"Out of the Closet" 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.
***Rated PG fo some acts of violence***
OUT OF THE CLOSET
It was night in the city of Robo-Tropolis. That didn't mean that the
polluted city was quiet, however. Thousands of worker bots toiled endlessly
throughout the night while the SWATbots supervised over them and made sure
that they stayed out of trouble in their mindless state.
Down in an older part of Robotnik's Death Egg Command Center, Snively
and several worker bots and SWATbots were clearing out an old storage room
to make way for a new robotization chamber. Snively wasn't happy about this
current assignment. The last thing he wanted to be doing was babysitting
stupid worker bots down in a closet all night.
"This is so boring", he said, folding his arms and leaning against a
wall.
He heard a cracking sound. He looked around to search for the source
of the noise. For some reason, it sounded as though it was coming from
behind him. He felt the wall behind him crumbing. Before he could move,
it caved in, and he fell backwards. All of the worker bots and SWATbots
stopped, and rushed to the hole he had just made.
"ARE YOU ALRIGHT, SIR?", asked one of the SWATbots, helping him to his
feet.
"Fine, fine", he said, looking around in the chamber he'd just fallen
into, "You there, get a light!"
One of the worker bots handed Snively a flashlight. He flipped it on,
and looked around the room. It was rather large. There were several old
computers and electrodes. He saw the power lever on the wall opposite to
him.
"Turn that lever", he ordered one of the SWATbots.
The SWATbot walked over, and flipped the lever up. There was a loud
"CRACK", and the lights came on in the room. Snively turned the flashlight
off. He looked around on the counters, seeing several papers. They were
quiet old and yellowed. He read one of them, and his jaw dropped.
"Contact Dr. Robotnik", he said to one of the SWATbots, "He's going
to want to see this."
About twenty minutes later, Robotnik arrived down in the store room
and squeezed through the hole Snively had made.
"This had better be worth while, Snively", he said, walking up to
where Snively was standing.
"Oh it is, Sir", said Snively, handing Robotnik the piece of paper.
He quickly scanned over it, and his eyes widened.
"This is a blue-print for the RA1000!", he said, "That old coot, Sir
Charles must've forgotten this lab even existed!"
"I believe that is it over there, Sir", said Snively, pointing at a
slab with something under a sheet laying on it, "I didn't want to disturb
it until you arrived."
"Excellent", said Robotnik, shoving Snively out of the way.
He walked over, and pulled the dusty sheet off the slab. When the
dust finally settled, he grinned an ear to ear grin at what he saw. Under
the sheet was a robot no taller than one of the worker bots. It wore a
dusty black cloak. It had two red eyes molded into evil-looking slits, and
no mouth, only a speaker. It was armed to the core with weaponary.
"Do you have any idea how long I have been searching for this robot,
Snively?", said Robotnik, "Or at least the blue-prints for it? Now I have
both!!"
"Sir", said Snively, "This robot is over twenty years old. Do you
think it will still function?"
"If it does, good", said Robotnik, looking at the blue-prints, "If
not, no matter. With these plans, I can construct an army of these droids."
"Shall I activate it, Sir?", asked Snively, eagerly.
"I suppose", said Robotnik.
Snively opened a panel behind the robot's neck. He connected several
wires that had been cut, and there was a shock that knocked him off his
feet. He hit the wall several feet away. He looked up, and saw the robot's
eyes glow red, and sit up.
"Amazing", said Robotnik, "Sir Charles certainly did know how to build
a robot."
The robot just sat there, as if scanning his memory. After a few
moments, it slid off the table, and stood up. It flexed all of its joints,
and looked around.
"RA1000, ON-LINE. SCANNING DATABASE FOR DIRECTIVES", it said out
loud, "SEARCHING...."
Snively got to his feet, and stood near Robotnik.
"Alright, Snively", said Robotnik, "We know it still functions
correctly. Deactivate it."
Snively walked over to the robot, and reached for the panel. The
robot looked at him, and as fast as lightning, it grabbed his hand and bent
it backwards. Snively heard a cracking noise.
"AHHHH!!!", he yelled, trying to break free.
"What are you doing!?", yelled Robotnik, shocked at the robot's
reaction.
"THIS CARBON BASED ORGANISM HAS ATTEMPTED TO DEACTIVATE RA1000", it
said, "IT HAS BEEN LABELED AS AN ENEMY AND WILL BE DESTOYED."
Snively managed to pull his hand free from the robot's grip. He ran
behind Robotnik. The robot walked towards Robotnik, and activated its
plasma cannon.
"Robot!", said Robotnik, "State your mission!"
The robot responded to the command by lowering the cannon back into
its arm and stopping. It stood straight up, and looked at Robotnik.
"THE RA1000 UNIT'S MISSION IS TO LOCATE AND DESTROY ALL LIVING MEMBERS
OF THE ROYAL HOUSE OF ACORN ON MOBIUS", it said, "FIRST TARGET: KING
ACORN."
The robot turned, and walked out the hole in the wall.
"Stop that machine!!", yelled Robotnik, trying to squeeze back through
the hole.
Two SWATbots raised their rifles at the RA1000.
"FREEZE, ROBOT", said the first SWATbot.
The RA1000 reacted by firing two small pebble sized devices that
attached themselves to both of the SWATbots. The SWATbots looked at the
devices, trying to acceratain what they were. A second later, they let
loose a charge of electricity that over-loaded the circutry in both of the
SWATbots. They both dropped their rifles and fell to the ground. Robotnik
grinned when he saw what the robot was capable of.
The robot disappeared into the tunnels, and made his way to Robotnik's
main control room. It walked up to the computer console. It held up its
right hand, and a wire shot into an input jack. It then ordered the
computer to answer its questions.
"DISPLAY CURRENT WHERE ABOUTS OF KING ACORN", it said.
The computer searched, and then gave a response.
"KING ACORN IS IMPRISONED IN THE VOID", it said, "IMPRISONED
6-9-3224."
"THIS UNIT REQUIRES INPUT ON VOID", said the RA1000
"THE VOID IS A VORTEX THAT EXISTS OUTSIDE THIS DIMENSION", said the
computer.
"MISSION: ELIMINATE ALL LIVING MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF ACORN ON
MOBIUS", said the RA1000, "KING ACORN IS NO LONGER ON MOBIUS. THEREFORE,
KING ACORN IS NO LONGER PART OF THIS UNIT'S MISSION. SECOND TARGET: QUEEN
ALICIA."
The RA1000 looked back at the computer. It requested more
information.
"DISPLAY CURRENT WHERE ABOUTS OF QUEEN ALICIA", it ordered.
"SEARCHING....", said the computer, "QUEEN ALICIA IS DECEASED. DATE
OF DEATH: 9-4-3223."
"QUEEN ALICIA IS NO LONGER PART OF THIS UNIT'S MISSION", said the
RA1000, "THIRD TARGET: PRINCESS SALLY ALICIA ACORN. DISPLAY CURRENT WHERE
ABOUTS OF PRINCESS SALLY ALICIA."
"SEARCHING...", said the computer, "PRINCESS SALLY ALICIA IS IN
KNOTHOLE VILLAGE. LOCATION: UNKNOWN."
"TARGET, LOCKED", said the RA1000, "DISPLAY ANY ADDED MEMBERS TO THE
HOUSE OF ACORN IN THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS."
"SEARCHING....", said the computer, "LOCATED. PRINCESS SASHA NICOLE
ACORN. BORN TO KING ACORN AND QUEEN ALICIA 9-3-3223. CURRENT WHERE ABOUTS:
KNOTHOLE VILLAGE. LOCATION: UNKNOWN."
"TARGET LOCKED", said the RA1000, "REQUIRE CURRENT PICTURE
IDENTIFICATION OF SALLY ALICIA AND SASHA NICOLE."
"WORKING...", said the computer, "CURRENT PICTURE IDENTIFICATION
FOUND."
Two current pictures of Sally and Sasha appeared on the monitor. They
had been taken by Robotnik's Spy Eyes.
"DOWNLOAD PICTURE IDENTIFICATION", said the RA1000.
"DOWNLOADING...", said the computer, "DOWNLOAD COMPLETE."
The RA1000 now had picture identification of Sally and Sasha. Now,
all it had to do was find the location of Knothole. It began in the first
place it knew of; its own database.
"SEARCHING DATABASE FOR LOCATION OF KNOTHOLE VILLAGE", it said,
"LOCATION FOUND. PROCEEDING TO KNOTHOLE VILLAGE."
It pulled its uplink cable from the jack, and walked out of the
command center. Once outside, several SWATbots ran towards it. Robotnik
and Snively were right behind. It paid them no mind, and activated its
thrusters. It flew off into the dark sky. Robotnik watched as it
disappeared. He then turned around and headed back inside. Snively ran
close behind him.
"Shall I have the robot traced, Sir?", he asked.
"No, Snively", said Robotnik, "I don't need it. I have the
blueprints, and that's all I need to build more of those robots. Go back
down to the chamber and bring all the disks that were left down there. I
want you to personally go over each and every one of them. Understood?"
"Yes, Sir", said Snively, running off.
The sun had risen by the time the RA1000 reached Knothole. It set
down about a mile away from it, so it wouldn't be detected, and began
walking.
In Knothole, Sonic walked out of his hut, stretching and yawning.
He looked around, and then sped off to find something to eat. Across the
street, Sally emerged from her hut, thinking about all the things she had
to do that day. She turned, and looked back at Sasha, who was still
snoring in her bed. She sighed, and walked off to Rotor's lab.
About an hour later, Sasha emerged from the hut. She had washed off
and put her black vest, belt, and boots on. She strolled to the bridge,
and decided to go for a walk in the Great Forest. She then skipped off and
disappeared in the foliage.
In Rotor's workshop, Sally was helping Rotor put the magnetic field
generator back together. After the first time they had used it, it hadn't
worked since. They had been trying to reconstruct it using whatever parts
they could salvage out of Rotor's store room, or out of the scrap piles in
Robo-Tropolis. As hazardous as Rotor's store room was, it was still less
dangerous than going into Robo-Tropolis. Well, almost.
"Try it now, Sally", said Rotor, pulling his goggles off of his eyes.
Sally flipped the switch, and all of a sudden, every metal tool and
part started wiggling.
"Turn it off, quick!", said Rotor.
Sally quickly flipped the switch back, and the metal parts stopped
moving.
"Whew", said Sally, wiping her forhead, "Thank goodness we didn't have
it set on a higher level or we would have yanked just about everything in
your workshop on top of us."
"Yeah", said Rotor, "You wanna take a break for a while?"
"I suppose", she said, taking her goggles off.
She walked out of the hut, and let the sun hit her face. She took in
a big breath, and then walked back to her hut to see if Sasha had ever
rolled out of bed. When she arrived, the hut was empty. She checked the
bathroom to see if Sasha was taking one of her long bubble baths, but there
was no one there. Sally looked, and saw Sasha's nightshirt thrown on the
floor. Her vest, belt, and boots were gone. Sasha had gotten dressed, and
left. As usual, she hadn't let anyone know where she was going. She saw
that Sasha's vase of flowers was empty. Given Sasha's love for wildflowers,
she had probably gone out to the meadow to pick some more. Sally sighed.
She then headed off towards the meadow to track her sister down.
Out in the beautiful meadow, Sasha was busying herself picking her
fill of wildflowers. She already had an armful, but she still wanted more.
Sally had always kept the hut so plain and stuffy. She didn't know how her
older sister had managed to live in that dingy hut for eleven years. Thank
goodness she had come along to brighten it up a little.
"Hey, Sasha!", said a voice from behind her.
She looked, and saw Gerald, a young frog about her age skipping
towards her. She smiled, and stood straight up.
"Hi, Gerald", she said, "What's up?"
"Oh, nothing", he said, "My mom was making me clean today, so I
thought I'd disappear for a little while. You know how parents get."
"Not really", said Sasha, "The only parent I ever had was Tabitha.
Sally tries to fill in for her, but she's just too strict sometimes."
"I hear ya", said Gerald, "What are you doing?"
"Just picking some more wildflowers for our hut", she said, "I love
the way they smell. Here, take a whiff."
She shoved one under Gerald's nose, and he inhaled. He quickly
pushed it away, and let out a huge sneeze. Sasha bet half the Great Forest
heard it.
"Sorry", she said, "I guess it's an aquired preference."
Gerald just chuckled.
From a distance, the RA1000 watched the two children. It used its
optic scanners to zoom in so it could see their facial features better.
"ZOOMING IN TO 200%", it said, "SUBJECT ONE, MALE FROG, AGED 13 YEARS.
IGNORE."
The RA1000 looked at the other child.
"ZOOMING IN TO 250%", it said, "SUBJECT TWO, FEMALE SQUIRREL, AGED 12
YEARS. AQUIRING FACIAL IDENTIFICATION."
The RA1000 zoomed in even closer, and then got a clear picture of
Sasha's face. It brought up the picture file it had of Sasha, and compared
the two.
"SUBJECT MATCH", it said, "SUBJECT TWO IDENTIFIED AS SASHA ACORN.
TERMINATE. ACTIVATING SCATTER GUN."
Its arm opened up, and a scatter gun rolled out, and armed itself.
The RA1000 aimed right at Sasha's head with a laser sight.
"Hey, Sasha", said Gerald, "What's that on your head?"
"Huh?", said Sasha, looking up at him.
Gerald moved right in front of the red dot that had appeared on
Sasha's head, and it disappeard.
"Well, it was right, ugh!", he grunted.
Gerald's eyes got real big, and he stiffened up.
"What's the matter, Gerald?", said Sasha.
Gerald didn't answer. He just fell to his knees, and then fell flat
on his face. Sasha dropped her flowers when she saw the huge steaming
laser hole in his back. She did the only thing that a 12 year old in her
position would normally do. She screamed at the top of her lungs.
About fifty meters away, Sally heard the scream. Actually, Sasha
screamed so loud that half of Knothole heard the wail. Sonic dropped his
pot full of chili, and sped towards it.
"RESETTING TARGET", said the RA1000, "COVER UNDERMINDED. NEED FOR
HIDING NO LONGER PRESENT."
The RA1000 got to its feet, and walked out from the group of bushes
it had been hiding behind. Sasha saw it, and started backing up.
"What are you?", she managed to whimper.
"THIS UNIT IS THE RA1000", it said, "THIS UNIT'S MISSION IS TO
TERMINATE ALL LIVING MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF ACORN ON MOBIUS. YOU ARE
SASHA NICOLE ACORN. YOU ARE TO BE TERMINATED. HOLD STILL AND THERE WILL
BE NO PAIN."
The robot lifted its arm, and readied itself to fire the scatter gun
again. Sasha was so frightened that she couldn't move. The robot fired,
and Sasha was pulled out of the way at the last possible second by Sally.
The two rolled and Sally stood back up.
"I don't know what you are", she said, pointing at the RA1000, "But
you aren't going to harm my sister!"
The RA1000 stared at Sally for a second, accessing its picture of
Sally.
"SALLY ALICIA ACORN", it said, "TARGET CONFIRMED. TERMINATE!!"
The RA1000 began firing at Sally, who flipped and jumped over all the
blasts. She picked up a rock, and threw it as hard as she could at the
robot.
"INCOMING PROJECTILE", said the robot, "REFLEXIVE ACTION ACTIVATED."
The robot tried to duck, but it was too late, the rock hit it right
in the face, and knocked it over. It fell onto its back, and just laid
there. Sally didn't waste any time grabbing a still shocked Sasha, and
pulling her towards the forest.
"RIGHT VISUAL LENS DAMAGED", said the RA1000, "INITIATING SELF
REPAIR."
While the robot's eye was fixing itself, it struggled to get back to
its feet. A chore that was not so easy for a 200 pound robot.
Sonic rushed up to Sally just as she had ran into the forest. He saw
Sasha, who was still in shock, and then looked over and saw Gerald's body
laying in the meadow.
"What happened?", he said.
"There's some kind of robot in the meadow", said Sally, "It knows me
and Sasha. Robotnik must've sent it. I've got to get her back to
Knothole."
"Fine", said Sonic, cracking his knuckles, "I'll keep Glory Boy here
busy."
Sally nodded, and ran off with Sasha in her arms. Sonic ran out into
the meadow, where he saw the robot get to its feet. He screeched to a halt,
folded his arms, and looked right at the robot.
"Hmmmm", he said, tapping his foot, "You're a funny-looking bot. I've
never seen Robotnik build one like you."
The RA1000 looked at Sonic.
"THIS UNIT WAS NOT CONSTRUCTED BY A BEING DESIGNATED, ROBOTNIK", it
said.
Sonic was puzzled. If Robotnik didn't build this mechanical
nightmare, then who did?
"Oh really?", said Sonic, still tapping his foot, "Then who was the
nut who put you together?"
"RA1000 WAS DESIGNED AND CONSTRUCTED BY SIR CHARLES HEDGEHOG", it
said.
Sonic's jaw dropped. His Uncle Chuck had built this thing? If he
did, then why was it after Sally and Sasha? More importantly, where did it
come from?
"YOU ARE NOT PART OF THIS UNIT'S MISSION", said the RA1000, "DO NOT
INTERFERE AND YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED. IF YOU CHOOSE TO INTERFERE, THEN YOU
MUST BE TERMINATED SO THIS UNIT CAN COMPLETE ITS MISSION."
"Which would be?", asked Sonic, not budging an inch.
"THIS UNIT'S MISSION IS TO TERMINATE ALL LIVING MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE
OF ACORN ON MOBIUS", said the machine, "NOW, MOVE OR BE MOVED."
Sonic didn't budge. The RA1000's eyes, glew deep red, and he began
walking towards Sonic with his arms out.
"YOU HAVE ONE FINAL CHANCE TO WITHDRAW OR YOU WILL BE ELIMINATED",
said the machine in its emotionless tone.
"You talk too much", said Sonic, revving up.
He began running around the robot at such a high rate of speed that
a whirlwind was created and the RA1000 was lifted off the ground.
"Yeah!", yelled Sonic, "Jam time!!"
He increased the speed, and the whirlwind threw the robot in the
opposite direction from Knothole. With luck, the fall would destroy him.
After the robot was gone, Sonic screeched to a halt, and then headed towards
Robo-Tropolis. Uncle Chuck had some explaining to do when Sonic brought
him back to Knothole.
Several miles away, the RA1000 crashed to the ground. It just laid
there for a few moments, not moving one bit. Then, all of a sudden, its
eyes lit back up, and it got to its feet.
"CALCULATING POSITION", it said, "POSITION: 8 MILES DUE WEST OF
KNOTHOLE VILLAGE. ACTIVATING THRUSTERS."
There was a cough, a sputter, and finally a backfire. The RA1000
looked down at its feet, which were smoking. If it was capable of cursing,
it surely would have.
"RUNNING FULL SELF-DIAGNOSTIC", it said, "WAITING......DIAGNOSTIC
COMPLETE. RA1000 UNIT 82% OPERABLE. BOOT TRUSTERS, SCATTER GUN, AND COMM
UNIT ARE NONFUNCTIONAL. RA1000 UNIT IS STILL CAPABLE OF COMPLETING MISSION.
SEARCHING DATABASE FOR INTERLOPER'S IDENITITY."
The machine scanned its database of all citizens of Mobo-Tropolis.
It couldn't locate Sonic's identity anywhere in its database.
"INTERLOPER'S IDENTITY, UNKNOWN", it said, "IF INTERLOPER INTERFERES
AGAIN, THEN HE WILL BE DESTROYED."
Since its thrusters were non-operational, the RA1000 knew that it was
going to have to walk the entire way back to Knothole to aquire its targets.
It powered down the thrusters and started walking.
In Robo-Tropolis, Sonic sped undetected past several SWATbot units.
He made his way to Uncle Chuck's secret base and used a rock to tap on a
pipe in a certain pattern. The a hatch on the garbage pile lifted up, and
Sonic rushed in. The hatch closed quickly behind him.
He found his uncle sitting at his switchboard with a headset on. He
was apparently listening to something. When he saw Sonic speed in, he
switched off the radio and removed his headset.
"Sonic", he said, with a smile, "What brings you out here?"
"We have a bit of a problem, Unc", he said, not returning his uncle's
smile.
"What's the matter?", asked Uncle Chuck.
"A robot came into the meadow today and attacked Sasha and one of her
friends", said Sonic.
"Are they alright?", asked Uncle Chuck, genuinly concerned.
"I don't know about Sasha", said Sonic, "But the robot killed her
friend. Unc, he couldn't have been more than 13 years old."
"Why did you come here, then?", asked Uncle Chuck.
"Because the robot said that you were the one who built it, Unc", said
Sonic.
"What?", said Uncle Chuck, "I haven't built any robots since long
before I was roboticized, Sonic. What did it look like?"
"Real weird-looking", said Sonic, "It was about my height, had two
red slits for eyes, a speaker for a mouth, and was wearing a jet black
cloak. It said that it was after all members of the House of Acorn."
Uncle Chuck's jaw dropped when he heard that.
"Sonic", he said, really worried, "Did it say what its designation
was?"
Sonic just looked at him.
"Its name, Sonic", snapped Uncle Chuck, "Did it say its name?"
"RA, something", said Sonic, scratching his head.
"The RA1000", said Uncle Chuck, burying his face into his hands, "Oh
no."
"Then you did build it", said Sonic.
"Where's Sally and Sasha?", asked Uncle Chuck.
"They went back to Knothole while I dealt with the robot", said
Sonic, "They'll be safe there."
"No they won't, Sonic!", said Uncle Chuck, "That think knows where
Knothole is!"
"Say what?", said Sonic.
"Sonic, "said Uncle Chuck, "They're both in grave danger. You have
to get them and bring them back here. The RA1000 doesn't know about this
place. It won't be able to find them here."
"But Unc", said Sonic, "I sent that thing flying with a whirlwind.
There ain't no way it could have survived."
"Trust me, Sonic", said Uncle Chuck, "That thing is built tough
enough to withstand the shockwave from a nuclear explosion. Getting thrown
a few miles isn't going to even dent it."
"Alright", said Sonic, "I'm outta here. But when I get back, I want
some answers."
"I'll tell you everything, Sonic", said Uncle Chuck, "Just get them
back here before that robot finds them."
He opened the hatch, and and Sonic shot out of it. After he was gone,
Uncle Chuck just sat down at his switchboard, and leaned his head onto his
hand. What had he created?
In the Death Egg Command Center, Snively was going over the disks
like Robotnik had told him to, when he found something that made his heart
skip a beat.
"Oh no", he whimpered, "Robotnik isn't going to like this one bit."
He turned around, and saw Robotnik sitting in his command chair,
studying the blueprints for the robot. He had been looking at them for
several hours. Snively slowly approached him.
"Uh, S-S-Sir?", said Snively.
"This machine is marvelous, Snively", said Robotnik, not even looking
up from the blueprints, "Sir Charles certainly was a genius in his field.
Just imagine what an army of these robots could do."
"Sir", said Snively, "We have to find the original."
Robotnik looked over at him.
"I told you before, Snively", he said, "We don't need it! Why do you
keep obsessing over it?"
"I checked its database contents on the disks that were down in the
lab, Sir", said Snively.
"And?", said Robotnik, glaring at Snively.
"Well, Sir", said Snively, feeling himself start to sweat, "Sir
Charles programmed the robot to return to the king to receive new orders
upon completion of its original mission. It was given all the locations
where the king may be, including certain hidden royal retreats."
"What are you getting at, Snively?", said Robotnik, gritting his
teeth.
"The RA1000 has the coordinates to Knothole Village in its database,
Sir", said Snively.
"IT WHAT!!!!??", yelled Robotnik, grabbing Snively by his shirt
collar and lifting him off the ground.
"It knows where Knothole is, Sir", gagged Snively, barely able to
breathe.
Robotnik dropped him, and ran as fast as he could to the computer
console. He immediately issued new orders for his SWATbots.
"Attention all SWATbots!", he said, "You are to retrieve the RA1000
intact at all costs!! FIND IT AND FIND IT NOW!!!!"
"UNDERSTOOD, SIR", said the SWATbot over the comm.
"Snively", said Robotnik, "Get off your duff and go out there and
coordinate this!!! I need that robot!!!"
"Right away, Sir", said Snively, getting to his feet and running off.
Robotnik sat back down in his chair. He pounded his robotic fist
against he arm console of the chair. If it wasn't one thing, it was
another!!
Sonic flew back into Knothole with a sonic boom. He ran towards
Sally's hut, and saw her standing outside looking upset as two other animals
were yelling at her. He screeched to a halt right next to the three of
them.
"Hey", he said, "What's goin' on?"
"This is none of your business, Hedgehog!", said the male frog, "So
butt out!!"
"Hey, just a minute", objected Sonic.
"Sonic", interupted Sally, "These are Gerald's parents. You know,
the one who got killed."
Sonic bit his lip.
"As I was saying before we were so rudely interupted", said Gerald's
father, "This is all your fault!"
"How is it my fault?", asked Sally, "I wasn't even there!"
"If you hadn't let that little bitch into this village, the robot
never would have come!", yelled the frog, "This village was supposed to be
safe! Now, thanks to your sister, my son is dead!"
"Don't you ever call my sister a bitch again", hissed Sally, "She is
your princess, as am I. In earlier times, one could be tried for treason
for saying things like that."
"And Robotnik is supposed to be the enemy", said Gerald's father.
"Would you two be quiet!!!", yelled Sonic.
They both looked at him.
"Thank you", he said, "Now, Sally. I have to get you and Sasha out
of Knothole and to Uncle Chuck's. He said that the robot has Knothole's
coordinates, and is probably on its way here right now."
"How could he know that?", asked Sally.
"He built the thing, Sal", said Sonic, "Not Robotnik."
"Your uncle is responsible for that creature?", said Gerald's father,
"With friends like you guys, who needs enemies. That's it, Princess. I'm
taking what's left of my family and we are leaving Knothole. I'm not going
to let you three get us all killed."
With that, he turned, took his wife, and left. Sonic just looked at
Sally.
"What do you mean Uncle Chuck built it?", asked Sally, "Why would he
do something like that?"
"Search me", said Sonic, "But he said he'd fill us in when I got you
guys back to him."
"What about everyone else in the village?", asked Sally, "Aren't they
going to be in danger."
"According to Uncle Chuck", he said, "The robot is after you and
Sasha. If everybody else stays out of its way, it won't harm them."
Sally nodded, and hurried off to tell everyone else not to bother the
robot if it came to Knothole. After she had done that, she got Sasha, and
Sonic blasted back to Robo-Tropolis.
When they arrived back at Uncle Chuck's, Sally put Sasha in a cot he
had there in case any of the Freedom Fighters had to spend the night. Then,
she immediately went back to Uncle Chuck to get the story behind this
robotic killer.
"Alright, Unc", said Sonic, "Spill it."
Uncle Chuck sighed, and motioned for them to sit down.
"The robot that is hunting Sally and Sasha is called the Robotic
Assassin: Series 1000", he said, "Sally's father had me build it during
the Great War. He wanted an unstoppable robot that could penatrate the
enemy's defenses and take out their leader. The war wasn't going in our
favor and I knew that Julian had pressured the king to do it. As much as
I disliked the idea, I obeyed my king. I constructed the robot and
programmed it to seek out and kill the leader of the enemy army. After it
had done that, it was to return to the king for new instructions. That's
why I programmed it with Knothole's coordinates. The king may have been
forced to flee there and the robot would need to know where to find him."
"If you sent it after the Overlanders", said Sally, "Why is it after
Sasha and me?"
"After we sent it off", said Uncle Chuck, "It disappeared and we
didn't hear from it again. We all assumed it had been destroyed. Then,
about two years later, it reappeared at our very doorstep with orders to
kill all living members of the House of Acorn on Mobius. The Overlanders
must have disabled it and found a way to reprogram it."
"What happened?", asked Sonic.
"Well", said Uncle Chuck, "The RA1000 isn't the easiest bot in the
world to destroy. Its armor is made of a substance that I created called
'Tritanium'. It is virtually invulnerable. Its cloak is made of a blast
resistant material. It has only one weak spot. I built the circut breaker
for the thing on the back of its neck, just in case I ever needed to
disable it."
"But the back of its neck is covered by the cloak", said Sally.
"I know", said Uncle Chuck, "That's why I put it there, in case
anyone else ever got wise to it."
"How did you stop it?", asked Sonic.
"It took the lives of over fifteen soldiers before I got the cloak
off and ripped the main power fuse out", said Uncle Chuck, "The king
ordered it destroyed, but with the war and all, I never got around to it.
After the war was over, I had planned to dismantle the bot, but Robotnik
took over before I could. All I had time to do was seal the lab. I had
hoped that age would have destroyed the RA1000, but apparently I built it
too well."
"So", said Sally, "All we have to do to disable it is pull the main
power circut on the back of its neck and it'll shut down?"
"Yes", said Uncle Chuck, "That's all."
"Piece o' cake", said Sonic, "I can handle any bot they throw at me."
"Sonic", said Uncle Chuck, "This robot is programmed to kill its
targets at all costs, even its own destruction. If it sees destroying
itself as a means of completing its mission, it will. It's armed with a
small thermonuclear detonator for just such a purpose."
"In other words, Sonic", said Sally, "We're going to need a plan."
"Oh, man", said Sonic, "I knew you were going to say that."
Back in Knothole Gerald's father was taking his wife and his younger
son and heading out. Bunnie stopped them on their way.
"Ah wish y'all wouldn't go", she said.
"Sorry, Bunnie", said Gerald's father, "But this place is no longer
safe for my family. That robot who killed my son is still out there and it
knows where Knothole is. I'm taking my family and leaving before that
thing comes here and kills us all."
"Where are ya gonna go?", asked Bunnie, "There ain't no safe place on
all of Mobius."
"We're going to the Great Unknown", he said, "Robotnik doesn't care
about that place and we can just wait out the war there."
"Ya know we won't make ya stay here against yer wishes", said Bunnie,
"Be careful."
"Good-bye, Bunnie", said Gerald's father, "Try not to get yourself
killed."
With that, the three turned, and walked out into the Great Forest.
Bunnie stood there and watched them until they were out of sight. She then
turned to Dulcy, who had been watching.
"Do you think they'll be alright?", asked the dragon.
"They won't be able ta survive out in the Great Unknow for very long",
she said, "Sooner or later they'll have to come back and if they don't come
here, Robotnik'll get 'em fer sure."
"Bummer", said Dulcy.
"That's life, Honey", said Bunnie, walking off.
About an hour later, the family of frogs was trudging through the
Great Forest, when the RA1000 jumped out of the bushes and aimed a plasma
cannon right in their faces.
"DO NOT MOVE", it said, "WHERE ARE SALLY ALICIA AND SASHA NICOLE
ACORN?"
"If I tell you", said Gerald's father, "Will you let us go?"
"Harold!", said his wife, "Leaving Knothole is one thing, but selling
out the princess is another!"
"Quiet, Nadia", he said, "He'll kill us if we don't talk."
"YOU ARE NOT PART OF THIS UNIT'S MISSION", said the RA1000, "IF YOU
COMPLY, YOU MAY GO UNHARMED."
"Alright", said Harold, "They're in Robo-Tropolis, in a secret base
located near the steel mill. It's disguised as a garbage heap."
"THIS UNIT IS NOT FAMILIAR WITH A LOCATION NAMED 'ROBO-TROPOLIS'",
said the robot, "PLEASE SPECIFY."
"Robo-Tropolis was once Mobo-Tropolis", said Harold, "Do you
understand?"
"AFFIRMATIVE", it said, "YOUR ASSISTANCE IS MOST HELPFUL."
With that, the robot turned, and walked back towards Robo-Tropolis.
Again, discontent that it couldn't curse its bad luck. It would take some
time to walk all the way back to Mobo-Tropolis, or whatever it was called
now. It never considered it before, but King Acorn must have been
dethroned if he was now imprisoned in that Void thing. If King Acorn was
no longer in power, then who was it to report to when its mission was
completed? It hadn't considered that.
Back in Robo-Tropolis, Uncle Chuck was showing some design specs he
still had for the RA1000, and Sally was checking on Sasha.
"How are you doing?", asked Sally.
"Fine, I guess", she said, "I'm just a little shaken up about the
whole thing."
"That's understandable, Sasha", said Sally, "You did watch Gerald get
murdered."
Sasha looked at Sally, unable to believe what she just said.
"You know something, Sis?", said Sasha, "I'm glad you're a princess."
"Why is that?", asked Sally.
"Because with tact like that, you'd make a lousy doctor", she said.
Sally just grinned.
"Hey, Sal!", yelled Sonic.
Sally got up, and hurried back into Uncle Chuck's control room.
Sasha followed behind her. When they arrived, Uncle Chuck was wearing his
head-set.
"We've got problems", said Uncle Chuck, "Robotnik must've figured out
what the RA1000 had in its database. He's ordered every SWATbot in
Robo-Tropolis to find it and bring it back, intact."
"Oh no", said Sally, "If he gets that robot, he'll be able to extract
the coordinates for Knothole out of it."
"Worse yet", said Uncle Chuck, "He's got the blueprints and several
disks with information about the RA1000 on them. He could construct an
army of those things."
"Well", said Sonic, cracking his knuckles, "Too bad for him, 'cause
we aren't going to let him do that."
"First things, first, Sonic", said Uncle Chuck, "We have to destroy
the existing RA1000. You know where the weak spot is."
"One thing", said Sally, "We don't know where the thing is."
Just as she finished saying that, there was a loud crumbling noise,
and the hatch to the outside smashed in. They all looked, and in stepped
the RA1000. It just looked right at the four of them.
"TARGETS LOCATED", it said, "TERMINATE."
Before the robot had a chance to fire, Sonic revved up, and took off
with all three in tow. After they cleared the garbage heap, Uncle Chuck
hit a button on his waist, and the entire base exploded. With the hatch
gone, the SWATbots would've found it anyway. He couldn't leave any trace
he was ever there.
"What now?", asked Sonic, "Do you think got it?"
"Not likely", said Uncle Chuck, "It'll dig its way out eventually.
Listen, all of you. We have to get those blue prints and disks away from
Robotnik before he has a chance to use them. We can't afford to have
anymore of these things running around Mobius. The next one might get sent
after Sonic."
"Hey", said Sonic, "I'd rather have that thing after me than Sal and
Sasha."
"How do we get rid of that thing, anyway?", asked Sasha.
"Uncle Chuck", said Sally, "Does that bot have the capability to learn
from its mistakes and correct them?"
"Yes", said Uncle Chuck.
"Then I doubt it'll let us pull the circut on the breaker again", she
said, "It's probably bypassed the circut just in case anyone does get under
there again."
"Wonderful", said Sonic, "So what do we do?"
"I have an idea", said Sally.
Sonic screeched to a halt, and they all let go of him. Sonic folded
his arms and looked right at Sally.
"Well?", he asked, "What is your brilliant idea?"
"The magnetic field generator", said Sally, "Rotor and I just about
put it back together. All we have to do is let that thing attach itself to
the bot and it'll erase its memory. That'll wipe out Knothole's cooridinates
and any other important data it may have inside that CPU of its."
"Then you and Sonic can go back to Knothole and get it", said Uncle
Chuck, "Sasha and I will take care of the blueprints and the disks."
"Be careful, Sasha", said Sally.
"Don't worry about me, Sis", said Sasha, "I got a score to settle
with that bucket of bolts anyway."
Sally kissed her on the cheek. Then she hopped on Sonic's back and
they took off. Uncle Chuck looked down at Sasha.
"C'mon", he said, grabbing her hand, "We'd better get into the
venilation ducts before a squad of SWATbots sees us."
"Uncle Chuck", said Sasha, "How did the robot find us at your hideout
anyway?"
"I have no idea, Kiddo", he said.
In the Death Egg Command Center, Snively was watching the monitors
for any sign of the RA1000. All of a sudden, he got an incoming call. It
was a SWATbot sqaud commander.
"Report", said Snively.
"RA1000 LOCATED, SIR", it said, "AN EXPLOSION WAS MONITORED NEAR ONE
OF THE FACTORIES. THE RA1000'S SIGNAL IS THERE."
"Good", he said.
He cut the communication, and ran over to Dr. Robotnik, who was still
studying the blue prints.
"Sir!", said Snively, "We found the RA1000. It's under a pile of
scrap near one of the factories."
"You fool!", yelled Robotnik, "Without its CPU intact, it's of no use
to me! Tell the SWATbot commander to retrieve the CPU and leave the rest
there. The robot probably didn't survive anyway."
At the scrap heap, about six SWATbots arrived, and surveyed the area.
All of a sudden, a metal hand shot out from under the scrap, and the RA1000
exploded out after it. The SWATbots opened fire on the other robot, but
all the blasts just bounced off the armor.
"ACTIVATING FLAME-THROWER", it said.
It raised its arm up, and a stream of fire hit the first bot, and
reduced it to a smoldering slag of liquid metal. It roasted the other five,
and then headed off to find Sally and Sasha.
"Uh, Sir?", said Snively, nervously, "The RA1000 survived the
explosion intact. It just melted all six SWATbots with a flame-thrower."
Instead of getting angry, Robotnik began laughing. Snively was
puzzled by the doctor's strange choice of emotions.
"Amazing, Snively", he chuckled, "The RA1000 is more powerful than I
ever could have imagined. We must start production of them as soon as the
exisiting one is captured."
"Right away, Sir", said Snively.
Back in Knothole, Sonic and Sally ran into Rotor's hut. He looked
over at them through his goggles.
"Oh", he said, "I'm glad you're back. I just finished fixing the
magnet. It works perfectly now."
"Good", said Sally, snatching it up and strapping it onto her back,
"We're going to need it."
"Hey!", said Rotor, "You aren't going to break it after all the time
we spent putting it back together, are you?"
"I'll try not to, Rotor", she said, "But if we do, remember, it was
for a good cause."
With that, Sonic revved up and sped out of Knothole. Rotor tossed
his wrench down on the workbench.
"Hmph", he said, "Kiss that thing good-bye."
In the ventilation ducts, Uncle Chuck and Sasha were crawling through
the air ducts of the command tower. Uncle Chuck wasn't really sure how he
was going to get the disks and blueprints away from Robotnik, but he knew
he had to cripple Robotnik's ability to create any more of these deadly
machines. Also, he knew he had to keep Sasha out of the line of fire. He
had only agreed to bring her with because he knew that would keep Sally and
her separated, thus, making the RA1000's mission that much more difficult.
"Where are we, Uncle Chuck?", asked Sasha, following behind him.
"As far as I can tell", he said, "We should be relatively close to
the main control room. If Robotnik has the disks and blueprints, they
should be there."
He looked through an air vent, and saw that they were directly over
Robotnik's robo-chair. The doctor was also sitting right in it. Uncle
Chuck looked around, and saw the disks laying on the console about ten feet
away from the chair. The blueprints were, unfortunately, in Robotnik's
grubby mits.
"This is not going to be easy", said Uncle Chuck.
Outside, Sonic and Sally shot back into Robo-Tropolis with the usual
sonic-boom. He screeched to a halt near a garbage pile. Sally let go of
his back, and began figiting with the magnet.
"Are you sure that thing's going to work, Sal?", he asked.
"I hope so", she said, "It's the only thing I can think of that'll do
the job."
"Well?", asked Sonic, "Where is it?"
A plasma blast hit the garbage pile only inches from Sonic's head.
He looked up, and saw the RA1000, without its cloak, limping towards them.
It fired several more shots, all of them missed by feet or yards.
"Looks like we damaged its targeting system when we blew the
hide-out", said Sally, still messing with the magnet.
"So?", asked Sonic, "What now?"
"I still have some adjustments to make", she said, "Can you keep it
busy for a few more minutes?"
"Music to my ears", said Sonic, revving up and running right at the
RA1000.
The robot saw Sonic coming at it, and fired several concussion
grenades at him. Each of them exploded, and Sonic dodged every one of them.
"THE HEDGEHOG IS CONTINUALLY INTERFERING IN THIS UNIT'S MISSION",
said the robot, "THEREFORE, HEDGEHOG MUST BE TERMINATED."
A blaster popped out of the robot's arm, and it began firing wildly
at Sonic, who had no trouble avoiding the stray shots.
"Come on", laughed Sonic, "Can't you do any better than that? I
thought Unc built 'em better than that!!"
"SURRENDER, HEDGEHOG!!", yelled a SWATbot.
"Huh?", said Sonic, looking at the SWATbot
The moment of distraction bought the RA1000 time it needed to adjust
its targeting systems, and it shot Sonic right in the back.
"Ahhhh!!", yelled Sonic, going down.
The RA1000 then fired a small missile at the SWATbot, destroying it.
"HEDGEHOG HAS BEEN DEALT WITH USING NON-LETHAL FORCE", it said,
"RA1000 UNIT CAN NOW RESUME MISSION."
The RA1000 turned, and focused its attention on Sally, who hadn't
finished her adjustments yet. She saw the killer machine limping towards
her as fast as it could.
"Come on!", she yelled at the magnet.
The RA1000 raised its cannon into the air, and targeted a nice spot
right on Sally's forehead. It locked on, and readied itself to fire.
"GOOD-BYE, PRINCESS", it said.
It fired, and Sally pulled the magnet up in between the blast and her
head. The bolt bounced off and hit a nearby trash head. Sally stood up,
and held the magnet out in front of her.
"I hate long good-byes", she said, and flipped the magnet on.
The magnet jumped out of her hands so fast that it knocked her
forwards. Sally fell to her knees, and saw the magnet sail through the air
and attach itself to the RA1000.
"DANGER! DANGER!", said the machine, "HIGH MAGNETIC FIELD DETECTED!
CPU IN DANGER!"
The robot tried to separate itself from the magnet, but to no avail.
Sally and Rotor had increased its pull by seventy percent. There was no
way that the RA1000 could push away from it. It began staggering around,
trying to think of something to do to save itself, but after a few moments,
it fell to the ground, and deactivated.
Sally quickly ran over and switched off the magnet. She then ran to
Sonic, who was still laying flat on his face.
"Sonic!", she said, "Are you alright?"
"Ugh", said Sonic, lifting himself up, "Yeah, but I'm going to be
walking a little funny for a day or two."
Sally smiled. Then, she suddenly remembered Uncle Chuck and Sasha!
"Come on, Sonic", said Sally, "We have to find Sasha and Uncle Chuck!"
"Don't worry about it!", said a voice from the shadows.
They both looked, and saw the two emerge, Sasha carrying an armload
of disks.
"You got them all?", asked Sally, standing back up.
"Yep", said Uncle Chuck, "I see you got the RA1000. Nice job, Sally."
"How did you get them all?", she asked.
"I jumped down through the grate and ran right across Robotnik's
nose", said Sasha.
"You WHAT?", yelled Sally.
"Robotnik and Snively started chasing me", she said, "When I led them
out of sight, Uncle Chuck grabbed the disks and blue prints. By the way,
what did you leave in place of the blue prints?"
"Sonic's recipe for chili dogs", said Uncle Chuck, chuckling.
"Well", said Sally, "We'd better get out of here before he realizes
the switch."
"What about that thing?", asked Sonic, "Are we just gonna leave it
here?"
"He's right", said Sally, "We can't leave it here. We have to take
it back to Knothole with us so we can dismantle it."
"How're we supposed to get that hunk o' tin all the way back to
Knothole?", asked Sonic.
Everyone just stared at him.
"Oh!", he groaned, "My aching back!"
Inside the command tower, Robotnik had just discovered the new recipe
Uncle Chuck had left him and was throwing everything that wasn't nailed
down at Snively.
"I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG!!!", he screamed, and threw a monitor at
Snively, "I HATE HIM, HATE HIM, HATE HIM!!!!!!!"
Behind the computer console he was hiding, Snively just groaned.
"I hate my life", he said.
Back in Knothole the next morning, Sonic had gotten his back patched
up that had been worn bald from dragging the RA1000 back to Knothole. They
were all heading towards Rotor's hut, where they had placed the RA1000 to
await final dismantling.
"I'm so glad we finally got that thing", said Sally.
"So am I", said Uncle Chuck, "It's not a part of my past I'm proud
of. I'm glad it won't be able to hurt anyone else anymore."
"What are you talking about?", said Sonic, "Look at my back!"
They all laughed as they opened the door, and all of their mouths
hung open. The table they had laid the robot on was bare.
"Say", said Sonic, "Wasn't there supposed to be a robot there?"
"Its impossible!", said Sally, running up to the table, "Its memory
was completely wiped! It couldn't have escaped!"
"Then were is it?", asked Rotor.
Unfortunately, none of them had an answer.
Several miles away, in a dark subcavern under a cave that stood near
the river that ran through Knothole, a figure walked through the darkness
and lit a torch that was placed on the cavern wall. In the middle of the
dark chamber, stood the RA1000, still non-functional.
Sasha folded her arms and grinned. She couldn't let them take this
marvelous piece of machinary apart. She never knew when she might have
need of it for her own purposes.
THE END
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