The Escape

Legal disclaimer:
    Sonic the Hedgehog and all related characters are copyrighted by Sega and
Archie Publications, Inc.

            My kingdom, it's come to an end
            My people gone, and my one true friend,
            I guess not all good things last
            I guess I'll have to leave in the past
            My town, my village, my people, my home,
            Everything gone, and us alone
            Should I stay? Should I leave?
            Is there enough time to grieve?
            After all, there's nothing left,
            A plot of scheming, and of theft,
            What right have they to take this land
            Out of our proud noble's hand...

    "Hmmm..." Nack thought. He had stationed himself above sewer pipes inside
Robotropolis on his latest scheme. Robotnik had never paid him for anything he
did, and Nack was going to get revenge. Outside of some hidden treasury,
remains of Mobotropolis, he prepared to hit and run. Many SWATbots guarded the
treasure, as if they expected him, but he could find his way around them if he
put hi mind to it. For some reason, Robotropolis seemed rather empty today,
which is why he chose to strike now. Half of the SWATbots must be missing,
because usually they were swarming the place. He wondered where they were...


    The young Princess frolicked over to her friend.
    "Bye daddy, we're going to play hide and seek!" she yelled to a pitch black
creature. He was about six feet in length, and five feet at the shoulder,
normal for their species. After generations of smilodons, pseudo-dragons, and
inter-breeding of magic itself, came their rare, unusual, and unknown
species... the sorengati. Not yet discovered, and preferring to stay that way,
the unknown species had been living on an island far from civilization called
Flygy, which had many eclipses every month, from the Floating Island itself.
    The father grinned and replied," All right, but don't play too rough. And
take Alisha with you." He nudged a smaller kitten in front of him. Most of this
species was fiery-orange, with green or yellow eyes and wings just large enough
to fly. But, as relations would have it, certain ones would become black
instead of orange, and these particular ones became the leaders of the others.
Long ago, when two were born pitch black, no one could decide which would rule.
His brother and he always thought themselves a better ruler than the other, but
both took half of the kingdom in the end. With his wife, he had born the first
girl with royal family blood, and the second. Although both children were
healthy, they both looked different from normal and royal sorengatis. Both of
them had black ears, and the tips of their two tails were black, with orange
bodies and dazzling blue eyes. On the other hand, his brother had a small boy
named Harclind, who would always torment his own daughter, Fleefle, about being
a girl.
    "Come on, Tels!" Fleefle nudged Alisha along and beckoned to one of her
friends. Her two friends were commoners, Sneeker and Tels, but both were loyal
and were almost like brothers. Orphans could sometimes manage, with a small
amount of help from the king. He smirked. Those two hadn't been the only ones
he had helped, either. Devochka, his almost adopted daughter, as Fleefle put
it, was also an orphan. She was very loyal to him, helping with so many things.
Even right now she was on a mission for him, now being fifteen. He had no idea
who her parents had been, but something was wrong and he had raised her
himself, with his good friend from another island, Whiskas, and, of course, his
magician, Gaold.
    "Were is Sneeker?" Fleefle asked, looking at Tels. Sneeker popped out of a
nearby bush and tagged her.
    "Tag! You're it!" he shouted, running back through the bushes.
    "Sneeker?! Haha! Better run! The king is IT" she told the others as they
scrambled.
    "1....2....3...4...5...6..7..8.9.10!" Fleefle counted, then started
searching for the others. A rustle in the bushes found her little sister,
Alisha.
    "Uh-oh! I'm after you, Alisha!" Fleefle sarcastically chased her, jogging
after the little kitten. Then they heard something over the hill.
    "Alisha? Do you hear that?" Fleefle asked, staring at the hill. Hundreds of
robots were climbing over it, marching towards their city and firing shiny
lights at their buildings that destroyed everything.
    "Alisha! Run!" Fleefle shouted, pushing Alisha ahead of her and running to
a cliff.
    Back at her city, her father had received the news.
    "King Waylind! Robots are attacking, hundreds of them!" his magician Gaold
shouted, panicking.
    "Attackers? The children! They'll need time to run away! Scramble, get our
forces, hold off the attackers, and hurry!" Waylind gave his orders and ran to
lead the loyal citizens into battle. Of course, what his magician had said was
true, but he led his followers into the battle with extra ferocity. His brother
could be seen at a distance doing the same, but the battle was hopeless.
    "We must buy time for the children!" Waylind shouted to all his forces at
the moment, encouraging them. He lunged at one SWATbot, and tore through three
more within ten seconds. Fighting and defending others, he leapt at more and
more. His recruits came, but it was still hopeless. The robot army was too
large. No matter how hard he tried, spitting his acid while his followers
breathed their fire, the army was over-powering. Waylind destroyed some more,
then was shot by some kind of light. It pierced through his skin, and he
crumpled up on the ground. Protected for a last few moments by his loyal
subjects and friends, Gaold tried to heal him.
    "S-save, save the, the children..." Waylind panting, letting his head rest.
One glance at his king and Gaold reluctantly accepted it. The king was dead.
Their army fought the hopeless battle, buying Harclind, Sneeker and Tels the
time they had needed to run away. Sneeker and Tels ran for the cliff, while
Harclind flew towards it, knowing the hidden passageway inside of the cliff.
All of the children met up on the cliffs minutes later, and Fleefle peered over
the side, which over-looked her kingdom. It now lay in ruins, the buildings
destroyed, many small bodies that seemed the size of an ant lying helplessly on
the ground. Crying, she watched the remains of the city being destroyed.
    "Fleefle..." Sneeker started, not knowing how to finish.
    "We have to save ourselves, hot shot." Harclind quickly told her.
    "But were will we go? They'll destroy the whole island!" Tels replied.
    "To the island in the sky! We've seen it before, it isn't far. We'll have
to help Alisha make it." Fleefle commanded, grabbing Alisha with her two tails
and fluttering off. Leaving the island behind, the five kittens made their way
to safety.


    "King Waylind will be rather proud of this. Dean, locate resource files."
the mink commanded her small computer, having placed it inside someone else's
larger computer. This character had seemed threatening, and King Waylind had
asked her to find out if he was friendly or hostile. The place he lived in
reeked, pollution and robots everywhere.
    "Got it!" she told herself, replacing Dean into her pack and retreating
back to her home.
    "Halt intruder!" someone droned.
    "No way!" she replied, diving through a vent, planning to land in the
sewer. It was pitch black, but she was sure that she hadn't landed on sewer
floor. A small hmph and the sound of someone collapsing assured her.
    "Get off me!" someone yelled at her through the dark.
    "Who are you?" she jumped and landed a few yards away.
    "Names Nack, and who do you think you are? Jumping on a guy like that?"
Nack asked.
    "Devochka. What are you doing here?" Devochka inquired.
    "Being a bounty hunter! What are..."
    "Don't bother to ask, you aren't finding out!" Devochka quickly replied as
a blast sounded behind them," Let's move it before we're both caught!" She
headed for the exit of the sewers as SWATbots began making their way inside.
    "Surrender intruder."
    "Never!" was her instant reply as she swerved pass the bot and out the
exit. Nack came right after her and they both landed outside of the building
next to the vent. For the first time, they saw each other, Nack immediately
began under-estimating her, Devochka calculating Nack's usefulness.
    "Let's get outta here!" Nack ran towards the Great Forest. Devochka wasn't
sure were he was headed, but he probably had somewhere in mind. Once they were
near the Great Forest, Nack hopped on some kind of hover-craft, and was going
to just fly away.
    "Not so fast, pal!" Devochka sprung onto his lap," There's always enough
room for one more!" She winked. Flying away, Nack had decided that he didn't
have enough time for a struggle, and he should take his time before throwing
her off. Now he headed for the Floating Island, and back to his little nook.


    "Can't catch me!" Charmy yelled at Mighty, whom was still chasing him.
    "We'll see about that, Charmy!" just minutes ago Charmy had convinced him
to play along in his little game. Espio still snoozed, curled into a small ball
as usual, and camouflaged with his surroundings, while Vector listened to his
music. Nothing seemed abnormal.


    Snively continued tracking the princess, "She went to the Floating Island,
sir."
    "Then get her! She is more of a threat than she seems, and I won't let her
become a bigger one!" Robotnik roared, slamming his hand into the chair.
    "Shall I dispatch Mecha-Sonic?" Snively asked.
    "That worthless piece of... Well, I suppose I will give
him-one-last-chance." Robotnik hesitated, then ordered for Mecha-Sonic to be
launched after Fleefle.


    Mecha had heard the whole conversation.
    "I am NOT worthless! I'll prove it!" Mecha thought as he was called. This
time, he WOULD catch those little pests, and then Robotnik wouldn't introduce
him to the scrap heap.
    Later, he was launched to fly out and catch Fleefle. This time he would NOT
fail. He couldn't fail.


    "Oh, great hot shot! Nice call! Let's go to the island! We'll be safe
there! Now we're up here, we're completely lost in their terrain, and starving
to death!" Harclind continued to complain.
    "Stop thinking with your stomach and we just might live!" Fleefle retorted,
checking some giant mushrooms to see if they were poisonous.
    "Yeah, Harclind! What would you have done? Stayed there?" Tels asked,
always defensive of his friends.
    "Hey, everyone, cool it! If we're going to pull through, we have to do this
together. We have ourselves a psionic, a tracker, a paladin, a bard and a
ranger, all of which were still in training! Now that is pretty darn good!
We're an assembly of demi-gods over here and not taking advantage of what we
have at hand!" Sneeker corrected all of them.
    "He's right! We have to be prepared for anything!" Fleefle agreed," So,
first, we'll need to fill our stomachs, so stop complaining! Then, we'll begin
making our plans of defense!" Fleefle checked another mushroom. It was edible.
    "Foo!" Alisha exclaimed, biting the mushroom.
    "She's your sister." Harclind grinned, hoping to frustrate Fleefle.
    "And I'm proud of it!" Fleefle joined Alisha.


    "Ok, here we are!" Nack announced," Time for you to get off!" He pushed her
but she clung on harder than he thought she could.
    "Are you getting all rough on little ol' me?" she asked, shrugging a bit.
    "Get off!" Nack told her, trying to throw her off. But, having
under-estimated her again, she flipped him and parked the hover-craft barely on
top of him.
    "Or, you could always join me on the ride. Always room for one more." he
quickly replied, trying to get up.
    "Glad you have a change of mind." Devochka moved the hover-craft so he
could get to his feet. Being slightly more cautious, Nack hopped back into his
hover-craft and continued," By the way, we have a change of direction." she
turned the craft towards her island. About to object, Nack reluctantly let her
head towards her own island.
    "I've been having a bad day." Nack muttered.


    The Floating Island came close in sight, and Mecha-Sonic flew above,
searching the perimeter for the five kittens. He didn't see them, but he did
see a familiar bee flying in the air. He hated that bee, he helped cause his
last failure and almost had him sent to the scrap heap. Mecha pulled out his
laser and shot the hated bee.


    Fleefle sensed something was wrong. Someone, somewhere, was headed for
them, at a very fast pace. BLAM! A giant bee hit the ground next to her. All of
them jumped, and then just stared, shocked.
    "Charmy!" they heard someone yell. Fleefle was the first to move, checking
him to see how badly he was hurt. He was singed by something that reminded her
of the attack on her village. It seemed to have skimmed his side, and he
probably fell because of shock. He had hit his head very hard, and was
unconscious.
    An armadillo appeared from the bushes, and he glanced curiously at Fleefle,
then he saw the bee.
    "Charmy!" he shouted, kneeling next to the bee and checking him," Charmy!
Guys! He's over here!" One more came, an alligator with a set of head-phones.
    "Yo, what happened?" he asked.
    Peering at Fleefle, Mighty replied," I don't know..."
    "Well neither do I!" Fleefle defensively stepped back," He just fell from
the sky! BOOM! BLAM! And here he is! And who's guys? I only saw one more guy
come."
    "Espio!? Oh, well.." Vector noticed Espio wasn't there, or at least
couldn't be seen there," I guess you don't talk while you're in spy mode."
    "What was that?" Sneeker asked, feeling a sudden hate sweep lightly on his
side.
    "What was what?" Fleefle and Alisha asked.
    "That breeze, almost like a chill..." Sneeker sniffed the air. Nothing.
    "I don't know what you're talking about. There weren't any breezes that I
felt." Fleefle shrugged.
    "I say he's insane." Harclind spat.
    "Shut up, Harcy!" Tels snapped," Sneeker has a built in paladin system on
him, and it detects evil. Whenever something evil passes he feels that way."
    "Paladin?" Mighty asked.
    "Uergh....." Charmy groaned.
    "Is he gonna be ok?" Fleefle asked.
    "Yeah. He'll be fine." Mighty replied.
    "Names." Fleefle asked.
    "Oh, I'm Mighty."
    "Sure are."
    "No, that's my name." Mighty held his paw as a polite gesture," This is
Vector, the bee is Charmy, and Espio is somewhere. You?"
    "I'm Princess Fleefle, this is my little sister, Alisha, this is Sneeker
and that is Tels." Fleefle told him.
    "And I'm Harclind..." Harclind grunted.
    "Keeps the wasps and mosquitoes away from the ground cheese..." Charmy
mumbled.
    "What's that about eating wasps and swatting mosquitoes?" Fleefle asked.
    "Hey, Charmy, wake up dude!" Vector shook his friend.
    "Careful, he's hurt." Alisha told them.
    "Oh, man! Someone must have shot him down with a laser or something!"
Mighty checked Charmy's side. Then Mecha-Sonic started to land behind the
unsuspecting enemies.


    "We're here!" Devochka proudly declared.
    "So, this is your home?" Nack lifted his belt slightly higher.
    "Nope, just over that hill and we'll be there." she was obviously excited,"
King Waylind will be so proud."
    "You work for a king?" Nack had been suspicious of many things, but this?
    "Well, sort of. Rather I do little things for him as his almost adopted
daughter. I can't wait to see Fleefle! And her little group! We're supposed to
do a song for the village soon, and we have to compose it!" she sounded like
she couldn't wait. Probably because she couldn't. They rounded the hill and....
Total destruction.
    "Ohmygawd!" Devochka screamed, seeing ruined buildings and devastation,"
King Waylind! King Waylind! Fleefle! Someone!"
    "Nice place to live." Nack looked around, wondering were they kept the
royal treasury. Not like they would need it anymore. Devochka ran off and began
searching underneath piles of wood and trees. What once may have been her room
was now a pile of rubble she was standing on. Inside a drawer that was somewhat
in one piece she found an old cat suit that she had been surprised with. They
had made it for her because her nick name was kitten, and she had worn it to
almost every song that they composed and sang. It was skin tight and pitch
black, with one hole for her tail, two for her eyes, another for her mouth and
a light covering over her ears which made them appear like a cat's. Clutching
the garment tightly, she continued towards the center of the city. Now bodies
and robots could be seen. In horror she went further, until she saw one
familiar pitch black body lying in the front.
    "King Waylind!" she gasped, on top of him in an instant. Carefully she
lifted his head, then gently set it back down. Whomever had attacked, he had
led a brave battle to defend his village. Then she started to realize her job
to avenge him, and protect any survivors. Grabbing the chest plate off a fallen
robot, she began making adjustments to the cat suit. The she took some jets of
a hover unit, and different pieces to different things, using a laser gun to
meld the cat suit and metallic pieces into one suit. When she was finished she
put the cat suit on. It still had a pitch black tone, but now had a metallic
shine, and some accessories.
    Climbing back over the hill, she saw Nack pondering something.
    "Something I missed?" she asked strolling down the hill.
    "Nah." Nack replied, taking note of her.
    "We're going to the Floating Island now." she stated, hopping on the hover
craft.
    "Oh, I get to go too?" Nack sarcastically growled, joining her reluctantly.
    "If you want to get the hover-craft back, yes." Devochka retorted.
    She switched the hover unit on and flew back to the Floating Island.
    Soon they were back on the Floating Island, since it was just above Flygy.
Stone-faced and very upset, Devochka leapt off the hover unit and proceeded
into Mushroom Valley.
    "You're leaving?" Nack was surprised at the sudden change of feelings.
    "Yep. Gonna explore." she plainly replied, not even looking back.
    "Well, you just hold it right there!" she turned around," Now you come and
spoil my whole little revenge and then just walk away? I don't think so! Look
lady, you're going to pay for that, it was going perfect until you came!"
    "Really?" Devochka asked with a false gesture of concern," Well, I guess
you'll just have to tag along until I find a treasure to give you."
    "What about King Waylind's royal treasury." Nack inquired with a sly grin.
    "Oh, well, sure. But I don't think you really want that stuff." she
smirked, placing an arm around him," You see, it's all covered with poison so
that thieves would make their own fate. We never had any use for the stuff."
Nack shivered at the thought. He was incredibly glad that he hadn't searched
and found the treasure.
    "What's that noise?" Devochka asked, peering through a bush. A robotic
hedgehog had just landed.
    "Mecha-Sonic." Nack whispered, joining her side," Probably trying to steal
the emeralds or something.
    "Let's follow and find out." she quietly stepped through the bush and
followed the metallic hedgehog.
    "Let's?" Nack denied. But when she dragged him along he had no chance to
discard the idea. After following the hedgehog for a few yards, she saw someone
else with the laser pointed at them.
    "Hey, pal! You shouldn't point lasers! You might hurt someone!" Devochka
yelled just before he shot. Surprised, Mecha-Sonic twirled around, losing his
aim on anyone. Although he thought that someone would be pointing a laser at
him, there only stood a girl in a strange suit. The Chaotix were just as
surprised. Only Fleefle stayed calm at her appearance.
    "Dev?!" she exclaimed.
    "Hello, princess." she greeted with a slight bow.
    "I'm outta here." Nack was about to dash away when he was grabbed.
    "You don't want to miss the action, do you?" Devochka asked," After all,
this is Fleefle's fight."
    "My fight." Fleefle repeated faintly, gazing at the large robot towering
over her.
    "Order: terminate. Carry out." it droned, finally comprehending the whole
situation and identifying most of the subjects," Sorengati princess, known
abilities, phsycoportation, in favor." He charged the small kitten, and all she
could think to do was dodge.
    "Wha-what do I do now?" she asked shakily.
    "Think." Devochka snapped her fingers and disappeared. Mecha-Sonic grabbed
his laser and aimed at Fleefle.
    "Think... I get it." she concentrated and the laser disappeared and
reappeared behind the bushes. Mecha left to grab the laser, and Fleefle tried
to think of a plan, when she heard the clap from above.
    Peering up, she saw Devochka sitting on a mushroom," Very good. But what
are you going to do about that?" She pointed to the metallic hedgehog who had
retrieved his laser and had it pointing directly at her. Just when he was about
to fire, Devochka announced," Uh-uh-uh! This is where I come in!" She jumped
down in front of Fleefle and challenged Mecha.
    "As you wish." Mecha grabbed her and tried to fling her over. But she had
been prepared and all he managed to do was get her in a bear hug. This was what
she had planned. As he flung her wildly back and forth he noticed his metal was
beginning to heat up. It was a minor set back, and he ignored it. When he tried
to throw her, she hung on for some reason, although he couldn't be sure why.
Then, he was getting dangerously hot, and he tried again to throw her. She
gently landed only feet away from him, and he retreated.
    "Yeah, you better run! Can't take the heat!" she yelled after him," Tell
your boss that he has to do better than that!"
    "Dev, what, did anyone in the, uh..." Fleefle tried to begin.
    "No, I saw it. No one survived except you and your friends here." Devochka
sadly told her.
    "Oh..." a tear rolled down Fleefle's cheek.
    "What about..." Harclind started.
    "No. I'm sorry." Devochka told them.
    "Are you going to stay?" Fleefle asked.
    "Me? No. Sorcery and psionics don't mix." Devochka replied.
    "Sorcery? You're, but, I never knew." Fleefle gasped.
    "Gaold taught me a trick or two. But, I am your guardian, so I will be
keeping an eye on you." Devochka turned on her jets and soared away.
    "I'll just be taking a stroll around the block..." Nack crawled away. The
Chaotix were too confused to bother stopping him.
    "Wha-?" Charmy asked his first logical question.
    "We'll explain later, once we figure it out." Espio stared at the spot the
fight had taken place.
    "I should go. I have a kingdom to attend." Fleefle mumbled. She and her
grouped crawled away from the scene, when she abruptly stopped and turned.
    "Are we friends?" she asked.
    "Friends?" Knuckles asked, then realized how lonely she must feel after
losing her father," Yeah.. We're friends."
    The tear continued working its way down her cheek, but she smiled faintly
and left.
    "So, what now, Rad Red?" Mighty asked.
    "I don't know..." Knuckles mumbled.


    Mecha-Sonic hid in the forest down below after the fight. For the first
time he was scared. Robotnik would never forgive him after this failure. A
seven year old just beat him! He had to follow Robotnik's orders, but at the
same time didn't want to. Checking his circuitry to keep his mind off all these
strange feelings, he began slowly walking back to the big city, all the time
scared of his death.


    Hours later, she was hidden behind an old garbage dump. Mecha had probably
already returned, and the Chaotix, well, who knew.
    "Hello, guardian." A deep voice saluted behind her. Turning around, she saw
the familiar cat, and his kitten apprentice. His gray and copper stripes
covered his back and his face just above his mouth. His belly and legs were
pure white, as was the fur around his mouth. As for his young apprentice, Tala
was a bright white, except for one black ear, and a tan-like color than reached
from one ear to one half of his nose, and swirled on the beginning of his back
with the white.
    "Whiskers. Good to see you." Devochka cheerfully replied.
    "As it is to see you. I'm sure you know Tala." he gestured toward the
youngster.
    "Of course. You've heard, I assume." She asked gently.
    "Yes. We know about this Robotnik. Waylind was my close friend as you well
know, and I didn't want to get him involved in this terrible mess. So I kept it
from him, which I now regret. But, you understand that it is horrible to have
to drag youngsters into the fight." He gestured towards Tala, whom was unaware
of his gesture," But, anyway, he is pure evil, and must be stopped. Tala is in
training to lead the Alley Cats should anything ever happen to me."
    None of them were aware of the robot just behind them.


    After consideration, the Chaotix had decided that Robotnik was behind
everything and had gone to Robotropolis to tell him that they didn't appreciate
him ruining their day.
    Climbing into an air-vent, they heard a high pitched scream that must have
been about a mile away.
    "What was that?" Espio asked.
    "Let's find out." Knuckles hopped out of the air-vent and rushed towards
the scream.


    After returning, Mecha had done some desperate pleading to stay out of the
scrap heap. It had been an hour, and he was about to be destroyed when the
three were spotted on sensors. Being the first to command, Robotnik had sent
him after the group. It hurt to have to kill again, but it kept him alive.
Then, Sonic, Sally and Bunnie had been spotted on a mission in the heating
system. The other robots hadn't detected it yet, and for some reason he didn't
tell Robotnik. He might have been destroyed for not telling, but he didn't.
Once he grabbed one of the group, he was sure that Sonic would find out. That
would also get him killed. He just couldn't tell why he kept it a secret.
    But, he had. And now he had to kill again. Hiding behind one of the huge
rubble piles, he easily sneaked up on the unsuspecting targets. Grabbing the
young kitten, he started to try and grab his laser-gun.
    "AAAUUUUUGGGH!!!!!!!!!!" the kitten screamed, which must have been heard
for miles. Sonic was sure to have heard that and be on his way. Shocked, both
of the older ones just stood for a second. But only a second. After that,
Whiskers leapt on the robot ferociously clawing at him. At this the robot
dropped the kitten and fell back. Seconds later a blur sped by, then came back
punching at him. From another direction the Chaotix, whom he had already
encountered earlier, were rushing their way. Desperately, he tried grabbing
Tala again, and Whiskas bravely scampered in front of him and clawed the robot
again. Upset, knowing his time was over, Mecha viciously slashed his own claws
at Whiskas. He wasn't sure where he hit him, but the cat crumpled up on the
ground and grabbed his face.
    "Tala, go get help!" Devochka ordered the kitten. Although he was reluctant
to leave his uncle behind, Tala obeyed and dashed away. Now he was scared
again. Sonic was going to kill him, if the Chaotix didn't get him first.
Spinning, he went underground and twisted a few directions. Soon Sonic would
come after him. He just noticed a scorched part of his side, were that strange
girl must have shot him. He borrowed his own little hole, and sat crumpled up
thinking about his past.
    Why did he follow Robotnik? He didn't like killing. He didn't like hurting,
or roboticisizer. Where was his home? His father didn't love him, he didn't
have a mother. Everyone feared him, he was alone. Inside all these strange
feelings tore him apart while he listened to Sonic spinning closer and closer.
When the hedgehog grabbed him he didn't resist. He couldn't stand it anymore.
    Sonic dragged him back onto the surface, and he knelt before all of them.
    "Alright, Mecha! Spill the beans!" Knuckles grabbed his shoulder and
shouted. Devochka was leaning over her friend, who was still in pain. Tala had
returned with aid, whom were trying to calm Whiskas.
    "Go ahead. Kill me. I can't take it anymore." Mecha sobbed.
    "What do you mean? You're a robot!" Knuckles growled.
    "If a robot had feelings, it would be like magic!" Charmy added.
    Listening to them, Devochka suddenly perked up," Magic! That's it! Charmy,
you're brilliant!"
    "I am?"
    "Of course, my magic had a side effect on him! When I used it on him, it
enabled his circuitry to have feelings, his own emotions." Devochka touched
Mecha's shoulder gently.
    "Feelings? I, well, I have them?" he asked, confused. He could never
comprehend emotions before.
    "I don't know. Do you?"
    "I, I'm, confused. This is, very, very unusual. But, why aren't you killing
me? After all I did?" Mecha-Sonic choked on the thought.
    "That's what I wanna know." Sonic replied threateningly.
    "Relax. He was probably a slave just like those other roboticisized
people." Devochka explained.
    "It's a nice story and all, but how can we trust you?" Knuckles snarled.
    "You... you can't." Mecha thought about it helplessly. He didn't deserve to
live after what he had done.
    "That wasn't him. It was Robotnik." Devochka shook her head gently,
twitching her tail nervously," Tiger?" She turned and asked Whiskers' cousin
about his condition. His cousin, a good friend named Checkers, and some other
friends were now there to help him. Princess Sally had also taken her time
trying to help, with Bunnie watching just steps away.
    "He is critical." Tiger replied," But we still can't hold him well enough
to see exactly how bad."
    "I'll hold him." Mecha offered. All around were silent, uncertain of how to
react. But, Devochka knew the power of her magic, and stepped aside for him.
This abnormal trust gave him some confidence, and he stood up and walked over
to Whiskers. Kneeling down again next to the scrambling body, he gently grabbed
both arms, turned him over, and held him in that position even after what he
saw. Right on his face, a large scar went over his right eye, and a hole was
where his eye used to be.
    After seeing the claw marks and over-coming the shock, Tiger bandaged his
face. Taking him a tad to the side, Devochka asked him how well, or if, he
would recover.
    "The most we could hope for is that he lives." Tiger side, glancing at his
cousin. The aid were removing him quickly from the city and pollution, before
Robotnik could start sending robots. Tala was also a bit away from everyone
else.
    "What's the matter?" Devochka asked.
    "It's my fault." He sobbed.
    "No. He decided his own fate, not you." She replied," He wanted you to lead
after him. What are your orders?"
    "My orders?" he only received a reassuring glance," Get him out of here as
quickly as possible! We can't risk anymore damage."
    "You heard him. Scramble!" Devochka enforced the command. The small kitten
was still hurt, but his wounds would heal.


    Weeks later, Devochka was visiting her friends, the Alley Cats. The Chaotix
had gone home, and after a long debate, Mecha had received his own home at
Knothole Village.
    "Well, I expect a report." She teased Tiger.
    "It's remarkable. He has recovered incredibly. He is blind, but his other
senses have simply seemed to take over. His other senses have increased
incredibly." Tiger smiled.
    "I hear you!" the leader replied.
    "So, is he totally blind." She smirked at Whiskas in the distance, playing
with the kittens of the village.
    "No, he can see shadows in certain, bright lights. But otherwise, he uses
his senses to smell what is near him, hear trespassers, taste poisons or drugs,
and even his feeling, just amazing! He senses things that we don't." Tiger was
obviously impressed," Of course, the one eye bit isn't exactly attractive."
    "Oh, he may be missing his eye, but he certainly doesn't seem to need it."
Devochka chuckled as Whiskas shouted a few more comments.
    "Aye, he is a great leader. And Tala feels much better." Tiger assured,
trotting over to his cousin to chat. Grinning, Devochka knew the old cat was
always fantastic. He simply wouldn't be beaten until he knew that his friends
wouldn't need him. But still, he struggled on.


    Back at Knothole, Mecha helped lifted another large beam in the
construction of a catapult. He had a home, friends, and almost family. After a
while, even Tails accepted him. Bunnie was great to talk to about his social
life, because she always seemed to understand. Sonic was still questioning him,
but he couldn't blame him after all the fights they had gone through. Rotor
helped him with his mechanical parts, and Sally helped him understand his
feelings. Even Antoine provided him with a good laugh, which was something
Mecha felt was quite enjoyable. For the first time he felt like he was friends
with someone, loved. He felt terrible about what he had done before, and
apologized constantly, but knew he would never do that again. It seemed that
everyone was happy. But adventures were still to come....

            ...Where is the justice, where is the peace?
            When will this mayhem be seized?
            I shall avenge my village, or be lost forever,
            I shall come back, later to never,
            Stay and see, if you may,
            See if I avenge this day...