor hedgehog head," he groaned, sprawled on the floor again. "Don't worry, Sonic," Sally said, hooking up Nicole to the main computer. "You have a thick skull. Nicole, enter file manager on hard drive." "Entering, Sally." The procession back towards Knothole was a cheerful one. Robotnik might have gotten away by crawling toward an escape pod while he was supposed to be staying unconscious and tied up on the floor, but Sally got what she was looking for, and no one was hurt. "Yo, Mei Li, way to save some hedgehog quills!" Sonic raised his hand in an attempt at a high five, only to find Mei Li looking at him in a puzzled way. "I think Sonic is trying to thank you for saving us," explained Sally. "Oh, that was nothing at all," said Mei Li. "Say what?!" "I was just afraid, really. I guess I was lucky." Suddenly Mei Li had something urgent to discuss with Bunny, who was leading the group. Sonic, remaining with Sally, asked, "What did she mean by that?" "I think that was modesty," Sally replied slyly. "Perhaps you could learn something from her." "Or maybe she could learn something from me!" Suddenly he took off and left Sally to bring up the rear. Sally chuckled when she heard him ahead saying, "This is a high five, Mei Li. Put your hand up...." But her mind was still on the files she had copied. Stifling laughter, she left the path to Knothole when she heard the exclamation, "You've never heard of chili dogs?!" "Nicole, access files on 'The Stone of Lao Shan.'" "Accessing, Sally." As Sally sat by the edge of the pool where Sonic collected his Power Rings every day, she heard the unmistakable sound of the hedgehog's approach. "Lao Shan was the third emperor of the Yue Dynasty in the early..." Nicole was saying. "Sal, we--can I talk with you?" "...having been the first-born of the second emperor, Ming Zi, who..." "I'm kind of busy, Sonic." "...one of the most powerful--" "Break time, Nicole," Sonic told the machine. "Sure thing, my main hedgehog." Nicole shut off. "All right, what is it?" asked Sally. She knew Sonic would get his way. "Do you have something to say about your lack of respect for reality?" "Well, okay, you were right." Sally grinned. "But more importantly?" Sonic let out a sigh. "I was wrong. But there's more to it than that," he added. "I'm worried." He sat down on the ground next to her. Sally waited for him to speak. She knew what many people didn't realize: just because he might not know the right words didn't mean he didn't have something important to say. Besides, she enjoyed these moments, the times when Sonic would be serious without protecting himself with a careless attitude. Finally, he spoke: "The war, it cheated us all out of something. I mean, it made us know too much too soon." He paused again. "Tails wants to grow up already, but I wish I could see a time when he didn't. He should be playing, you know?" Sonic stood up again. "But you got gypped worse than anybody. You never got a chance to do something without thinking about what will happen afterwards. I guess that--that makes you grown- up already, in a way." He turned his back on her, wishing he knew how to say what he meant. "You won't get another chance to do something before you think, when you're older." Sally waited until she was sure he was finished. "I think I understand." Sonic turned to look at her. "You think that I've matured to quickly to realize what I'm giving up by leaving childhood. You want me to be spontaneous once in a while, and not think about consequences." Sally stood up. "Did I say all that?" By now, he was facing Sally with his back to the pool. Smiling disarmingly, she gave him a shove. "Hey!" was all Sonic could get out as he fell backwards into the water. It could have been Sally's words, or the sound of her laughter as she dove into the pool after him, clothes and all, that caused him to smile because he realized that she did understand. As they splashed each other and shouted out loud, they were, for a short time, no longer the two main leaders of a resistance group trying to end a war that had raged their entire lives, they were just a couple of fifteen-year-old kids who would catch it for getting their shoes wet. Sometimes it was important to let go of their cares. "Where did Sally and Sonic go?" asked Mei Li. "Oh, they're jist off somewheres makin' up. Ah told ya'll it wouldn't last long. Too bad we've gotta worry ovah findin' some stone of what's-'is-name now." "I forgot to mention, I have the Stone of Lao Shan." She produced a flat, green, carved stone pendant. "I always thought it was just a piece of jade," she said. "Great, now we jist gotta wait 'til Sally finds out what it does there. Meantimes we kin start your trainin'." Bunny's expression changed, as if something crossed her mind. "Ya'll are gonna stay, aincha?" Mei Li was not prepared for this question. Torn between her desire to have friends again and the thought that she might never fit in here, she did not have an answer. "We'll see," she told Bunny. to be continued