LEGALITIES: This story is copyright 1998 by its author. Sonic the
Hedgehog, Dr. Robotnik, and Tails Prower are copyrighted by Sega, Inc.
Bunnie, Rotor, Sally, Uncle Chuck, Antoine and Snively are copyright
DIC Animation or Archie comics, one of the two. The character Joe Wolf
is the author's creation. Rampant copying and distribution of this
work is strictly encouraged. Questions, comments, and flames may be
addressed to blueberry95@hotmail.com.
HEY JOE
by Aaron R. Ziemke
If YOU had been in the heart of Robotropolis one cloudy spring
evening in the year 3234, near the base of Robotropolis Headquarters,
you might have seen the three figures in the shadows, perhaps heard
their hushed whispers.
"Got it yet, Sally-girl?"
"Almost. Sonic, can you please sit still?"
"Sal, do y'have to ask?"
The plan this time did not involve a particular computer
network, power plant, or factory. With one small explosion, Sonic,
Sally, and Bunnie were after all they could get. Sally was in the
process of attaching explosives to to large pipe that carried wiring
out of Robo HQ.
"Can Ah help, Sally?"
"I'm almost finished. I know this is the one, but I don't know
the thickness of the pipe."
"Can we hurry it up, ladies? The ol' patrol bots are gonna come
around any second!"
"He's right, Sally-girl. Let's get the hoo-ha outta here."
"Okay. Done. Let's go!" The Freedom Fighters silently ran
about fifty feet further away from the giant building, then took cover
behind a small junkpile.
"When that pipe blows, Robotnik won't be able to communicate
with half of Robotropolis!" Sally exclaimed, picking up Nicole, her
small personal computer.
Sonic chuckled. "It'll take him forever to hook it all back up!"
Sally smiled. "Ready, Nicole?"
"READY," the machine replied.
"Detonate!"
A loud bang filled the air, followed by a chorus of crackles
and pops. The three peeked out and saw the pipe well-gutted. Blue arcs
of electricity jumped out, and small fires coughed out clouds of smoke.
"Yessss!!" hissed Sally.
"All right!" shouted Sonic. Bunnie said nothing, but the grin
on her face could have split it in two. A few moments of elation
passed until the wail of sirens reached their ears. The sky quickly
began to swarm with searchlights, hover units, and surveillance orbs.
"Let's beat it!" said Sonic. Bunnie and Sally each grabbed an
arm, and they practically flew off.
Deep in Robo HQ, the lights dimmed for a second, then returned,
causing Dr. Ivo Robotnik to raise his eyebrows. A familiar and nasal
voice said, "Sir, monitor three."
He viewed the laid-open pipe until Snively proclaimed, "And the
culprits." Robotnik's expression turned from anger to contempt as he
watched Sonic the Hedgehog and two other Freedom Fighters being closely
followed by a hover unit.
"I knew it!" he sneered. "Bring them in. I want all three.
What's the damage?"
"Much of southern and southwestern Robotropolis not responding, sir."
Robotnik growled a very angry growl. "All three, Snively. All
three."
"SONIC! BEHIND YOU!" Sally screamed into his ear. He glanced
back, and seeing the hover unit, quickly darted into a nearby alley and
stopped.
He let go of Sally and Bunnie and said, "You guys wait here.
I'll draw these bots off!" And he was off again. He ran faster and
faster, a distance of about four blocks, then ducked down another alley.
The hover unit was still on his tail. Up ahead, the alley came to an
abrupt end at a wall. Luckily for Sonic, it was as dilapidated as the
rest of the city, and there was a hole near the bottom. He quickly
squeezed through.
The hover unit could not pull up in time. Its bottom hit the
top of the wall with a mighty SCRAPE! It bounced up a few feet, then
crashed to the ground, spiraling as it skidded to a halt. Sonic took
his head from beneath his hands and stood up. He was in a rather dark
but open area surrounded by a few tall buldings, alleys, and junkheaps.
The aircraft hissed and steamed, but otherwise there was no movement.
"That'll teach you, Robotnik," he said under his breath. He
walked over to the hover-unit and peered inside. There were still
lights on, but the two SWATbot pilots were out of comission, and the
engine had cut out. Taking a deep breath and backing away, Sonic was
just about to go find Sally and Bunnie, when he heard a noise. A
footstep on gravel. He turned towards the alley the noise had come
from. Something lunged out. "What the he-" was all he could say before
he was tackled to the ground.
It was a marvelous tackle. Sonic and his assailant rolled over
once, then Sonic found himself pinned on his back to the ground, the
barrel of a plasma rifle in his face.
His first reaction was to struggle, but his attacker was
straddling his stomach, pinning his arms and legs. At last it spoke,
in a mellow voice, "Damn, I hate it when they do this. Don't struggle,
please." Something sharp poked Sonic in the side of the leg.
"Ouch! What the-!?"
The fact that he had spoken seemed to startle it. It retained
its grip on the blue hero, but now it seemed to be rummaging through
its things. It kept the rifle in his face. Sonic continued to squirm.
"Open your eyes," it said.
Sonic did, and it promptly shone a small bright light into his
left eye. He tried to close it, but it was held open with two furry
fingers. The light moved back and forth, very close.
"Other eye," it said. Sonic opened his right eye, calming
enough to speak rationally.
"Hey, man, this is uncool! What's the deal?"
It said nothing, and continued to probe. Sonic felt he was
just about blind by now. "Bend your knees."
"I asked what's the deal? Who are you and what are you doing?"
"Bend your knees!" it said, shoving the rifle into his chin.
Sonic bent his knees, and heard the small clinking of tools. What felt
like a small hammer hit the side of his knee.
"Ow! You're starting to tick me off!" More clinking.
"Open your eyes. I'm finished."
Sonic opened his eyes. He could see the rifle barrel, but
could not see exactly what held him to Robotropolis' floor. Colors
began to return, just as his examiner leaned forward, its face close to
his. It was a wolf.
"You are not a robot," it stated matter-of-factly.
"WHAT?! WELL, OF COURSE I'M NOT-" Off in the distance, he
heard Bunnie and Sally.
"Sonic?"
"Sugar-hog?"
As they ran up the alley, the wolf turned, stared, and turned
back to Sonic.
"They with you?"
"Yeah. Don't-"
"No problem," it said, turning and firing.
"NO!" screamed Sonic.
Seeing the rifle, Bunnie cried out, "Hit the dirt, Sally-girl!"
They dove to the ground. The plasma bolt carried above their heads to
its mark: a surveillance orb that had been following them. It
shattered, the pieces raining down on Sally and Bunnie.
At that, the wolf swung the rifle across its back, stood up,
and offered a hand to Sonic, who did not accept. He stiffly got up
himself. Sally and Bunnie reached them. "Sonic, what's going on?"
"I ditched the bot," he said, pointing, "and then this psycho
goes and pins me to the ground for twenty minutes to tell me I'm not a
robot."
Now all eyes turned to the wolf. He was grey in color, and
wore a green headband and boots of the same color. Two plasma rifles
were strapped to his back, along with a backpack whose straps
criss-crossed his chest. His black eyes gazed at each of them in turn.
Sally felt the slightest tweak, as if she had seen this face somewhere
long ago. She took charge.
"I'm Sally, this is Sonic, and this is Bunnie. Now, why did
you think Sonic was robotic?"
The wolf shrugged. "Everything around here is."
"We're not," Sally countered.
"Oh? What are you, then?" it said, eyeing Bunnie warily.
Sonic stepped in.
"We're Freedom Fighters, bud," he said, in a tone that invited
no more questions. "Who are you?"
A small smile came to the wolf's face.
"Freedom Fighters," he repeated to himself. "I like that.
Freedom Fighters!" he exclaimed, raising a fist in the air and stepping
towards the hover unit. He turned back.
"Huh? Oh. Joe. Joe Wolf."
"Why are you out here attacking robots?" asked Sally. The wolf
was examining the hover unit.
"Parts."
"Parts? For what?" Joe was now up to his waist in the craft,
clanging around inside. He pulled himself out, holding two components.
"There's your black box and navigation module," he said,
tossing then to the ground in front of the Freedom Fighters. "Miss
Bunnie, would you mind?"
Bunnie used her metal foot to stomp the parts to bits.
"Thanks," he said, as he fished a length of pipe from the
alley. Standing in front of the unit, he rammed the pipe through the
windshield and moved it around until it held the steering wheel in
place. He then got a brick and another pipe from the alley. Sticking
his top half into the vehicle again, he briefly clanged around, then
started the ignition. The craft still ran.
Outside again, he swung the pipe like a baseball bat, then
pointed to the top of Robo HQ. It was visible from their location.
"This is what I like to do with these." he said. He carefully inserted
the pipe into the driver's side window, pushed it in, and dove to the
ground.
The hover unit, with no navigation module, steering wheel
locked, and a brick tipped onto the gas pedal, took off. It was
unsteady at first, but gained speed quickly on its crash-course for
Robo HQ. Joe got up and stood next to the Freedom Fighters, crossing
his arms.
Soon, a speck of brilliant orange appeared where it hit. As
the sound of its impact reverberated back a second later, a toothy grin
came to Joe's face.
"Gotta love that," he chuckled.
Sally pulled Sonic away a few feet.
"Sal, I know what you're gonna say," he whispered. "How do we
know he's who he says he is, can we trust him, we shouldn't take stupid
risks, am I done yet?"
"Why, Sonic. Could it be you've learned to think?" she chided.
Sonic made a face. They looked in unison to the wolf, who stood a few
yards away. His expression was blank. Suddenly and moving quickly, he
reached into his backpack and pulled out a green computer disk. He
held it up.
"Look me up," he said, and proceeded to throw the disk high in
the air.
The Freedom Fighters watched its rise and descent. Sonic
extended a hand and caught it. Looking around, they found Joe gone.
At home in Knothole, the disk provided nothing more than a
pathway to the old Mobotropolis 'Population Profile' files. Bunnie
primped, and Sonic recounted the night's events to an attentive Tails
and a harrumphing Antoine. Sally sat at her computer terminal, typing.
She looked up.
"Did we send a message to Uncle Chuck about the pipeline?"
"Uh-huh," said Bunnie. Sally typed, stared at the computer
screen, and typed again. She continued this way until finally, she sat
back and put her hands behind her head.
"What's up, Sal?" asked Sonic.
"That Joe character," she began.
"Uh-huh."
"Tonight we met the son of Damascus J. Wolf." Antoine gasped,
and everyone else shot quizzical looks.
"Who-" Sonic started, and Sally cut him off.
"When we met Joe, he looked a little familiar to me. But it
wasn't him I'd seen before. It was his father."
"But-"
"Damascus Wolf was one of the most famous career criminals in
all of Mobotropolis-burglary, sabatoge, laundering, even one count of
arson. And that's just what he got caught for. In and out of jail all
the time. Joe is his son. Nobody would voluntarily choose that for a
fake name." She paused.
"Robotnik must use these files," she said, turning the screen
and pointing.
The file on Joe's father had the word CAPTURED in large red
letters. Sally hit a key, and Joe's came up. His read AT LARGE.
"Yes, I am to be remembering zat name as well, my prinzess,"
said Antoine. "Zee royal gaurds, some of ze times, spoke of heem. I
was very frighten-en-ed."
"There's a surprise," Sonic said, rolling his eyes.
"So can we trust this fella, Sally?" asked Bunnie.
"I don't know, Bunnie. Perhaps we'll see him when we go back to
Robotropolis tomorrow night."
"Back? For what?" asked Sonic.
"To see what parts of the city are immobilized, and determine
how we can take advantage."
"Won't there be more guards?"
Sally shrugged. "A few, maybe. I'm not worried."
She was right. In the south of the acrid capital of Mobius the
next night, she, Bunnie, and Sonic found only a few extra SWATbots
about.
The disorder was evident. Buildings and their outside lamps
were dark. The Freedom Fighters crept past remnants of several fires.
Scattered streetlights were dim, flickering, or altogether out. Hover
units patrolled through at longer intervals.
"A lot of this must be shut down," Sally whispered, not without
a smile.
They approached a dark single-story building.
"Let's try this one." They moved to a large bay door. Sally
opened the access panel, poked around inside, and closed it.
"No power," she said. "Bunnie?"
"Love to." Several backswings from Bunnie's metallic arm put a
good-sized hole in the door. While she flexed her fingers, Sonic and
Sally stepped inside. Not a moment after they had done so, a light
shone down on Bunnie.
"Okay, Sonic, I think I-Ow!" Sally stumbled in the dark.
"Sal! Where ya at? You okay?"
"I tripped. I'm fine. Say-where's Bunnie?"
Bunnie looked into the entrance she had created, and saw
nothing.
"STOP," the SWATbot said. "YOU ARE-" Bunnie heard a clink,
and the voice went silent. She looked up, and saw the SWATbot looking
up as well.
As Sally got up, she noticed the light at the door.
"Sonic. Look." A loud crash came from outside.
"Bunnie!" they both said, running to the hole and looking out.
Bunnie was there, and Joe, and a SWATbot lay on the ground with a long
metal rod protruding from its head.
"Thanks, Joe," said Bunnie.
"Wow! Got 'im right in the eye!" Joe exclaimed, bringing a boot
down on the bot's lighted finger. Then, turning to the group, he said,
"It won't be long until they find that. Inside!"
At the center of the city, Robotnik had witnessed the death of
the SWATbot.
"Snively! Who was that?" he asked, pausing the tape. Snively
pulled up the file Sally had viewed the day before, and read it aloud.
Robotnik steepled his fingers in comtemplation.
"And with those Freedom Fighters. Well, sound the alarm!"
Robotnik said impatiently.
Sally had a light this time. Inside, hover units lined the
walls. The entire building held twenty or so. After a minute, a
familiar sound sliced through the air. The sirens.
"Not again!" said Sonic. "Looks like we'll have to cut out early."
"At least we'll have a ride this time," Bunnie said.
"Yeah. I like the looks of this one over here. A handsome
royal blue," Sonic grinned.
"What?" asked Joe.
"The blue one. What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing. I just don't remember ever seeing a blue one before."
He looked to the others.
"Me neither," said Bunnie, "We'd be little ol' sittin' ducks!"
"You're right. I bet ol' Buttnik did that on purpose, that sonova-"
"Uh, guys?" Sally interrupted. They all looked at her.
"Can we get out of here?"
They selected a green one instead, and all climbed in. Joe was
last. He hesitated, until Bunnie stuck her head out. "Comin'?"
"Yeah," he said, waiting no longer. He climbed in.
With Sally at the wheel, and some admirable gunning on Bunnie's
part, they got away fairly easily. Once the ride had smoothed, Sonic
looked over to see Joe had fallen asleep. His backpack and guns were
on the floor.
"Are we goin' home, Sal?" he asked.
"Do you think we can bring-" Bunnie asked, gesturing towards
Joe. Sonic waved a hand in front of the wolf's face.
"He's way past asleep."
"He DID help us out back there, Sally-girl," Bunnie said.
"Here." Sally handed Nicole to Bunnie. She pointed the
computer at Joe, and pressed a button.
"Go, Nicole," she said softly. Nicole scanned a few seconds,
then chirped twice.
"All good, Sally. No robotic implants or trasmittin' devices,"
Bunnie confirmed.
"All right, we're headed home, guys."
Twenty minutes later, Sally gently landed the craft in a
clearing adjacent to Knothole. Joe did not stir the whole time. The
Freedom Fighters piled out, tired from the night's events.
"Should we move'm, Sally?" Bunnie asked, yawning.
"He should be fine. Put those rifles somewhere, though."
The populace of Knothole came out to greet the three, and
hearing of the newcomer, all wanted a peek. Sally finally shooed them
off to bed, then retired herself.
The next day, Knothole was long up and about by the time Joe
awoke. He stumbled out of the ship, squinting. Sally met him a few
steps out.
"Where is this?" he asked.
"We are in the Great Forest. This is Knothole, our home." Joe
looked around.
"You slept about fifteen hours last night."
"S'been a while since I didn't have to keep my guard up all
night, much less had something soft to sleep on," he replied.
"Are you hungry?" Sally asked. He nodded.
The Freedom Fighters were just sitting down to lunch in the
dining hall. Joe was introduced, shook hands all around, and sat down,
feeling self-conscious in everyone's presence. However, he proceeded
to eat hungrily. As he was digging into his second plate, Sally spoke
up.
"Joe...could you tell us about where you've been, since the coup?"
"Um....can it wait?" he asked, through a mouthful of food.
Sally gave him a questioning look.
"Later," he reassured her, again through a mouthful of food.
He went through three plates before even slowing down. At long
last, he put down his fork and leaned back.
"Whoa. Eat lately?" Sonic asked.
"Yes, but with the ears of ladies and those still eating
present, we best not go into that," he replied with a tiny smile.
"Joe-?" Sally ventured. The look in his eyes for that split
second told her she was getting nowhere this way. She leaned closer
and half-whispered, "Would you like to take a walk?"
"Yes," was the answer. Sally excused them both, and they left
the hall.
"Now-" Sally said as they walked. Joe cut her off.
"Oh, I'm willing to talk. Just not with an audience present,
like we were going to recite William Shakesbeaver."
"I looked you up. I know about your father."
"I'm not ashamed."
"And-"
"And you want to know if you can trust the son of a notorious
criminal in your home and refuge," he said, looking her in the eye.
Sally could only give a slight nod.
Joe turned toward Robotropolis. Only the fetid black
atmosphere above it was visible from their location.
"Why are you here?" he asked her.
"This is where we live," she replied.
"No. I mean why are you standing at this exact spot in the
Great Forest, at this exact moment in time?" Sally thought for a
second.
"Well-because of Robotnik, I suppose."
"Do you enjoy being forced to live this lifestyle?"
"Of course not."
"Neither do I. I, as well as you, am surviving, with the hope
that someday things can be as they once were-before THAT." He pointed
to the city.
"I was alongside my father for the first six years of my life.
He had reasons for his actions. Reasons I understand, but don't
necessarily condone."
'Would you mind-?" asked Sally. She knew that such a topic
would be one of interest and speculation in the House of Acorn.
He sighed. "Can we sit down?"
They entered Rotor's workshop. Rotor was not back from lunch
yet. They sat down, but as Joe went on, he stood up, pacing back and
forth as he spoke.
"I was with my dad a lot of the times you probably read about."
He paused, thinking.
"I think his motivation had something to do with HIS father,
who worked in a large factory. Every day, he would get up early, grab
his metal lunchbox and go to work. He would return at the same time
each day, with little to say for his time gone. He rarely went
anywhere. He just followed the same routine, day after day, year after
year. Always the same routine. I believe it sickened my dad to see
it. He didn't want to end up that way. So he went a different
direction."
"I'll say!" said Sally.
"Yeah. Stealing stuff, destruction of property-well, you read
the list. But he did act like a father towards me. He told me he
loved me and tried to get me to go to school. He taught me to be
polite to women, and there was something else he used to say-" Joe
thought a minute. "'There's always a way out,' he used to say. There's
always a way to get away, even if things seem hopeless." He shrugged,
was silent in thought again, then continued.
"I never knew who my mother was. I was with him most of the
time. There was this lady I stayed with, when he was in jail or who
knew where else. Her name was Lucy. She was a fox-tall, very pretty.
She always treated me nice. Shortly before Robotnik came along, I had
been going to school, but some kids started making fun of me and my
dad, so I just didn't go back."
Joe paused and took a deep breath.
"When Robotnik did arrive, him and I stayed free for a
while-running from authority figures had never been a problem. Then he
got caught."
"How did you get away?" Sally asked.
"There'd been others we'd run with, when we'd 'do a job'. If
one of them wasn't fast enough, and got caught, we'd just ditch them
and keep running. One day, it was just me and him. They were chasing
us, he fell behind, and they got him. I looked back, and he just gives
me this look as if to say, 'I been busted-just go!!' So I did. I just
kept running and running. I hid out at the edge of western
Mobotropolis for a long time."
"Do you know what happened to him?" asked Sally.
"Uh-huh. Roboticized, put in a factory." Joe smiled a sad
smile. "He's probably in his own personal hell right now. Since then,
I've been hiding out until I can find a way to free him. Haven't found
it yet." He sighed.
"So I've been doing what I can. What I showed you with the
hover unit, taking out a SWATbot here or there."
"The hoverunit trick-where'd you learn that?"
"We used to steal them. Hot-wired 'em and everything. One of
the few things I--I remember." He exhaled deeply, and Sally sensed a
slight tremble in his breath.
"Would you like some fresh air?" she asked him. He nodded.
"Come on. I'll show you around."
Outside, Sally showed him the ring pool, and the small gardens
and fields. He hunched down and fingered a tiny stalk of corn, then
stood up and streched in the sunlight, arms extended outward.
"It's very peaceful here," he said. Just then, not far away,
they heard music.
Heading in its direction, they found Sonic, sitting on his
steps with his guitar. He played a few more seconds, then looked up.
"Hey, guys." Sally said hello, but Joe just looked at the
guitar.
"Wow. Could I--see that?" he asked. Sonic handed it to him
without words, then stood up and approached Sally.
"So, Sal, what's the deal?" he asked quietly.
"I don't think we should worry. He seems-" but she had exceeded
his attention span once again. For Joe had sat down and played the
guitar less than beautifully. To watch him try was a curious thing.
It resembled one trying to strangle a snake with one hand, while
attempting to hold it still with the other. But Sonic had seen,
through the mangled chords, that Joe knew something about it.
"Uh, yeah, okay, Sal," he said, and sat down again. Within
minutes, the two were conversing rapidly and showing each other things.
Sally was relieved. She had wondered if Sonic was still upset about
Joe's attack on him. It seemed now they had found common ground, had
connected.
Sally herself was satisfied. In his story, Joe hadn't made
excuses for himself or his father, and hadn't tried to make himself
sound better than he was. Just another survivor who missed what family
he had had. She watched the two, now off in their own little world,
until her thoughts were interrupted.
Rotor came running up.
"Sally!" he called. "Message from Uncle Chuck." Sally took the
note. It read:
REPAIR ON PIPELINE TO BE COMPLETED TOMORROW EVENING, AN HOUR
BEFORE MIDNIGHT. THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW. -U.C.
"Tomorrow night? We had it figured for a week, at least!" she
said, dissapointed. She sat down heavily between Sonic and Joe, and
Rotor took a seat on Joe's other side. Joe became interested.
"What'd you do?" he asked, handing the guitar to Sonic, who
continued to play on his own. Sally explained, using a stick to draw
Robo HQ and the wiring pipelines in all directions, in the dirt. After
she finished, Rotor mused at the drawing.
"Looks like some kind of freaky spider," he said.
"Yes, it does. Kind of like the one that's on Sonic right now!"
Sally said, walking her fingers across Sonic's shoulder. Sonic had not
been paying attention, and didn't realize at first that it was only
Sally teasing.
"GAAAH!" he yelped, swatting at his shoulder. His hand hit
Sally's, and he turned around.
"Oh. Real funny, Sal." He continued playing.
"Wait. Do that again," whispered Rotor. She did, and to the
same result. Sonic again swatted the 'spider' and was a little peeved
this time.
"Hey, quit it, willya?" he said, and turned back to his guitar.
"Did you see that?" asked Rotor.
"What?"
"When you want to kill a spider, you go after the whole
creature, not just one of its legs." They looked at the drawing again.
"But how-" Sally began. Joe sprung up.
"You guys want to 'do a job'?"
Rotor looked puzzled; Sally lit up.
"Of course! Sonic! Sonic, you're a genius!" She bent down,
hugged Sonic and kissed him on the cheek. She and Rotor took off
towards the workshop.
"Come on, guys! We've got work to do!" Joe was about to
follow, when Sonic turned to him, a huge grin on his face.
"Hear that? I totally swooned her with my 'melodic articulation'."
Joe managed not to smile until he was almost to the workshop.
The next day was spent readying for nightfall. Bunnie and
Sally plotted coordinates on Nicole most of the day; Rotor compared
notes with Joe, then had to relay that information to the rest of the
group. At dusk, Joe approached Sally.
"Um-where's my things?"
"Still in the hover unit." As they walked, Sally spoke.
"Joe, you understood, didn't you? We have to be careful. This
is our home-" Joe held up a hand.
"I understand," he said, strapping on his backpack. She
continued.
"The reason I mention it now, is to tell you that we do trust
you, and you're welcome to stay, if you like."
"That's very gracious of you," he replied, picking up his
rifles.
"But on one condition," she said.
He shrugged. "What is it?"
"The guns have to go. We have Tails and other young ones around."
"All right. I'll get rid of them tonight," he said, almost
nonchalantly.
"Why do you carry two, anyway?"
He smiled. "Well, this one's just a regular rifle. This one
is different. It's a-"
But he didn't get to finish. An impatient Sonic yelled their way.
"Hey! You guys ready to go?"
THEY reviewed their objectives once more, then Sonic, Sally,
Joe, Rotor and Bunnie climbed into the hover unit. They flew to the
edge of Robotropolis, and continued on foot. When they reached their
destination, Sally checked her watch.
"It's eight now. Repairs'll be complete in three hours," she
whispered. "Ready?"
"Ready," echoed the group.
"Remember-as little light and sound as possible. You all know
what to do."
For the next few hours, they worked silently and quickly. At
one point, Sonic stopped and asked Rotor, "Hey, Rote? What was all
that stuff about spiders yesterday?"
"A spider without legs can't walk, Sonic," was all he would
say. When they finished, they gathered in the center of the room.
Sally spoke. "Chips?"
"Check," said Joe.
"Boxes?"
"Check," said Rotor.
"Lights?"
"Check," said Sonic.
"Coordinates-check." She looked at her watch. "Ten minutes.
Perfect. Bunnie, you're up." Bunnie extended her legs. There was a
creaky sliding sound, and she retracted.
"Oh-kay," she said.
"Two for us?" Sally asked her. Bunnie pointed.
"You even get your color, Sugar-hog!" she said to Sonic.
"Okay. Let's do it!"
If you had been in Robotropolis on that clear spring night, you
might have seen, one by one, twelve empty, unlit hover-units rise from
the skylight of the dark warehouse. You might have seen them then form
a large circle around Robotropolis Headquarters, a half mile away and
as far off the ground. And if you knew where to look, you would have
seen two more, one blue, one green, resting atop a nearby building.
"They're in position. Any second now....." Sally said through
her teeth.
With a loud pop of electricity hitting filament, the area
around Robo HQ became brighter. The repairs were complete, and the
hovering aircraft were now clearly visible.
"Converge!" Sally said, as the sirens went off. Rotor and
Sonic gave thumbs-up from the blue ship next to them, and took off.
Bunnie, Sally and Joe followed in the other.
The Freedom Fighters had appointed themselves the job of
providing cover-fire for the dummy ships as they raced towards the
bottom of Robo HQ.
The twenty or thirty seconds that followed exhibited an
intensity in air battle not seen since the Great War. To all involved,
the monolithic center of Robotropolis slowly spun, while all around,
plasma bolts flew like confetti, and the sound was like every Fourth of
July the Freedom Fighters had ever known put together.
After takeoff, Joe unbuckled himself, took his rifles, and
climbed to the back.
"Open the pod bay door, Sal," he called. When she did, he
looped his arm around a safety rung and fired from there. More
hover-units appeared almost instantly. However, Rotor and Sally were
skilled at the wheel, and with the rest manning guns, they kept the
dummy vehicles well-protected for long enough. Ten of the dummies
reached the target-the point where ALL the wiring pipelines joined and
entered Robo HQ. During their descent, they had gained momentum
quickly, and hit with a force that was felt throughout the building.
The monitors came into focus in time for Robotnik to view five
seconds of his pipelines exploding in flames. Then the sceens went
snowy.
"ENOUGH!" he bellowed, getting up from his chair. "Snively,
prepare MY ship."
Outside, the Freedom Fighters were still at it.
"Sonic, Rotor, you guys okay?" Sally asked into the radio.
"Fine, Sally," came Rotor's crackling reply. "Only hit once,
nothing major."
The large blue ship carrying Robotnik and Snively burst out of
its bay.
"Snively......"
"Sir?"
"Find them," he said, tapping his fingers on the armrest.
The dogfight had wound down a little, when a large blue plasma
bolt flew past Sally's craft, missing it by inches.
"What was THAT?" she exclaimed. "Bunnie, Joe, did you see-huh?"
For she had turned around to see no Joe.
"Ah don't know, Sally-girl, but we better scram," said Bunnie,
pointing to the big ship. "That may be ol' Iron Drawers himself!"
Sally dodged another bolt and jetted past the smoldering remains of the
wiring pipelines.
"Rotor. Come in, Rotor, come in!"
"What's up, Sally?"
"Rotor, we can't find Joe."
"He's the one we looked up two days ago, sir-the jailbird's son?"
"Yes, I remember, Snively," Robotnik said impatiently, as they
watched the wolf, two rifles across his back, climb the side of the
building. "But what is he doing?"
"I really don't know, sir."
"Well, move in closer and turn on the spotlight."
The building was about a hundred feet tall. When his ride
passed it going slowly, Joe had 'fallen' out and landed hard on one of
its lower roofs. He was spotted shortly after by a patrol unit who had
contacted Robotnik. Now there was no way to go but up.
The Freedom Fighters pulled up, next to Robotnik, but all were
equally curious and did not acknowledge each other's presence.
Joe reached the top. Turning to face the spotlight, he paused
a moment, and outstretched his arms. Then he raised both fists in the
air, the traditional Mobian Salute to Chaos. When he finished, he
pulled a rifle and pointed it at Robotnik's ship.
"I wouldn't advise that, dear boy," Robotnik's voice echoed
from his ship. "Look around you." He did. Three or four hover-units
that had survived the air battle flanked Robotnik in a half-circle, and
Joe noticed the craft of his comrades also.
Keeping the gun leveled at the large blue ship, he fired anyway.
But nothing happened. The gun was out of charge.
He looked down at it, dropped it, and fumbled for his other
rifle. Robotnik's voice came again.
"I suggest you surrender yourself, wolf. Why.....we could even
arrange to re-unite you with your father!" he said, in a tone that
made everyone listening hate him all the more.
Joe gave a look inferring he wished Robotnik were worse than
dead. "NO WAY, ROBOTNIK! I'LL NEVER BE YOUR FACTORY SLAVE!!" he
yelled.
He leveled the second rifle.
"You're surrounded, my boy. You won't make it out of here alive!"
"THEN I WON'T GIVE YOU THE SATISFACTION!!" Joe shouted, and
proceeded to point the rifle at his own head.
The next few seconds seemed to last forever. With the rifle
still in place, Joe smiled and gave Robotnik another traditional Mobian
salute, this one involving one particular finger.
"TOOOOO FREEEEEDOOOOMM!" he shouted, louder than ever before.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger.
And all present saw the same thing; the bright flash of the
gun, then Joe's limp body fall backwards, disappearing into the alley
behind the building.
Sally and the Freedom Fighters felt they would be sick.
"Sal, let's get out of here." Sonic's voice came over the radio.
"But....but.."
"SAL!"
"You're right," she sighed, and before Robotnik noticed, they
slipped away to begin the solemn journey home.
In the large ship, Robotnik had not yet spoken. Finally, he
said, "Get us out of here, Snively."
"Sir, don't you think we should look-"
"You saw what I saw, Snively. Get us out of here. Now." He was
so angry, he WASN'T screaming into Snively's ear.
"Yes, sir." Snively did not understand until Robotnik muttered
something about insolence and no way of revenge.
In Knothole, very late that night, none of the witnesses to
Joe's demise had slept. They sat in Rotor's workshop, staring at walls
and barely finishing sentences. Sonic spoke.
"It's like....it's like, I know we toasted the pipelines for
real this time, but I don't....I just don't feel happy about it, you
know?" Rotor and Bunnie nodded, then looked at the floor.
"It's true," said Sally. "We won't hear from Robotnik for
months. But....but...he just didn't seem like the type!" She was
shaking. Bunnie put a hand on her shoulder. She continued.
"I talked to him, you know? He was telling me about himself
and.." she stopped.
"And-?"
"There was something he said," she said slowly. "Something like
'there's always a way out.' He said it a couple of times. I wonder-
maybe-"
Now Rotor put a hand on her shoulder.
"Princess, I-" He exhaled. "We all saw what happened." He
looked at everyone in turn. A few absolutely still minutes passed,
until there was a rap at the door. They all looked up.
"We should let them know." Sally said, standing up and taking a
deep breath. She walked over and swung open the door. As she did,
Bunnie fainted dead away. The rest could only let thier jaws drop.
Joe stood in the doorway, rifle in hand. He was positively
filthy. He smiled broadly as he walked in.
"Man, didjoo see that back there?" he asked excitedly. "I
should've gotten an Oscar for that!"
Bunnie was waking up.
"Ah thought Ah was seein' a ghost."
"You are." On a nearby computer terminal, he punched a few
keys, and his personal file came up. The words AT LARGE had been
replaced with just one: DECEASED.
"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen!" he proudly announced.
Sally had recovered her wits. She found she wanted to hug him
and punch him in the face all at once.
"How the-" she began. Joe interrupted, still excited.
"Wasn't that great? 'NO WAY, ROBOTNIK!'" he repeated, mocking
his earlier tone and chuckling. But seeing everyone's looks, he
sighed, and the smile faded to a grin.
"It was fake," he said. "I was just pretending."
"But-the gun," Sally said, pointing.
"Oh, that's right! I never finished telling you. This one's
asthetic." he said, aiming at her from the hip.
"Bang." He pulled the trigger, and the tip flashed slowly and
brightly, as they had seen before. But nothing else happened. Joe
explained.
"For looks. I made it." He threw it to the floor.
"But I'm done with those now."
"You fell," said Sonic. Joe explained further.
"Even in a hot smoggy city like that, there's still something
to be said for the old air ducts," he said, attempting to brush himself
off. "That, and maybe a piece or two of thick wire fastened to the
right places." He smiled again.
"Couldn't you have told us-said SOMETHING?" Sally blurted out.
"No. You might not have reacted the way you did. It made it
all the more believeable. Robotnik totally bought it. He thinks I'm
dead. And how about those wiring piplines, huh, guys?"
This lifted the Freedom Fighters' spirits. With sighs of
relief, they stood and engaged in a group embrace. That is, until Joe
was given a good-natured shove out of the circle.
"Don't get us wrong," Sonic smiled. "We're glad you're back,
but man, you need a bath!!"
And for the first time that day, they all laughed out loud.
THE END
Author's E-mail: blueberry95@hotmail.com